lesson 14 ww ii -- second battle of the atlantic
TRANSCRIPT
Lesson 14
WW II -- Second Battle of the Atlantic
Lesson Objectives
• Understand the magnitude and significance of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II.
• Understand the degree of British dependence on maritime lines of communication.
• Describe U.S. participation in the Battle of the Atlantic prior to December 1941.
• Describe and analyze the tactics and technology used by both sides in the Battle of the Atlantic.
• Understand the importance of code breaking in the Atlantic war.
"The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril."
Winston S. Churchill,The Second World War, Volume II, Their Finest Hour1949
The Battle of the Atlantic Begins
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
( 0:50 – 8:00 )
The U-boat Threat
Admiral Karl Dönitz (1891-1980)German Submarine Commander
Hitler told the Kriegsmarine that the war would not begin until 1945
The Kriegsmarine built Plan Z, their expansion blueprint, on this target
• 249 U-boats by 1944
(January 1939)
The U-boat Threat
Type VIIC U-boat
Range: 8,500 nm Crew: 44-52 Torpedo load: 14
Germany had 57 operational U-boats in September 1939
• Only about half of these were effective ocean-going units
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping• Employ convoy system immediately
• Increase escort capability
Ships Lost vs. Built1939 - 1941
Source
Convoy System
RN employed convoys from start
• Did not have enough escorts
• Started crash construction program
USN did not use convoys initially
• Second “Happy Time” * for Germans
* Jan-Aug 1942
Convoy System
Introduction of
• Aircraft
… turned the tide
• More escorts• Hunter-Killer tactics (later)
Flower-class Corvettes
Length: 205 feet
Displacement: 940 tons
Speed: 16 knots
394 built (UK, Canada)
Video Link
Remember this one?
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Attributed to Samuel Clements (1835-1910)
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
August 17, 1940 Hitler Declares Unrestricted Blockade Around British Isle
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
August 17, 1940 Hitler Declares Unrestricted Blockade Around British Isle
America Gets Involved
September 2, 1940 Destroyers For Bases Agreement
Destroyers For BasesSeptember 2, 1940
US provided 50 WW I destroyers in exchange for bases
Destroyers For BasesSeptember 2, 1940
US provided 50 WW I destroyers in exchange for bases
Bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, West India, Guiana
Destroyers became RN Town-class
… became HMS Lewes
• Named for North American cities and towns with namesake in UK
Events
September 2, 1940 Destroyers For Bases Agreement
September 16, 1940 Selective Training and Service Act
Jan-March 1941 American-British Staff Conference
• First US “peacetime” draft
American-British Staff Conference Washington, DC - Jan-Mar 1941
Discussed issues of coalition warfare
“Made before American entry into World War II, in the context of a world threatened by Axis aggression in Europe and Asia, the judgment that Germany must be defeated first stands as the most important single strategic concept of the war.”
Louis Morton"Germany First: The Basic Concept of Allied Strategy in World War II"Command Decisions, Kent Roberts Greenfield (ed)Washington: US Army Center of Military History, 2000
“Germany First” decision
• In the event of war with Germany & Japan, defeat of Germany would have highest priority
Events
September 2, 1940 Destroyers For Bases Agreement
September 16, 1940 Selective Training and Service Act
Jan-March 1941 American-British Staff Conference
• First US “peacetime” draft
March 11, 1941 Lend-Lease Act
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease Act (March 11, 1941)
President of the United States authorized to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article".
Significance
• US officially became a logistics participant in the war
• Added further emphasis to US mobilization
• No repayment requirement - > $50 B transferred
Events
September 2, 1940 Destroyers For Bases Agreement
September 16, 1940 Selective Training and Service Act
Jan-March 1941 American-British Staff Conference
• First US “peacetime” draft
March 11, 1941 Lend-Lease Act
British ships allowed for repairsApril 4, 1941
US warships report German navy movesApril 24, 1941
July 1941 US assumed occupation of Iceland
Occupation of Iceland
Critical Location
April 9, 1940 - Denmark occupied by Germany
May 10, 1940 - British invade & occupy Iceland
July 1941 - US Marines assume occupation responsibility
Occupation of Iceland
US Marines in Iceland
Events
August 9-12, 1941 Roosevelt & Churchill meet in Newfoundland
Library of Congresswww.loc.gov/exhibits/british/britobje.html
Roosevelt departs
The Atlantic ConferenceArgentia, Newfoundland August 9-12, 1941
Atlantic CharterJoint declaration of August 14, 1941
Established Allied vision for a post war world
Major Principles:
