This is a compelling, slightly novelistic account of the Western Approaches staff work that used war games against U-boat tactics. The unit brought a retired naval captain and young Wrens together to test convoy problems on the operations floor. The excerpt connects tactical adaptation to shipping losses, rationing, industrial fatigue and Britain's wider capacity to keep fighting. Anti-submarine warfare becomes a struggle over the food, fuel and labour sustaining the country rather than an isolated contest at sea.
Chapter · 1:48:05-1:51:08
War games against the U-boat threat
Simon Parkin's A Game of Birds and Wolves is recommended for its account of the Western Approaches Tactical Unit and the stakes of the convoy war.