I haven't been watching. TV programes go on shock-horror to get viewers so take with a pinch of salt. Before the US entered the war the UK was overcoming the U-boats with advanced sonar, the Leigh Light, corvettes, Hedgehogs, long range aircraft, makeshift escort carriers out of merchant hulls, convoy methods, etc.
When the the Leigh Light was introduced in 1942, Allied shipping losses from U boats dropped from 600,000 to 200,000 tons per month. It was successfully used to attack U-boats recharging their batteries on the surface at night, especially in the Bay of Biscay. Up to then they had been safe from attack at night. The aircraft would approach the submarine downwind to avoid noise using its ASV radar, and switch on the radar controlled searchlight beam during the final approach. The U-boat would not have sufficient time to dive and the gunners would have a clear view of the target down the locked on beam. The first the U-Boat crew knew of the attack was when they were lit up and being peppers with cannon fire
The Germans had early successes with U-Boats, but which was eventually countered
The Germans at no time had any chance of winning WW2.
- The massive RN was successfully starving Germany of food and essential raw materials.
- Directly after Poland, General Halder carried a pistol to shoot Hitler when in meetings. The generals thought it foolish to attack the UK and France which had combined economies 60% larger than Germany and collectively larger forces and better tanks and more of them.
- The Germans took a wild gamble in attacking France and the UK. It paid off beyond their widest dreams.
- The Germans could not invade Britain, as they had a small navy and limited resources to carry out such a task.
- The Germans faced the UK & France and failed to beat them, only taking one part of the alliance - French territory.
- The Germans attacked the USSR with no reserves, short of oil, rubber, equipment, rail transport and marching in on foot using nearly a million horses. They totally underestimated the Soviets. Hitler said to Guderian, re: USSR, "had I known they had so many tanks as that, I would have thought twice before invading"
- The combined UK & Soviet economies were larger than Germany's.
- Soviet industrial output alone was larger than Germany's.
The Germans were fools to even consider war with any of the large powers at the time.
Bookmarks