After the fall of France, the Kriegsmarine turned the Atlantic port of La Rochelle and its deep-water harbour at La Pallice into a U-boat base. The 3rd U-boat Flotilla moved there in 1941, and a massive concrete submarine pen was built in 1941 and 1942 that survived every Allied raid. The German garrison held the town as a fortified pocket until the surrender of 9 May 1945.
Here in the story
Base
After a drunken last night ashore, the crew of U-96 marches to the pens and sails with a young war correspondent aboard.
Here in the story
Base
Simone Strasser arrives as a translator just as her brother sails on U-612, and a Resistance cell asks her to choose a side.
