MARSHALL, 2006
Britain’s Lifeline Must Not Be Severed
Royal Navy: Greatest Navy in the World?
Destroyers for Bases
Britain needed to secure a supply line - Hitler tried to choke off that line…
Naval Race Revisited?
Can you remember who Bismarck
was? Think 1870.
Aircraft vs Ships: Who will win?
Battle of Denmark Straits: HOOD was sunk with one shot - only a couple of men survived.
Revenge for the HOOD!
The Threat
.
The Effect
Counter-measures: Detection
Tough Decisions Must be Made
Leigh Light
ASDIC = Canadian/British SONAR
System
Anti-SubmarineDetectionInvestigationCommittee
As well as Corvettes and destroyers, minesweepers were crucial to detect dangers above and below the surface.
ENIGMA/ULTRA
Counter-measures: Destruction of the THREAT
Depth Charges = drums of
TNT(here loaded on a side-shooting “K Gun”
Hedgehog Anti-submarine (A/S) Mortar
Not only submarines used torpedoes: ships and plane were also used as launch platforms.
Counter- measures:
The CONVOY
THE MAP ROOM: ATLANTIC THEATRE
CORVETTES
BUT…
The no-rescue rule was not always followed…
Canadian Destroyer
The Results: some statistics
Bringing the might of the USA economy to bear…
Ships lost: by theatre
Production by USA
Conclusions:Conclusions:
• The U-boats were successful - for the first half of the war.• North American help was essential for Britain.• The Allies used technology and tactics to drive the U-
boats off the French and then North American coasts.• The Germans countered with “wolf-pack” tactics.• Convoys with naval escorts greatly increased security of
merchant ships.• Ultimately it was aircraft that chased the U-boats to the
centre of the Atlantic.• In the end, Hitler failed to starve Britain.
Thanks, Marshall: You just gave me
an excellent paragraph outline!