Fromto, fifteen German submarines destroyed or severely damaged twentyseven ships, including three Canadian warships, a U, S. Army troop transport, and the Newfoundland ferry Caribou , More thanlives were lost, It was the only battle of the twentieth century to take place within Canadas boundaries, and the only battle to be fought almost exclusively by Canadian forces under Canadian, rather than alliance, high command.
And for more than forty years the battle was characterized as a Canadian defeat,
But was it a defeat Drawing on new material from wartime recordsincluding ultratopsecret Allied decryptions of German naval radio communications, Roger Sarty shows that Canada mounted a successful defence with far fewer resources and
in the face of much greater challenges than previously known.
He draws vivid pictures of the intense combat on Canadas shores and the interplay of the St, Lawrence battle with war politics in Ottawa, Washington, and London, At the same time, he weaves a second story: how researchers reassembled the scattered war records in Canada, Britain, the United States, and Germany, and brought the longforgotten battle to life for new generations of Canadians and international audiences.
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