00:00♪♪♪
00:10♪♪♪
00:20♪♪♪
00:30♪♪♪
00:40♪♪♪
00:50And now, sealing the breach.
00:59I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941,
01:19a state of war has existed.
01:27President Roosevelt speaks, and the Armed Forces Act.
01:31Naval Secretaries Knox and Forrestal put into effect war plans previously prepared in the event of national disaster.
01:39One of the Navy's primary duties is the enormously complex task of funneling the means of survival to our forces and allies overseas.
01:47Shipping must be found and assembled, convoys organized, and cargoes assigned.
01:53But first, orders, directives, requisitions, and more orders.
02:01Orders to shipyards, orders to bases, orders to railroads, and orders to America,
02:08that her factories and workers might begin producing in quantities the boldest economist never dreamed of.
02:14But the Axis leaders never dreamed of either.
02:18Fulfilling the orders is only the beginning.
02:21The products must be sent soonest, for they will count most.
02:25♪♪♪♪
02:38Oil. Oil, the black blood of the machine age, is democracy's greatest material asset.
02:46Without it, she is defenseless. Without it, defeat is certain.
02:55From a port in the Gulf of Mexico, a tanker sets out on her long voyage to England.
03:00But first, she heads for New York, traveling along well-defined coastal convoy routes
03:05made necessary by daring German submarines now operating off the very shores of the United States.
03:11From time to time, more ships are fed into the convoys that passes key ports.
03:16Life on the tanker has none of the glamour of the grander ships.
03:20But unless the merchant sailors get their cargo across the ocean, the battleships will be useless.
03:27The carriers might as well be scuttled.
03:34She's a dowdy old girl, the tanker, but she's the queen of the convoys.
03:41Coastal convoys are organized into an interlocking system that operates like a railroad network.
03:47Ships are shuttled back and forth under maximum protection of local escort vessels
03:51and air cover from strategically located land bases.
03:57Navy PBYs roam the air in predetermined patterns in the convoy areas,
04:02to warn the ships or attack the U-boats.
04:05But the wary subs are seldom sighted.
04:08Far more often, what the PBYs spot is the work of the unseen enemy.
04:45♪
05:10Sometimes the enemy leaves a trace, or what looks like a trace.
05:14An oil slick.
05:20A warning goes out at once and a smoke bomb marks the spot.
05:36An escort picks up the PBY's alert.
05:39General quarters sound, search for the enemy is on.
05:51The sonar man seeks the underwater echo that will betray the sub's position.
05:56No response.
05:58False alarm.
06:08On the coast, cities keep their peacetime lights glowing until they learn how this benefits the enemy.
06:15The lights are beacons for the lurking U-boats.
06:21Offshore, enemy eyes are patiently peeled, waiting for a silhouette.
06:28♪
06:40♪
06:50♪
07:10♪
07:25Prepare to surface!
07:29♪
07:52Deck guns are in order.
07:54So bold have the Germans become, they dare to fight openly on the surface,
07:58a few miles off Main Street, USA.
08:01♪
08:30♪
08:35Dawn.
08:38The survivors have gone.
08:40The killers have fled.
08:44A few random traces in the indifferent sea show a convoy has passed.
08:51A submarine has struck.
08:56The first leg of the voyage is almost over.
09:00New York, into whose harbor pours the wealth of North and South America,
09:04offers a temporary haven.
09:07Here the Gulf port tankers rest,
09:09waiting to be reassembled with other ships into a transatlantic convoy designated HX0.
09:16Ships fill their empty holes with waiting cargo,
09:19stuffing them to the bursting point.
09:22Getting these supplies to their destination safe
09:26will be a dominating factor throughout the war.
09:31This is what the Battle of the Atlantic is all about.
09:36♪
09:58The operation of a convoy requires organization, seamanship,
10:02and the knowledge of the enemy.
10:05Merchant captains and escort commanders get last-minute instructions
10:08from the convoy commodore and intelligence officers.
10:12Some of these men will not live through the ordeal ahead.
10:16For all of them, it's only a step or two from the conference table into battle,
10:20a battle that will begin as soon as their ships put to sea.
10:24♪
10:43Nothing is left untried to give the convoys protection.
10:47From their Lakehurst, New Jersey, base,
10:49the Navy's lighter-than-air ships cover the convoy as it puts to sea.
10:53The stately blimps lolling overhead are a comfort
10:57and a reassurance to the sailors below as they head into the unknown.
11:23♪
11:52♪
12:13The convoy's 50 or 60 ships, scattered across 30 miles of ocean,
12:18must be kept under constant, coordinated control.
12:21The course zigzags to baffle submarines,
12:24and precise navigation keeps all ships moving in unison
12:27according to a prearranged timetable and pattern.