1. No territorial gains sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.
2. Territorial adjustments in accord with wishes of the peoples concerned.
3. People have a right to self-determination.
4. Trade barriers to be lowered.
5. Global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
6. Freedom from want and fear to be enforced.
7. Freedom of the seas
8. Disarmament of aggressor nations and postwar common disarmament
Events
September 1, 1941 US warships escort convoys containing US vessels
September 11, 1941 US warships ordered to “shoot on sight”
Events
October 31, 1941 USS Reuben James sunk by U-boat
• 100 killed
USS Reuben James DD-245
Link
Destroyer Escorts(DE)
Displacement: 1,240 tons (std) 1,620 tons (full) Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 10" x 11' 8" (max)Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Machinery: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screwsSpeed: 21 knots Range: 10,800 nm @ 12 knots Crew: 15 / 201
USS Slater (DE-766)
Source
Destroyer Escorts(DE)
Fleet destroyerFletcher class
Destroyer EscortCannon class
Destroyer escorts did not need speed of fleet destroyers
DEs could be smaller, cheaper, easier to produce
• 21 knots vs. 35 knots for destroyers
Building DEs
Prefabricated DE parts arrive at Mare Island CA from Denver
Building DEs
DE construction techniques
Building DEs
Rolling out a completed DE hull
Bay City, MI
Other Threats
FW 200 Condor Maritime Patrol Aircraft
Source
Catapult Armed Merchantmen
Source
Source
HAWKER “HURRICAT”
Catapult Armed Merchantman (CAM)
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
( 15:05 – 16:40 )
Catapult Armed Merchantmen
Source
Operational History
35 CAM ships converted
• Made 175 voyages, 1941-1943
• 12 were lost to enemy action (34%)
Eight operational catapult launchings
Six enemy aircraft shot down
One RN pilot lost
HMS Ariguani
Other ThreatsSurface Raiders
Pocket Battleships / Heavy Cruisers
Example: Admiral Graf Spee
Auxiliary Cruisers
Example: Atlantis
Surface RaidersPocket Battleships & Heavy Cruisers
Admiral Graf Spee
Six 11-inch guns
Eight 5.9-inch guns
Speed: 21 knots
Displacement: 16,200 tons
Scuttled, December 17, 1939Off Montevideo, Uruguay
After battle with thee British cruisers
War CruiseAugust-December 1939
Sank 9 merchant ships(50,000 tons)
Video
Surface RaidersAuxiliary Cruisers
Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis Atlantis with dummy funnel
Armament Layout
Hidden torpedo tubes & guns
Surface RaidersAuxiliary Cruisers
Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis Atlantis with dummy funnel
First auxiliary cruiser to sink a merchant ship
Highest tonnage sunk of all surface raiders
Circumnavigated the globe
• 22 ships, 146,000 tons
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet • Expand US shipbuilding industry
• Apply mass production techniques to shipbuilding
All was ruled by that harsh and despotic factor, shipping.
Winston S. Churchill,The Second World War, Volume III, The Grand Alliance1950
Liberty Ships
Based on a British design
• Simple, welded hull
• Proven 1890-era steam engine
Originally tagged “ugly duckling” by FDR
“Liberty” campaign by Maritime Commissioner Emory Land changed image
• First ship: Patrick Henry
• Liberty Fleet Day: 15 ships launched across country (Sept. 27, 1941)
Henry J. Kaiser
Source
Industrialist (1882-1967)
Began in construction: Hoover Dam, Grand Coolee Dam, SF Bay Bridge
Joined with Todd Shipbuilding (1939)
Built two new shipyards: Richmond CA & Portland OR
Introduced mass production techniques to build standardized ships
• Liberty ships, Victory ships; C-1, C-2, C-3 cargo; T-1, T-2, T-3 tankers
Record for one Liberty ship: 4 days, 15 hours, 30 minutes
Shipyards
Kaiser Shipyard - Richmond, CA
1943
Workforce
Source
"Your must tell your children, putting all modesty aside, that without us, without women, there would have been no spring in 1945."
Rosie the Riveter
Steve Breen, San Diego Union-TribuneJanuary 25, 2013
Update
The Riveter The Rifleman
Workforce
Rosie the Riveter
Wanda the Welder
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
The Finished Product
Record for one Liberty ship: 4 days, 15 hours, 30 minutes
Liberty Ships
Royal Navy Photo
SS Jeremiah O’Brien
National Liberty Ship Memorial
SourceSource
One of 2,718 built at 17 US shipyards
Speed: 11 knots
Victory Ships
Larger, faster than Liberty ship
550 built
Source
SS United Victory
T-2 Tankers
Source
Aircraft on “skeleton deck”
533 built
SourceSS Huntington Hills (completed in 33 days)
• 523 feet long overall • 68 foot beam • 30 foot draft
• 10,448 Gross tons
• 21,880 Loaded displacement tons
• 6,000 shaft horsepower Turbo-Electric propulsion
• Speed 14.5-16 knots
• Liquid capacity 141,200 barrels (nearly 6 million gal)
Source
Concrete Ships
SS Arthur Talbot
ConcreteShips.org
Shortage of steel caused search for alternatives.
Concrete ships had been tried in WW I with limited success.
