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The longest campaign of World War II was fought in the Atlantic Ocean. Tens of thousands of lives were lost as Hitler’s U-boat fleet hunted in packs, chasing down the Allied convoys that brought vital supplies to Britain.
The port of Derry played a vital role as the United Kingdom’s most westerly base, and it was here that German U-boats were taken at the end of the war to officially surrender before being scuttled off Ireland’s north west coast.
A specialist team of deep-sea divers are now searching for these wrecks, while historians unravel the dramatic clashes and human cost of the opening stages of this epic battle at sea.
The port of Derry played a vital role as the United Kingdom’s most westerly base, and it was here that German U-boats were taken at the end of the war to officially surrender before being scuttled off Ireland’s north west coast.
A specialist team of deep-sea divers are now searching for these wrecks, while historians unravel the dramatic clashes and human cost of the opening stages of this epic battle at sea.
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00:56o que eles foram construídos para fazer.
01:00Para rediscover os caos mortos...
01:02Estes são realmente grandes coisas.
01:04E você se sente tão pequeno.
01:11...of World War II's longas e mais críticas.
01:19O Battle do Atlântico.
01:26O Battle do Atlântico.
01:34From 1939 to 1945,
01:37over 100,000 lives were lost at sea.
01:43So many bodies washed ashore
01:45that the local authorities are talking about reopening famine pits.
01:50And brought Britain to the brink of total defeat.
01:54Britain's an island.
01:56And if we can cut that off,
01:57the German High Command think,
01:58then we can starve Britain out,
02:00force her to capitulate.
02:04At the heart of the battle
02:05to defeat the U-boat killing machines
02:07of the German Kriegsmarine
02:09was a small city in Northern Ireland.
02:11The hinge on which the Battle of the Atlantic moved
02:15was actually the city of Derry.
02:19Eighty years after one of the most perilous conflicts
02:21of World War II,
02:23experts are reexamining the pivotal moments.
02:26We have a document here from 1940.
02:29I don't think has been in the public domain.
02:31Uncovering hidden history.
02:33The period between 1940 and 1945,
02:36I was a prisoner of war in Germany,
02:38and he signed it.
02:40Revealing unsung heroes.
02:43The pilot tried to take off again,
02:45but they clipped the side of the ship
02:47and they were in the Atlantic for about an hour,
02:49the three of them.
02:50and laying bare the very human cost of war.
02:55You read something,
02:56and it was written by your father,
02:59which is the closest we ever came.
03:01To me, it's a gift.
03:06In this deadly game of cat and mouse...
03:09The U-boats could hide themselves in the dark
03:11and attack whenever it's suited to them.
03:13The hedgehog was the very latest
03:15and the most desperately secret weapon
03:17designed for the discomfort of U-boats.
03:19They never knew what hit them.
03:21The Allies and the Nazis were in a race
03:23against time and technology.
03:25It's not just one side winning the whole time.
03:28There's the punch and counterpunch.
03:30There's the technology introduced.
03:33There's the reaction from the Allies.
03:35For both sides,
03:36the stakes couldn't have been any higher.
03:40Winning the Battle of the Atlantic
03:42did not guarantee that the Allies would win the war.
03:46Total war means there's nothing
03:48between what the Nazis called the final victory
03:52or total defeat.
03:54Losing the Battle of the Atlantic
03:56would have meant that the Allies lost the war.
03:59Losing the Battle of the Atlantic
04:07Losing the Battle of the Atlantic
04:09I'm just looking now at that river.
04:23And if that river could talk and tell you its story,
04:26it would be worth listening to, I can tell you.
04:2994-year-old Bert Wurski grew up in Lissahalli village
04:34on the banks of the Foyle River,
04:35just 16 miles from the Atlantic Ocean,
04:38where war was raging.
04:39Just where the crane is now, there was 12 houses.
04:43And I lived in the middle one, number six.
04:46And our back gardens came down to the shore, to the river.
04:51And I think there's a wee fella running up and down there,
04:54you know, not knowing what we were living in.
04:57It's unbelievable.
04:59In May 1945, as a young teenager,
05:02Bert was witness to an extraordinary moment in history
05:05when the German U-boat fleet surrendered
05:08right outside his house.
05:10Eight more U-boats crept up the waters of Loch Foyle
05:13to Londonderry, where their surrender was received
05:15by Admiral Sir Max Horton,
05:17Commander-in-Chief Weston approaches.
05:19The day they surrendered, I'll never forget it.
05:21We were out for hours waiting on them.
05:23You know, we were the one that was keeping them.
05:25There was a battleship come up in front of them.
05:28And that was followed by the U-boats coming in
05:30to surrender at Lissahalle.
05:32They just drifted in quietly, nicely.
05:35Seeing submarines, as we called them, you know.
05:38They weren't U-boats to us.
05:39They were submarines.
05:41And, you know, we thought,
05:42my God, here they are now.
05:44And they're full of Germans.
05:46You know, when you looked at them,
05:48they were young lads.
05:50There were very few of them in their 30s.
05:52You know, they were all young fellas.
05:54I can see it all happening again.
05:59I can see the destroyers.
06:00I can see the submarines.
06:01I can see the activity, you know.
06:03It's in there.
06:05And it's not going to go away.
06:13The German U-boat fleet ending up in Londonderry
06:16in Northern Ireland was not mere happenstance.
06:18The port was specifically chosen by the head of the British Navy,
06:23Admiral Sir Max Horton.
06:29Horton decided that the U-boat fleet would surrender formally.
06:33And he decided that the most important base in the Battle of the Atlantic
06:38had been on the River Foyle.
06:40They would surrender at Lissa Halley.
06:44And so a token flotilla of U-boats, escorted by three ships,
06:49came in through Loch Foyle into the Foyle at Lissa Halley on the 14th of May 1945.
06:55Derry's strategic importance and its vital contribution to victory
07:02was underlined by their Allied decision
07:04to stage the final, symbolic act of the battle off this coastline.
07:10Operation Deadlight.
07:12Operation Deadlight in November 1945
07:14is designed to remove, once and for all, remove the U-boats
07:18as a threat against Great Britain and her allies.
07:21So the idea is the over 150 U-boats that have been surrendered by Germany
07:26will be removed from service and some of them will be scuttled.
07:32They do not want those things falling back into German hands
07:35and posing a threat in the future.
07:37So all of the boats were shot up by destroyers or other warships
07:45and some by aircraft firing rockets at them.
07:50Apart from a few U-boats, all of them went to the bottom of the sea.
07:56This is a significant place to scuttle these U-boats
07:59and there's something almost poetic about it for the Allies.
08:07But how did this place become the most significant location
08:17in the fight against the Nazi U-boat threat?
08:23This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin
08:27handed the German government a final note.
08:32Consequently, this country is at war with Germany.
08:37Just hours after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's broadcast,
08:46the Kriegsmarine, Germany's navy,
08:48launched their deadly campaign in the waters of the Atlantic.
08:52The Battle of the Atlantic breaks out off the Rockhold Bank,
08:55off the Donegal coast, on the 3rd of September 1939,
08:59when the British liner, Athenia, is torpedoed by a German U-boat.
