Battle of the Atlantic L5 Flashcards
When did the Battle Of The Atlantic start and end?
The Battle of the Atlantic raged constantly from 1939 through to 1945
What was the Battle Of The Atlantic?
It was the German effort to stop British merchant ships from reaching Britain with supplies.
What are 4 things included in imports from the USA to Britain?
Britain depended on its merchant ships for an enormous quantity of imports –
over 60 million tons a year. Imports included food, oil and raw materials such as coal, iron and cotton.
1) What were 3 things Germans use attack to attack Allied shipping?
2) What attack method did they rely upon soon later?
At the start of the war, the Germans used a balanced attack against Allied shipping: planes, mines and warships, as well as U-boats but they soon relied on mainly U-boats.
What were the groups called that German U-boats used to ‘hunt’ in?
The U-boats started to ‘hunt’ in groups, known as wolf packs which made it easier for them to sink ships
How many merchant ships had been sunk by 1945, the end of the Battle Of The Atlantic?
By 1945, 5219 British merchant ships had been sunk but eventually the Allies triumphed
1) From what year did the British start using what system?
2) How many warships escorted and protected ships?
1) From the spring of 1941 the British used a convoy system.
2) Ships in convoys were escorted and protected by 5 warships.
1) What did the convoy system begin to use?
2) What did this help them do?
1) The convoy escorts began to use radar.
2) This helped them find U-boats and sink them or tell aircraft pilots where to find them.
1) What was ULTRA?
2) What did this mean for the allies?
1) ULTRA allowed the British to decode German messages.
2) This meant that the Allies knew where the submarines were.
1) How many tons of ships were sunk in the war by the Germans?
2) How many tons of ships did the Allies build over the same period?
1j Although the Germans sank 22 million tons of Allied shipping during the war.
2) Over the same period the Allies built 42 million tons of new ships.
1) Where did the British build bases?
2) How did this help?
1) The British developed bases in Iceland
2) This allowed British aircraft to attack German ships and planes in larger areas of the Atlantic.
1) What happened to most of Germany’s planes in 1941?
1) The German attack on the USSR in June 1941 took most German planes to the Eastern Front.
