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Hitler still supremely confident of victory spoke to the German people, but with words aimed at America, "Anyone who thinks he can help England, let him be aware of one certain thing. Each and every ship that appears before our torpedo tubes, escorted or not, will be torpedoed."
-- Adolf Hitler, January 1941
The naval campaigns are often given superficial coverage in assessments of World War II in Europe. In fact, the most important battle of the War was the Battle of the Atlantic. Churchill was to write after the War that it was the the loss Battle of the Atlantic that was the only thing he feared. Battles could be lost or won, but the cutting of Britain's life lines to the Dominions and especially America would have made it impossible for Britain to have continued the War. It was no accident that Anglo-American military cooperation began in the North Atlantic well before America entered the War. Hitler on the other hnd gave lttle attention to the U-boat fleet until after the War began. Hitler and approved Plan-Z, a secret plan to prepare the Kriegsmarine for war with Britain by 1944. It involved the construction of seizemassive capital ships and two aircraft carriers. The Germans with U-boats, surface fleet, and long range aircraft hope to cut off Britain from its Empire and supply from the United States. Although neutral in the early years of the War, President Roosevelt was determine to support the Allies. A few days after the fall of France in 1940, a sjocked American Congress approvd the Naval Construction Act. The immediate impact of the fall of France in 1940 tremendosly increased the effectiveness of the German naval campaign, providing indespenseable French Atlantic ports. The Royal Navy had ben strongly depleted during the inter-war era by naval limitations traties. After France fell, the Royal Navy stood alone againt the German ans Italian navies. The Germans had a growing surface fleet and the Italian a fast modrn fleet that threatened to seize control of the Mediterannean. The the German u-boat operations proved highly effective, despite the fact that Hitler launched the War years beore the Kriegsmarine was prepared. Even before America entered the War, the U.S. Navy was deployed in the North Atlantic to protect British convoys. Anglo-American naval and scientific cooperaion resulted in the defeat of the u-boat campain by 1943. Combined with American construction of liberty ships, not only was Britain kept supplied, but America assembled a massive force of men and supplies in England that in 1944 was unleased on Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
The naval campaigns are often given superficial coverage in assessments of World War II in Europe. In fact, the most important battle of the War was the Battle of the Atlantic. It was the central camaign upon which the entire war effort of the western Allies hinged. (Because of Lend Lease supplies for the Russians it also had a major impact on the crucial campaign in the East.) Churchill was to write after the War that it was the the loss Battle of the Atlantic that was the only thing he really feared. Battles could be lost or won, but the cutting of Britain's life lines to the Dominions and especially America would have made it impossible for Britain to have continued the War. And it would have made it impossible for America to have entered the European fughting. It was no accident that Anglo-American military cooperation began in the North Atlantic well before America entered the War. Once America entered the War, the only way that Amerucan military force and industrial power could be brought to bear upon NAZI Germany was to cross the North Atlantic. The Battle of the North Atlantic because of its significance was the longest and most costly battle of the War. Churchill was convinced that whoever won the struggle in the North Atlantic would win the War.
The Treaty of Versilles required that all German U-boats be turned over to the Allies and that the German Navy not build or deploy any U-boats in the future. This was in addition to turning over the major battleships of the highseas fleet. The Highseas fleet saled to Scappa Flow, but instead of rurning over the vesselss to the British scuttled much of the fleet. The Royal Navy had been strongly depleted during the inter-war era by naval limitations treaties. The Depression which began in 1929 affected appropriations. Although the Royal Navy had been weakened by the inter-war naval limitations treaties, it still outclassed the German Kriegsmarine which operated under the limitations of the Versailles Treaty. Even so the Kriegsmarine conducted secret reserarchh. They also helped secure cobntracts for German shipyards to build submarines for other countries. The construction of U-boats was not outlawed by the treaty. This mean that Germany even before the NAZI take over was developing U-boat technology during the 1920s. Hitler unilaterally abrogated the Versailles Treay (1935). This could have resulted in war, but neither Britain and France had any desire for a new war. The British response was to negotiate a naval agreement with the NAZI Germany (1935). The agreement allowed the NAZIs begin a naval armaments program at their weakest point. Britain in the agreement ceeded the right of Germany to build U-boats. NAZI Germany's new U-boat fleet was put in the hands of Admiral Karl Doenitz, a fervant NAZI supporter. Doenitz was a decorated World War I U-boat commander who like many other naval commanders had been humiliated by Germany's defeat in World War I. He began to aggressivey build a new German submarine force. Resources were at first limited. Hitler's priorities were his Panzers and the Luftwaffe. Even within the Kriegsmarine resources were focused on surface ships. Yes the NAZI armaments program was so extensive that Doenitz was able to build a sunstantial number of modern U-boats. He worked aggressively on developing improved technology, including saftey measures, and tactics. Hitler gave lttle attention to the U-boat fleet until after the War began. Hitler approved Plan-Z, a secret plan to prepare the Kriegsmarine for war with Britain by 1944. It involved the construction of massive capital ships and two aircraft carriers. Hitler's inclination was to focus on large overwealming weapons. Thus he was attracted to large battleships like Bismarck and Tripitz rather than small U-boats.
