History
This page provides a summary of key events that occurred during :
The Battle of the Atlantic
and
World War Two
Summary : Merchant Navy : WWII
Source : https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6652091.shtml
A country’s merchant navy is made up of its commercial and trading ships, and their crews. In 1939, Britain’s merchant fleet was the largest in the world, with 33 per cent of the total tonnage. The country was dependent on merchant shipping for the import of food, equipment and raw materials in times of peace, but the shipping was also needed in wartime, to carry servicemen overseas to fight, and to carry the supplies to equip and sustain those fighting men.
When war broke out, the merchant fleet was put under the control of the Ministry of Shipping, later part of the Ministry of War Transport. The Ministry decided which ships would go where and what they would carry, making merchant shipping effectively another arm of the state. General control, including the crewing and provisioning of ships, continued to be exercised by the shipping industry itself. A convoy system was quickly introduced to try and prevent merchant ships being sunk by German submarines (or U-Boats). This provided groups of merchant ships with an escort of one or more warships for their journey, and built on the system that had proved successful in World War One.
All those who served in the Merchant Navy were civilians and volunteers. Like those who served in the Royal Navy, they faced not only the dangers of enemy attack but the hazards of the elements as well. Although some merchant ships were armed, they were not designed to withstand enemy attack and if his ship was sunk at sea, the merchant seaman’s chances of survival were poor.
Approximately 185,000 seamen, including 40,000 men of Indian, Chinese and other nationalities, served in the Merchant Navy during the war. Their vessels ranged in size from large cargo and passenger ships to small tramp ships and coastal vessels. The sailors served on all the seas and oceans of the world, and in the hazardous Arctic convoys that took war supplies to the Soviet Union.
However, the most significant and crucial conflict in which merchant seamen were involved was the Battle of the Atlantic. In the longest campaign of the war, the British merchant fleet, with its naval escorts, struggled to bring food, fuel, equipment and raw materials from America and elsewhere across the Atlantic, while Germany mobilized U-boats, battleships, aircraft and mines against them in an attempt to sever Britain’s supply lines. At the same time, British and later American shipyards attempted to produce enough ships to replace those that were sunk. It was not until May 1943 that the Battle of the Atlantic was won, although U-Boats continued to operate until the end of the war.
30,248 merchant seamen lost their lives during World War Two, a death rate that was higher proportionately than in any of the armed forces.
Battle of the Atlantic
Sources :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Battle_of_the_Atlantic
Battle Of The Atlantic : Overview
1939 to 1943
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Players: The US, British and Canadian navies versus the Axis navies, particularly German U-boats.
Outcome: The worst of the battle was over when the Germans called a halt to major U-boat operations in the Atlantic on 23 May 1943, but the threat to Allied shipping was never entirely eliminated.
The term ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ was coined by Winston Churchill to describe the protracted struggle by the Allies to secure shipping routes across the Atlantic. The Allies’ main objectives were to blockade the Axis powers (limiting productivity and diminishing morale), to secure their own shipping routes, and to wage war overseas without any impediment.
As a struggle, the Battle of the Atlantic is symbolic of the scale of the global war in which nations had to fight against the enemy on land or sea thousands of miles from home. The successful transportation of troops and materials was as crucial as battle itself.
Only after the war did Churchill confess that it was the Atlantic that caused him most concern: ‘The only thing that really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.’
(He was referring to German submarines, which remained the Allies’ principal threat at sea). The greatest challenge, Churchill felt, was to manage strategy around the Atlantic shipping routes which required ‘statistics, diagrams and curves unknown to the nation, incomprehensible to the public’.
Britain had the largest fleet in the world – 3,000 ocean-going vessels and 1,000 large coastal ships. They required 160,000 men to man them. The German navy, in contrast to the submarine fleet, was in poor condition following World War One and initially the Germans underestimated the role the U-boat might play – only 46 vessels were in operation, intended for surface attacks.