09:04And the survivors are picked up by a Norwegian vessel and they're brought into Galway.
09:18And this brings back memories of the First World War,
09:20when the U-boats were very active off the southern and eastern Irish coast.
09:24And the U-boat is a sort of phantasmagorical concept to many,
09:28that people are frightened by this notion of the undersea raider
09:31who comes up out of nowhere and torpedo ships.
09:33Dr Axel Niesler, an engineer by trade, has always been fascinated by U-boats.
09:51He has spent a lifetime uncovering and collecting an extraordinary archive.
09:56This is my private photo collection of U-boat photographs.
10:01In total, it's about 30,000 I collected over the years.
10:05And they are a source of information for my work
10:08and also a documentation of the U-boats during the Second World War.
10:13When the war broke out, Germany had a total of 57 U-boats.
10:17And out of these 57 U-boats, only 48 were able to go on war patrols at that time
10:23because the other ones were either under training or not ready for service.
10:28And to make things even more worse was, out of these 48,
10:32there were just 22 U-boats able to operate in the open Atlantic.
10:37Admiral Karl Dunitz, the head of the Kriegsmarine U-boat fleet,
10:41was a master strategist who commanded his own submarine in World War I.
10:46He was convinced that U-boats were not only key to victory in the Atlantic theatre,
10:51but the entire war itself.
10:53He said in order to defeat Britain,
10:55it was necessary to have a fleet of 300 operational U-boats.
10:59So, starting with 57 at the beginning of the war, he was far away from this target.
11:05But he convinced not only the commander-in-chief of the German Navy,
11:09but even Hitler himself, that U-boats were the only means to defeat Britain.
11:16The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest in the world,
11:20stretching from the coast of Ireland across to Canada and America.
11:24Further south, it separates the continents of Africa and South America.
11:29The main theatre of war was centred in the North Atlantic.
11:34Eighty years on from their surrender,
11:36the biggest concentration of U-boat wrecks in the world can be found here,
11:41just off the northwest coast of Ireland.
11:44Eighty years on the coast of Ireland.
11:57Aha, here comes the man!
12:01We wish him to come aboard!
12:02Good to see us again, boys.
12:03Hey gentlemen!
12:04Guys, are we ready to go?
12:05Yeah.
12:06Então, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos lá
12:16O campeão de underwater cameraman Rich Stevenson é leading a equipe de expert divers,
12:22o seu mission é a localizar e capturar fotos de alguns dos mortos de pesquisas
12:28ever unleashed by the Kriegs marina.
12:30O mais desafio de capturar imagens é a depth da água que estamos trabalhando
12:35assim, sim, ordinarily, em água que você pode ir lá, fire um cheio,
12:40pode chegar novamente e ver, ver que é tudo bem, voltar para tentar,
12:45mas aqui temos que ir lá, ten que estar na parte da água para o nosso tempo de pesquisa
12:50e o que temos é o que temos que, não podemos influenciar isso e podemos não ser menos
12:55Mostra o que é certo até chegar em cima de umaizzyia de recop qualifications
12:59depois de duas horas de descanjo.
13:01Então, a 50 metros, isso é onde precisamos de coadência.
13:04Vamos parar, eu vou configurar a câmera.
13:06Quando eu sinto que eu tenho uma visão boa sobre a caixa,
13:09Ian, você vai sair a distância de um horizonte de mim
13:13para tentar encontrar algo bonito, como a Conning Tower, vai ser lindo.
13:16Eu sempre tento pensar em quem pode trazer, talvez, um pouco mais para um trabalho específico.
13:23E eu encontrei que trabalhando com pessoas como Ian e Barry,
13:27porque eles são muito experiente, pesquisadores de caixa de caixa,
13:30eu sei que eles vão poder fazer o trabalho que eu quero eles para fazer.
13:34Ian Taylor é a equipa de lighting tecnológico.
13:38É como a montagem de montagem, não é?
13:39Isso, tipo de diving, é extremo esporte.
13:45Ir em lugares onde poucas pessoas vão antes, é o nosso make-up como um homem.
13:51Ian é um verdadeiro trabalho, e ele é um bom que é tão confortável na água.
13:57Ele está guardando a luz 10 metros por nós,
14:00então ele pode apenas apenas fazer o que nós estamos,
14:03e ele tem que entender o que eu estou olhando.
14:07Ritchie vai me enviar para um determinado área,
14:09e eu trabalho com Ritchie a lot sobre os anos,
14:11e eu estou acostumado a trabalhar com ele,
14:14então ele grunça me em um lugar e me enviar em algum lugar,
14:17e eu vou fazer isso.
14:18Com a mão de mão de mão de mão,
14:19a única forma de comunicação abaixo da água,
14:22o time vai ter investido pelo local diver,
14:26Barry McGill,
14:27para guiar eles ao longo do recs.
14:29Meu papel da trip, realmente,
14:31é para mostrar a gente ao longo do recs,
14:32para tentar pinpointar as principais áreas do rec,
14:35que nós queremos ver,
14:38e talvez mostro eles um pouco de gemas,
14:39de coisas que, no primeiro dia,
14:42você não tinha que ter conhecimento local.
14:45Então, há uma empatia entre a câmera operadora,
14:49a pessoa em frente do câmera,
14:50e a pessoa que está ligando,
14:52e se nenhum dos três pessoas
14:54não se apresenta em um pouco,
14:55em um pouco de tempo,
14:57nós acabamos com um monte de gravação.
15:06Com a close atenção no tempo,
15:07Marinha Charts vai ajudar a guiar o team
15:10para o exacto local sobre os sonidos de U-boats.
15:13Mas em primeiros meses da guerra,
15:15foi quase impossível saber quando e onde
15:18esses mortos de mortes de mortes iriam seriam.
15:22Os U-boats podiam se esconder em escuro
15:25e atacar quando era para eles.
15:27Foi um pouco difícil para a British Navy
15:30para aceitar essa situação.
15:31Se tinha sido um agressor, um anemão,
15:34eles não pudessem se encontrar, não pudessem se encontrar,
15:36porque era evasivo.
15:41A estratégia de nazismo era simples como era efetivo,
15:45a atacar e atribuir as many vessels
15:47carrying vital supplies to the U.K.
15:49as they could find.
15:51These included shipping from Canada,
15:53who had joined with the Allies,
15:55but also from America,
15:57who had not yet entered the war.
16:00These are similar tactics to what are employed
16:02in the First World War.
16:03Britain's an island, and if you can cut her off,
16:05if you can starve her out, that is useful.
16:07So Britain, pre-war,
16:09had been getting a lot of supplies from Europe.
16:11So therefore, they needed supplies
16:13from the United States and Canada.
16:15So the whole point of the Battle of the Atlantic,
16:17from the German point of view,
16:18was to interrupt that supply
16:20of food, war materials,
16:24equipment, to Britain.
16:27If we can cut that off,
16:28the German high command think,
16:30then we can starve Britain out
16:31and cut her out of the war,
16:32force her to capitulate.
16:36Over the first months of the war,
16:38the German strategy seemed to be working.
16:40The British knew they had to protect
16:43their vital Atlantic lifeline at all costs.