Unlike the Pacific, the critical campaign in the Atlantic would not be between powerful surface forces. Hitler promised Grand Admiral Raeder a powerful surface fleet with massive battleships and aircraft carriers. In fact, he lunched the War before building a sizeable fleet. Hitler had time and again promised him a huge surface and assured him that there would not be another campaign against Britain and the Royal Navy until the mid-1940s. But Hitler launched the War much earlier -- 1939. Thus for the Kriegsmarine as Raeder would phrase it after the War was to 'go down fighting' and demonstrate that we knew how to die gallantly'. OKM was left with only one option -- commerce raiding. 【Raeder】 Germany would again have to fall back on its U-boats. And to wage a guerre de course against Britain. This was by its very nature a brutal campaign. Merchant mariners sunk in the cold waters of the North Atlantic had little chance of survival unless rescued quickly. Which usually was not possible. Convoys could not strop to rescue survivors. Commerce raiding was not what Reader had planned. Thus began a second effort to blockade Britain which would be a cold mathematical calculation. Admiral Dönitz calculated that to win the Battle of the Atlantic, he would need a force of 300 medium Type VII U-boats. (OKM favored the larger types.) This would enable him to keep 100 on station in the Atlantic shipping lanes. OKM had in the years leading up to the War, dreaming of a powerful surface fleet, repeatedly refused to focus resources on Dönitz's U-boats. This of course changed after the War began. Based on World War I operations, he calculated that his force of 300 Type VIIs could sink a million tons of shipping monthly. The British merchant marine at the onset of the War was large, about 3,000 cargo ships and tankers totaling 17.5 million tons. Döntitz thus reasoned that Britain, dependent as it was on imports for raw material and food could very rapidly be forced to make peace. 【Blair, p. 39.】 The issue this became how rapidly Döntiz could build his 300 U-boat fleet. The German victories in Norway and France (1940) would greatly increase the U-boat threat, making it impossible to bottle them up in the North Sea. For the British it became how rapidly they could build escorts and new merchant ships and develop effective ASW tactics and weapons. Here Canada would play a key role. The great unknown was the United States. Would America enter the War before Germany had forced Britain to make peace.
