It's just after 3 a.m. on August 19th, 1941 in the North Atlantic Ocean.

In the control room of German submarine U-201, Commander Adelbert Schnee winces as an officer knocks over an empty mug.

Schnee shoots the man a withering glare but says nothing.

His rebuke can wait for later because right now, even the smallest sound could give away his U-boat's position.

For the last 36 hours, U-2001 has been shadowing an allied convoy headed for

the port of Gibraltar. Schnee's vessel is just one of a wolfpack of German submarines, tasked with

stalking these merchant ships, and when the time is right, they will strike the fatal blow.

Commander Schnee holds his breath as U-201 glides closer to his chosen target.

Moving just below the surface of the water, the submarine inches into firing position,

and then Shnay gives the order.

A torpedo leaves a tube.

Shnay listens, senses sharp, until the noise of an explosion echoes through the

water. U-201 is so close that the submarine even rocks from the impact. But Commander Shne

doesn't linger to see the damage he's caused. He knows that the destroyers escorting the

convoy will be hunting for them within seconds, so he orders U-201 to dive.

Over the next few minutes, the silent submarine disappears into the depths of the Black Atlantic.

The only trace it leaves behind is a scattered convoy and a merchant ship in flames.

Soon after U-201 slips away, the stricken Allied merchant ship sinks. Among those on board

who will lose their lives are 22 members of the British Women's Royal Naval Service, also known as

Wrens. Across Britain, thousands of young women like them have volunteered to help the war effort.

But one very special group of Rams will soon get a chance to avenge their dead comrades

and change the course of the war in the Atlantic when Operation Raspberry begins on January 1, 1942.

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