Hawk v. Wolf

Two important eastbound convoys were the prey of submarine wolf packs, ranging the Atlantic between the U.S. and Eng land. In midocean, beyond the zone of air protection from Britain, the convoys suffered (losses: unannounced). When the battle moved within range of the four-motored Liberators and Sunderlands of Britain's Coastal Command, the Nazi wolves paid: five were probably sunk, many others were damaged.

For Coastal Command airmen, whose patrols are usually long, monotonous and unsung grinds, the battle was both a relief and a triumph. In four days, Coastal Command planes attacked 19 times, dropped hundreds of depth charges. One Liberator captain saw six submarines, attacked three within an hour. Another saw eight, attacked five in two days.

Flying Officer Brant Howell of Manitoba turned his Sunderland from a probable "kill" to attack a surfaced sub with his guns. The sub's deck gun fired back, When the U-boat crash-dived, Howell saw the abandoned Nazi gun crew floundering in the sea. They soon had their submarine for company. Reported Howell: "Four depth charges exploded within a few feet of the stern and the last we saw of the U-boat was six feet of the afterpart sticking out almost vertically from the water."

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