Exhelo: During the Happy Time of 1942, was when the U-Boats managed to sink only 5% of Allied shipping.

That goes back to the theme of this whole discussion. There is what is recalled, what the mythology was, and what the actual data shows.

By 1944 the Allies were sinking something like 10 U-boats for every Allied ship sunk. Which is incredible when you think about it.

El Jefe: In a televised interview, one of the Bismark survivors said that when the word came down that they were going to engage the Hood, his first thought was “Not again! I mean we are at war! Don’t they ever get tired of that drill?”

“Engage the Hood” was the favorite wargames exercise for the Bismark. He first assumed that it was yet another stupid exercise.