Convoy SC.122 & HX.229 - Martin Middlebrook

Winston Churchill wrote, "The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril." Had the convoy link between North America and Britain been broken, the course of World War II would have been different. As it was, there was a period during the winter of 1942-43 when the Germans came close to cutting the North Atlantic lifeline. In the first twenty days of March, 1943, the Germans sank ninety-seven Allied merchant ships - twice the rate of replacement. During the same period seven U-boats were lost and fourteen put in service. no wonder Churchill was worried.