The first in a series of illustrated books exploring the longest and best-known naval campaign of World War II focusing on the struggle between Allied naval and air forces and Hitler''s U-boats. When fighting broke out in September 1939 neither the British Royal Navy nor the German Kriegsmarine were prepared for another war in the North Atlantic. Having defeated the U-boats in World War I the Royal Navy was confident it would succeed again. This was quickly shown to be an illusion as neither the scale of forces available nor their tactics were sufficient. The Germans were even less prepared with only a small number of U-boats and fewer still that were large enough for operations in the Atlantic. Respected naval historian Mark Stille examines the struggle between Allied naval and air forces and the German U-boats in the first 15 months of the war. The Germans attempted to win a tonnage war against Allied shipping with well-trained and bold U-boat commanders enjoying some brilliant successes. However the lack of U-boats and torpedo problems prevented the Germans from inflicting crippling losses even though the British found it impossible to protect all shipping primarily because of lack of convoy escorts. Featuring maps diagrams photographs and stunning battlescene artworks this book vividly brings to life the weapons personalities and tactics of the opposing sides in a unique and engaging way. . Language: English