U-Boat Wargamers | Episode 2: False Dawns | Free Documentary History

[00:00:02]Nazi yubot maestro Carl Ditz is winning the battle of the Atlantic.

[00:00:08]>> Happy hunting.

[00:00:11]>> One torpedo straight into the magazine.

[00:00:13]Bullse eyee.

[00:00:16]>> One torpedo, one ship.

[00:00:19]>> This is our happy time.

[00:00:26]>> 20 seconds. That must be a record. Our main weapon has to be the torpedo carrying yubot.

[00:00:33]>> Britain is on its knees.

[00:00:36]>> If we keep losing ships, the country will be down to just a few weeks of supplies. People will be starving to death.

[00:00:42]>> May the enemy never know the secret of our success.

[00:00:46]>> The British are oblivious to the Yubot's tactics.

[00:00:50]>> You need to get in the minds of those Yubot aces.

[00:00:58]No way back to Germany this time. There are glimmers of hope. The >> capture of the Enigma machine was a huge coup.

[00:01:07]>> Well, let's find them and destroy them.

[00:01:12]But they prove to be dead ends.

[00:01:15]>> Find out what's happening and sink the Yubot.

[00:01:20]The Royal Navy turns to the Rens to uncover the Yubot secrets.

[00:01:26]>> That is what we will do here by playing through scenarios and recreating battles in a war game.

[00:01:33]>> So, who thinks they can sink a Yubot?

[00:01:50]Admiral Dennit says Ubot are hunting British convoys like wolf packs.

[00:01:56]They work together to track down their prey and coordinate their deadly attacks.

[00:02:02]>> Looks like a good day for us.

[00:02:05]>> Enemy convoy inside.

[00:02:07]>> AM 1452 northwest course.

[00:02:11]>> Speed >> 8 knots >> about 30 ships.

[00:02:19]We're the shadow convoy till support arrives. Y >> the weather to hunt Elmo's fire.

[00:02:34]It's an omen.

[00:02:44]It's also an oven.

[00:02:47]>> The crutch wise about >> Well, I wouldn't want you to get ahead in the tunnage wager.

[00:02:54]>> You greedy bastard. We can share the tunnage we sent to the bottom.

[00:02:59]>> Plenty to go round.

[00:03:02]>> The orders are to wait till nightfall.

[00:03:06]>> Happy hunting.

[00:03:08]The yubot captains are driven by a fierce competition to sink the highest tonnage.

[00:03:15]>> They got awarded the night's cross if they sunk 100,000 tons of cargo. This is a game of oneupmanship.

[00:03:23]Kretchma pin. They are focusing on the prize.

[00:03:30]>> This is the era of the great yubot aces.

[00:03:32]This is where audacity pays. where poor defense of convoys is something the Germans can exploit.

[00:03:39]>> The competitive Ubot aces are wreaking havoc on transatlantic trade and the Royal Navy doesn't understand their tactics.

[00:03:51]>> By the early spring of 1941, Dunit's Ubot had sunk a total of 650 ships.

[00:03:59]You have a island nation where 95% or so of the energy that Britain requires is brought in from abroad. 70 plus% of the food stuffs. It's a terribly dangerous situation.

[00:04:16]The British are losing so much shipping that Winston Churchill issues the Battle of the Atlantic directive. He orders that all Ubot are to be targeted and all Ubot shipping yards have to be bombed.

[00:04:32]>> But it makes little difference. Ditz protects his Ubot in concrete submarine pens.

[00:04:39]Churchill's bombs failed to penetrate them.

[00:04:44]>> Germany has conquered France. Because she's conquered France, she now has a sequence of Atlantic ports that enable her to get directly into the central Atlantic.

[00:04:55]>> Dits can attack convoys leaving the southern ports of Britain with impunity.

[00:05:00]So the western approaches convoy routes are transferred northwards to Liverpool and other ports. The convoy command headquarters is also moved to Liverpool.

[00:05:13]This was a place of constant activity 24/7.