The British navy was successful in sinking the pocket battleship Graf Spee in December 1939 and the battleship Bismarck in 1941, but from the summer of 1940 the U-boat menace began to grow. Britain faced problems – the air gap in the Western Atlantic meant that the RAF could not fully patrol U-boats. The Allied occupation of Iceland (belonging to German-occupied Denmark) was an advantage, but long-range aircraft had to be developed before the air gap could be conquered. The Canadian navy eventually assisted Britain in covering this gap.
The Battle of the Atlantic really gained pace after 1941 when the U-boat captains began to expand operations further. Admiral Dönitz, the German commander of the U-boats, developed a strategy known as the ‘wolfpack’, in which U-boats would close in on the enemy at night.
The British Navy had previously placed much faith in Asdic (an early form of sonar) to detect submerged U-boats, and this way they were able to counter the surface threat they posed, but Asdic was not effective against the wolfpack manoeuvre.
The conquest by Germany of Norway and France gave the Germans forward bases, increasing the U-boats’ range and enabling long-range aircraft to patrol over the Atlantic, carrying out reconnaissance for the U-boats. As the U-boats became more successful they were put into wider use.
The British were consequently forced to divert their own shipping away from vulnerable UK ports, and needed to provide naval escorts for convoys for greater stretches of the journey to North America. Churchill sought help and negotiated the destroyers-for-bases agreement with the US administration, adding a further 50 naval destroyers in exchange for access to British bases, predominantly in the West Indies. America then entered the battle in May 1941 and took over escort duties in the western Atlantic, beginning a shooting war with Germany that resulted in their first loss – the US destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine U-562.
The Atlantic battle changed again with the German invasion of Russia and following Pearl Harbor and the entry of Japan into the war. This increased the scale of the war and Japan was America’s primary threat now. But America’s response was surprising; they failed to set up coastal convoys and blackout towns, and the German U-boats enjoyed what is darkly known as ‘happy time’, destroying vast amounts of coastal shipping.
The real crisis came in early 1943. Britain was running out of fuel and the number of operational U-boats had increased from 47 to 200. The Allies’ greatest weapon became radio intelligence and the ability to intercept the German Enigma code so that U-boat manoeuvres could be anticipated. This intelligence (Ultra) saved the situation, along with aggressive anti-submarine tactics, better weapons and the development of long-range aircraft (Liberator) equipped with radar.
By April 1943 the U-boats were clearly struggling to make an impact and Allied destruction of German submarines began to escalate: 45 were destroyed in April and May. Dönitz decided to put a halt to U-boat operations on 23 May 1943. Had the Germans succeeded in producing their new types of super-submarines, the Types XXI and XXIII (which were being tested in the Baltic even as German defeat looked inevitable), they would have proved an even greater threat, possibly reversing the outcome of World War Two.
Battle Of The Atlantic : Timeline 1939 -1945 : Dates / Events
August 19, 1939
Five U-boats sail from Kiel and nine from Wilhelmshaven to take waiting positions in the North Atlantic.
August 21, 1939
German “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee sails from Wilhelmshaven for a South Atlantic cruise.
August 24, 1939
German “pocket battleship” Deutschland sails from Wilhelmshaven for a North Atlantic cruise.
September 3, 1939
German submarine U-30 sinks the SS Athenia. This attack is interpreted by the United Kingdom as the start of unrestricted submarine warfare. However, in Germany it leads to stricter controls being issued by the Kriegsmarine. Germany at this point had 39 of its 58 U-boats at sea, but this was far less than the 300 which Admiral Karl Dönitz, chief of German submarine forces, considered to be necessary before the opening of war.
September 5, 1939
HMS Neptune stops, evacuates and sinks the German freighter Inn off the Canary Islands.
September 7, 1939
The first convoys sail outbound from the British Isles: OA from the English Channel, OB from Liverpool, and OG to Gibraltar.
September 14, 1939
The first of the SL convoys sails from Freetown.
U-39 attacks the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, but fails to cause any damage. The aircraft carrier’s escorts force U-39 to the surface with depth charges and the crew are taken prisoner.
