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WORLD WAR II WAS A GLOBAL CONFLICT THAT SPLIT THE MAJORITY OF
THE WORLD’S NATIONS INTO TWO OPPOSING MILITARY ALLIANCES: THE
ALLIES AND THE AXIS POWERS.
World War II is deemed to have begun in Europe in 1939
with the German invasion of Poland, resulting in the British
and French declarations of war. The complexion of the war
was changed completely in 1941 by the German invasion
of the USSR in June and the Japanese attack on the USA
in December. The Germans over-reached themselves in
the USSR. In the Pacific the USA began to wrest back the
initiative in mid 1942 and in campaigns steadily drove the
Imperial Japanese back. In the west the USA first committed
its forces in North-West Africa from November 1943, and
then with the British and other allies in Italy from July 1943,
and in northern and southern France during June and August
1944.
In the Pacific, the US campaign reached a turning point
in August of 1944 when the US dropped atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This decision finally brought forth
an end to the war, and the Japanese surrender aboard the
USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay.
MILITARY CONFLICTS
WOR L D WAR I I
A
sthethreatofaGermaninvasionof
southernEnglandreceded,theRoyal
Navywasabletoconcentrateoncemore
ontheproblemoftheAtlanticconvoys.
InSeptember1940,theUSAmadean
importantdeclarationofsympathyby
exchanging50olddestroyersinexchange
fora99-yearleaseofBritishbases
aroundtheworld.Thesedestroyerswere
fitonlyforsecond-lineduties,butmadeit
possiblefornewerdestroyerstobe
releasedforfleetwork;manyoftheold
‘four-stack’destroyerswerestillinservice
attheendofthewar.
Coastalescortsandairpatrols
provedmoderatelysuccessfulagainstthe
U-boats,soforcingthemtoventureinto
theWesternApproachesinsearchof
targets.HerethenewU-boatbasesinthe
BayofBiscaygavetheGermansan
importantadvantage,andtheBritish
werehard-pressedtoextendcoverto
convoysdeeperintheAtlantic.But
IcelandhadbeenoccupiedinJuly1940
byBritishandCanadiantroopsto
preventapossibleGermanoccupation,
andtheislandprovidedairfieldsanda
refuellingbasewhichpartlyoffsetthe
U-boats’advantage.
Throughout1941theUSAwas
benevolentinitsneutrality,forPresident
FranklinD.RooseveltknewthatUS
interestswouldnotbenefitfroma
GermanvictoryovertheUK.InMarch
1941,theLend-LeaseActwasenacted,
allowingmoreshipsandequipmenttobe
provided.InApriltheUSAdeclaredthat
itsdefencezone,inwhichUSmerchant
shipswereescortedbyUSNavy
warships,wouldbeextendedto26°West,
regardlessofwhethertheywerecarrying
warmatérieltotheUKornot.
Theworstproblemformanyconvoy
escortswastheirlackofendurance.
Destroyersweredesignedforhigh-speed
68
ChapterEight
THEBATTLEOFTHEATLANTIC
1940–1941
TheStartofWorldWar IIed.qxp_Layout 1 01/03/2017 08:33 Page68
attack,withslenderhullsunsuitedto
NorthAtlanticweather,andtheir
turbineswerenoteconomical.Manyof
theolderdestroyerswereturnedinto
long-rangeescortsbyreplacingoneof
theboilerswithadditionalbunkerage,
andthefirstofthesewastakeninhand
inJanuary1941.Thecorvettes,which
werenowcomingintoserviceinlarge
numbersfromBritishandCanadian
shipyards,hadgoodendurancebut
lackedspeed.Thiswasinevitable,forthe
designhadbeenframedtomakethebest
useofavailablemachinery,butby1941
U-boatshadtakentoattackingconvoys
onthesurfaceatnight,andattopspeed
werecapableofout-distancingacorvette.
Anotherproblemwasthatconvoywork
demandedagreatdealofloiteringto
investigateasuspectedunderwater
contact,orhigh-speeddashestofind
stragglersbeforeherdingthembackto
theconvoy.
Theanswerwasthecreationofa
fullyoptimizedNorthAtlanticescort,
possessingbothlongenduranceand
moderatelyhighspeedandcarryingall
theweaponsandsensorsneededforthe
anti-submarinetask.Theanswertothe
needwasthe‘River’-classfrigate,which
hadtwicethepowerofthecorvetteand
amplespacefortheweaponsand
sensorsrequired.Unfortunately,none
wasreadyuntilearlyin1942,butexisting
escortsweregivenasmuchnew
equipmentaspossibletohelpthemfight
backinthemeantime.InMay1941,the
firstsurfacewarningradarsetwenttosea
inacorvette.AlthoughtheAsdic
detectiondevicewasveryeffectivein
locatingsubmergedU-boats,ithada
weaknessinthatcontactwaslostduring
thefinalstagesofadepth-chargeattack.
Toremedythis,anewahead-firing
weaponhadtobedeveloped,which
promisedtoincreasetherateof‘kills’.
TheresultingHedgehogwasamultiple
spigotmortar,firingsmallcontact-fused
bombsinapattern,thefirstshipbeing
equippedwithitbytheendof1941.
Allthesecountermeasureswere
neededasamatterofthegreatest
urgency,for1941wasacriticalyear,with
shippinglossesincreasingrapidlyand
ever-increasingnumbersofU-boats
comingintoservice.Fromatotalof
755,000tonsin1939,shippinglossesrose
to3.991milliontons,or1,000ships,in
1940.Anddespiterisingoutputfromthe
shipyardsandever-increasingskillin
anti-submarinetactics,thetotalroseto
1,300ships,or4.328milliontons,in
1941.Lossesatthisratewere
unsustainableoverthelongterm,andin
August1941,atthe‘AtlanticCharter’
meeting,theUSAagreedthatits
warshipswouldhenceforwardbe
permittedtoescortallmerchantships
irrespectiveofnationality,while
Canadianwarshipswouldsimilarlybe
allowedtoescortUSships.TheUSNavy
wasalreadyhandingoveritsescorted
69
TheStartofWorldWarII:TheFloodoftheGermanTide
TheStartofWorldWar II ed.qxp_Layout 1 01/03/2017 08:33 Page 69
Set ISBN ..........978-1-4222-3893-6
Hardcover Set Price ...........$166.35
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Full color • Library bound
Trim Size: 8 x 9½ • 80 pages
Grade Level: 7-12
HBK ISBN E-ISBN
Japanese Aggression in the Pacific ........... -3896-7 -7906-9
The Allied Powers Fight Back ........................ -3895-0 -7905-2
The Defeat of the Nazis: The Allied Victory
in Europe .................................................. -3897-4 -7907-6
The End of World War II: The Japanese
Surrender........................................................-3898-1 -7908-3
The Start of World War II: The Flood of
the German Tide.......................................... -3894-3 -7904-5
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