[00:05:21]The majority of the people working there were the rents.

[00:05:35]The head of the rens, Vera Lorton Matthews, wants the Navy to give her team even greater responsibilities.

[00:05:44]>> Sir Percy Noble was in charge of Western approaches in Liverpool. Now, he was a man with enormous experience in the Navy.

[00:05:53]>> Thank you for coming to Liverpool.

[00:05:55]>> He was an old hand. He knew the ropes, but he'd never really faced something like this before. And he was desperately trying to find a way to stop these terrible, terrible losses that were being inflicted by the Ubot.

[00:06:09]>> It's a relief to escape the bombs raining down on London Town.

[00:06:13]>> We have our own blitz. A bomb landed a stones throw away from here. Quite a commotion.

[00:06:19]>> Nowhere safe.

[00:06:22]How did the Atlantic cruise go?

[00:06:25]A real eye opener.

[00:06:32]>> Bloody chaotic mess would be a polite way of putting it.

[00:06:36]>> Did you learn anything?

[00:06:38]>> I was on a destroyer attached to the escort. Orders from shore were flooding in, sending the other escort ships on wild goose chases. In the end, our destroyer was the only escort left protecting the convoy. The poor captain was going stark raving mad.

[00:06:54]>> Any enemy engagement?

[00:06:56]>> Thank god no. Curtains for us all.

[00:07:00]>> You need to get in the minds of those Yubot aces, so they're called.

[00:07:06]>> Well, that's easier said than done, I'm afraid.

[00:07:08]>> Let me know if the Rens can do anything to help. We are here to serve.

[00:07:13]>> Thank you. I do appreciate having your ren here. They certainly brighten the place up.

[00:07:22]They can do more than that.

[00:07:25]Much more.

[00:07:27]How nice to see you.

[00:07:31]Virilon Matthews is going to individuals in the Navy and going the Rens can do this. The Rens can give you what you need. They can fill these positions.

[00:07:40]This is powerful stuff.

[00:07:42]Vera Lorton Matthews is determined to transform the Rens into a force who can help fight back against the Hubot.

[00:07:52]The Yubot had another advantage over the Royal Navy. They could communicate in secret, so the Navy could not predict their movements.

[00:08:03]>> We are back in business.

[00:08:05]Send beacon signal. Enemy convoy in sight.

[00:08:13]Square AM 1452 course 330° report convoy at 1249 speed 8 knots.

[00:08:33]The Germans sent their messages through an enigma machine. When the operator would hit a key to input a letter, that would be transferred through three rotating wheels. Each had 26 positions.

[00:08:47]So that by the time it was sent out into the ether, that key had been changed, get ready for this number, 160 quintilion times.

[00:09:01]Send to U99, U70, UA, U37.

[00:09:06]Report by short signal. Yes. When attacking.

[00:09:11]>> Donut is asking for updates all the time, but these are gibberish until we can break the code.

[00:09:24]One man who might be able to predict the yubot movements through wargaming is Gilbert Roberts, but his career in the Navy was cut short by tuberculosis.

[00:09:37]>> Due to his illness, Roberts at this point is in the home guard. Those who can't serve in the front line volunteer for service in defense of the UK. It's better than nothing, but must have been a heartbreaking experience for a man with that level of understanding of naval tactics.

[00:09:58]>> Who goes there?

[00:09:59]>> Oh, for crying out, lad. Game's up.

[00:10:03]Let's cut the round.

[00:10:07]>> I'm sorry to say, but if this had been the real show, we'd all be gone. You lot are as inconspicuous as a herd of bull elephants.

[00:10:13]>> It's my lambos, sir. I think I've caught a cold.

[00:10:17]>> Well, better what happens here than when the Germans arrive.

[00:10:25]>> You're all right, sir?

[00:10:28]>> Thank you.

[00:10:30]I used to be 100% fit. Now my health is just fitful.

[00:10:38]>> When he applies to all sorts of jobs with the Navy, he's told, "Well, no, I'm sorry. We can't accept you back because of this illness.

