Battle of the Atlantic

refers to the sea battles that occurred in the Atlantic over resources

Canada and the US were trying to get resources to the UK and the continent; Germany was trying to stop them from getting there

lasted for the entirety of the war from Sept 1939 - May 1945; similar actions in the South Pacific

saw the involvement of submarines, airforce and naval vessels

German: submarines "hunted" in groups called "Wolf Packs"

Allies: used the convoy system to try to protect merchant vessels -> outer ring of battleships escorted the supply ships across the ocean

Allies: Air Cover -> planes were not able to fly the whole distance and we didn't have aircraft carriers yet

German: Black Pit -> an area of the Atlantic where no air cover could reach and the Germans patrolled extensively; it was the most dangerous part of the journey

Britain depended on over 1 million tons per week of imported goods to continue the war

all trading partners in Europe were compromised (occupied)

without materials, food, and personnel the war would be lost for the want of supplies

Over 700 German U-Boats were sunk - 500 by Canadian and British ships

Most transports left from Canadian ports like Halifax and St. John's because they were closer to Europe than US ports

Canada emerged from the war with one of the world's largest and most powerful navies

The North Atlantic was commanded by a Canadian - the only major battlefield to be overseen by a Canadian

radar and sonar are rapidly developed and continually improved to better track submarines and ships

Hedgehog bombs are invented to sink U-Boats

Depth charges use hydrostatic waves to crush U-boats

Snorkel tubes to allow U-boats to run diesel engines while still submerged

Longer range planes are developed throughout the war decreasing the zones of no coverage

Enigma machine - a machine used to communicate in code from land to sea (U-Boats)