By Christopher Miskimon

Convoy HG-76 departed Gibraltar for Liverpool in December 1941. The 32 ships had to make a2,000-mile voyage, braving the dangers of German U-Boats and maritime strike aircraft. Royal Navy Commander Johnnie Walker commanded the escort group. He faced a daunting task, but he was an anti-submarine warfare expert who was about to prove his skills. He also commanded HMS Audacity, a new type of ship, the escort carrier. It carried only four fighters, but they were enough to give the convoy effective air cover.

The author is an acknowledged naval historian and this newest volume tells the history of HG-76 and its fight for survival. This battle used elements of convoy escort techniques which would be perfected over the next two years. The book is not only a history of the battle but also how the tactics and technology needed to defeat the U-Boats were developed.

The Convoy HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler’s U-Boats (Angus Konstam, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2024, 320 pp., maps, photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $35, HC)