[00:10:47]>> He must be doing something for the fleet. He's waiting for an opportunity.

[00:10:57]Meanwhile, the Rens are using what intelligence the Royal Navy have in the Western Approaches plotting room.

[00:11:07]Loren played a key role tracking the location of the known convoys and the suspected Wolfpack units.

[00:11:17]>> I wanted to be a plotter cuz I discovered they had a very interesting job. The plot consisted of a large map and you could see all the number of enormous ships, battleships, battle cruisers, destroyers.

[00:11:33]But the Ubot rarely give away their positions.

[00:11:46]Driven by Dernitz's tonnage competition, Pin goes for the biggest kill of his career. The Turgy Viken, a whailing ship now converted into an oil tanker. But the main attraction for Pin is not the oil. vital for the British war effort.

[00:12:04]But the fact that the ship weighs over 20,000 tons, >> it's big. A wher >> set torpedoes.

[00:12:14]Range 450 m. Depth 9 m. Course 330° 8 knots.

[00:12:27]>> Torpedo set.

[00:12:34]Fire >> directed 30 m from the midship.

[00:12:47]>> That's a few thousand more tons for our tally.

[00:12:56]Wait, the beast isn't sinking.

[00:13:02]>> Sink the ships. That was the key.

[00:13:05]Go to hell.

[00:13:12]>> Dun's overall grand strategy for how the hubot could win this war was to sink as many ships as possible. Add up the total tonnage.

[00:13:26]>> Center U37, U47, U70, U99.

[00:13:31]Report position by squares by short signal.

[00:13:36]Who's attacking the whaler?

[00:13:40]>> He needed to instill competition among them in order to increase the tonnage.

[00:13:45]He worked out that he needed to sink 700,000 tons of cargo every month to win the war.

[00:13:55]>> This carefully designed competition kicks in. Cretchmer tries to claim the ship for himself, but the intense competition makes him and his fellow aces reckless.

[00:14:09]It's a flaw in Dernets's strategy that will come back to haunt him.

[00:14:15]>> Our turn.

[00:14:18]Let's put the wounded beast out of its misery.

[00:14:23]>> Set torpedoes.

[00:14:26]Torpedoes are said >> fire.

[00:14:36]>> Hit on the port side. The crew are abandoning ship.

[00:14:41]Sink. You bastard. Sink.

[00:14:44]>> We're picking up propeller noises on the hydrophone.

[00:14:47]>> How close?

[00:14:48]>> Too close.

[00:14:52]Enemy escorts. Two of them. Dive. Dive. Dive.

[00:15:31]The Royal Navy misses the chance to destroy Cretchmer's U999, but Dennit has lost all contact with Pin's U47.

[00:15:45]What's going on? Are there wireless transmitters down? Where's Pin in the U47?

[00:15:50]>> We don't know, sir.

[00:15:54]>> Transmit to Wolfpack.

[00:15:56]U47 report position and condition.

[00:16:04]>> Come on, Prian.

[00:16:06]Where in God's name are you?

[00:16:10]Donuts never gives up. He keeps sending out messages going, "Send me your location." But he hears nothing.

[00:16:17]Anything?

[00:16:25]No, sir.

[00:16:28]Shisa.

[00:16:37]It was all going so well and now silence.

[00:16:45]What's PM playing at? I bet he's going to claim the tonnage of that hefty whaler.

[00:16:52]>> While the yubot aces are obsessed with tonnage, Vira Lorton Matthews knows that if she can get enough intelligent women into the Rens, the Royal Navy will eventually run out of male brain power and be forced to come to her. And she has a strategy. What do you think of the new uniform? After all, you'll be wearing it.

[00:17:15]>> Well, Mom, I like the hat. I think it's jolly elegant.

[00:17:20]>> Well, it damn well should be. I had Edward Mullen, you design it. I want my Rens to be the talk of the town.

[00:17:27]>> I shall wear it like a cat on a catwalk.