16:46Their counter strategy?
16:48A convoy system to protect
16:50the vulnerable merchant ships
16:52making the crossing.
16:53The basic idea behind a convoy
16:56is there is strength in numbers.
16:57If you have a single ship
16:58going across the Atlantic,
17:00it is at huge risk of being picked off.
17:02No protection.
17:02But if you have 40 or 50 ships together,
17:06that's a much bigger group of ships
17:08to protect one another.
17:09So you have naval escort ships
17:11that will surround the merchant ships
17:13that are carrying those all-important supplies
17:16and people across the ocean.
17:17And they will move together
17:19a predetermined route.
17:20And their job is to see those ships
17:22across the ocean.
17:23They have weapons.
17:24The merchant ships don't.
17:25They can fire on submarines
17:27and keep those ships safe.
17:32Convoys may have had strength in numbers,
17:38but they could only move as fast
17:40as their slowest vessel,
17:42leaving them vulnerable.
17:43The whole point of a convoy
17:44is that you concentrate your resources
17:47in one place where you can protect it.
17:49It sort of seems counterintuitive.
17:51You think, okay,
17:52that means it's a really big, juicy target.
17:54But it also then means
17:55that you can concentrate your escorts.
17:57So your escorts are now screening the convoy.
18:00The Kriegs marina had limited numbers
18:02of operational U-boats
18:04in this early phase of the campaign.
18:06But they were preparing a new strategy,
18:08which would ultimately
18:09make them even deadlier.
18:11Whenever we talk about U-boats
18:13in the Second World War,
18:15Wolfpack tactic is not far away.
18:20A U-boat on its own
18:21isn't overly effective,
18:23but in a Wolfpack it is.
18:25So the idea is
18:26a single U-boat will be lurking,
18:28it will be looking for Allied vessels.
18:30and when it spots a convoy,
18:31it will call its sister U-boats
18:34and they will muster
18:35on the convoy's position.
18:37And instead of one craft
18:38firing one torpedo,
18:40multiple U-boats
18:41fire multiple torpedoes
18:43into a convoy.
18:44And that causes chaos.
18:50There weren't enough escorts
18:51to protect the convoys.
18:53Also, a lot of merchantmen
18:55were sailing independently,
18:56which meant there was
18:57lots of basically rich pickings.
18:59Wolfpack then hardly had
19:00any more than
19:01five to ten boats at all
19:03because there were just
19:03twenty boats at sea
19:05at that time, at maximum.
19:06But even the small number of boats
19:08could overhelm the escorts
19:11and could create great havoc
19:13among the convoys
19:14in the Atlantic.
19:17By June 1940,
19:19as U-boats cut a deadly path
19:21through Allied convoys,
19:22Germany was gaining ground
19:24in Europe,
19:25taking France
19:26and gaining five
19:27strategic naval ports
19:29on the Atlantic coast.
19:39After the fall of France,
19:41the strategic situation
19:42in the war at sea
19:43changed completely
19:44because formerly
19:46the Germans were based
19:47in the North Sea
19:48and now they had
19:50the full French Atlantic coast
19:51for their bases.
19:53This had huge implications
19:55for the battle raging at sea.
19:57The convoys basically
19:59then had to be re-routed
20:00from the south-western approaches
20:02around the south of Ireland
20:04and up into the Bristol Channel
20:06in the Celtic Sea
20:06and they re-routed them
20:08to come around
20:09the north-western approaches
20:10which meant
20:11around the north
20:12of the island of Ireland.
20:13In contrast to the Nazis'
20:18new foothold
20:19along the French coast,
20:21Britain and her allies
20:22weren't able
20:23to access ports
20:24in error
20:25that would have given them
20:26vital safe harbours
20:27on the edge
20:28of the Atlantic.
20:29The Royal Navy
20:30had access to
20:31the Foyle
20:32which became
20:33the big escort base
20:35but they'd had
20:37until just before the war
20:39the use of three other ports
20:41on the island of Ireland.
20:41one was Loch Swilly
20:42in Donegal
20:43the other two
20:45were Bearhaven
20:46and Cork Harbour
20:48or Queenstown
20:48right down the south
20:50and operationally
20:51the use of those three ports
20:54during the war
20:55would have been
20:55very, very advantageous
20:57for the Royal Navy
20:58and for the Allies
20:58generally
20:59in the Battle of the Atlantic.
21:01Of course
21:02when we're looking at Ireland
21:02the island
21:03during the Second World War
21:04we're looking at two jurisdictions
21:05so Northern Ireland
21:06which came into being
21:07in 1921
21:08and the Irish Free State
21:10Ireland
21:11in 1922.
21:14The so-called
21:14Treaty Ports
21:15had only been
21:16transferred back
21:17to Ireland
21:17in 1938
21:1816 years after
21:20the country
21:21had won its independence
21:22from Britain.
21:23With Ireland
21:24declaring its neutrality
21:26at the outbreak of war
21:27these ports
21:28were now agonisingly
21:29out of reach
21:30for the Allies.
21:32Churchill was very critical
21:33of Chamberlain's government
21:34for actually handing
21:36those back
21:36and said that
21:37you're not going
21:38to be able
21:39to get these
21:39back to the United Kingdom
21:41should you need them.
21:44There are those
21:45who have argued
21:45that it did cost lives
21:47in not having
21:48the Treaty Ports.
21:49It's an argument
21:50that's impossible
21:51to prove
21:53one way or the other.
21:55Whether use of
21:56the Treaty Ports
21:56would have saved lives
21:58may be academic now
21:59but in the initial
22:00months of battle
22:01it was clear
22:02their Allies
22:03were desperate
22:04for any advantage
22:05they could find.
22:14In the summer of 1940
22:16what the U-boat crews
22:17called the happy time
22:17when they could
22:18sink Allied shipping
22:20at will
22:20off the Irish coast.
22:27They are wreaking havoc
22:29and millions of tons
22:30of shipping
22:31and many men
22:32are going down
22:33in the Atlantic Ocean.
22:35The casualties of war
22:36are very clearly
22:38strewn onto
22:39Irish territory.
22:41Primarily it's bodies.
22:42Bodies washed ashore
22:43during the summer
22:44of 1940.
22:45So many bodies
22:46washed ashore
22:47in Mayo
22:48and Sligo
22:48and Donegal
22:49that the local authorities
22:50are talking about
22:51reopening famine pits.
22:52Churchill said
23:12the only thing
23:13that really worried me
23:15in the Second World War
23:16was the U-boat threat
23:17more so
23:17than the Battle of Britain
23:19more than anything else
23:20that was what kept him
23:21up at night.
23:27The very thing
23:28keeping Britain's
23:29Commander-in-Chief
23:30awake at night
23:31was a golden opportunity
23:32for this slick
23:33Nazi propaganda machine.
23:35In the summer of 1940
23:37it was a time
23:38when the Aces developed.
23:39That means
23:40commanding officers
23:41which would easily reach
23:42100,000 tons
23:44of merchant shipping
23:45being sunk.
23:54Commanding officers
23:55like Preen,
23:56like Kretschmer,
23:57like Schepke
23:57and the people
23:59in Germany
24:00they were just lingering
24:01for wartime heroes.
