World War II
European Theater of Operations
The Naval War
Components of the War in Europe
The Naval War
The Air War
The Ground War
The Naval War
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was a tonnage war: the Allied
struggle to maintain and the Axis struggle to cut off the
shipping that enabled Britain to survive.
From 1942 onwards, the Germans also sought to prevent
the build-up of Allied troops and equipment in the
British Isles in preparation for the invasion of occupied
Europe and to destroy all Allied navies. The defeat of
the German threat was a pre-requisite for the invasion.
The Battle for the Atlantic
Six phases:
First phase - Opening moves (September 39 – Fall of
France)
Second phase - “Happy Time” (June 40 – Lend Lease)
Third phase - Stalemate (April 41 – Pearl Harbor)
Fourth phase - Second “Happy Time” (January 42 –
destruction of PQ17)
Fifth phase - Allied Advantage (August 42 – Doenitz
Withdrawal)
Sixth phase - Sea lanes secured (May 43 - May 45)
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase One
Opening Moves
September 1939 – Fall of
France
“… the only thing that ever really
frightened me during the war was
the U-boat peril.”
Winston Churchill
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase Two
The “Happy Time”
June 1940 – Lend Lease
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase Three
Stalemate
April 1941 – Pearl Harbor
Beginning in May, 1941 the
US Navy became a British
ally by taking over convoy
escort duties in the western
Atlantic.
31 October – USS Reuben
James sunk by U562
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase Four
The Second “Happy Time”
January 1942 - destruction of
PQ17
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase Five: The Wind Shifts
August 1942 - April 1943
ASDIC – Anti-Submarine Detection
 Depth Charge
 Hedgehog
RADAR
HF/DF
ENIGMA/Ultra
Liberty Ships
B24D – Liberator
The Battle of the Atlantic
May 1943 was the turning point
in the Battle of the Atlantic.
For the first time, German
U-boat losses began to outstrip
Allied shipping losses.
A number of technological
advances made this victory
possible.
The Battle of the Atlantic
Phase Six
The Sea Lanes Secured
May 1943 - May 1945
Combined Technologies
Reducing the Mid-Atlantic Gap
Centimetric Radar
Merchant Aircraft Carriers
Hunter Killer Groups
Escort Carriers
Destroyer Escorts
The Battle of the Atlantic
Balance Sheet
Allied losses  4,600 merchant ships lost (21,000,000 tons)
 175 warships lost
 Over 30,000 sailors & merchant seamen lost
German losses  785 of 1162 u-boats lost in action
 Of 49,000 officers & men - 28,00 dead; 5,000 captured
(67% casualty rate)