[00:17:33]>> The Rens are given this very lovely uniform actually. I mean, it's designed by a famous fashion designer.

[00:17:42]We had tricorn hats with a badge at the front.

[00:17:47]The trousers are rather fetching.

[00:17:50]My father always said a woman should not be seen dead in a pair of trus.

[00:17:54]>> It's about time we started wearing the trousers.

[00:17:58]>> It was a very smart uniform. Black stockings and brass buttons.

[00:18:07]It looks lovely. Thank you.

[00:18:10]>> It made the rens very popular to join.

[00:18:14]People joined forth of clothes really.

[00:18:18]Everybody wanted to join the rens.

[00:18:22]As the rens fight to have their abilities recognized, Cretchmer is relentlessly pursuing the crown of tonnage king.

[00:18:33]>> Sir, we have something.

[00:18:35]It's faint, but it's definitely propeller noises to this house.

[00:18:41]>> Very good.

[00:18:42]>> Surface and head for that bearing cruise speed.

[00:18:52]>> Cretchmer, keen to add to his tonnage, is alerted to a 41 ship convoy transporting vital oil supplies to Britain.

[00:19:04]We're spoiled for choice.

[00:19:07]Let's start with the oil tanker.

[00:19:09]Set torpedoes.

[00:19:12]Range 1500 m.

[00:19:14]>> Torpedo set.

[00:19:17]>> Fire.

[00:19:27]That's as good as it gets.

[00:19:30]>> Set torpedoes.

[00:19:33]There's more than one oil tanker in this convoy.

[00:19:40]>> Fire.

[00:19:50]That makes six.

[00:19:53]One torpedo, one ship.

[00:19:57]Let's head home.

[00:20:01]>> Cretchmer has just taken his tally to an astounding 47 allied ships, weighing over 273,000 tons. But flushed with success, Cretchmer's U99 becomes complacent.

[00:20:29]GET UP, MAN. GET UP.

[00:20:32]>> Zombie alarm.

[00:20:35]>> I'm done. I'm done.

[00:20:37]>> Dive. Dive.

[00:20:40]>> Why the devil have you dived? Are you sure we couldn't have gotten away on the surface?

[00:20:44]>> Yes, sir. We destroyed 800 meters before. They couldn't have missed us.

[00:20:48]>> Full speed submerged. Let's get out of here.

[00:21:04]>> Depth charges are too close for comfort.

[00:21:21]Sir, we've lost all thrust and propellers.

[00:21:25]>> He goes far beyond the depth that he should >> and so his instruments are broken, so he's forced to rise to the surface.

[00:21:34]The British are waiting for him.

[00:21:40]>> Let's get out of here.

[00:21:41]>> I'm afraid not, sir. Electric motors and steering a kaput.

[00:21:47]Radio Laurio now. Give me that.

[00:21:53]Two destroyers. Depth charges 53,000 tons. Capture Kretzma.

[00:22:01]Prepare scuttling charges and destroy all documents and ciphers.

[00:22:08]No way back to Germany this time.

[00:22:13]In just over a week in March 1941, things are looking much brighter for the British.

[00:22:20]Ditz has lost contact with not one but three of his Yubot aces.

[00:22:26]>> I need you to find me U99 and U 100. Now creature, where the bloody hell are you?

[00:22:42]Don't go quiet on me like pre any news.

[00:22:50]>> The U37 has passed a message on from Cratchma.

[00:22:55]>> Bomb boat sunk. Hile Hitler Crashma two destroyers 53,000 tons.

[00:23:15]Add the 53,000 tons to fracturous tally.

[00:23:39]Ditz knows that Pin is never coming home. And now Cretchmer and Shepka are missing too.

[00:23:49]>> They were like sons to him, his dual commanders.

[00:23:54]For Dunit, it was a great shock because Pin was the paragon of Yubot Ace. He was a people's hero and now he was lost.