24:03It is in all countries
24:05that wartime heroes
24:06are being presented
24:08to the public
24:09as a matter of propaganda.
24:10and so these
24:12very successful commanders
24:14were presented
24:15in the newsreels
24:16in the radio
24:17and even in the newspapers
24:19almost daily.
24:21O-S-S-S-E-O-I
24:23These were the names
24:25which were also
24:25very much known
24:26in the British public
24:27as well
24:28because they were
24:29on the newsreels
24:30every time.
24:31and this changed greatly
24:33in March 1941
24:34when all three of them
24:35were sunk
24:35within a matter of weeks.
24:37Very much
24:38to the disappointment
24:39of the German
24:40and reality
24:41and to the U-Bodon
24:42but then of course
24:44other commanders
24:45filled their places.
24:49One of these new heroes
24:51ready to fill
24:52the propaganda vacuum
24:53was 30-year-old
24:55Adolf Piening
24:56commander
24:56of U-155.
24:59He would become
25:00one of the most
25:01famous aces
25:02in the German
25:02Kriegsmarine
25:03and one of the most deadly.
25:11Today's dive
25:11is the U-155.
25:13She's a
25:14Type 9C
25:15long range U-boat
25:17and these
25:18were designed
25:19to cross the Atlantic.
25:20They were designed
25:21to go to the States.
25:23And this particular boat
25:24commanded by Piening
25:25was incredibly successful.
25:28So it sank
25:28I think 122,000 tons
25:30of shipping.
25:31So a really successful boat,
25:33really historic.
25:36U-155's effectiveness
25:38wasn't just measured
25:39in tons of shipping sunk.
25:41It was responsible
25:42for nearly 1,000 deaths.
25:44At 76 meters long,
25:46U-155
25:48was an imposing sight
25:49compared
25:50to earlier models.
25:51Its crew of 52 men
25:53could be on
25:54long-range patrol
25:55from 7 to 10 weeks
25:57at a time.
26:01Here you have
26:03a typical example
26:04of a photograph
26:05on U-155.
26:09So it is
26:10taken at Bremen
26:11at the building yard
26:12during commissioning ceremony.
26:13On the top
26:15we have the crew
26:17assembled
26:17on board
26:18the U-boat.
26:20Piening is here
26:20standing next
26:21to the sailor
26:23and is greeting
26:23the flag.
26:25He was just
26:26a prototype
26:26of a German U-boat
26:27commander
26:27at that time.
26:28Are you ready,
26:40Barry, yeah?
26:41I think we're ready,
26:43Mike, folks.
26:43That's us!
26:58When you start
27:17to go down
27:17you feel
27:18slightly intimidated
27:19by the size
27:20of this thing.
27:23The submarine's
27:23in about 55 meters.
27:25About 40
27:26you could start
27:27seeing the submarine
27:28laying on the seabed.
27:30And when you can
27:31see that sort
27:32of distance
27:32going down
27:33a shot line
27:33it's quite
27:34an impressive sight.
27:35You get to see
27:36the whole U-boat
27:37in front of you.
27:38It nearly looks
27:39more like a ship
27:40that should be
27:40on the surface
27:41as opposed to
27:42a U-boat
27:43that goes
27:43under the water.
27:46U-155 was
27:47equipped with
27:48a maximum
27:48of 23 torpedoes.
27:51It had
27:51four torpedo tubes
27:53in the bowel
27:53and two in the stern.
27:55In addition to this
27:56it had
27:57a 10.5 cm deck gun
27:593.7 mm
28:01anti-aircraft gun
28:02on the afterdeck
28:03and the normal
28:052 cm
28:06anti-aircraft gun
28:07on the
28:07so-called
28:08bandstand
28:09after the
28:10conning tower.
28:14U-155,
28:16a Type 9C boat
28:17was one of
28:1854 similar
28:20vessels in service.
28:21Only four
28:22would make it
28:22through the entire
28:23conflict.
28:24as such
28:25it left
28:26a trail
28:26of devastation
28:27and human
28:28tragedy
28:28in his wake.
28:41One of my earliest
28:42memories is walking
28:43along this bank.
28:45I'm guessing
28:45that I was
28:46maybe four or five.
28:48We were in the city
28:49visiting my
28:50grandfather.
28:54I'm unsure
28:55what the motivation
28:56for a visit was
28:57but I imagine
28:58that my mum
28:59in the situation
29:00of being a war widow
29:01would have been
29:02looking to her family
29:03for some support
29:04during that time.
29:06David's father,
29:08John Sidney Brew,
29:09was an apprentice
29:10in the Belfast
29:11shipyard
29:12before signing up
29:13to the Navy
29:13reserves
29:14when war broke out.
29:16He left
29:16Northern Ireland
29:17to join a ship
29:18on the Atlantic
29:18convoys
29:19when David
29:20was only one year old.
29:22I have no emotional
29:23or visual
29:24context for my father.
29:27There wasn't a place
29:28for my father
29:29for some reason.
29:30It was never a subject
29:31which the children
29:33were introduced to.
29:36It was just
29:37a historical fact
29:38that he was lost
29:40at sea.
29:44John Sidney Brew
29:46served on HMS Avenger,
29:48a Royal Navy
29:49aircraft carrier.
29:51It was spotted
29:51in the dead of night
29:52120 miles northwest
29:54of Gibraltar
29:55by the lookout
29:56on U-155
29:58commanded
29:58by Adolf Peening.
30:00He attacked
30:01one of these convoys
30:02which returned
30:04from the landing grounds
30:05of the North African coast
30:07to the United Kingdom
30:08and in one of these convoys
30:10he sighted
30:11and subsequently attacked.
30:13it was HMS Avenger,
30:15one of the very first
30:17auxiliary aircraft carriers
30:20employed by the Royal Navy.
30:22Peening's war diary
30:23from the time
30:24details the attack.
30:27A convoy was identified
30:28at 2.55 a.m.
30:31But the U-boat
30:32was spotted
30:33by escorts
30:33and attacked.
30:35From 4.14 a.m.,
30:37U-155
30:38shoots six torpedoes
30:40towards its target.
30:41at 4.18
30:43U-155
30:44crash-dives
30:45to avoid
30:46being hit itself.
30:51Peening reports
30:52that he hears
30:53the distant sound
30:54of detonations.
30:56Sinking of an aircraft carrier
30:58was quite an achievement
30:59and was considered
31:00a priority
31:01by U-boat command.
31:02The attack was a massive success
31:05for Germany.
31:07Peening was lauded
31:08as a hero.
31:09In contrast,
31:10it was a devastating blow
31:11to the Royal Navy
31:12and to the British government
31:14who kept details
31:15of the tragedy secret
31:16for months.
31:17HMS Avenger sank
31:22in two minutes.
31:23Only 12 crew survived.
31:26514 men perished.
31:28Among them
31:29was John Sidney Brew,
31:31husband
31:32and father
31:33to a young family,
31:34including his
31:35one-year-old son David
31:36back in Northern Ireland.
31:37We don't have anything
31:39to remember him by.
