The merchantmen steam in columns

In the strictly defined order

Carrying vital cargoes forward

Fast convoy, eastbound

Guarded fiercely by destroyers

And the nimble flower-class corvettes

Wayward children of Max Horton

Shepherds with the cold hearts

Open! Shipping lanes must be kept open

Detected! Came boiling our wrath

Depth charged! They did stand no chance

Sent back! Into their rancid depth

Sent back! Into their putrid hell

Always stalked, always watched

Never frightened, ever potent

Always ready to strike first and

To crack U-boats hulls

Make the hunters hunted themselves

Hailed by depth charges and shells

Hammer nails into their coffins

Send their boats straight to bottom

Let them die in terror, slowly

Let them suffocate

Deep below scattered bones

And screaming skulls

Of merchant seamen

Lie around their ships'

Rusty hulls

Torn by torpedoes

Every single night

And every single day

We make wolves pay dearly

For their victims

Every seaman lost

And every ship destroyed

Only adds to the final price

There's no forgiveness

The Atlantic swell, so potent

Rolls the ships and helps them forward

Through the war and closer to home

To the England's shore

The merchantmen steam in columns

In the strictly defined order

Guarded by the cruel destroyers

And the ruthless corvettes

Open! Shipping lanes must be kept open

Detected! Came boiling our wrath

Depth charged! They did stand no chance

Sent back! Into their rancid depth

Sent back! Into their putrid hell