The Battle of the Atlantic

June 1st, 2017

“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 or

in the air depended ultimately on its outcome.”

"...the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war

was the U-boat peril”

- Quotes from Winston Churchill

Learning Objective

• 5.2.1 Understand and be able to explain the concept of Total War.

Total War - A war in which every aspect of society is mobilized in an effort to win

Examples: WWI, WWII

Non-Examples: Afghanistan War, Vietnam War

Background

• Import of materials and personnel to England was essential to the war effort

• German strategy was to cut-off supplies from reaching English ports

• Merchant shipping was constantly under attack in what was a tonnage war

• Both sides viewed the Battle of the Atlantic as the most decisive aspect of WWII

The Battle of the Atlantic

• Lasted the entire duration of the war (1939 – 1945)

• Largest, longest, most complex naval battle in history

• Britain had by far the biggest navy

• Germany relied heavily on U-Boats

Unterseeboot

Convoys

HMCS Sackville

Anti-Submarine Weapons

The Wolfpack

• “Pack Tactics” devised by Commander of Submarines – BdU

• Individual U-Boat captains were stripped of their independence

• Luftwaffe and marine vessels would carry out reconnaissance

• When convoys were spotted, they were reported to the BdU, who coordinated the attack

• The German encoding machine used for enciphering and deciphering messages

• Used to communicate between U-boats, aircraft and the BdUcommand post on land

The Codebreakers

• British military intelligence created Ultra, which worked tirelessly to break German codes

• Top mathematicians from all over England were commissioned to decipher the complex codes in total secrecy

• An estate in Buckinghamshire, UK became the main headquarters for decryption efforts