12:30♪
12:35Meanwhile, the escorts act as watchdogs
12:38with the aid of all the intricate new devices that science has added to war at sea.
12:43But there are not yet enough of them,
12:45leaving dangerous holes in the ring of protection around the convoy.
12:49♪
13:18♪
13:27Each captain is responsible for maintaining his ship's proper speed and position.
13:32The strain of maintaining station never ceases.
13:35The ship that straggles behind is doomed.
13:40But for the sailors off-duty, shipboard life takes a deceptively normal course
13:45until it is their turn to go on watch again.
13:48♪
14:09Convoy HX0 is still a long way from England.
14:14As it heads into the perilous open spaces of the North Atlantic,
14:17the Royal Canadian Air Force furnishes coverage from bases in Newfoundland.
14:22Submarines can neither surface nor attack as long as aircraft are overhead.
14:26♪
14:29But there are still vast stretches of the ocean
14:32over which no air umbrella can be spread.
14:36In this fatal gap, the convoys are almost helpless.
14:41The U-boat, almost invincible.
14:46Fog.
14:48The ancient curse of mariners intensifies all hazards of a hostile sea.
14:54The convoy must slow down.
14:57A dangerous, desperate measure.
15:01Reduced speed favors the enemy.
15:05The collision would be disastrous.
15:09♪
15:37♪
15:48The men in the convoy, nerves raw and weary to the point of exhaustion,
15:53strain their eyes, their brains, their faith.
15:58But to no avail.
16:01♪
16:11♪
16:21♪
16:31An escort ship signals the convoy to proceed
16:34while she tries to locate the enemy and counterattack.
16:37But the battle-wise German seamen know what to do.
16:41Submerge. Head for the bottom.
16:44Cut the engines.
16:46Sweat out the depth charges.
16:49♪
17:09The tactics work.
17:11The escort loses contact and gives up.
17:14The German is safe.
17:17Safe to kill again.
17:20The submarine's eyes and ears have no difficulty
17:23in locating a hapless straggler that lost its convoy station in the fog.
17:27Surface.
17:29Why waste the torpedo?
17:32♪
17:41The ship's armed guard has pathetically little with which to resist.
17:45But they fight back with all they have.
17:47Ship to sub, gun to gun.
17:50♪
18:10♪
18:22Full speed ahead.
18:24The hunt is still on.
18:27♪
18:34The wounded convoy shuffles along its agonizing course.
18:39Tired lookouts and signalmen help pull the convoy together.
18:44And as the ships head into more northerly latitudes,
18:47the weather will become worse,
18:49rendering detection gear less effective as the sea takes over.
18:53♪
19:13♪
19:23♪
19:43♪
20:01Calm seas are welcomed by all hands.
20:05Seasick sailors can hold up their heads.
20:08Those sore from the buffeting can relax.
20:11Everyone can dry out.
20:14All hands eat hot food again.
20:17Clear skies bring relief and the men tend to forget the enemy.
20:22But their captains know this is folly.
20:26There is no safety in these waters.
20:29True, the convoy is closer to England,
20:31but it's also closer to German air bases.
20:34Now the enemy is over the ocean as well as under it.
20:37Scouting planes are constantly searching for allied convoys,
20:40eager to spot one and radio its position, course, and speed back to base.
20:45♪
20:53Instantaneously, efficiently,
20:56the message is decoded at U-boat headquarters on the French coast
20:59where the convoy's position is plotted.
21:02Admiral Dönitz, master of the Nazi submarines,
21:05devises plans for a major attack by U-boats in the area.
21:09He reckons their positions in relation to the convoy
21:12and organizes them into a wolf pack.
21:15In a matter of minutes, the submarines have top secret orders to rendezvous
21:20and proceed to a designated spot in the path of the convoy.
21:26♪
21:53♪
22:12The leader of the pack scans the horizon for the convoy.
22:16Interception is perfect.
22:19♪
22:47♪
22:55The wolf pack is deployed around the convoy,
22:57giving each skipper his own share of the spoils.
23:01No ship is safe.
23:04♪
23:28♪
23:48♪
24:15♪
24:31The battle is over.
24:33The ships are sunk.
24:35The men are dead.
24:39Surviving ships have not much further to go.
24:42The long voyage is almost over.
24:45England.
24:47Grim England.
24:49To these sailors, it means victory.
24:52♪
25:13Victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.
25:16The men.
25:18Some of them.
25:21The ships.
25:24Some of them.
25:26The supplies.
25:29Some of them get through.
25:32Get through to bring final victory a little nearer.
25:37♪
25:48But who can measure the cost?
25:53♪
26:13♪
