THE U-BOAT HUNTERS: THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY AND THE OFFENSIVE AGAINST GERMANY'S SUBMARINES. de Milner, Marc - 1994

Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994. 326 pp, 9 1/4" H. Map endpapers, b&w photographs. "(B)egins with a thorough re-evaluation of the RCN's role in the decisive Allied Atlantic victory over the U-boats in 1943. It presents some startling new conclusions about why the Canadians were marginalized in this the greatest of all anti-submarine offensives. Most studies of the Atlantic war end at this point, but 1943 is just the prologue to Milner's new book. Historians have ignored anti-submarine warfare in1944-5 because it was highly technical, undramatic and of no consequence to the outcome of the war itself. But the war against the U-boat was unrelenting. Schnorkels, improved batteries, radar detectors, and complex inshore water conditions made it difficult to find and sink late-war U-boats. By 1944 the Germans were building new, high-speed true submarines, against which the Allies had not effective countermeasures. This book is the story of how the RCN tackled these elusive enemies, how it fought to master the basics of modern anti-submarine warfare, and how its efforts fit into the larger Allied campaign." Minor wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, minor edge wear. Dust jacket has tiny bump at top of front hinge, tiny tear at top of front panel - archivally taped, light wrinkling at top rear edge, very minor rubbing on rear panel.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.