Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches
Royal Navy
May 1945
It has been two eventful years since I assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief for Western Approaches Command. In May of 1943, after a heated battle, I sent a victory signal which stated that the Battle of the Atlantic underwent a decisive change in our favour, and the climax of the battle had been surmounted.
This has proved to be the case. Since then, Doenitz has been on the run. We were able to close the gap through technology. Radar prevented the German type VII and IX U-Boats from surfacing, and their weak underwater speed and performance prevented them from dealing with our increasing number of escorts. We successfully used Ultra to penetrate German ciphers, and locate and destroy the U-boats. We remained ahead of the game with new technology, such as the "Squid" mortar, which fired larger depth charges than the Hedgehog. In cooperation with the Americans, shipbuilding also overtook the tonnage that we lost to our enemy.
While the Germans advanced in technology since 1943, with the schnorchel enabling the boats to inhale air while submerged, they were still unable to defend against our ships and our radar. Despite the death of Captain "Johnnie" Walker in 1944, the support groups still frustrated German attempts at attacking the convoys. Allied air patrols halted German attempts to reach Norway. The bombing program against Germany managed to destroy the Dortmund-Ems Canal and set the U-boat building program back in 1944, preventing the programme from completing its promised 131 U-boats. While the type XXI and XXIII U-boats were introduced earlier this year, they arrived much too late to make a difference. Doenitz's attempt at a last hurrah in April, using six Type IX schnorchel-equipped U-boats in a wolf pack (Seewolf), was foiled by Ultra. The US Navy greeted the wolf pack by sinking four of the six U-boats, forcing the other two to flee.
On May 4th, 1945, General-Admiral Hans Georg von Freideburg, acting as Doenitz's plenipotentiary, signed the surrender of all German forces in the north-west. As a result, submarine command requested that all boats cease offensive patrols. Doenitz subsequently sent out a message stating that a continuation of the fight was no longer possible, authorising unconditional surrender.
The tide turned in 1943, and the Allies have proven superior in industrial production, intelligence, weaponry, and strategy since then. Our only regret is that the war has ended without complete Allied mastery of the U-boat, as we were unable to conclusively defeat the latest U-boats at sea before the Germans surrendered.
We have won.
