The Battle of the Atlantic the war at sea.
The Story of it All
Submarines started off with a bang in world war two being one of the biggest threats to Britain. Fortunately for Britain they discovered ways to locate the U-boats through radar. Canada developed plane's that sought out U-boats. This aided the merchant ships and the naval force to Europe. Forty Thousand German seamen went to war in U-boats, nearly THIRTY THOUSAND perished in these iron coffins. This was the highest mortality rate in the history of any war!
U-Boats were a major component of Germanys tactics to succeed. Britain discovered new ways to locate the U-boats through radar. Tragically both sides lost thousands and thousands of both men and naval ships. The British airforce was also a major role in the winning of this great battle as they sought out german U-Boats in hot pursuit of British Naval forces.
German U-Boats
"The Battle of the Atlantic was the only thing that ever frightened me" - Winston
Churchill
The British Coastal Command took full advantage during the battle of the Atlantic sinking 290 U-boats with their Liberator aircraft. This compares to only 245 U-boats sunk by surface vessels. The liberators were aided by radar making their job much easier. German U-boats were mainly sunk by depth charges. The German air force, the Luftwaffe, had little effect in protecting their submarine convoys as they were greatly out numbered from Britain's Coastal Command.
Aircraft
Merchant vessels travelled from Canada to Britain which then carried on to the war front full of supplies and soldiers. Thousands of Merchant vessels along with naval vessels were sunk by U-boats. Many merchant vessels had other uses prior to the war including, fishing, public transportation and shipment of goods. Merchant vessels were lost in great numbers due to the uncertainty and desperate need of repair.
Merchant Ships