September 16, 1939
The first Allied convoy sets sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Convoy HX 1 contains 18 merchant ships and is escorted by HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Saguenay to an Atlantic rendezvous with Royal Navy ships HMS Berwick and HMS York.
September 17, 1939
German submarine U-29 sinks the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
September 17, 1939
The first Allied “fast convoy” HXF 1 sets sail from Halifax escorted by HMCS Fraser formerly HMS Crescent.
September 20, 1939
U-27 is sunk with depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Fortune and HMS Forester.
September 26, 1939
German media reports the sinking of the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. However, this report is false: many such reports would be made during the war.
September 30, 1939
German “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee sinks the first merchant ship of its cruise. Total sinkings for its sortie will total nine vessels of 50,000 tons before it becomes embroiled in the Battle of the River Plate.
October 5, 1939
German “pocket battleship” Deutschland sinks the first merchant ship of its cruise.
October 14, 1939
U-47, under Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, penetrates the British naval base at Scapa Flow, sinking HMS Royal Oak at anchor.
October 16, 1939
Germany begins employing magnetic mines. These cause significant losses to Allied shipping.
October 27, 1939
U-34 sinks Malabar from convoy HX 5.
October 30, 1939
U-34 sinks Bronte from convoy OB 25.
November 21, 1939
British light cruiser HMS Belfast hits a German mine, and is seriously damaged while operating in the Firth of Forth.
November 23, 1939
A German magnetic mine is recovered successfully by the Allies, leading to the development of effective countermeasures. The German battleship Scharnhorst sinks the British armed merchant vessel HMS Rawalpindi. The Scharnhorst and the accompanying Gneisenau are forced to abandon their sortie and return to port.
November 25, 1939
U-28 sinks Royston Grange from convoy SL 8.
December 4, 1939
First U-boat lost to an Allied submarine in the war when HMS Salmon sinks U-36 outside Kristiansund in Norway.
December 5, 1939
U-47 sinks Navasota from convoy OB 46.
December 10, 1939
The first Allied troop convoy TC 1 sets sail from Halifax with 7,400 men of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.
January 30, 1940
U-55 sinks Vaclite and Keramiai from convoy OA 80G.
February 5, 1940
U-41 sinks Beaverburn from convoy OA 84.
February 14, 1940
The United Kingdom announces armaments will be carried by all passenger ships. Germany responds by announcing that all vessels will be considered warships.
March 16, 1940
A German air raid at Scapa Flow damages a cruiser and causes the first civilian casualties in Britain of the war.
June 12, 1940
U-46 sinks Willowbank and Barbara Marie from convoy SL 34.
June 14, 1940
U-38 sinks Italia and Erik Boye from convoy HX 47.
June 22, 1940
U-47 sinks San Fernando from convoy HX 49.[5]
June 25, 1940
U-51 sinks Saranac and Windsorwood from convoy OA 172.
Canada loses its first navy vessel during an accident off the coast of France, when HMCS Fraser is cut in two by Royal Navy cruiser HMS Calcutta, with 45 lives lost aboard the Fraser and 19 aboard Calcutta.
June 30, 1940
U-boats sink two ships from convoy SL 36.
July 2, 1940
Aircraft sink Aeneas from convoy OA 177G.
July 4, 1940
Aircraft and E-boats sink five ships from convoy OA 178.
July 8, 1940
U-99 sinks Humber Arm from convoy HX 53.
July 10, 1940
U-61 sinks Alwaki from convoy OA 179.
July 17, 1940
U-boats sink Manipur and Scottish Minstrel from convoy HX 55.
July 26, 1940
U-34 sinks four ships from convoy OB 188.
July 31, 1940
U-99 sinks Jersey City from convoy OB 191.
A base opens in Bordeaux for Italian submarine patrols into the Atlantic.
August 4, 1940
U-52 sinks 3 British merchant steamships from convoy HX 60.
August 5, 1940
U-56 sinks Boma from convoy OB 193.
August 15, 1940
A new system of SC convoys is initiated between Canada and the British Isles, to provide convoy protection for slow ships.
August 16, 1940
U-48 sinks Hedrun from convoy OB 197.
