Black May (63 page)

M
ICHAEL
G
ANNON
is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Floride, where he taught the history of World War II. He resided in Gainesville and is the author of seven books. In the 1950s he wrote on military subjects from Europe. In 1968 he served as a war correspondent in Vietnam. Also a scholar in the field of Spanish colonial history, he has received numerous awards and honors, including Knight Commander of the Order of Isabel la Católica from King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

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E
VERY BOOK HAS A BEGINNING.
This one began when, in March 1992, I received a letter from Mrs. Stephen (Joan) Raushenbush in Sarasota, Florida, inquiring if I would be interested in seeing certain of her late husband’s papers relating to his civilian service in the British-American war against the German U-boats (submarines) in World War II. I immediately said yes, and shortly afterward, my spouse and I visited her in her home. Some months later, I was able to turn up additional documents relating to Stephen Raushenbush in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Those documents provoked in me strong curiosity about the month of May 1943, which, it was generally known, had been a pivotal thirty-one days during which the U-boats had suffered a substantial defeat in the North Atlantic. It was particularly intriguing to find that not only had the Allies’ uniformed naval and air services effectively engaged the U-boat fleet in several notable battles during that May but, prior to that month, a team of civilian scientists and statisticians had contributed significantly to the Allies’ operational tactics and capabilities. Raushenbush had been a member of that team.

Other writing responsibilities delayed further inquiry into the May
story until, beginning in spring 1995, extended research visits to Great Britain and Germany brought into high relief the major events and personalities of what the Germans called, at its conclusion, “Black May.” It quickly became obvious that to understand why, how, and by whom May’s battles were won for one side and lost for the other, it was necessary to view that month from both the Allied and German perspectives, as far as the archival documents and recollections of the surviving participants made that possible; particularly in the case of the month’s centrally important Battle for Convoy ONS.5. It also seemed desirable to put a human face on the story so that the reader was not confronted simply with steel, aluminum, and high explosives but could come to know at least the names, and sometimes the personal qualities, of the human beings who crewed the U-boats, the warships, and the aircraft; commanded their operations; developed their tactics; or tracked their movements. Nor did I want to neglect the personal stories, not to mention the heroism, of the most numerous contingent at sea in 1943: the merchant mariners. Indeed, there is a large human story behind the principal events of May that can only be hinted at in this volume.

My thanks for assistance in providing me the means for understanding what happened in “Black May” go, in Germany, to the distinguished naval historian Dr. Jürgen Rohwer, in Weinstadt, who favored me with his weighty insights and helpful suggestions; Horst Bredow, the energetic and always helpful director of the U-Boot-Archiv in Cuxhaven-Altenbruch; Thomas Weis, who guided me through two days of selecting maps and photographs from the Marine Archive of the Bibliothek fur Zeitgeschichte (Library of Contemporary History) in Stuttgart; the archival staff of the Bundesarchiv/MilitÄrarchiv (Federal/Military Archive) in Freiburg i. Br.; and Horst Einbrodte, Vice-President of the Verband Deutscher U-Bootfahrer e.V. (U-Boat Veterans Association) in Hamburg.

Special thanks are given to Kathi Michalowski, in Barntrup, Germany, my research assistant on this project as she was for an earlier book,
Operation Drumbeat
, whose skills are matched only by her unflagging enthusiasm. Together we arranged interviews with six surviving
U-boat commanders who were at sea in May 1943. My gratitude for their participation in that part of the research goes to Horst von Schroeter (U-123); Harald Gelhaus (U-107); Helmuth Pich (U-168); Klaus-Peter Carlsen (U-732); Klaus Popp (U-522); and Herbert Werner (I.W.O. on U
-230
in May, later Commander of U
-415).
Thanks also are owed two crew members who agreed to be interviewed: Rolf Elebe (U-752) and Kurth Claus (U-552).

In London, England, I had the very good fortune of being allowed to probe the knowledge base and to mine the documentary collections of J. David Brown, Head of Naval Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence, and his colleagues W. J. R. “Jock” Gardner, M. “Mac” McAloon, and Robert M. Coppock. Quite literally, I would not—to use the ocean convoy imperative—have been able to make “a safe and timely arrival at my destination” without their generous escort. The reader of my endnotes will observe the frequency with which I am obligated to Mr. Coppock, curatorial officer, Foreign Documents Section, for his accurate data and searching analyses.