31:41The ship was,
31:42in my understanding,
31:43catastrophically destroyed.
31:46So even whatever positions
31:48he might have had
31:48at that time
31:49would have been lost.
31:54With no memories
31:55of his own,
31:56David has spent
31:57a lifetime searching
31:58for the father
31:58he never knew.
32:00Much of this
32:01was a mystery to me.
32:03So in piecing together
32:04all the bits and pieces,
32:05the photographs,
32:06the telegrams
32:07from the war office,
32:08all of these came together
32:10to construct something
32:11approaching a person.
32:18This is a picture
32:21of my sartorially challenged
32:24father
32:25when he was in the
32:27working in the shipyard.
32:30This photograph
32:30is with his brother Ralph,
32:34my uncle.
32:34We looked like
32:35so they were taken
32:36about 38,
32:3739 possibly.
32:42But it was only
32:44in later years
32:44that David made
32:45an incredible discovery.
32:47This is a postcard
32:48from my dad.
32:51It just came out
32:51of the blue
32:52in tidying up
32:53my mum's affairs.
32:54The postcard is from
32:59Barbizon Plaza
33:02overlooking
33:03Central Park, New York.
33:07It's addressed
33:07to Mr. David John Brew.
33:10Dear David,
33:11how would you like
33:12to come with me
33:13and bring your mother
33:15with you?
33:16Hope you are
33:17being a good boy
33:18and looking after
33:20Ma and his cross,
33:23Daddy.
33:27John mailed this postcard
33:28just days before boarding
33:30HMS Avenger in New York,
33:32never knowing it would be
33:34the last contact
33:35with his baby son.
33:36You read something
33:40and it was written
33:42by your father.
33:43It's in his handwriting.
33:45He has signed it.
33:47He's addressed it to me,
33:48which is the closest
33:49we ever came.
33:51To me,
33:52it's a gift.
33:53You know,
33:53it's something precious
33:54to me because
33:55it's a personal
33:55link to him.
33:58Adolf Piening
34:05may have been
34:05considered a hero
34:06amongst the German public
34:08for his wartime exploits
34:09aboard U-155.
34:12But David Brew's story
34:14is a reminder
34:14that the service
34:15of the sunken relics
34:17from the Atlantic Theatre
34:18had consequences
34:20that still reverberate
34:21to this day.
34:28The conning tower
34:30is one of the boat's
34:31most vital components.
34:33Piening,
34:34or his lookout,
34:35would stand here
34:35and identify targets
34:37for attack.
34:38The conning tower,
34:40really iconic,
34:41absolutely
34:42distinctive.
34:45You really appreciate
34:46the size of it
34:47when you see Barry
34:48swimming across the deck.
34:50The hatch was open
34:51so we could have
34:52a pier inside there.
34:54That human connection
34:54kind of comes back
34:55because that's,
34:57you know,
34:57where someone would
34:58get in and out
34:59of that submarine,
35:01or the crew would.
35:02I mean,
35:02it's just an incredible
35:03thing to consider
35:05that these were
35:06operational U-boat submarines.
35:10Sitting in the conning tower,
35:11they had a set of binoculars
35:13matched to a device
35:14called a UZO
35:15which would allow them
35:16to take the bearing
35:17of the ship.
35:18That was then transmitted
35:19down to the control room
35:20and those numbers,
35:21the bearing of the ship
35:22was transmitted
35:23to the torpedo room
35:24and the torpedoes
35:25were then set
35:26to go in a particular
35:27direction
35:27and they would then
35:29fire the torpedoes
35:30at the target.
35:32As the highest point
35:33on the ship,
35:34the conning tower
35:35was also used
35:36by commanders
35:36to show off
35:37their prowess in battle.
35:39So this is a tradition
35:41from even World War I
35:43that right after
35:44the start of the war,
35:45individual commanders
35:47started to indicate
35:47their thinking
35:49by individual flags
35:51for each ship
35:52that had sunk
35:53or torpedoed.
35:54In this case,
35:55we have one, two, three,
35:56four, five, six, seven,
35:57eight, eight such flags
35:59indicating eight ships
36:01sunk on this patrol.
36:03In the early part
36:04of the war,
36:04most of their sinkings
36:05were carried out
36:06on the surface.
36:08They had to surface
36:09to charge their batteries
36:10and they could go
36:11much, much faster
36:12on the surface
36:13and that then allowed
36:14them to,
36:15when they spotted a ship,
36:16they could close
36:17at much higher speed.
36:19Generally,
36:19the most important point
36:21was to come close
36:21to the target
36:22and to attack
36:23mostly unseen
36:25with a torpedo.
36:25and after attacking
36:27a vessel,
36:29should they then
36:30see a response
36:31or should they
36:32then see, say,
36:33smoke,
36:33what they think
36:33might be a warship
36:35on the horizon
36:35or there might be
36:36an aircraft,
36:37they would then
36:38go under,
36:39they would then dive.
36:40whilst Canada
36:55had joined Britain
36:56in its fight
36:57against the Nazis
36:57from the beginning,
36:58it didn't have
36:59anywhere near
37:00the military might
37:01and resource
37:01of its nearest neighbor.
37:03The United States,
37:05however,
37:05had resisted
37:06formally getting involved
37:08in the war.
37:10That all changed
37:13in December 1941
37:15after the Axis
37:16attacked Pearl Harbor.
37:23But the Americans
37:25were undertaking
37:26secret preparations
37:27long before this
37:28and they were
37:29focused on Derry.
37:37The first Americans
37:38arrived here
37:39at the end of June 19
37:401941.
37:41They came to build
37:43a naval base
37:43tagged on to the
37:45Royal Navy base
37:45at Lyssa Halley.
37:47Of course,
37:48this is almost
37:48six months
37:49before the Japanese
37:50attack the Americans
37:51at Pearl Harbor.
37:55All of a sudden,
37:56there were pine trees
37:58stripped.
38:00Thousands of them
38:01came to Lyssa Halley
38:02and we were wondering,
38:03well,
38:04what are these here for,
38:05you know?
38:06And then all of a sudden,
38:07sea bees arrived.
38:08they were a construction
38:10battalion
38:10and they started,
38:11they put the steel points
38:13onto the pine trees
38:14to build that jetty there.
38:22And they were building
38:23the jetty,
38:24building a pumping station,
38:26building tanks for fuel.
38:29Lyssa Halley just changed,
38:31you could say,
38:32overnight.
38:32A quiet row of houses
38:37where a young Bert Worski
38:39lived on the banks
38:40of the Foyle River
38:41was now inside the perimeter
38:43of an American Navy base
38:45as the United States
38:46prepared to officially
38:48enter the war.
38:49And boy,
38:50was that act of fact
38:51of that.
38:52It was unbelievable
38:54from there on,
38:55you know?
38:55They built a lot
39:02of dockside facilities
39:04as well
39:04along the Foyle
39:06in the city,
39:07just on the edge
39:07of the city.
39:09And by the time
39:09the base becomes
39:11operational in 1942,
39:12there's actually
39:135,000 American personnel
39:15in the city.