August 23, 1940
U-57 sinks Cumberland and St. Dunstan from convoy OB 202.
Aircraft sink Llanishen and Makalla from convoy OA 203.
August 24, 1940
U-37 sinks Blairmore from convoy SC 1.
August 25, 1940
Convoy HX 65 comes under attack by U-boats and aircraft sinking five ships.
August 28, 1940
U-boats sink four ships from convoy HX 66.
U-100 sinks Dalblair and Astra II from convoy OA 204.
August 30, 1940
U-59 torpedoes San Gabriel from convoy OB 205.
August 31, 1940
British destroyers HMS Esk and HMS Ivanhoe are sunk and two other ships damaged by mines in the Texel Disaster with the loss of 300 killed and 100 wounded or taken prisoner.
September 2, 1940
U-46 sinks Thornlea from convoy OB 206.
September 4, 1940
U-47 sinks Titan from convoy OA 207.
September 6, 1940
Aircraft sink St. Glen from convoy SL 44.
September 8, 1940
U-boats sink two ships from convoy SC 2.
September 15, 1940
U-48 sinks Alexandrios and Empire Volunteer from convoy SC 3.
Aircraft sink Nailsea River from convoy SL 45.
September 17, 1940
U-65 sinks Tregenna from convoy HX 71.
September 18, 1940
U-48 sinks Marina and City of Benares from convoy OB 213
September 20, 1940
U-138 sinks four ships from convoy OB 216.
September 21, 1940
U-boats sink six ships from convoy HX 72.
September 26, 1940
U-137 sinks Manchester Brigade and Stratford from convoy OB 218.
September 27, 1940
Aircraft sink Port Denison from convoy OA 220.
September 28, 1940
Aircraft sink Dalveen from convoy HX 73.
U-32 sinks Empire Ocelot from convoy OB 218.
October 9, 1940
U-103 sinks three ships from convoy SC 6.
October 11, 1940
U-boats sink six ships from convoy HX 77.
October 14, 1940
U-98 sinks Hurunui from convoy OA 228.
October 15, 1940
U-138 sinks Bonheur from convoy OB 228.
October 17, 1940
U-93 sinks Dokka and Uskbridge from convoy OB 228.
October 18, 1940
Minelaying begins on the Allied Northern Barrage minefield between Scotland and Greenland.
October 19, 1940
U-boats sink ten ships from convoy HX 79 and fifteen ships from convoy SC 7.
October 22, 1940
HMCS Margaree, recently acquired to replace HMCS Fraser, is sunk in a collision with the freighter MV Port Fairy 480 km west of Ireland. 142 men are lost, including the captain and four other officers.
November 5, 1940
German “pocket battleship” Admiral Scheer sinks five ships from convoy HX 84 and the escorting armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay.
U-99 sinks Scottish Maiden from convoy HX 83.
November 6, 1940
Aircraft sink Nalon from convoy SL 52F.
November 15, 1940
Aircraft sink Apapa from convoy SL 53.[7]
November 21, 1940
U-103 sinks Daydawn and Victoria from convoy OB 244.
November 22, 1940
U-123 sinks King Idwal from convoy OB 244.
November 23, 1940
U-100 sinks six ships from convoy SC 11.
December 1, 1940
U-boats sink nine ships from convoy HX 90.
HMCS Saguenay is the first Canadian naval vessel hit by torpedo in the Battle of the Atlantic, attacked 300 miles west of Ireland by a submarine while escorting Convoy HG 47.
December 11, 1940
U-96 sinks three ships from convoy HX 92.
December 27, 1940
Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli sinks Ardanbhan from convoy OB 263.
January 16, 1941
Aircraft sink two ships from convoy OB 274.
January 29, 1941
U-93 sinks three ships from convoy SC 19.
February 12, 1941
German cruiser Admiral Hipper sinks seven ships from convoy SL 64S.
February 19, 1941
Aircraft sink three ships from convoy OB 287.
February 24, 1941
U-97 sinks three ships from convoy OB 289.
