 |
| U-Boats moored at Lisahally, Londonderry. IWM Public Domain |
The Battle
of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World War beginning with
the sinking of the liner SS Athenia by German submarine U-30 a matter of hours
after the British declaration of war on 3rd September 1939. German
submarine or U-Boat activity continued until the VE Day on 7th May
1945. During this battle the German Navy the Kriegsmarine attempted to cut off
the United Kingdom’s overseas supply lines most notably the transatlantic
routes. The U-Boat was the Kriegsmarine’s workhorse in this regard. So critical
was this battle to the survival of the United Kingdom that Britain’s wartime
leader Winston Churchill described it as his greatest fear.
Though the
command of Western Approaches was in Liverpool many of the escort vessels that
protected Allied convoys were based in Northern Ireland ports most notably the
port of Londonderry. Derry as the city is also commonly called is the UK’s most
western port and a stone frigate (naval shore base) HMS Ferret was established
there in 1940. Londonderry is Northern Ireland’s second city and is situated on
a tidal section of the River Foyle just before it flows into Lough Foyle and
into the North Atlantic. The importance of Derry to the battle is shown that by
1943 more ships were stationed there than Liverpool, the Clyde and Belfast. At
its peak the city and its outlying port facilities at Lisahally just beyond the
city limits catered to 139 ocean going vessels. Following the entry of the
United States into the war the city hosted a strong American presence although
the bulk of Allied naval personnel were British and Canadian.
On 4th
May 1945 as Berlin fell Grand Admiral Karl Donitz who had following Hitler’s
suicide three days earlier inherited the leadership of Nazi Germany ordered his
U-Boats to ceasefire. The message he sent them read “Undefeated and Spotless,
you lay down your arms after a heroic battle without equal.” From that date
U-Boats began surrendering whenever they met an Allied ship although some
commanders scuttled their submarine before it fell into Allied hands.
 |
| View of Londonderry with warships along the quay |
While many
of the crews did fight a heroic battle, Winston Churchill himself paying
tribute to the ‘fortitude of the U-Boat Service’ they had quite decisively been
beaten in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Commander in Chief of Western
Approaches Admiral Sir Max Horton took issue with this statement. He was a
veteran of the 1st World War (ironically as a submarine commander)
and was aware that the Germany had blamed its defeat in that conflict on the
stab in the back myth. This was the myth that the German armed forces in the
field were undefeated and that Germany had lost the war because the civilians
and politicians at home gave in and betrayed them. This was a myth but Horton
was aware that the Nazis had used this belief to their advantage during their
rise to power and it played into their rearmament and expansionist policies.
Fearing that a similar myth regarding the German armed forces in the Second
World War might lead to history repeating itself. Horton sought to dispel it
before it could take hold so he planned a formal surrender ceremony.
Londonderry
was chosen to be the place where this ceremony would take place due to the role
it played but also probably for practical reasons regarding the range and
seaworthiness of some of the U-boats. The first eight U-Boats sailed into Lough
Foyle on Monday 14th May 1945 with a skeleton Kriegsmarine crew and
under the Royal Navy command. The U-Boats flew the British white ensign and
were escorted by the British, Canadian and American destroyers HMS Hesperus,
HMCS Theford Mines and USS Robert I Paine. The U-Boats docked at Lisahally and their
crews led by Oberleutnant Klaus Hilgendorf commander of U-1009 formally surrendered
to Admiral Sir Max Horton, who had flown into nearby Royal Naval Air Station
Eglington (HMS Gannet) that morning specifically for the occasion. Horton was
joined by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Sir Basil Brook and Colonel
Dan Bryan the Irish Free State’s Director of Military Intelligence. The event
was also witnessed by many of the locally based Allied soldiers, sailors and
airmen, most notably the WRNS from HMS Ferret and Fleet Air Arm personnel from
HMS Gannet and HMS Shrike (RNAS Maydown).
 |
| Free Polish destroyer ORP Krakowaiak toes U-2337 out of Lough Foyle for scuttling as part of Operation Deadlight 28th November 1945 |
Following
the surrender more U-Boats found themselves moored on the Foyle from where they
were towed of the coasts of Counties Londonderry and Donegal and systematically
sank in what was known as Operation Deadlight. 116 boats were destroyed this way,
being towed to three main zones where they were sunk either by scuttling, naval
gunfire or aerial target practice depending on which zone they were towed to.
This operation commenced on 17th November 1945 and completed on 11th
February 1946.
Thus the end
of Hitler’s U-Boat fleet happened in Northern Ireland. Winston Churchill said
of Northern Ireland’s role
“By the grace of God Ulster stood a faithful sentinel”
“That was a dark and dangerous hour. We were alone, and had
to face single-handed the full fury of the German attack raining down death and
destruction on our cities and, still more deadly, seeking to strangle our life
by cutting off the entry to our ports of the ships which brought us our food
and the weapons we so sorely needed.
Only one great channel remained open. It remained open
because loyal Ulster gave us the full use of Northern Irish ports and waters,
and thus ensured the free working of the Clyde and the Mersey.
But for the loyalty of Northern Ireland we should have been
confronted with slavery and death and the light which now shines so strongly
throughout the world would have been quenched.
The bonds of affection between Great Britain and the people
of Northern Ireland have been tempered by fire and are now, I believe,
unbreakable.”
“We have traveled a hard and darksome road to victory in
Europe, and at every turn in this memorable journey the loyalty and courage of
Ulster have gleamed before the eyes of men.
The stand of the Government and People of Northern Ireland
for the unity of the British Empire and Commonwealth and for the great cause of
freedom, for which we all risked our survival will never be forgotten by Great
Britain. A strong loyal Ulster will always be vital to the security and
well-being of our whole Empire and Commonwealth”
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1449041.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg/150px-Defense_Forces_Infantry_Flag_(Ireland).svg.png)
.svg/200px-Defense_Forces_Ordnance_Corps_Flag_(Ireland).svg.png)
