The convoy HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941. The Royal Navy commander in charge was ‘Johnnie’ Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Accompanying the escorts was HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy’s first escort carrier – a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats.
Aware of the departure of HG-76, a wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed to, in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine.
Joining me on this episode is Angus Konstam.
Angus is a naval historian and author of The Convoy: HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler’s U-boats
For patrons of the podcast, Osprey Publishing has given us a discount code to be used on their website, ospreypublishing.com.Â
If you are not a patron of the show, you can sign up at patreon.com/ww2podcast. Patrons can get advert-free listening and extra WWII chat.