February 26, 1941
Aircraft sink eight ships from convoy OB 290.
February 27, 1941
U-47 sinks Kasongo and Borgland from convoy OB 290.
March 1, 1941
U-552 sinks Cadillac from convoy HX 109.
Aircraft sink Rotula from convoy SC 22.
March 7, 1941
U-boats sink three ships from convoy OB 293.
March 8, 1941
U-boats sink five ships from convoy SL 67.
March 13, 1941
Aircraft sink Empire Frost from convoy SC 23.
March 16, 1941
U-99 sinks five ships from convoy HX 112.
March 17, 1941
U-boats sink six ships from convoy SL 68.
March 19, 1941
Aircraft sink Benvorlich from convoy OB 298.
March 29, 1941
U-48 sinks three ships from convoy HX 115.
April 1, 1941
Aircraft sink two ships from convoy HX 114.
April 3, 1941
U-boats sink six ships from convoy SC 26.
April 6, 1941
Aircraft sink Dunstan from convoy OB 306.
April 9, 1941
The United States occupies Greenland.
April 16, 1941
Aircraft sink Swedru from convoy SL 69.
April 28, 1941
U-boats sink four ships from convoy HX 121.
May 8, 1941
U-boats sink five ships from convoy OB 318.
May 11, 1941
Aircraft sink Somerset from convoy SL 72.
May 14, 1941
Aircraft sink Karlander from convoy OB 321.
May 20, 1941
U-boats sink nine ships from convoy HX 126.
Italian submarine Otaria sinks Starcross from convoy SL 73.
May 21 or 22, 1941
Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, and three escorting destroyers leave Bergen and head toward the Arctic Ocean.
May 24, 1941
Bismarck and Prinz Eugen intercepted by battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Hood; Battle of Denmark Strait begins.
Bismarck sinks HMS Hood then badly damages Prince of Wales, forcing it to retreat.
May 27, 1941.
Bismarck sunk.
June 1, 1941
The United States Coast Guard begins the Greenland Patrol.
June 11, 1941
Aircraft sink Baron Carnegie from convoy OB 334.
June 13, 1941
Italian submarine Brin sinks Djurdjura and Eirini Kyriakidou from convoy SL 76.
Newfoundland Escort Force is created under the command of Admiral Murray based at St John’s Newfoundland, to provide escort cover from the coast of Canada to Iceland.
June 24, 1941
U-203 sinks Schie and Kinross from convoy OB 336.
U-boats sink five ships from convoy HX 133.
June 26, 1941
U-boats sink four ships from convoy SL 78
July 7, 1941
President Roosevelt announces that US warships will henceforth protect US merchant vessels in the North Atlantic, and the US effectively joined the Battle of the Atlantic.
August 5, 1941
U-boats sink five ships from convoy SL 81.
September 10, 1941
While U-boats sink fifteen ships from convoy SC 42, Canadian corvettes HMCS Moose Jaw and HMCS Chambly sink U-501 by depth charges and ramming in the Denmark Strait south of Tasiilaq, Greenland. This is Canada’s first U-boat kill of the Battle of the Atlantic.
September 15, 1941
Aircraft sink Daru from convoy SL 85.
September 19, 1941
HMCS Levis is the first Canadian corvette sunk during the war. Levis is hit by a torpedo while escorting Convoy SC 44 off the coast of Greenland. Four merchant ships are also sunk from the convoy by U-boats.
September 22, 1941
U-boats sink seven ships from convoy SL 87.
October 16, 1941
U-boats sink nine ships from convoy SC 48.
October 21, 1941
U-82 sinks Serbino and Treverbyn from convoy SL 89.
October 31, 1941
U-552 torpedoes USS Reuben James, which was escorting Convoy HX 156. Reuben James is the first United States warship sunk during World War II.
November 3, 1941
U-boats sink nine ships from convoy SC 52.
December 10, 1941
U-130 sinks three ships from convoy SC 57.
January 12, 1942
SS Cyclops is sunk 160 miles south of Halifax, heralding the start of a U-boat campaign that saw approximately 200 merchant vessels sunk within 10 miles of the east coast of the US.