[00:24:06]When Otto Crretchma was still alive, I asked him what he thought was fate. And Kretchma thought it most likely that Pin was hit by one of his own torpedoes, that he was hit by a circle runner.

[00:24:20]Pin may have run out of luck, but the truth will likely never be known.

[00:24:27]>> Very shortly after Pin's mysterious death, a Shepka, who was another of the great aces, is also killed.

[00:24:36]>> I'd like to propose a wager.

[00:24:38]>> It's almost as though fate was listening to Shepka when he was betting his friends. First of 250,000 tons of shipping buys the champagne and within a few days all of them are taken out.

[00:24:54]>> Killing two and and capturing a third is a very major coup for the British.

[00:25:00]>> This could be the turning point to the British need in the Battle of the Atlantic.

[00:25:06]>> They think they're going to be able to interrogate this guy. They're going to be able to get something out of him.

[00:25:16]I must apologize for the welcome.

[00:25:19]>> May I have those back, please? They were a gift for my leader.

[00:25:24]>> All in good time. All in good time.

[00:25:27]You've made a bit of a name for yourself.

[00:25:30]>> Simply work in the service of the German Navy.

[00:25:36]Going through the pockets of all of Cretchma's crew, the British find this little plan of how a yubot would attack a British convoy.

[00:25:48]The British don't realize the significance of this sketch of this diagram that this might have been the key to avoiding so many more losses from the convoys.

[00:26:00]Nobody of importance saw it and so the British were still as clueless as ever.

[00:26:07]>> It's a massive missed opportunity.

[00:26:10]But the British do glean one positive piece of intelligence from the German prisoners.

[00:26:17]>> Very good.

[00:26:20]>> Thank you.

[00:26:32]U47. That's Pin's boat, correct?

[00:26:34]>> Gunther Pin's boat.

[00:26:38]Well, >> we know what happened to Cretchmer and Shepka.

[00:26:43]But it looks as though they lost Pin as well.

[00:26:47]Let's say our destroyers got Pin.

[00:26:51]Revenge for Scapperflow at last. Very good, sir.

[00:26:57]>> You boat down.

[00:27:06]>> The British use it as a propaganda coup.

[00:27:08]They announce the fact that he's died and they even drop leaflets over Germany saying, "Vo is A fine morning to you, Miss Laidawor.

[00:27:27]Ma'am, >> I see the Germans have finally admitted that rogue Prian is no more.

[00:27:33]>> I was heartened to see that Cretchmer received a brisk reception from the good folk of Liverpool.

[00:27:38]>> Quite. Let's hope our homegrown inquisition can ek out the Yubot's dirty secrets from him.

[00:27:46]Thank god we have got rid of some of the worst of them.

[00:27:49]>> I fear there may be many more where they came from.

[00:27:55]>> These three Ubot aces were not unreplaceable. A new generation of experienced Yubot commanders had grown and had learned from the experience of the Yubot aces.

[00:28:17]Carl Dennit, undeterred by the loss of his three aces, is more determined than ever to win the battle of the Atlantic.

[00:28:27]>> Mine fur, I'm pleased to report that our Ubot have sunk 90 enemy vessels and half a million tons of enemy shipping.

[00:28:39]But we must do more.

[00:28:41]We're on the cusp of great things. With more Hubot, we can ram home our superiority.

[00:28:48]So, I must ask again for the fleet of 300 Yubot. I will then guarantee you a victory that will bring Britain to her knees and will go down in future histories of the Third Reich.

[00:29:04]>> I will consider it.

[00:29:08]>> Thank you.

[00:29:18]Donuts would like Hitler to make yubot the highest priority, but he's fighting against Hitler's commitment to the land war, and Hitler's just not ready to make that move yet.

[00:29:31]After failing to win Hitler over, Dernitz faces a major setback when the British sees an intact Ubot off Iceland in the North Atlantic. But that's not all they capture.

[00:29:46]The crew of the HMS Bulldog, the nearby destroyer, quickly got to the Uvote and were able to conduct a quick inspection.

