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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
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Capturing Enigma - How HMS Petard Seized the German Naval Codes (Paperback, New Ed)
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Capturing Enigma - How HMS Petard Seized the German Naval Codes (Paperback, New Ed)
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List price R285
Loot Price R260
Discovery Miles 2 600
You Save R25 (9%)
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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Billed as one of the Second World War's last great untold stories,
this tale of how the first Enigma materials were captured was first
published in 1999. Now reissued in the wake of the successful film
and BBC series on the subject, it tells of the role of HMS Petard
during that monumental conflict. The full facts about the
destroyer's involvement in the events of that October night in 1942
were never previously available due to an 'extended intelligence
blackout' spanning four decades. It was only recently that the
actions of the two young crew members who died that night rescuing
codebooks from a sinking U-boat were finally allowed to be
revealed, and their enormous effect on the course of the war could
be recognized and analysed. Unique in that she was the only Royal
Navy destroyer to sink submarines belonging to all three enemy
navies, the Petard attacked and captured U-559 in the
Mediterranean, and the subsequent discovery of coding material for
the infamous German Enigma system allowed the statisticians,
mathematicians and intellectuals at Bletchley Park to get to work
on breaking the new code that would reveal details of a planned
massive underwater offensive. It's crucial to remember how the
German navy dominated the Atlantic waters during those years - at
one stage twice as many Allied ships were being destroyed as were
coming into service - and Churchill himself described the Battle of
the Atlantic as 'the dominating factor throughout the war'. Harper
served on the HMS Petard himself, and his obvious affection and
respect for the vessel and her crew adds a touching personal note
to this exciting and well-written story. (Kirkus UK)
An attack by a British destroyer on a German U-boat in the Eastern
Mediterranean in October 1942 altered the course of the entire war.
The capture of secret coding material from U-559, at the cost of
two of HMS Petard's crew, enabled Bletchley Park's codebreakers to
successfully crack the U-boat cypher. It was the crucial factor in
defeating Hitler's Atlantic U-boat wolf packs before they succeeded
in starving Britain into defeat in the winter of 1942-1943. Here is
the true story of how HMS Petard attacked and captured U-559 in the
darkness of a Mediterranean night. It describes how members of her
crew swam across to the slowly sinking U-boat and captured vital
German Enigma codebooks. But the damage sustained by U-559 in the
earlier attack proved fatal and without warning she sank before
Petard could take her in tow. Two of the destroyer's crew were
trapped in the conning tower and went to the bottom with her. Both
men were later recommended for posthumous awards of the Victoria
Cross but the Admiralty, concerned this might draw unwanted
attention from German Intelligence, instead ordered posthumous
awards of the George Cross, the highest civilian award for bravery.
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