My thanks go as well to the archival staff of the incredibly rich and indispensable primary document source, the Public Record Office (PRO) in Kew, outside London. In that connection, special mention should be made of two historian colleagues who assisted me greatly at the PRO: David Syrett of Queens College of the City University of New York and the late John Costello. Thanks are owed as well to Chris Howard Bailey and her associates at the Oral History Collection of the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth; the staff of the Churchill Archive, Churchill College, in Cambridge; David J. Lees, regular researcher at the Naval Historical Branch; Nigel Turner, producer and director, ITN Productions, London, who kindly directed me to RAF Coastal Command veterans; Gillian M. Hughes, record agent, Teddington, Middlesex; and Mr. John Delaney and staff of the photographs archive at the Imperial War Museum, London.

I am grateful to two distinguished gentlemen who gave me interviews: Professor Sir Harry Hinsley, in Cambridge, and Sir Robert Atkinson, in Winchester; as I am also grateful to three accomplished RAF Coastal Command pilots who corresponded with me: the late Air
Vice Marshal Wilfrid Ewart Oulton (died October 1997), in Lymington; Air Commodore Jeaff Greswell, in Saunderton, Princess Risborough, Bucks., and Squadron Leader Terence Malcolm Bulloch, in Burnham, Bucks.

In Ottawa, Canada, I had expert assistance in using the documentary collection at the Directorate of History, National Defence Headquarters, from senior historian Roger Sarty. In this country the same generous help was given me by archivist Michael Walker at the Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard; and by archivists John E. Taylor, Barry Zerby, and Sandy Smith at Archives II of the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. Sandy Smith set a new benchmark of “beyond the call” assistance. Appreciation is given to the staff of the Interlibrary Loan Office of the University Libraries, University of Florida; the staff of the Reference Desk, Headquarters Library, Alachua County, Florida; and the staff of the University of Florida Computing Help Desk.

I thank my colleagues at the University of Florida: Associate Vice President Catherine A. Longstreth, Associate Dean Elizabeth Lang-land, and Professor of History and Department Chair Robert McMahon, who made possible a research and writing sabbatical in fall 1996. Numerous individuals have helped me in various ways during the writing of this book, and I express my gratitude to them: Jerry N. Uelsmann, Maggie Taylor, Leonidas Roberts, Florence Goldstein, Roger Thomas, Ken Ekelund Jr., Robert A. Bryan, Raymond Gay-Crosier, Helen Armstrong, Jim Craig, Larry Severy, Sherrel Brockington, Lewis A. Sussman, and veterans of U.S.S.
Bogue
who are acknowledged by name in the endnotes.

Also acknowledged with gratitude are Brian McCue for his assistance in interpreting statistics used in chapter 8 and cartographer Paul Pugliese for his well-crafted maps, three of which are based on graphics supplied by Jürgen Rohwer and Thomas Weis.

Particular thanks go to the distinguished gentleman and my good friend M. S. “Buz” Wyeth Jr., former vice president and executive editor, Adult Trade Division, of HarperCollins. Buz believed in this book
and, before his recent retirement, gave it a robust launch. I also thank warmly Paul D. McCarthy, senior consulting editor, who came on board to navigate
Black May
through the remaining rocks and shoals. Barbara Smerage, of Gainesville, Florida, expertly keyboarded the final text.

As a sign of loving gratitude to my spouse, Genevieve Haugen, for her keyboarding of the early draft chapters and the endnotes; for her patient, lonely vigil on the dock while waiting for this ship to come in; and for her unstinting support of the project itself, I do now solemnly swear that I will clean up my study.

This book does not attempt to describe every Allied convoy sailing in May 1943. Neither does it recount every operational patrol by the U-boats, every torpedo launched by them at Allied shipping, every Allied surface ship engagement with the U-boats, or every depth charge dropped on U-boats by aircraft. Rather, it focuses on
those major actions at sea that defined “Black May
” and led to that month’s unprecedented number of U-boat losses.