[00:30:04]They find this extraordinary looking typewriter.

[00:30:13]The capture of the Enigma machine and code books was a huge coup.

[00:30:26]If we can crack these codes, then we can know at least where the wolfpacks are going to attack.

[00:30:36]This was an enormous moment of optimism, of great hope that finally we can get inside Durnets's mind.

[00:30:52]At Bletchley Park, a group of eccentric mathematicians, puzzle solvers worked hard to try to crack into this code and famously built what amounts to the world's first analog computer.

[00:31:07]Cracking the Enigma code soon brings a breakthrough, and the rens play a key role.

[00:31:15]You've seen the news?

[00:31:17]>> Yes. The Bismar. Marvelous >> indeed. I'm proud our rens in Y service in Scarra helped hunt the Bismar down on the QT. Of course, >> mom's the word.

[00:31:31]>> You wouldn't talk to your family or friends about what you did.

[00:31:37]I was in the Y station.

[00:31:40]Letter Y stood for naval intelligence.

[00:31:44]We needed to know whether German Ubot were lurking to attack our convoys.

[00:31:52]So what we were listening to was the radio signals between German naval bases and ships.

[00:32:00]You would sit down and you'd start twiddling up and down the wavelengths that the German fleet used. And if you picked up a signal, you would just write down exactly what you heard. The officer would inform Bletchley Park if it was code.

[00:32:20]Rens like Pat helped track down the Bismar, Germany's most prized battleship.

[00:32:29]In the Bismar chase, they're gathering intelligence. They're analyzing the positions. They're predicting potential German courses of action.

[00:32:39]They've discovered that the Bismar was in fact pointing in an entirely different direction and they were able to pursue her and sank her.

[00:32:52]It becomes apparent that the Rens are really good at this sort of stuff.

[00:32:57]>> Thanks to the cracking of the Enigma code, the Rens can monitor the German newbot wolf packs much more closely.

[00:33:05]If you look at what happens to convoys over the summer of 1941, Germans can't find them because they're reading the signal traffic as the hubot are sending it or as Donuts is replying. The principal means of defending merchant shipping is avoidance of the enemy.

[00:33:23]But it's a temporary reprieve. The Germans regularly change their codes and it proves impossible to track every wolf pack so the convoys can avoid them.

[00:33:34]This has tragic consequences for the Rens.

[00:33:43]>> The Aguilera.

[00:33:44]>> Yes, I I'm aware.

[00:33:46]>> The SS Aguilera, the commercial steamer, was torpedoed and sunk off Spain. 21 of my rens were on board.

[00:33:54]They all perished. Had they been aboard a Royal Naval Destroyer, they probably would have escaped the attack.

[00:34:02]A destroyer was also sunk.

[00:34:04]>> Don't evade the point.

[00:34:07]The point is that my rens are not allowed aboard royal naval vessels because it's considered to be bad luck.

[00:34:16]This is pure superstition. It's medieval.

[00:34:20]What is bad luck is that they were aboard a defenseless freighter. From now on, my rens will only travel aboard Royal naval vessels on foreign assignments. Is that clear?

[00:34:35]>> I am all too aware. I I sympathize with you and of course with the families of all those poor young women.

[00:34:42]>> Your sympathy is all very well, but I demand action.

[00:34:50]The SS Aguilia tragedy meant that the Navy had to rethink its policy about women and rens not being able to go on ships.

[00:35:02]The law was changed and finally women were also able to go on board naval ships.

[00:35:16]I just heard about the aguila.

[00:35:19]Did you know any of the rens?

[00:35:22]>> Each and everyone.

[00:35:25]I personally selected those who went to Gibraltar.

[00:35:29]Bright, lovely women.

[00:35:32]12 of them were from Y station SCRA.

[00:35:38]when I was told I was in the countryside enjoying the sweet aroma of honeysuckle.

[00:35:46]And now I shall forever associate that smell with my girls.

[00:35:52]My poor girls.

[00:35:54]How sad. And to think they were all lost on a slow old freighter. It's a tragedy that will just be repeated.

