U-Boats Ruled the Night — Until Leigh Light Turned Darkness Into a Trap | WW2

U-Boats Ruled the Night — Until Leigh Light Turned Darkness Into a Trap | WW2
“March 1943 — a moonless Atlantic.”
For years, German U-boats ruled the night and terrorized Allied convoys across the Black Pit, the deadly mid-ocean gap with no air cover. But that changed when RAF Coastal Command combined the new ASV Mk.III microwave radar with the 22-million-candlepower Leigh Light mounted on Wellingtons and Sunderlands.

Radar guided the aircraft silently through the dark. At just 300–500 feet, a blinding white beam cut through the ocean night, catching surfaced submarines as they recharged their batteries. The hunters became the hunted.

This documentary recreates the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic (1942–1943) — how British engineers, radar scientists, and aircrews closed the “Air Gap,” crushed the wolfpacks, and saved Britain’s lifeline at sea. Learn how HF/DF direction-finding, escort carriers, and the relentless evolution of radar turned darkness itself into a trap.

If you love black-and-white WWII documentaries that mix history, engineering, and human drama — this is the story of the night that lost its silence.

00:00 – Hook: “March 1943 — the moonless Atlantic; a white sun erupts above a U-boat.”
01:10 – Problem: Why the U-boats ruled the night and the terror of the Black Pit.
03:05 – Innovation: How ASV Mk.III radar and Leigh Light changed the game.
06:20 – The first strike: Wellington attacks from 500 feet, depth charges fall.
09:00 – German counter: Metox receivers, Schnorchel — and their fatal limits.
12:15 – Allied response: HF/DF, escort carriers, and the closure of the Air Gap.
15:00 – Results: 1943, the turning of the Atlantic — U-boats lose the night.
17:20 – Legacy: How radar, light, and intelligence won the unseen war.

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