U-boats are referred to here as “it” until identified by number and name of the Commander, after which the pronoun used is
she
or
her.
In keeping with Royal Navy practice, escort vessel Captains are sometimes referred to not by their personal names but by the names of their ships. In place of the abbreviations
A/S
(Anti-Submarine) or
A. U.
(Anti-U-Boat Warfare) customarily used in British documents, the present text uses
ASW
(Anti-Submarine Warfare), which is more familiar to an American readership (though
ASW
also appears in British documents).

The approach taken in this narrative to the surviving record of what happened in May 1943 is both chronological and thematic, the latter usually to give background or to describe one battle separately from others; for example, the Bay Offensive as distinct from the convoy battles.

Any errors of fact or interpretation, though one strives mightily to prevent them, are, of course, the author’s own.

On 22 May 1943, the German U-boat U-569 is attacked in the mid-Atlantic with four depth charges released by a U.S. Navy TBF-1 Avenger carrier aircraft. Two charges have entered the water. Two more are seen falling at the right. Severely damaged by the resulting explosions, the U-boat surrendered, her crew waving a white sheet.
National Archives and Records Administration

NONFICTION

Rebel Bishop

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(Editor and Contributor)

Operation Drumbeat

Florida: A Short History

The New History of Florida
(Editor and Contributor)

FICTION
Secret Missions

DRAMA

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Trial

“Like that best-selling novel [
The Hunt for Red October
],
Operation Drumbeat
is a ripping good yarn of submarine warfare, espionage and geopolitics. The difference is that
Operation Drumbeat
is not a novel.”

—
L
OS
A
NGELES
T
IMES

“
Operation Drumbeat
is a truly wonderful book—the best by far that I have read on Ll-boats and believe me, I have read them all. It combines a great knowledge of U-boars and meticulous scholarship with dramatic narrative. The upshot is an important and riveting story that gives the reader the most reliable and penetrating account of U-boar warfare ever written. Furthermore, the ‘Atlantic Pearl Harbor’ thesis is well developed and unassailable. On every page the author demonstrates complete mastery of immense primary source material with shocking new revelations—such as the failure to bring the 25 American destroyers into play despite clear warning from Bletchley Park that Drumbeat was afoot.”

—C
LAY
B
LAIR, AUTHOR OF
S
ILENT
V
ICTORY
: T
HE
U.S. S
UBMARINE
W
AR
A
GAINST
J
APAN

“I started reading
Operation Drumbeat
and literally could not stop. I think it’s an absolutely stunning book—revelatory. It should startle everyone who thinks there is nothing more to be said about World War II. His expose of the V.S. Navy’s incompetence in the opening months of the war is the stuff of Pulitzer Prizes. His grasp of the German side of the story is equally remarkable. On top of all that it often reads like a novel.”

—T
HOMAS
F
LEMING, AUTHOR OF
T
IME
& T
IDE

“It is difficult to fault Gannon’s assertion that in the face of the U-boar threat [Admiral] King’s failure to act decisively was ‘like a sentry asleep at his post.’”

—
H
OUSTON
C
HRONICLE

“Engrossing reading, most especially the part in which the dereliction of our naval leaders along the eastern seaboard is so well described.”

—C
APTAIN
E
DWARD
L. B
EACH, AUTHOR OF
R
UN
S
ILENT
, R
UN
D
EEP

“
Operation Drumbeat
is a splendid book, moving in description, instructive in well supported analysis. Gannon knows how everything worked in a U-Boar, and he gives brilliant descriptions of all the technological conditions that shaped its warfare. He also makes a memorable contribution to our understanding of the nature of the [U-Boar] war and warriors. He is fully informed and he is full, fair and justifiably critical of some [U.S.] policies, personalities, and performances.”

—E
LTING
E. M
ORISON, AUTHOR OF
M
EN
, M
ACHINES AND
M
ODERN
T
IMES
AND
A
DMIRAL
S
IMS AND THE
M
ODERN
A
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N
AVY

“Gannon’s book is a crisply written, vivid and thoroughly researched account of the adventure of U-123 in American waters.”

—M
ICHAEL
L. H
ADLEY, AUTHOR OF
U-B
OATS
A
GAINST
C
ANADA