39:16No longer a tiny city
39:22on the periphery
39:23of war,
39:23this was now
39:24Base One Europe,
39:26the US Navy's
39:27nerve centre
39:28of Atlantic operations.
39:34Terry's importance
39:34can be summed up
39:36in the number
39:37of ocean-going ships
39:38that were based here.
39:40And that was
39:41at one stage
39:42of the war
39:42at the peak,
39:43round about 150.
39:45And people who
39:46lived through
39:47that time
39:47would say that
39:48you got the impression
39:49walking up the quays
39:51that you could have
39:52walked from one side
39:53of the river
39:54to the other
39:54on the ships
39:55that were berthed there.
39:57The next two
39:59biggest bases
40:00in the UK
40:01were the Clyde
40:02and Liverpool.
40:05Between the two
40:06of them,
40:07there went
40:08100 escort ships.
40:11So,
40:11Derry is
40:12the main
40:14muscle,
40:15if you like,
40:15for the Royal Navy's
40:16escort fleet.
40:17Derry was
40:18particularly important.
40:19It's the first
40:20port of call,
40:21really,
40:22whenever you're
40:22crossing the Atlantic.
40:23It's the first place
40:24that you're going
40:25to come to.
40:26It has this
40:27base,
40:27essentially,
40:28there that can be
40:29developed.
40:29There's an infrastructure
40:30that can be built on.
40:32So,
40:32it's incredibly
40:33important
40:34logistically
40:35and strategically.
40:37For the city,
40:38the changes
40:38were huge.
40:40it's one of only
40:42two times
40:43in the history
40:43of the city
40:44that there's been
40:44100% employment.
40:46And the other time
40:47was the First World War.
40:48We reckon that the population
40:49was probably around
40:50about 40,000,
40:5145,000 people.
40:53Into that
40:54comes
40:55in the region
40:56of 30,000
40:57plus
40:58service personnel.
41:00Tens of thousands
41:05of American troops
41:06were now making
41:07the hazardous trip
41:08across the Atlantic.
41:10They knew that
41:11seeing Derry
41:11would mean
41:12they had reached
41:13safe harbor.
41:18With many
41:19having never been
41:20outside their own
41:21country before,
41:22the U.S. Navy
41:23were keen to
41:23communicate
41:24the unique
41:25circumstances
41:25they would find
41:26themselves in.
41:29This is the
41:30pocket guide
41:31to Northern Ireland.
41:32And this was
41:33printed by
41:35the War
41:36and the Navy
41:36departments.
41:37The idea was
41:38that it would tell you
41:39what you were going to see,
41:40what you were going to experience.
41:41So it tells us
41:42a little bit
41:42in the contents pages
41:44about what the country
41:45was like,
41:45about the people,
41:46their customs
41:47and their manners
41:47and about their arguments.
41:49But the key,
41:50particularly in Ireland,
41:50two rules,
41:51don't talk religion,
41:53don't talk politics.
41:55The Irish love to talk.
41:57Conversation is
41:58a highly perfected
41:59form of entertainment,
42:01an argument for its own sake
42:02as a Scots-Irish speciality.
42:06But they're basically saying,
42:07you know,
42:07the Irish call themselves
42:08all sorts of names,
42:10accuse each other
42:10of the most bizarre
42:11irregularities,
42:12indulge in wild exaggeration
42:14and virulent personal abuse.
42:16And listening,
42:17you may be expecting
42:17a rising fist fight
42:19at any moment.
42:20So whatever you do,
42:21don't get involved.
42:22Stay out of this.
42:23Another thing American troops
42:25were advised to stay out of
42:27was the free state,
42:29ERA,
42:30the neutral neighbour
42:31that lay just across
42:32the Irish border.
42:33This book sort of under
42:35the section
42:35ERA border problems
42:37says that American troops
42:38are not permitted
42:39to cross the border.
42:40And it goes on to say,
42:41you know,
42:41you might find this strange,
42:43but there's this idea
42:44of the shamrock
42:45and St Patrick's Day
42:46and the wearing of the green
42:47and that they all belong
42:49to Southern Ireland,
42:50now called ERA.
42:52They're neutral,
42:53but Northern Ireland,
42:54and says it treasures
42:55its union with England
42:57above all things
42:58and that there are
42:58historic reasons for this.
42:59The Irish border
43:01was a geographic
43:02and political complication
43:03the Allies had
43:04to carefully manage.
43:06The island of Ireland
43:07had been partitioned
43:09only two decades previously
43:10in 1921.
43:13Irish leader
43:13Eamon de Valera
43:14was determined
43:15that Ireland
43:16would remain neutral.
43:18Eamon de Valera,
43:19pursuing his dream
43:20of a self-sufficient
43:21and peaceful era,
43:22has succeeded
43:23in maintaining
43:24his nation's
43:25complete independence.
43:2795% of ERA's people
43:29were convinced
43:29that to enter the war
43:31on Britain's side
43:31would have been
43:32to betray the cause
43:33of independence
43:34to which Ireland's heroes
43:35devoted their lives.
43:37Ireland,
43:38like other small states,
43:40Belgium,
43:40Luxembourg,
43:41Afghanistan,
43:43another neutral state,
43:44declared their neutrality
43:46in the war.
43:47They're neutral
43:48in a war zone,
43:49be it the Battle of Britain,
43:50the Battle of the Atlantic.
43:52You're neutral
43:53until you're invaded.
43:54The United States
43:55declared its neutrality
43:56and gave up its neutrality
43:57after Pearl Harbor.
43:58and for Ireland
43:59it was expected
44:00to be the same.
44:02De Valera
44:02and his senior military officers
44:04knew that they were,
44:06there was every possibility
44:07that Ireland would be invaded
44:09by the Allies
44:10or the Axis.
44:11Well this is a very important document
44:17that I have here
44:18and this is a meeting
44:19that takes place
44:20between the Chief of Staff
44:21of the Defence Forces
44:22and the Minister for Defence
44:23and the two men
44:25are discussing
44:26how Ireland will react
44:27should there be an invasion
44:29by either Britain
44:30or by Germany.
44:31McKenna and Traynor
44:32decided
44:33if Britain were the first aggressor
44:35do we immediately attack
44:36her invading elements
44:37and they decided
44:38yes
44:39but if Britain
44:40should invade Ireland
44:42who would Ireland
44:43look for external aid from
44:44and the two men
44:46could not decide
44:46that was left over
44:48for future discussion.
44:50However
44:50in the event
44:51of a German invasion
44:53it's very different.
