Battle of the Atlantic September 3 1939 May

Battle of the Atlantic September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945

Causes As soon as Britain declared war on Germany, September 3, 1939 German U-Boats began to attack British merchant ships which were located in the Atlantic. Germany did this because they knew that Britain would need supplies and food in order to properly fight so they wanted to destroy everything. This battle was the longest in the Second World War, since it lasted 6 years.

Components • Early skirmishes (September 1939 – May 1940) • 'The Happy Time' (June 1940 – February 1941) • The escorts strike back (March – May 1941) • The field of battle widens (June – December 1941) • Operation Drumbeat (January – June 1942) • Battle returns to the mid-Atlantic (July 1942 – February 1943) • Climax of the campaign (March 1943 – May 1943, "Black May") • South Atlantic (May 1942 - September 1943) • Final years (June 1943 – May 1945)

Canada's Role - Biggest Goal: Protect Britain and carry cargo and troops overseas to Britain - This was achieved successfully by the Canadian Armies - Canada's Shipbuilding Program

Result of the Atlantic Battle - Impacted WWII in favor for Canada, Britain and USA - Prevented Germany from taking over Western Europe - Allies lost 3500 supply ships and 175 warships - Germans lost 783 submarines

Primary Document Analysis Monday August 17 “Quite a night last night, right out of the deadening days and nights that had been piling up on this trip. After standing on the upper deck after coming off a quiet, uneventful watch at midnight, looking up at the tingling clear sky and guessing at the countless number of stars, and with an immense feeling of serene peace and quietness all over everything-- suddenly it began to happen. First we started to get a flock of messages from a convoy immediately behind us which had run into a mess of German subs. They lost several ships right off the bat, and are carrying on a running battle with at least 8 or 9 subs. Just at dawn, we too found ourselves in the same mess of trouble. Ours started off when a Polish destroyer screening just ahead of us caught a sub on the surface laying in wait for our convoy, and smashed it wide open to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Saturday August 20 “What a miserable, rotten hopeless life. I cannot imagine a more miserable existence than this of being caught on a corvette in the Atlantic. An Atlantic so rough that it seems impossible that we can continue to take this unending pounding and still remain in one piece. One joints ache and ache from the continuous battle of trying to remain upright. . . hanging onto a convoy is a fulltime job. . . mess deck is a terrifying place to venture near, knee-deep in sea-water, tables smashed, clothes floating around in it, breakfast stirred in, the crew in an almost stupor from the nightmarishness of it all. New chaps in our crew are having a horrible time of it, trying to keep going. I am as sick as a dog as I cling to a locker and pen these few words that I hope some day to read again and look back on as one of the most awful experiences of my life. And still we go on hour after hour”

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Sources "World War II": Battle of the Atlantic. Web. 01 June 2016. "Canada's Role in the Battle" The Battle of the Atlantic. Web. 01 June 2016. "Consequences of the Battle"The Battle of the Atlantic. Web. 01 June 2016.