The Battle of the Atlantic

5: 1943

- 'Black May' of 1943 • U-boat losses were unsustainable - one quarter of their strength in one month • U-boats were withdrawn from the Atlantic, and the battle was won • New German submarines arrived in 1945, • Came too late to affect course of battle

6: Sunken Ships by Submarine

- 1939 : 222 ships sunk (114 by submarine) - 1940 : 1059 ships sunk (471 by submarine) - 1941 : 1328 ships sunk (432 by submarine) - 1942 : 1661 ships sunk (1159 by submarine) - 1943 : 597 ships sunk (463 by submarine) - 1944 : 247 ships sunk (132 by submarine) - 1945 : 105 ships sunk (56 by submarine)

3: 1941

- Advantage began to shift towards the British - Canadians increased their escort missions - RAF Coastal Command was able to increase its air cover - U-110 captured in March 1941 • Had Enigma machine and codes • Helped the Allies track the movement of German U-boats

5: 1943

- Advantage shifted to the Allies - Allies had: • Sufficient escort aircraft carriers • Long-range aircraft

4: 1942

- Allied losses reached the peak in 1942 • 1,664 ships were sunk • Supplies of gas and food to Britain reached critically low levels

3: 1941

- April 1941 • US warships began escorting Allied convoys as far as Iceland - The Radar • August 1941 • Detect a U-boat periscope at a range of one mile • Allies' favor

4: 1942

- Balance tilted back to Germans - New submarines were entering service quickly • Rate of 20 per month - US Navy was unable to prevent the sinking of almost 500 ships between January and June 1942

2: The Battle of the Atlantic

- Early in the war: • German warships aimed to catch and destroy allied convoys • Limited success • Led to the loss of major ships including Graf Spee and Bismarck

2: The Battle of the Atlantic

- German navy focused on escalating the war with U-boats • Attacked on the surface at night (where they could not be detected by Allied sonar, or ASDIC) • U-boats had great success against Allied convoys • Sunk merchant ships with torpedoes and then submerged to evade the counterattack by escorting warships • By 1941 they inflicted huge losses, sinking 875 Allied ships.

2: The Battle of the Atlantic

- The Germans targeted the British - It was a naval war that lasted 6 years • German U-boats, warships, Italian submarines against Allied convoys transporting military equipment and supplies across the Atlantic to Great Britain and the Soviet Union. • Battle to control the Atlantic shipping lanes

5: 1943

- The battle reached its peak between February and May 1943 - The 'hedgehog' depth-charge mortar made life more dangerous for U-boat crews

7: Bibliography

- These is my work cited

1: The Battle of the Atlantic

By Mohammed Vasanwala

2: The Battle of the Atlantic

Winston Churchill said, "The Battle of the Atlantic was "the only thing that ever frightened me."