BLANCO COUNTY WW2 MUSEUM

      The Battle of the Atlantic

The war in the European Theater officially began on 11 December, 1941 when Germany declared war on the United States.  That began the Battle of the Atlantic which was the longest continual campaign of the war and ended only when Germany surrendered in 1945.

 

Stark image of the early days of the war. 

The Germans immediately shifted a portion of their U-Boots (Undersea Boats) to the Atlantic coast and wreaked havoc on Allied shipping.  Unprepared for war,  American shipping paid a steep price until the U.S. adopted the tactics and technologies for an effective defense.  Between January and August of 1942, German U-Boots) sunk 609 Allied ships totaling over 3.1 million tons. 

 

While the Germans had surface ships capable of disrupting Allied shipping, they were too few to ever seriously challenge Allied dominance of the sea lanes.  A few German surface raiders prowled the seas but were never a major threat to interrupting the shipping lanes.  The U-boats were a different story and were a serious threat to shipping across the Atlantic

Admiral Karl Donitz directed the U Boot fleet which seriously threatened to choke off Great Britian's lifeline. But as just Germany 's fortunes were reversing on the battlefields of the air and land, it was happening at sea too.

 



Advances in convoy tactics, sonar and other technologies, increased range of air patrols, and breaking of the German Enigma code all aided in turning the tide against the U-Boots in the Atlantic.  Serving on a U Boot was tough duty with months at sea in confined quarters, but the effectivenss of the  U Boots paid off big making martime commerce a risk on every voyage.  

By 1943 U Boot losses were heavy enough that German tactics had to change dramatically just to survive.  By 1944 U-Boot launches had become virtual suicide missions as few returned,  Yet the morale of the U-Boot men remained high and there was never a shortage of volunteers.

 

There were still U- Boots on the hunt when Germany finally surrendered in May ,1945.  During the war 739 U boots were sunk and the U-Boot service had the highest casualty rate (75%) of any of the German forces.

No study of the U Boots would be complete without including the 1981 epic film "Das Boot" which portrayed a U-Boot patrol in all of its reality:  

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/