[00:36:03]>> No, it won't.

[00:36:08]I've made sure of that.

[00:36:22]>> In September 1941, the British hit a new low when Wolfpack sink 23 ships from two convoys alone.

[00:36:32]Despite their apparent breakthroughs, the Royal Navy seems to be back at square one.

[00:36:39]>> We have the results of the inquiry into convoy SL87 that I ordered.

[00:36:45]It does not make for an edifying read.

[00:36:48]The fact that seven out of 11 ships were sunk with no retaliation against the enemy is to be deplored.

[00:36:55]Shocking, I think you'd agree.

[00:36:57]>> Yes, indeed.

[00:36:59]>> And it's not for want of protection.

[00:37:06]The escort was a strong one for a convoy of this size. It is clear that the efforts of the escorts were poorly coordinated.

[00:37:15]>> Understood, sir. Loud and clear.

[00:37:25]What has become of our invincible Royal Navy?

[00:37:32]Never before in my long career have I seen such lack of gumption.

[00:37:37]If >> the prime minister gives us more ships, we at least have a chance.

[00:37:43]>> I'm trying. I'm trying. But we must deal with these Ubot once and for all.

[00:37:52]>> Leave it to me, sir.

[00:38:05]So Percy Noble realizes that if they do not find a way to stop this terrible yubot menace from sinking all of these ships that the British are going to have to capitulate to Hitler.

[00:38:19]>> The problem is we don't understand how the Germans are operating.

[00:38:24]Our agents in Spain have cited a convoy in Jibralta.

[00:38:36]>> How many ships?

[00:38:38]>> 32 merchant vessels protected by escort ships.

[00:38:42]>> Send a message to U67.

[00:38:46]Tell him to monitor the convoy.

[00:38:49]>> Put the other seven Ubot on standby to attack.

[00:39:00]HG76 is the 32 ship convoy but with 16 escorts plus an auxiliary aircraft carrier. The Audacity and the escort group is commanded by Frederick John Johnny Walker.

[00:39:24]HMS Stanley reports that she's under attack by a submarine.

[00:39:30]>> It's damn German hers.

[00:39:34]Where are they?

[00:39:39]Firefl Stern contact 1,200 yd.

[00:39:58]>> They've got modern radar and the great advantage of radar is it provides the kind of intelligence that Walker needs to tumble the battle in his direction.

[00:40:07]Five death charges.

[00:40:20]The pad ram.

[00:40:37]What's going on?

[00:40:40]>> It's radio silence from our Ubot.

[00:40:44]>> Order another three Ubot to join the Wolfpack. Tell them to regroup for another attack. We need to sink this convoy.

[00:40:57]>> We've been soup.

[00:41:01]Well, let's find them and destroy them.

[00:41:04]>> Buttercup starboard.

[00:41:07]>> Walker comes up with this idea of Buttercup, which is to turn his ships outward and to try and go over where the Ubot are.

[00:41:16]>> Come into our little trap.

[00:41:19]>> His assumption is that if he illuminates the entire area and moves out into the periphery, he will be able to pick one or two of these Ubot off.

[00:41:27]problem is it lights up the aircraft carrier Audacity.

[00:41:36]>> God's sake. Must be the Audacity.

[00:41:40]>> This is the ship that of course the Ubot can then identify and they sink it.

[00:41:46]Let's >> even things up. Fire death charges.

[00:41:58]Come on.

[00:42:10]Buttercup has prevailed.

[00:42:14]Four ships are sunk, but so are five Ubot. You call that a victory for the convoy in that case?

[00:42:28]We've lost five Ubot.

[00:42:31]>> Five Ubot.

[00:42:34]We can't let this happen again. Have they changed tactics?

[00:42:38]>> We've seen no evidence of that. They managed to blunder into our pack.

[00:42:43]>> They must be using some new technology to help find our wolf packs.

[00:43:02]The British believe they have found a repost to the Yubot menace thanks to Johnny Walker.