WW II: 24 built in Tampa beginning in 1942 but with limited use
• Two crossed Atlantic and were used as breakwaters
• Others used for training in US
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats• Improve intelligence on U-boat operations
• Close Mid-Atlantic Gap
• Develop Hunter-Killer teams
Signals Intelligence
Source
Enigma
( SIGINT )
Enigma
Source
Enigma
Source
Bletchley Park
Alan Turing’s “Bombe”
Enigma
Source
British intelligence received its first Enigma machine in 1939 from Polish military
Additional machines captured by Royal Navy
• May 9, 1941: U-110 off Iceland
• October 30, 1942: U-559 in the Mediterranean
USN captured U-505, June 4, 1944
Direction Finding
High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF)
“Huff-Duff”
( ELINT )
German subs required to report positions
Allies used information to reroute convoys
• Later used to direct Hunter- Killer task forces
Source: The World At WarMid-Atlantic Gap
Maritime Patrol Aircraft
SourceRAF Liberator
USAAF A-29 Hudson
RAF FortressBlimps
Maritime Patrol Aircraft
Caught On The Surface – Robert Taylor
RAF Sunderland Flying Boat – Coastal Command vs. U-461
20 July 1943 – Bay of Biscay
Source
Airborne Detection Tools Leigh Light
Powerful aircraft light for night attacks
Introduced June 1942
Airborne Detection Tools Airborne Radar
Permitted location of submarines in bad weather and at night
First U-boat kill November 1941
RAF Coastal Command Liberator Mk III with ASV radar
Antenna Detail
Pioneering video documentary 1952-53
Going on the Offensive
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
(0 – 7:04)
Escort Carrier
T-3 Tanker
USS Bogue
Built in Kaiser shipyards on T-3 tanker hulls
Escort Carrier
Comparison With Fleet Carrier
USS BogueCVE-9
Source
Displacement: 7,800 tons standard; 15,700 tons full load (design)Length: 495' 8" (151.1 m) Beam: 111.5' (34 m)Power plant: 2 boilers (285 psi); 1 steam turbine; 1 shaft; 8,500 shpSpeed: 16.5 knotsArmament: 2 single 5"/51 (later 5"/38) gun mounts; (1943) 8 twin 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; (1943) 27 single 20-mm/70-cal gun mountsAircraft: 24Aviation facilities: 2 elevators; 1 hydraulic catapultCrew: 890
Laid Down: 1 Oct 41 Launched: 15 Jan 42 Commissioned: 28 Sep 42
Hunter-Killer Team
Slide 8
Hunter Becomes the Hunted
U-118 under attack by aircraft from USS Bogue
June 12, 1943Source
Capture of U-505
Task Force 22.3
June 4, 1944
Escort carrier Guadalcanal (CVE-60)
Five destroyer escorts:
Pillsbury (DE-133) Pope (DE-134), Flaherty (DE-135), Chatelain (DE-149), Jenks (DE-665)
Captain Dan GalleryCommander
Capture of U-505
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
Capture of U-505
Boarding Party Arrives from USS Pillsbury
June 4, 1944
Capture of U-505
First USN combat prize since War of 1812
Capture of U-505
USS Guadalcanal towing U-505
Players in U-505 Capture
Captain Daniel V. Gallery LT(jg) Albert L. David
Players in U-505 Capture
Captain Daniel V. Gallery
• Commander, Task Group 22.3
• After capture, Navy did not know what to do with him
• Set his sights on capturing a U-boat
• Decorate him
• Court martial him
• Eventually promoted him to rear admiralWhy?
Players in U-505 Capture
LT(jg) Albert L. David
• Asst. Engineering Officer on USS Pillsbury
• Led boarding party to U-505
• Remained inside sub despite threat of scuttling charges & open sea valves
• Awarded Medal of Honor
• Only MH awarded for Battle of Atlantic
May 1943: The Turning Point
“What is now decisive is that enemy aircraft have been equipped with a new location apparatus … which enables them to detect submarines and attack them in low cloud, bad visibility, or at nights. Much the largest number of submarines now being sunk are being sunk by aircraft. … These losses are too high. We must now husband our resources because, to do anything else, would simply be to play the enemy’s game”
Admiral Dönitz to Hitler, May 1943
Source
U-boat Losses By Month
U-boat.net
Ship Losses 1940 - 1945
Ships Lost vs. Built1939-1945
Source
US Shipbuilding
Source
Ships Built by US Maritime Commission1939-1947
US Maritime Commission
5,500+ ships
Losses
Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago
Victory in the Atlantic
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
( 25:26 - 26:29)
"The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome.”
Winston S. Churchill,The Second World War, Volume V, Closing the Ring1951
The Second Battle of the Atlantic
“The German people do not understand the sea”
Attributed to Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930)
Lesson 15
WW II – The Axis Advances
Next:
Lesson Objectives
• Describe and analyze the German decision process to attack the Soviet Union in June 1941.
• Describe and analyze the operational and logistic implications of Operation Barbarossa.
• Understand and be able to discuss the impact of total war within the Soviet Union.
• Understand how the initial successes of the German invasion of the USSR turned into such a total disaster.
• Be able to describe the magnitude of the Soviet-German War and its impact on the outcome of World War II.
End
Video Title
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013