During the first months of 1943, the city of Brest escaped destruction and remains an active city with its inhabitants, while Lorient and Saint-Nazaire are razed by repeated massive bombing. Its submarine base and its harbor then host up to 26 U-Bootes simultaneously, which took part in the biggest pack attacks against Allied convoys crossing the North Atlantic. May marks the turning point of this battle, with 41 German submarines sunk. This sector is momentarily abandoned, the time that the U-Boote receive new armaments. While isolated U-Bootes are sent to the African, North American, Caribbean and Brazilian coasts, others are prepared in Brest to join the Mediterranean. Submarines VIID type perceive mines that will be wet in front of distant ports ... During the summer of 1943, a Japanese submarine whose holds are filled with strategic matters stops at the port. In the fall, Brest is home port for five U-Boots converted into an aircraft trap, equipped with additional platforms to receive DCA guns. They will accompany the combat submarines that resume their attacks in packs with more effective radar detectors and especially acoustic torpedoes to eliminate the destroyers escorting the convoys ... Two former Italian submarines transformed into freighters to make connections with Japan also stops in the port in November. During the first months of 1944, because of its proximity to the English Channel, all type VIIC combat submarines equipped with schnorchel in France were assembled in Brest. It is indeed the Armorican port that they leave towards Normandy from June 6 to try to counter the Allied landing fleet. This fight continues until the American troops reach the suburbs of the city, bombarded with a rare intensity. The U-Boote then evacuate the base towards Norway. One of them, covered with a rubbery material to avoid spotting, managed even temporarily to escape the allied escorts in the English Channel after his torpedos. The last will leave Brest in September, with the leader of the 9th Flotilla as commander ... His submarine base is the only one of the five bases built on the Atlantic coast to be taken by force by the Allies, who pay a heavy price for this liberation. But the port is unusable for several months, and the city is completely in ruins. Almost all of the 97 submarines passed in Brest between 1943 and 1944 were destroyed on a combat mission, often with all their crew. This book, illustrated by 500 photos of exceptional times very precisely captioned, you will follow the lives of returning submarines return mission. It will detail you month by month, the technical innovations aboard the U-Boote and the strategic maneuvers in which they participate, as well as the actions of the Allies and the French Resistance to counter them. An essential book for all fans of the Battle of the Atlantic, submarines or the history of the port of Brest.
