329. Wolfpack: Episode I - The Rise of the Wolfpack (1939–1941)

Battleground

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to the first episode of our new Wolfpack series with Saul David and Roger Moorhouse diving into the intriguing origins and early, devastating success of Nazi Germany’s U-boat campaign in the Atlantic. This foundational episode unpacks how naval limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles failed to stop German rearmament and secretly fostered the development of submarine warfare doctrine. They also explore Admiral Karl Dönitz's desperate strategic vision—the famed "wolfpack" tactics—and how a small fleet initially achieved spectacular results. From the shocking sinking of the civilian liner SS Athenia immediately after the declaration of war, to the "First Happy Time," a period where U-boat crews operated with lethal impunity, nearly crippling Britain's supply lines and setting the stage for the true Battle of the Atlantic. If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected] Producer: James Hodgson X (Twitter): @PodBattleground Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The only thing that really frightened me during the war was the U-bo-pearl.
0:17.0	Invasion, I thought, even before the air battle would fail. After the air victory, it was a good battle for us.
0:23.1	It was the kind of battle which, in the cruel conditions of war, one ought to be content to fight.
0:29.1	But now our lifeline, even across the broad oceans, and especially in the entrances to the island, was endangered.
0:36.6	I was even more anxious about this battle than I had been
0:39.9	about the glorious air fight called the Battle of Britain. Well, that was a quote from Winston Churchill
0:45.9	in his six-volume history of the Second World War, and it's pertinent to today's podcast. Hello and
0:52.5	welcome to the Battleground podcast with me, Saul, David and Roger
0:55.6	Moorehouse. Well, for the last four weeks, Roger's been quizzing me about my latest history
1:00.8	Tunisgrad victory in Africa, and today we're turning the tables and I'll be talking to Roger
1:05.9	about his brilliant new book, Wolfpack Inside Hitler's U-Vo War, which is published on the 9th of October.
1:12.6	There'll be three episodes in all, but today we're concentrating on the rise of the Wolfpack,
1:17.6	1939 to 1941. But before we get to that, Roger, and the backstory to the Ubo war, let's talk a little bit about Churchill's quote.
1:27.2	Some people say it's a bit over-dramatized.
1:29.3	What's your feeling? It's an issue that I do a little bit take issue with in the book and sort of
1:34.6	analyze, I suppose the German perspective on all of this gives us a slightly different narrative.
1:39.9	I think what's significant at first sight is that this is kind of typical of, and it speaks to exactly what Dernets wanted the U-boats to achieve, which was to basically strangle Britain to knock out those vital supply lines, mainly to the United States across the Atlantic.
1:58.0	The intention being to sort of force Britain to at least negotiate some sort
2:02.3	negotiated peace to Britain out the war effectively. And there was a moment. I mean, there was
2:07.2	definitely a moment between about 1940, 41, which we'll come to in a bit, where the losses
2:13.2	are such, and bear in mind that the Americans have not yet come into the war, but the losses
2:18.8	of merchant vessels are such that it does look like Britain is under genuine threat. And that's
	...

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