44:55Same question
44:56if Germany
44:57is the first aggressor
44:59do we immediately attack
45:00her invading elements
45:01yes
45:02but if so
45:03is it the intention
45:04to look for external aid
45:06and from whom
45:07and here a decision
45:08is taken
45:09and it's Britain
45:09It was
45:12a pragmatic neutrality
45:16De Valera
45:17was a mathematician
45:18and math
45:20I think factored
45:21into everything
45:22that he did
45:23and thought
45:24and I think
45:25De Valera realised
45:26that in the long run
45:28Germany was not
45:30going to win
45:31so he maintained
45:33this facade
45:34if you like
45:35of neutrality
45:36and yet
45:37as a number
45:38of historians
45:38have described it
45:39it was a neutrality
45:40in the favour
45:42of the Allies
45:43De Valera made it
45:44very clear
45:45on the outbreak
45:46of war
45:46he made it very clear
45:46to the German minister
45:48in Dublin
45:48Edward Hempel
45:49that Ireland
45:50would have a certain
45:51consideration for Britain
45:52I may not like
45:54the British
45:54but I like the Germans
45:56even less
45:56One of the ways
45:57that Ireland also
45:58helps the Allies
46:00a very obvious way
46:01is that
46:03De Valera
46:03does not stop
46:05or the government
46:05does not stop
46:06Irish men and women
46:07getting involved
46:08in the war effort
46:09There's about
46:10150,000
46:11Irish men
46:13join the
46:14British army
46:15This photograph
46:29was taken
46:30in July 1945
46:31but it's remarkable
46:32because
46:33these four brothers
46:35went to war
46:36in the sense
46:36that Uncle Claude
46:37went to the First World War
46:38survived being gassed
46:40and came home
46:40My grandfather
46:41Kendall
46:42he was in the army
46:43and he fought
46:44in the Second World War
46:45and then
46:46the other two brothers
46:47Uncle Evelyn
46:47and Uncle Paul
46:48who was the youngest
46:49were both naval officers
46:50so we're a very fortunate family
46:52fairly highly decorated
46:54as well
46:54but
46:55they were lucky too
46:56The Shavas brothers
47:01from County Waterford
47:03on the southern coast
47:03of Ireland
47:04served in the British forces
47:06with distinction
47:07Their heroic exploits
47:09have become
47:10the stuff of legend
47:11At that time
47:12there were a lot more
47:13Protestant families
47:14down here
47:15there was a lot more
47:15connections to
47:16England and to Britain
47:18My great-grandfather
47:19really had
47:20decided
47:21no I'm going to be Irish
47:21I want an Irish family
47:22we're going to be brought up
47:23here in Ireland
47:24and we threw our lot in
47:25with the new country
47:26For the young Shavas brothers
47:28growing up
47:29on the coast
47:29between Cork
47:30and Waterford
47:31was an idyllic childhood
47:33Here they all are
47:34lined up
47:34and they're going to run
47:35a paper chase
47:36so
47:37what will happen there
47:39is possibly the person
47:40on the horse
47:40will ride out
47:40in front
47:41dropping bits of paper
47:42and the others
47:43will then have to
47:43run along after it
47:44but with the paper chase
47:45it's not just about
47:46how you lay the trail
47:48but you run
47:49false trails as well
47:50I would suggest
47:52that some of the stuff
47:52that was going on
47:53in the North Atlantic
47:54would have been
47:54about false trails too
47:55This whole thing
47:57of playing in a team
47:58and chasing
48:00it started
48:01at a very very young age
48:02it got a lot more serious
48:03obviously
48:04as the years went by
48:05you know
48:05Evelyn Shavas
48:09left Ireland
48:10for Naval College
48:11in England
48:11when he was just
48:1213 years old
48:1320 years later
48:15in 1942
48:16he was an Atlantic
48:18Escort Commander
48:19stationed out of Derry
48:21250 miles away
48:23from where he was born
48:25on the same island
48:26but a world away
48:27from Irish neutrality
48:29Evelyn Henry Shavas
48:31was a regular
48:32Royal Navy officer
48:33very very professional
48:35as the Royal Navy's
48:37officers were
48:38he's brought into
48:40if you like
48:41the escort service
48:42of the Royal Navy
48:43Evelyn's unpublished memoir
48:46detailing his time
48:48as an escort commander
48:49on the Atlantic convoys
48:50is a precious
48:51family heirloom
48:52it gives a first-hand account
48:54of what happened at sea
48:56if I had any clue
48:57where a U-boat
48:58or a pack of U-boats
48:59might be lurking
49:00my first concern
49:01was to dodge them
49:02run away in fact
49:04instead of charging
49:05straight at them
49:06and as we much so
49:07wanted to do
49:08so they'd want to go
49:08and do that
49:09but in fact
49:10their thing was
49:11they were escorts
49:12they had to step away
49:13from the fight
49:14they weren't to get
49:14involved in the fight
49:15the guiding light
49:17for an RN officer
49:19is Nelson's last signal
49:21at Trafalgar
49:22which was
49:22engage the enemy
49:24more closely
49:25now for a convoy
49:27escort commander
49:29your principle
49:31was to get the convoy
49:32safely to port
49:34in other words
49:35you were obliged
49:36to avoid the enemy
49:38as much as you
49:39possibly could
49:40he understood
49:41I have to get
49:42this cargo
49:43whether it is oil
49:44it supplies food supplies
49:46whether it's armaments
49:47whether it's men
49:47I have to get it
49:48safely across Atlantic
49:49that's all I have to do
49:50but the reality of war
49:53in the Atlantic theater
49:54meant that escort
49:55naval commanders
49:56sometimes had no choice
49:58but to invoke
49:59the spirit of Nelson
50:01and engage the enemy
50:03at close quarters
50:04place North Atlantic
50:06westbound convoy
50:07under attack
50:08by a pack of U-boats
50:09my escort group
50:11was whizzing around
50:12like maddened blue bottles
50:13keeping the devils down
50:14successfully so far
50:16nobody sunk
50:17two supporting aircraft
50:19had depth charged
50:20a U-boat
50:21and blown her
50:21to the surface
50:22one of my ships
50:28which had been
50:29having fun and games
50:30with another U-boat
50:31astern of the convoy
50:32raced up to rejoin
50:33and passed close
50:34to the first U-boat
50:35obviously in distress
50:37and about to sink
50:38with her crew on deck
50:40waving frantically
50:40to be rescued
50:41our chap promptly
50:43signaled me
50:44by RT
50:45asking my permission
50:46to pick up the Germans
50:47this was the second
50:48or perhaps third
50:49most ghastly moment
50:50of my life
50:51I had clear evidence
50:52of a further U-boat threat
50:54ahead of the convoy
50:55and the safety
50:56of the convoy
50:57was my job
50:57I needed all
50:59my escorts
51:00around the convoy
51:00I deliberately condemned
51:03those Germans
51:04to death
51:05and said no
51:05this is being written
51:09in the early 1980s
51:10he's a Christian
51:11so I think he's looking
51:12back on his life
51:13and is concerned
51:14about some of those
51:15decisions
51:15that he had to make
51:17like many sailors
51:19then and since
51:20Psalm 107
51:22held a special meaning
51:23for Evelyn Chavasse
51:25they that go down
51:27to the sea in ships
51:28and occupy their business
51:29in great waters
51:30these men see the works
51:32of the Lord
51:33and his wonders
51:34in the deep
51:35for men on the convoys
51:42faith was a powerful thing
