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By Andrew Roberts


‘Such is the U-boat war:’ Winston Churchill told the House of Commons on 26 September 1939, ‘hard, widespread and bitter, a war of groping and drowning, a war of ambuscade and stratagem, a war of science and seamanship.’

It was also a war of survival or surrender for Britain, which could not feed herself on her agricultural production alone and had to import all the oil that fuelled her tanks, warplanes and industry. 

The continued prosecution of the Second World War therefore hung on the Battle of the Atlantic. Churchill’s mention of ‘science’ pointed to a providential opportunity, which when allied to the professionalism of the Royal Navy and the bravery of the Merchant Marine gave Britain the key to victory in the battle of the Atlantic.

For the most important scientific development by far was the cracking of the German Enigma code by cryptographers working at Bletchey Park in Buckinghamshire. Material codenamed ULTRA, from its security classification, was invaluable in affording the Allies information about where the U-boats were meeting their mid-oceanic supply submarines. 

During the battle of Britain, ULTRA decrypts warned the RAF where German bombers were headed for, at El Alamein Montgomery was pre-warned of Rommel’s capabilities and intentions, at D-Day it was known that the Germans had fallen for the deception campaign that pointed to the Pas de Calais as the invasion point rather than the Normandy, and so on.

The military historian Professor Sir Michael Howard has likened the Allies’ possession of ULTRA to ‘playing poker with marked cards, albeit against an opponent with a consistently better hand than you’.

Other scientific and technical developments that helped the Navy during the war included the sonar device ASDIC, airborne radar and improved depth charges.

By Molly Kavanaugh


A ship sunk by a fierce autumn storm 115 years ago has been discovered in Lake Erie, 25 miles north of Cleveland.

The 133-foot schooner Riverside was among a dozen sunken vessels and more than 50 deaths left in the wake of the storm, which blew across the Great Lakes in 1893. 

"It's in remarkable condition," said Tom Kowalczk, a diver with Cleveland Underwater Explorers Inc. 

The nonprofit group, in collaboration with the Great Lakes Historical Society, found the shipwreck last year. Members delayed announcing their find until they could photograph the site.

An estimated 1,700 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Lake Erie; fewer than 300 have been found. 

Riverside, built in 1870, left Kelleys Island with 670 tons of stone on Friday, Oct. 13, 1893, headed for Tonawanda, N.Y.

By Ross McSwain


Over a 167-year period, the great state of Texas and its parent, the Republic of Texas, have had to negotiate with the government of France twice. Both disputes were settled with a compromise.

The first dispute, in 1841, was called the "Pig War," the name given to the quarrel between French diplomat Alphonse Dubois de Saligny and the Lamar administration that resulted in a temporary rupture of diplomatic relations between France and the Republic of Texas. More about this later.

The most recent dispute had to be settled in 2003 through the U.S. State Department and then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who met with representatives of the French government to solve the difficulty.

This situation came to light recently when some 50 or more local and area history buffs met at Fort Concho to hear about the story of the 17th century shipwreck that may have played a role in changing the history of North America.


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By Erica Blake


The images are blurred shapes of dark and light and they have undefined lines and portions shaded out.

But even to the untrained eye the photos that emerged from the side scan sonar that pierced into the waters of Lake Erie were unmistakably boats. Shipwrecks to be exact.

More than a year after first glimpsing the boats on sonar and working to discover what they were, shipwreck hunters searching the waters off Cleveland have just recently announced their finds.

The shipwrecks are among many that have been discovered through the collaborative efforts of the Cleveland Underwater Explorers and the Great Lakes Historical Society in Vermilion, Ohio.

There are many more to find.

From European Commission


In the 17th century the kingdom of Sweden embarked on the construction of the most expensive and ornamented warship of its time.

Taking three years to build, it involved the work of carpenters and sail-makers, as well as sculptures and painters to work on carving and painting the intricate woodwork motifs and decorations that adorn this ship.

Unfortunately the ship sank on its maiden voyage. The king's misfortune however turned out to be our good fortune as it has been a vital resource for historians, giving us valuable insight into the times.

Now the royal warship Vasa is facing a battle for its life as it is under threat from its own iron armoury.

Since early 2000, scientists have noticed certain changes taking place in the wood of the ship: changes that threaten the very stability and life of the ship. Now a team of experts working on Vasa have been able to identify the culprit that was threatening the ship: iron.

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By Elaine Yong


Twenty meters below the surface of the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo, I'm getting blasted by the ripping current.

Desperately, I grasp at the loose coral littering the top of the reef wall trying to find an anchor. My husband, Aaron, has a slippery grip on my other hand and my two younger sisters are clutching the tips of my fins.

It would be downright comical if I weren't concentrating so hard on staying put.

The four of us tenuously hang on by our fingernails, while our bodies are buffeted by the washing-machine current that whips around Sipadan Island's most famous dive site, the aptly named Barracuda Point.

The battle is worth it. I'm staring at a huge school of those voracious predators.

There are hundreds of them, astonishingly still in the rushing waters, perfectly posed so I can get a good look at their toothy grins. Then in a silvery flash, the school turns on itself and swirls into a massive ball.

The barracudas swim off into the blue yonder.


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By Ned Rozell


About 150 years ago, a few days after summer solstice, the gray skies above the Diomede Islands were heavy with smoke from whaling ships set ablaze by Confederate sailors who didn't know the Civil War had ended.

"The red glare from the eight burning vessels shone far and wide over the drifting ice of these savage seas," wrote an officer aboard the Shenandoah, a ship commissioned by Confederate leaders to wreak havoc on Yankee whalers harvesting bowhead whales off the western and northern coasts of Alaska.

Though their timing was off -- the Civil War had been over for two months when the Shenandoah reached Alaska waters from England (after an eight-month trip around the southern capes of Africa and Australia) -- the captain and crew of the Shenandoah succeeded in destroying the Yankee fleet, burning 22 whaling ships and capturing two others.

"It was the last hurrah of whaling -- the place where commercial whaling died in the U.S.," said Brad Barr, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in Woods Hole, Mass.

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By Bob Crivello


The annual family bonfire and cookout was loads of fun - riding four wheelers, playing chase the ace, cooking hot dogs and eating chili, good folksy conversations and tall tales. 

And then, after darkness had settled in, we took our walk in the woods, with flashlights casting eerie shadows from creepy vines and old snags from dead trees that lined the trail.

This year, there was no one in the woods to scare us. There were no grave markers, spider webs or snakes hanging from trees. 

We laughed and joked about that old tale of the ghost of Jean Lafitte who roamed the woods at this time of the year.

We are now much older and can't be scared anymore, and Jean Lafitte, that's just a lot of baloney. But maybe we shouldn't have been so loud! Maybe, just maybe, our voices carried a little too far in the woods and were heard by someone who was not invited to the party. 

We all know the story of Jean Lafitte, that old pirate from New Orleans who was enlisted by General Andrew Jackson to help the American forces against the British in the Battle of New Orleans in 1812.

After the war, this scalawag and his band returned to their old ways and set up a colony of privateers and made the mistake of attacking some American ships.