Germany's Third and Last Chance
- Episode aired 1998
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Battle of the Atlantic
As an island nation surrounded by enemy territory, Britain needed to be supplied by sea from its colonies and from North America. The German submarines and aircraft were able to sink enough cargo in the early years of the war that, had German authorities put more effort into it, the war might actually have been won by simply strangling Britain.
But the Germans never did have enough U-boats to do the job. At their peak, there were about 100 operational. The Luftwaffe helped but Goering downplayed its use at sea in favor of operations over land. Nevertheless, the U-boats and attacking German aircraft ran roughshod over Allied shipping until about May of 1943, when Allie technology turned the tables. Of 40,000 German sailors in the U-boat service, 27,000 died on their missions by war's end. And what a terrible fate it must have been, sealed up in a sardine can under the water waiting to be demolished by depth charges and drowning in a dark steel tube.
British Coastal Command began with little in the way of aircraft patrols. The Anson was slow and fitted mostly for slow weather patrols along the shoreline. They were replaced by the more effective, long-range Lockheed Hudson and later the still more effective B-24s.
The Luftwaffe wasn't much better off. Their primary long-range patrol aircraft was the four-engined Condor. The aircraft had a decent range and could carry bombs and weapons but it had been designed as a passenger airliner for Lufthansa and wasn't up to the rigors of war-time service. Its fuel lines had been routed through the belly of the airplane, making it vulnerable to ship-board fire. And it was known to crack in half behind the wings during rough landings.
I won't bother describing the Battle of the Atlantic. It sprawled all over the place, from the Indian Ocean to the arctic ports of the Soviet Union. As usual with this series, rivalry and resentments are mentioned, if not explored in detail. The American Admiral King, Naval Chief of Staff in Washington, had no love for the British and wanted resources shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the other side, Goering felt that the use of airplanes at sea was largely a waste of time.
In the end, the Germans were defeated by lack of numbers and advancing Allied technology. It was their third and last chance to win the war -- which was entirely possible -- because they had blown their first two chances by not taking Moscow and by committing another strategic error that I forget -- maybe it was Hitler's early insistence on having a surface fleet of ships that could challenge the British Navy.
Again, as is customary, the German point of view is given by a German speaker, the British by an Englishman, and the American by an American. The points of view represented by each don't always mesh, and they shouldn't. In a war you have as many "realities" as you have combatants. There is narration but the only talking head we see is the author of the book on which the series is based and he doesn't appear often.
But the Germans never did have enough U-boats to do the job. At their peak, there were about 100 operational. The Luftwaffe helped but Goering downplayed its use at sea in favor of operations over land. Nevertheless, the U-boats and attacking German aircraft ran roughshod over Allied shipping until about May of 1943, when Allie technology turned the tables. Of 40,000 German sailors in the U-boat service, 27,000 died on their missions by war's end. And what a terrible fate it must have been, sealed up in a sardine can under the water waiting to be demolished by depth charges and drowning in a dark steel tube.
British Coastal Command began with little in the way of aircraft patrols. The Anson was slow and fitted mostly for slow weather patrols along the shoreline. They were replaced by the more effective, long-range Lockheed Hudson and later the still more effective B-24s.
The Luftwaffe wasn't much better off. Their primary long-range patrol aircraft was the four-engined Condor. The aircraft had a decent range and could carry bombs and weapons but it had been designed as a passenger airliner for Lufthansa and wasn't up to the rigors of war-time service. Its fuel lines had been routed through the belly of the airplane, making it vulnerable to ship-board fire. And it was known to crack in half behind the wings during rough landings.
I won't bother describing the Battle of the Atlantic. It sprawled all over the place, from the Indian Ocean to the arctic ports of the Soviet Union. As usual with this series, rivalry and resentments are mentioned, if not explored in detail. The American Admiral King, Naval Chief of Staff in Washington, had no love for the British and wanted resources shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the other side, Goering felt that the use of airplanes at sea was largely a waste of time.
In the end, the Germans were defeated by lack of numbers and advancing Allied technology. It was their third and last chance to win the war -- which was entirely possible -- because they had blown their first two chances by not taking Moscow and by committing another strategic error that I forget -- maybe it was Hitler's early insistence on having a surface fleet of ships that could challenge the British Navy.
Again, as is customary, the German point of view is given by a German speaker, the British by an Englishman, and the American by an American. The points of view represented by each don't always mesh, and they shouldn't. In a war you have as many "realities" as you have combatants. There is narration but the only talking head we see is the author of the book on which the series is based and he doesn't appear often.
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- rmax304823
- Jan 14, 2014
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