The naval campaigns are often given superficial coverage in assessments of World War II in Europe. In fact, the most important battle of the War was the Battle of the Atlantic. Churchill was to write after the War that it was the the loss Battle of the Atlantic that was the only thing he feared. Battles could be lost or won, but the cutting of Britain's life lines to the Dominions and especially America would have made it impossible for Britain to have continued the War. It was no accident that Anglo-American military cooperation began in the North Atlantic well before America entered the War. Hitler on the other hnd gave lttle attention to the U-boat fleet until after the War began. Hitler and approved Plan-Z, a secret plan to prepare the Kriegsmarine for war with Britain by 1944. It involved the construction of seizemassive capital ships and two aircraft carriers. The Germans with U-boats, surface fleet, and long range aircraft hope to cut off Britain from its Empire and supply from the United States. Although neutral in the early years of the War, President Roosevelt was determine to support the Allies. A few days after the fall of France in 1940, a sjocked American Congress approvd the Naval Construction Act. The immediate impact of the fall of France in 1940 tremendosly increased the effectiveness of the German naval campaign, providing indespenseable French Atlantic ports. The Royal Navy had ben strongly depleted during the inter-war era by naval limitations traties. After France fell, the Royal Navy stood alone againt the German ans Italian navies. The Germans had a growing surface fleet and the Italian a fast modrn fleet that threatened to seize control of the Mediterannean. The the German u-boat operations proved highly effective, despite the fact that Hitler launched the War years beore the Kriegsmarine was prepared. Even before America entered the War, the U.S. Navy was deployed in the North Atlantic to protect British convoys. Anglo-American naval and scientific cooperaion resulted in the defeat of the u-boat campain by 1943. Combined with American construction of liberty ships, not only was Britain kept supplied, but America assembled a massive force of men and supplies in England that in 1944 was unleased on Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
World War II began when the aging German cruiser SMS Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on Polish forces in Danzig (Gdansk) in the Baltic -- 4:47 AM September 1, 1939. Two days later, The U-30 torpedoed the liner SS Athenia (September 3). This marked the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic. Now the great naval battle of the War would be fought in the Pacific, but America and Britain adopted a Germany first strategy--for good reason. NAZI Germany with its industrial and technological prowess, despite Pearl Harbor, was the real danger. And the Battle of the Atlantic would settle the central question of the War--could America with its immense industrial power get its men and equipment to Europe and wage war on the NAZI Germany? There were two phases to the Battle of the Atlantic. The first phase of the battle witnessed considerable German successes, especially Adm. Dönitz's U-boat fleet. The German admiralty planned a commerce war against Britain with both surface vessels and U-boats. The problem for the German Navy was that their surface vessels failed. Adm. Dönitz's U boats achieved some successes, only Dönitz began the War with only a handful of U-boats so he impact was limited. Hitler then ordered priority to U-boat construction. So by the time of Pearl Harbor, Dönitz was amassing a growing U-boat fleet. The second phase of the Battle was fought after Pearl Harbor (December 1941). This meant that the full force of American industry was now going to be deployed against Germany. Adm. Dönitz but not Adm Raeder was urging this, no calculating he force of American industry. Naval wars are by definition industrial wars. And once American industry was mobilized for war--the Germany Navy had no chance of winning the War. Again Dönitz with his U-boat fleet scored major victories (1942). Once American industry was fully geared for war, the Germany Navy had no potential for victory and the U-boats became the hunted rather than the hunter (1943). And there was nothing to stop Allied shipping from delivering America men and equipment from entering the fight against NAZI Germany. At the same time, German spending on the War in the West, most naval and air operations, meant that vast amounts of German industrial output was diverted from the all-important Ostkrieg.
One way to follow the Battle of the Atlantic is chronologically as we have sketched out above. But it is also useful to look at some of the major developments in technology and organization separately as the chronological view scatters many of these topics making it difficult to study and assess them. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest of the War and the most important conducted by the Western Allies. All of the military campaigns conducted by the Western Allies depended on the success of the Battle of the Atlantic. From the beginning, naval mines were important. The initial problem for both the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine was location. The Germans had to located the Allied convoys. The Allies had to locate the German ships, primarily the U-boats. Here the primary tools were electronic: directional finding, radar, and sonar. Directional finding was used by the Allies before the German naval Enigma was cracked. The Royal Navy miscalculated. The Sonar developed in World War I was not nearly the game changer that the Admiralty had anticipated. New sonars were developed, including Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) and sonabuoys. Advances in radar made a big difference as the campaign developed, especially HFDF (Huff Duff). Here the cavity magnitron was critical. All kinds of new weapons were developed to destroy U-boats such as Lee Lights and Hedgehogs. The Allies organized Hunter Killer Groups and closed the air gap. The Germans made changes as well like introducing snorkels but failed to deploy advanced new U-boat types, in part because of the Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign. Code breaking was pursued by both the Allies and Germans. The Allied cracking of Enigma, especially breaking the Shark code made a huge difference in finally defeating the U-boats. There was not only hardware research, but operational research. Admiral Dönitz introduced Wolf Packs as soon as he had sufficient U-boats. He was at a disadvantage because when a U-boat was lost, he usually did not know why. This made it very difficult to understand failures and develop counter measures. The Allies, however, were able to assess German U-boats and tactics and work out needed tactical responses. Patrick Blackett and Sully Zuckerman led important research teams. American and Canadian shipyards turned out new escorts in large numbers. American Liberty ships more than replaced sunk merchantmen. Air cover was vital in defeating the U-boats, especially long range air craft. Here the American B-24 Liberators were especially important. Also important were jeep carriers and the British Short Sunderland. The Germans called it the 'flying porcupine'. Historians focus on technology and naval and air operations. Both were vital, but organizational structure was also important. 【Gardner】 Both the nature of the belligerent alliances as well as the structure of the militaries were important. The Anglo-American Alliance was the closest and most important alliance in history. And that cooperation was on display in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Axis essentially fought two separate wars with no real cooperation. Japanese submarines could have cut off the the British Eighth Army in Egypt during the all important 1942 period. This could have led to a possible connections, but the Japanese refused to commit their submarines in strength to the Indian Ocean or to commerce warfare. The Allies promoted inter-service cooperation and air and sea forces played a key role in the Allied victory. The British set up inter-service bodies: the Anti-U-boat Warfare Committee and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). The Germans in contrast like the Japanese raised inter-service rivalry to a new level. Hitler was suspicious of his military and did not promote inter-service cooperation. Göring virtually refused to assist Dönitz in the Battle of the Atlantic. He severely limited FW-200 Condor flights out into the Atlantic.
Thousands of ships participated in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. Some of these ships and the men who served on them became legends. The U-9 at the beginning of the War slipped into the British ancorage at Scappl Flow and sank a British battle ship (September 1939). An early naval battle was fought off Argentina in the South Atlantic. Three British cruisers engaged the German pocket battleship Graff Spee involved in commerce raiding. As a result, the German ship was firced into the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay where the captain blew his ship up (1939). Perhaps the best known ship in the Royal Navy was HMS Hood, a battle cruiser. Thus new that she was sunk by Bismarck was especially shocking (March 1941) and lead to a massive effort to sink Bismarck. The carrier USS Wasp would help to get a tanker through to Malta, preventing a British surrender. The fast tanker SS Ohio was destroyed, but made it through lased to destroyers and deccks awash becoming the most famous tanker of the War. The U-boat fleet was devestated by the Allies, but two U-boats became famous at the end of the War. The U-234 surrenderd to the U.S. Navy with a cargo of enriched uranium intended for the Japanese atomic bomb program. The U-977 managed a notable escape to Argentina. The Japanese were not involved in the Battle of the Atlantic, but they did participate in efforts to exchange material and technology with the Germans. The Japanese submarine I-52 tried to get to France to pick up enriched uranium.
Perhaps
The Nattle of the Atlantic was the longest fought Battle of World War II. Tt began with the German and Soviet invasion of Poland (September 1939). Britin and France initiated a naval blockade of Germany as they had dome in Wotld War I. German U-boats began sinking British shipping. British losses increased steadily as the Germans expanded their U-boat fleet. Losses peaked in 1942, but were havey in early 1943 until Allied ASW efforts finall begann to sink U-boats in substantial numbers. Hitler ordered Adm. Dönitz to avoid sinking American shipping even after President Roosevelt ordered an undeclared naval war (September 1941). The U-boats did not begin sinlking American shipping until Hitler declared War (December 1941), especially after Adm. Dönitz laubched Operatiomn Drumbeat along the American coast (February 1942). The Battle was essentially won by the Allies in Battles like ONS-5 (May 1943). At this point Allied losses fell off and U-boat sonking increased. They would have been higher, but Adm. Dönitz with drew the wolf packs from major action in the Atlantic. He did not end the battle, calculating that maintaining limited effort tied up substantial Allied forces. German effort in the Atlantic was further reduced by the D-Day Normandy invasion and the loss of French ports. U-boats contginued operationd, however, until theFermnt surrendered (May 1945). Statistical estimates vary. A good overal assessment is that The Allies lost over 2,600 merchant ships, totaling over 13.5 million tons and 175 naval vessels. 【Hughes and Costello】 Over 72,000 Allied seamen perished, evenly divided among navy sailors and merchant seamen. 【White, p. 2.】 In the end, serving on U-boats was one of the most dangerous assignments of the War. Three-quarters of the U-boat fleet was sunk at sea and about 70 percent of the U-boat crews killed--about 30,000 men. 【Bennett, p. 301】 The Allies sank or destroyed 783 of the 842 U-boats Germany built. To this day, 68 U-boats are unaccounted for. 【Bowyer, p. 158.】
The possibility of surviving a U-boat attack is a poorly covered topic. In large measure this depended on whether your ship was part of a convoy. First of all being part of a convoy mean that your ship was less likely to be attacked by a U-boat. A high proportion of the U-bot kills were ships sailing independently. This is one reason defeating the German surface raiders like Grad Spee and Bismarck were so important. A U-boat could sink a few ships in a convoy, a capital ship could destroy a convoy. Second, convoys began sailing with assigned rescue ships. These at first were ocean-going tugboats or converted trawlers. 【Hague】 The British began to prepare especially equipped rescue ships. The first of these ships went into service (January 1941). By the end of the war, 30 were in service. The Germans sank six rescue ships. These rescue ships were vital. 