51:44to keep hold of
51:45the same must have been true
51:47for the Germans
51:48who find themselves
51:49on board U-boats
51:50one wonders how the men felt
51:53you know
51:53being recruited
51:54into the Kriegsmarine
51:55and then been allocated
51:56to U-boats
51:57and you know
51:58that you've probably
51:59got a one in three
52:00chance of survival
52:01they ain't great odds
52:0375% of the U-boat force
52:07is killed
52:07that is the highest rate
52:09of loss
52:09in the entire German military
52:11in the second world war
52:12they have an average
52:13survival
52:14production of about 60 days
52:16and the average age
52:17of a U-boat crew member
52:18is about 20 years old
52:20it's a very tough
52:21environment to be in
52:22as the deadly cat
52:23and mouse game
52:24continued to play out
52:25in the Atlantic theatre
52:26both sides were desperate
52:28to develop new strategies
52:30which might give them
52:31an advantage
52:32so we'll all jump in
52:33as a three
52:34assess the current
52:35first five minutes
52:36just shoot some nice
52:37big wides
52:37if we can
52:38the team's next dive
52:39is on an incredibly rare
52:41type 7D U-boat
52:42which was adapted
52:44from existing designs
52:45in an attempt
52:46to make it even deadlier
52:48to allied shipping
52:49this is the U-218
52:50and they were built
52:51to mine
52:52around the British Isles
52:54I haven't done this one before
52:55so naturally
52:56I'm interested to see
52:57what it's like
52:58it's a lovely dive
52:59typical type 7
53:01five mine chutes
53:02which are big enough
53:03to swim through
53:04the 1.3 metres across
53:05just after the conning tower
53:06that's the distinctive feature
53:08before the start
53:11of the war
53:11Admiral Dönitz
53:12and the Kriegsmarine
53:13focused on
53:14two different
53:15types of U-boats
53:16one was a so-called
53:17Type 7
53:18a small boat
53:19about 500 tons
53:21specifically designed
53:22to attack shipping
53:23in the open Atlantic
53:24it was very
53:25very fast comparable
53:27it was very well
53:29equipped with
53:29five torpedo tubes
53:30and it was
53:31very mobile
53:32when the Germans
53:34designed these
53:35Type 7
53:36boats
53:36they shortly
53:37afterwards
53:38found that
53:39they were needing
53:40a kind of a
53:41mining U-boat
53:42which they had been
53:43used in the
53:44first world war
53:45with great success
53:46on all fronts
53:47so they used
53:49the basic
53:50Type 7
53:51design
53:51just lengthened
53:53it by one section
53:54which housed
53:55the mining shafts
53:56U-218
54:04lies at a depth
54:05of 60 metres
54:06as it comes
54:07into view
54:08the sheer scale
54:10of its specially
54:11adapted weaponry
54:12becomes apparent
54:13when you see
54:14when you see
54:14a tube
54:15that's one and a half
54:16metres in diameter
54:17the enormity
54:18of the size
54:19of these
54:20mines
54:21that they would
54:21be laying
54:22comes home to you
54:23so having Barry
54:24in that
54:25to demonstrate
54:26the size of
54:27those chutes
54:28I think was
54:29really useful
54:30but also quite
54:31daunting as well
54:33or quite
54:33I don't know what the word is
54:34but it's quite
54:35sort of scary
54:36to see these things
54:37and what they
54:38were built
54:39to do
54:39these deep
54:43shafts
54:44were designed
54:45to hold
54:45an explosive
54:46cargo of mines
54:47which could be
54:49laid in coastal
54:49waters
54:50where they posed
54:51a deadly threat
54:52to ships
54:52coming and going
54:53from British harbors
54:55when they built
54:58the U-218
54:59as a mine layer
55:00the Germans
55:01were harking back
55:02to a very
55:02very successful
55:04mine laying campaign
55:06submarine mine laying
55:07campaign
55:07for the first world war
55:08only six of these
55:10specialist vessels
55:11which could also
55:13operate
55:13as normal
55:14torpedo boats
55:15were built
55:16but they soon
55:17find the British
55:17coastline
55:18heavily protected
55:19making them
55:20easy targets
55:21mining was very
55:23complicated
55:24because you have
55:25to enter
55:25in these
55:26very heavily
55:27patrolled areas
55:29under the coast
55:30and the U-wood commanders
55:31didn't like that
55:32at all
55:33five of the six boats
55:35in operation
55:36were sunk
55:37with the loss
55:37of 241 men
55:39U-218 itself
55:41was attacked
55:42and damaged
55:43on at least
55:44five separate occasions
55:45but somehow
55:46it made it
55:47through the war
55:48Allied surface forces
55:49and aircraft
55:50had now shut down
55:52coastal waters
55:52they hadn't enough
55:53they had enough
55:54air power
55:55and sea power
55:56to ensure
55:57that the U-boats
55:57could no longer operate
55:59by the end of 1942
56:01coastal waters
56:03around the UK
56:03were inhospitable
56:05to U-boats
56:05but that wasn't
56:07the case
56:07for vast areas
56:09of the open Atlantic
56:10where they operated
56:11almost unhindered
56:13the Allies
56:14were struggling
56:14to keep
56:15the vital supply lines
56:16open
56:16so there was
56:18a dangerous area
56:20that was called
56:21the Black Pit
56:22by some merchant mariners
56:23where simply
56:24they had no
56:25aerial protection
56:27there's a huge piece
56:28of the Atlantic
56:29south of Iceland
56:30into which
56:31basically Allied aircraft
56:33can't reach
56:34there was a sheer number
56:36of U-boats
56:36now deployed
56:37and there was hardly
56:38any chance
56:39to escape
56:40the search lines
56:41which were spanning
56:42all across the Atlantic
56:43so sooner or later
56:45any convoy
56:46would be located
56:47by U-boats
56:48as the battle
56:53reaches its most
56:54critical phase
56:56you have wrens in here
56:58who have brothers
56:59and cousins
56:59and friends
57:00on those ships
57:01and they're looking
57:02at this map
57:02and they are willing
57:03those people
57:04to stay alive
57:05and it's a very
57:06heavy place to work
57:07both sides raced
57:14to develop
57:14deadly new technology
57:16so once U-boats
57:18were able
57:18to stay submerged
57:19with the help
57:20of the snorkel
57:20chances to be
57:22located by
57:23enemy aircraft
57:24was almost nil
57:25every time
57:27was it advanced
57:28by one side
57:29the other
57:29sought to counter it
57:31they have the hedgehog
57:35which is this new
57:36weapon that they can
57:37use against submarines
57:38with the fate of
57:43Europe on a knife
57:44edge
57:44this was the most
57:46important project
57:47of the German war
57:48navy
57:48it was designed
57:50to produce one
57:51boat every two
57:52and a half days
57:53it was clear the
57:59Nazis would stop
58:00at nothing
58:01in order to win
58:02there were
58:04around 10,000
58:05people
58:06who were forced
58:07to work
58:08he kept his accent
58:12right up to his
58:13dying day
58:14very proud dairy man
58:15it was really like
58:17a concentration camp
58:18system
58:19with a rope
58:21and they loved
58:31that
58:34they were
58:34they eficient
58:35they were
58:36they were
58:36lucky
58:37they were
58:37they had
58:38a
58:38that
58:38it was really
58:39they were
58:40they had
58:41not
58:42they were
58:42they were
58:42they were
58:43they were
58:43they were
58:43they were
58:44Legenda Adriana Zanotto
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