![]() That month, the Allies sunk 41 German submarines. In May of 1943, decisions to increase air coverage, convoy size and escort support, combined with the introduction of new anti-submarine weapons and sensors were showing positive results. Concurrently, a confluence of innovation and strategic decisions enabled the Allies to turn the tide in the Atlantic. ![]() Amidst the terrible losses of merchant shipping as the fighting intensified, American industrial capacity was able to overcome the deficit and allow supply lines to remain effective. ![]() Convoy composition and anti-submarine maneuvers and tactics were improved, allowing Allied forces to withstand the increasingly aggressive German wolf-packs. The Allies used the relative calm of the battle’s early stages to develop defensive measures against their subsurface enemies. In hindsight, the battle escalated slowly from its commencement at the outbreak of war in 1939 to its violent climax in the spring of 1943. Although images of intense submarine convoy battles have made an impression on our collective memory, this is due to the Battle of the Atlantic’s narrative being framed by the dramatic moments of conflict, more than the challenge of moving ships, material, and personnel across a vast unsecured ocean. To disrupt the merchant capacity that would supply an Allied war effort in Europe, Germany estimated that it would need to sink seven million tonnes each year. Maintaining the maritime communication routes was vital to the Allied war effort and therefore, attacking the same communication lanes was crucial to the German’s.Īt the outbreak of war, the British Empire controlled 18 million tonnes of shipping, supported by a highly functioning shipbuilding industry that could replace losses of a million tonnes, annually. Further, while the Atlantic was the main operational theatre, the campaign expanded throughout the war into a global effort. The campaign lasted years, but ferocious action was sporadic. In reality, combat operations in the North Atlantic retained little semblance to battles in a traditional sense. Indeed, the term ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ itself reinforces the impression of a relentless fight upon the world’s second largest ocean. Within this passage, Pound conveys the essence of the Atlantic campaign: A complex, grinding, managerial effort that was only interrupted by episodes of brutal violence. The Battle of the North Atlantic is a grim business and it isn’t going to be won by charm and personality.” I’d like a man with no heart at all, no soul. IN LEWIS Gilbert’s 1960 film, Sink the Bismarck!, the First Sea Lord, Sir Dudley Pound, remarks on the type of commander needed to win the Battle of the Atlantic: “I want a man who’s cold. (Image source: Archives of Canada) “The battle escalated slowly from its commencement at the outbreak of war in 1939 to its violent climax in the spring of 1943.” ![]() Safeguarding the sea lanes between North America and Europe was central to the Allied strategy in the Second World War. A B-24 Liberator flies patrol over an Atlantic convoy. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |