The Battle of the Atlantic is known to be the longest military campaign. It took place during the world war II starting from 1939 to 1945 when the Germany was defeated. The Battle of the Atlantic involved U-boats as well as other warships of the German Army (Kriegsmarine) and German Air Force (aircraft of the Luftwaffe) which fought against the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and merchant shipping considered being allies of the three. The convoys from North America to United Kingdom and other parts like Soviet Union were greatly protected by the Canadian and British navies in conjunction with air forces. United States’ ships and aircrafts played a very big role in providing protection to these forces from 13th September, 1941. Submarines of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) joined the Germans after Italy joined the world war on 10th June 1940.
The United Kingdom, as an island nation, mostly depended on imported goods. It was estimated that Britain needed to import more than a million tons of goods a week in order to remain effective in the battle and survive the fight. The Battle of the Atlantic was therefore, considered being a tonnage war. This is because the British allies had a hard time and struggled while trying to supply materials to Britain. This involved providing protection to the merchant ships that were used for the transportation of the imported materials in order to keep or sustain Britain throughout the fight. The Germans sought to fight hard to prevent the merchant ships from supplying materials to Britain. They thought that eliminating the flow of merchant ships would lead to Great Britain’s defeat. Therefore, Germans opted to prepare the invasion of the occupied Europe. Germans were later pushed back by the defeat of the U-boat threat. The battle of the Atlantic became the dominating factor throughout the war henceforth. All activities on land, air or the sea greatly determined the outcome.
Despite the win by the Britain and its allies, about 175 warships and 3,500 merchant ships were lost during the attack for the loss of about 783 U-boats on the Germans side. Winston Churchill coined the title “Battle of the Atlantic” in early 1941. The Battle of the Atlantic was recorded to be the largest, longest, and most complex in the history of the naval battle. The battle greatly affected the economy of the fighting countries as it was all centered to winning the war. Many soldiers lost their lives during the campaign, leaving their wives and children. Many technological advancements also took place in order to keep up with the battle race. Technology played a very important role during the campaign.
The battle of the Atlantic lasted about six years after the beginning of the European war. It involved more than 100 convoys, perhaps encounters of about 1,000 single-ships, covering a theater of thousand square miles of ocean. Thousands of ships were sunk during the campaign. New weapons were invented as well as countermeasures, tactics and equipment. Later, Allies gained the control and dominated the upper hand, overcoming the German raiders that operated on the surface by defeating the U-boats in mid-1943. Loss of U-boats went on to war’s end.
Countries tried to limit, and even abolish the use of submarines due to Germany using unrestricted submarine warfare during the first world war. The effort bore no results. London Naval Treaty demanded submarines to comply with ‘cruiser rules’. This required the submarines to surface and look for ship crews in order to put them in a place of safety. Lifeboats did not qualify in this unless where particular circumstances arose. This happened before sinking the ships. The ships that showed a refusal to stop, or shown no sign of surrender were sunk immediately. Merchantmen remained armed and kept reporting contact with raiders or submarines. This led to the removal of the protection of the cruiser rules. Therefore, restrictions on submarines mooted effectively.
A lot of technological advancements took place during the Battle of the Atlantic some of which are still used today by military personnel. The Royal Navy, being led by First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, came up with a strategy that was aimed at eliminating the German U-boats by the use of aircrafts. Antisubmarine aircraft carriers were used to search and attack any German U-boat. The aircrafts were of little use because a U-boat was difficult to spot. U-boats were most likely to spot the warships and submerge long before it could be spotted. All countries involved in this war, especially Britain and Germany spent sleepless nights trying to develop more advanced submarines. Submarines played a huge role during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Submarine advancements included developing submarines that were hard to be detected by the enemy and know their whereabouts. This also included advancing the weapons used by the submarine. Early Torpedoes could be easily detected when fired as enemies could see the trails left as it propelled towards the enemy. Therefore, it was important to develop torpedoes that were hard to detect.
Later on, Germans allies offered help from late mid 1940. 27 Italian submarines helped in the operation but were not well suited to the conditions of the Atlantic as compared to the German U-boats. This is because the Italian submarines were designed for operations of the fleet in the Mediterranean. Despite unfavorable conditions, the 32 Italian submarines were able to sink about 109 ships of about 593,864 tons. The ‘human torpedo’ chariots also contributed to the success of the Italian submarines by disabling several British warships in Gibraltar.
Despite all the successes by the Italians, Donitz described the Italians as “not adequately disciplined” and “not able to stay calm when facing the enemy.” This is because the Italians were unable to cooperate during the wolf pack tactics. They were also not able to reliably report weather conditions or contacts which lead to their areas of operations being moved away from those of the Germans. Most naval officers regarded warships on the surface as the ultimate destroyers, except men like Donitz. German U-boats were not considered to be the foremost threat to the convoys in the North Atlantic despite their success. The power of the raiders against convoys was determined by the fate of HX 84
Convoy attacked by the pocket battleship. In 1940, summer, armed merchant raiders sailed for Atlantic from Germany in small but steady groups of warships. Other Germans who aided on the surface began to put some impact which was felt by the Britain. Many war tactics were being applied by the parties involved to win the battle.
Works Cited
Beesly, P. (2010). Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic. 1-12.
McKee, F. M. (1991). SOME REVISIONIST HISTORY IN THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC. 1-6.
Veterans Affairs Canada. (1995). The Battle of the Atlantic. 1-2.