【Rinaldi】 The other merchant vessels in a convoy were not allowed to stop because that invited being torpedoed as well. But there was a good chance of being picked up. Sailing alone, not only increased the chances of being attacked and survivors not being picked up as there were no rescue ships. Third, rescue also depended on how fast the vessel sunk and if they were able to get the lifeboats off. Surviving in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic mean that survival for any time was unlikely unless you got in a life boat. And even in a life boat survival in most cases required being rescued in a short time. The North Atlantic is not only cold, in can also be extremely rough and stormy--extremely dangerous for an overladen open boat. More than 70,000 Allied seamen, merchant mariners and airmen lost their lives as well as civilians. Rescuing the survivors was not only a humanitarian matter. The men were need to return to the crews need. There was also a morale matter. It was important that the crews knew that rescue efforts were being made. The Americans solved the ship problem with the Liberty Ships, but crewing the merchant vessel was also vital.
The Anglo-American victory in the Battle of the Atlantic not only allowed Britain to survive but enabled the two countries to actively persue the War. Victory in the Atlantic enable Anerica;s vast infustrial potential to become a factor in the War. In World War I, the U-boats were also defeated, but the War was over before American industry became a major factor. American Doughboys fought with British and and French weapons. World War II was very different. Not only did GIs fight with American wapons, but it helped equip its allies--especially Britain and the Soviet Union. Hermany was a modern industrial nation, but it was not in the same laegue as the United States when it came to insustrial mass production. Victory in ghe Atlanic allowed America to assembleda massive force of men and supplies in Britain as well as supply Britosh forces that in 1944 would be unleased on Hitler's Atlantic Wall. Mone of this would have been possible without victory in the Atlantic.
Hitler launched his long coveted invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). Operations were primarily conducted by the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe. The Kriegsmarine played a minor supportive role. The success of the German operations and the participation of the Finns forced the Soviet Navy to withdraw to Lenningrad and Kronstadt. This left the Baltic a German lake so that mineral ores and other goods could continue to fuel the NAZI-war effort. This situation in the Baltic continued unchanged until the Finns withdrew from the war (July 1944) and the Red Army approasched the Baltics and East Prussia. Then the mission of the Kriegsmarine changed. The Germans carried out a massive sea-rescue operation, transporting an estimated 2.5 million west to Germany (1944-45). Soviet naval operations were more successful in operations to protect the Arctic convoys. This operation was aided by esort cradt provided by the United States.
Bennett, William J. America: The Last Best Hope Volume 2, From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom 1914-1989. (Nelson Current: 2007)..
Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters, 19839-1942 (Random House: New York, 1996), 809p.
Bowyer, Chaz. Coastal Command at War (Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Ltd, 1979).
Freidel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezuous with Destiny (Little Brown: Boston, 1990), 710p.
Gardner, WJR Jock. "Introduction to the Battle of the Atlamtic," Haslemere Festival (May 20, 2019). Gardner refers to this as 'Bureaucratic Engineering'.
Hague, Arnold. Convoy Rescue Ships 1940–45 (World Ship Society: 1998).
Hughes, Terry and John Costello. The Battle of the Atlantic ((New York: Dial Press, 1977).
Lash, Joseph P. Roosevelt and Churchill, 1939-1941 (1976).
Raeder, Erich. Grand Admiral
Rinalsi, Giancarlo. "Battle of the tlantic: How Tom Carruthers survived a torpedo attack," BBC Scotland news website (August 25, 2014). Few of Tom's crewmates survived.
White, David (2008). Bitter Ocean: The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008).
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