The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.
Otto Kretschmer was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War.
The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom. They absorbed the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. Later, after the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.
SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first Kriegsmarine submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the German submarines' potential of being able to work more efficiently using wolfpack tactics and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine tactics at the time.
German submarine U-100 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-99 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 31 March 1939 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 593. She was launched on 12 March 1940 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer and was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla based in Kiel and later in St Nazaire.
German submarine U-96 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. It was made famous after the war in Lothar-Günther Buchheim's 1973 bestselling novel Das Boot and the 1981 Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the same name, both based on his experience on the submarine as a war correspondent in 1941.
During the Battle of the Atlantic, British merchant shipping was formed into convoys for protection against German submarine attack. In March 1943 convoys HX 229 and SC 122 were the focus of the largest convoy battle of the war. Kriegsmarine tactics against convoys employed multiple-submarine wolfpack tactics in nearly simultaneous surface attacks at night. Patrolling aircraft restricted the ability of submarines to converge on convoys during daylight. The North Atlantic winters offered the longest periods of darkness to conceal surfaced submarine operations. The winter of 1942–43 saw the largest number of submarines deployed to the mid-Atlantic before comprehensive anti-submarine aircraft patrols could be extended into that area.
OB 293 was a North Atlantic convoy which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was notable for seeing the loss to the Kriegsmarine (KM) of U-47, with her commander KL Günther Prien, the person responsible for the sinking of HMS Royal Oak two years previously.
Convoy SC 42 was the 42nd of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 42 was attacked over a three night period in September 1941, losing 16 ships sunk and 4 damaged. This was the worst Allied loss following the attack on convoy SC 7 the previous year. Two attacking U-boats were destroyed.
HX 228 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of a series of four convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of March 1943 and is notable for the loss of the Escort Group leader Commander AA "Harry" Tait.
HMS Vanoc was a British V-class destroyer, launched in 1917. The ship saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War, Vanoc served as part of two destroyer flotillas, undertaking minelayer and convoy escort roles. In 1919, the destroyer took part in British operations in the Baltic as part of Allied efforts to intervene in the Russian Civil War. During the Second World War, Vanoc was involved in evacuation efforts to remove troops from Norway and France, and was utilised as a convoy escort, protecting convoys from German U-boats. In this role, Vanoc sank a German submarine, German submarine U-100 in March 1941 in the Atlantic, and assisted in the destruction of another, German submarine U-99. Three years later, Vanoc was involved in sinking U-392 in the Straits of Gibraltar in concert with a British frigate and several US anti-submarine aircraft. In January 1945, she was involved in a collision with another Allied vessel off Normandy, before being placed into reserve in June. She was later sold for scrap and was broken up after mid-1946.
HX 72 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. The convoy comprised 43 ships of which 11 were sunk and another damaged by German U-boats who suffered no losses.
Donald George Frederick Wyville Macintyre DSO & Two Bars, DSC was a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War and a successful convoy escort commander. Following the war, he was an author of numerous books on British naval history.
5th Escort Group was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Convoy HX 90 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II.
HMS Walker (D27) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Russian Civil War and in World War II.
The fourth HMS Volunteer (D71), later I71, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
Convoy HX 126 was the 126th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool.
Convoy HX 47 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 47th of the numbered series of merchant convoys run by the Allies from Halifax to Liverpool. The convoy was attacked by German U-boats and lost three of its 58 ships.
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