[00:43:13]>> Congratulations, Walker.

[00:43:17]You've delivered a long overdue message to the Nazis and their damned yubot in the best naval tradition.

[00:43:31]Thank you, sir. Although you should thank Buttercup.

[00:43:36]Buttercup.

[00:43:38]It's my pet name for my wife, Eileene, and it's the code name for the tactic we came up with to give Jerry a taste of their own medicine. I'm sorry. The idea of Operation Buttercup is to force the Ubot, the Herses, to dive. It's the easiest way to finish off a submarine is underwater with depth charges. We illuminate the sky so that we can see them if they surface and try to slip away under cover of darkness.

[00:44:05]>> I see.

[00:44:08]I'd like you to write up this buttercup maneuver in full so that I can issue it as part of our escort group operational instructions.

[00:44:16]Well done, Walker.

[00:44:19]Thank you, sir.

[00:44:24]Walker, superb commander, arguably the best ace of the war, but at the same time, he hadn't discovered the way the Germans were operating. That took other minds in another place.

[00:44:42]>> Hang on.

[00:44:45]Hang on.

[00:44:51]>> Commander Roberts.

[00:44:53]>> Yes. I was told to expect you.

[00:45:02]Serious doubts have been raised on high about Buttercup.

[00:45:07]Senior British admirals suspect it is another false dawn.

[00:45:17]>> The Royal Navy has to find a fresh approach to Donuts' tactics in the Battle of the Atlantic. And they find Gilbert Roberts in an unusual place training the Home Guard, retired, a survivor of tuberculosis.

[00:45:32]May I ask where you're taking me?

[00:45:34]>> London, sir. The admiral's here.

[00:45:38]>> Can I ask why?

[00:45:39]>> No. Borders.

[00:45:43]>> Mystery tour.

[00:45:45]What fun.

[00:45:53]Roberts is whisked up to London for a meeting with Ceil Osborne. Now, Ceil Osborne is an aid to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

[00:46:13]>> Commander Roberts, thank you for coming at such short notice. It was an invitation I couldn't receive, sir.

[00:46:19]>> Yes. Good. Straight to the point. It's clear that something needs to be done in the Battle of the Atlantic or we will lose the war. Simple as that. The prime minister is most worried. Merchant ships are being sunk at far faster rate than we are able to replace them. That's where you come in. I hear you've developed some interesting ideas about wargaming.

[00:46:45]I have, sir. Become something of a preoccupation.

[00:46:50]Good. We need to do something about the Ubot. A fortnight ago, we had a breakthrough. Captain Johnny Walker was escorting a fleet out of Gibralar. Faced with a full-on yubot attack, he managed to sink two. In all, we sank five.

[00:47:07]Walker, somewhat flush with his success, called the whole thing Buttercup.

[00:47:13]Buttercup.

[00:47:14]It's what he calls his wife, I believe.

[00:47:18]That's all well and good, but with my tactical hat on, I rather wonder whether Walker's success was not down to Lady Luck. Lucky butter.

[00:47:30]One more small thing before you go to Liverpool. Liverpool.

[00:47:39]Ah, yes, sir. We are ready.

[00:47:49]find out what's happening and sink the Ubot.

[00:47:54]>> Um, well, yes, of course.

[00:48:07]Time is not on your side, Roberts. You must uncover the Ubot's dirty tricks by recruiting and training a war gaming team. Got it?

[00:48:18]Yes, sir.

[00:48:32]School to play games. And I'll need men to staff the unit, too. All my best men are at sea.

[00:48:40]>> I hear you're in need of staff, >> sir.

[00:48:47]>> The rails.

[00:48:48]Ladies, if we lose the Battle of the Atlantic, we lose the war.

[00:48:55]>> Say the border set.

[00:49:01]>> Buttercup works.

[00:49:06]The Royal Navy are relying on luck to protect the convoys.

[00:49:09]>> We need to analyze yubot attacks and find a tactic to destroy them.