January 30, 1942
Convoy SC 67 departs from Halifax and picks up a transatlantic escort in Newfoundland, which accompanies the convoy as far as Northern Ireland. This marks the start of the allied end-to-end convoy escort system, which remained in effect until the end of the war.
February 10, 1942
U-136 sinks Heina from convoy SC 67.
February 15, 1942
30 miles southwest of Cape Henry German submarine U-432 sinks Brazilian steamer Buarque (which became the 1st of 36 Brazilian merchant ships that would be sunk in WWII).
February 16, 1942
Operation Neuland opens with attacks on Aruba, Curaçao and Lake Maracaibo petroleum facilities.
March 20, 1942
A new system of BX and XB convoys is initiated between Halifax and Boston, to counter the U-boat campaign along the east coast of the US.
May 12, 1942
U-128 sinks Denpark from convoy SL 109
May 18–22, 1942
Along Natal coast, although damaged the Italian submarine Barbarigo manage to escape two times of attacks done by Brazilians B-25, after have unsuccessfully tried to sink Brazilian merchant ship “Comandante Lyra” at May 18.
June 10, 1942
U-553 torpedoes and sinks the British freighter Nicoya at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River several kilometres off Anticosti Island, followed by the Dutch freighter Leto
July 4, 1942
Convoy PQ 17 is scattered in the Barents Sea leading to the loss of 22 Allied merchant ships.
July 5, 1942
Six ships are sunk when convoy QP 13 strays into Allied minefield SN72 in the Denmark Strait.
July 6, 1942
German submarine U-132 sinks three freighters off the Gaspé coast
August 8, 1942
U-boats sink eleven ships from convoy SC 94.
August 15, 1942
U-705 sinks Balladier from convoy SC 95.
August 16, 1942
U-507 sinks Baependy, a Brazilian merchant ship, killing 270 civilians.
Few hours later, the same U-507 sinks another Brazilian passenger ship, the SS Araraquara, killing another 131 people,
Followed hours later by the SS Annibal Benevolo, on which 150 civilians drowned.
August 17, 1942
U-507 continues its slaughter, sinking another Brazilian merchant ship, the SS Itagiba at the city of Vitória, killing 36, and the SS Arara similarly sunk with 20 deaths as she picked up the survivors of the Itagiba.
U-boats sink four ships from convoy SL 118.
August 19, 1942
U-507 sinks the tiny sailing vessel Jacyra.
August 22, 1942
U-507 sinks Hammeran, a Swedish merchant ship. In just one week, U-507 acting in Brazilian waters killed over 600 people, all of them neutral civilians. As result, Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy at that very same day.
August 28, 1942
U-566 sinks Zuiderkerk and City of Cardiff from convoy SL 119.
August 31, 1942
U-609 sinks Bronxville and Capira from convoy SC 97.
September 9, 1942
USS Muskeget, a Coast Guard weather ship, is torpedoed near Weather Station #2, Lat. 54o N, Long 44o 30’W by U-755. 121 Officers and crew lost, including one Public Health Service officer and four weathermen, no survivors.
September 14, 1942
HMCS Ottawa is torpedoed by U-91 while escorting Convoy ON 127 500 nautical miles (930 km) east of St. John’s, Newfoundland. 114 crew lost their lives, including the commanding officer, while 65 survivors were rescued by nearby vessels.
September 20, 1942
U-596 sinks Empire Hartebeeste from convoy SC 100.
September 22, 1942
U-617 sinks Athelsultan and Tennessee from convoy SC 100.
October 4, 1942
U-254 sinks Robert H Colley from convoy HX 209.
October 13, 1942
U-boats sink seven ships from convoy SC 104.
October 14, 1942
Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry SS Caribou is torpedoed by the U-69, in Cabot Strait
October 24, 1942
A new system of UG convoys is initiated between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea, to support the Allied invasion of North Africa.
October 25, 1942
Battle of convoy SL 125 begins as a tactical diversion to clear U-boats from the path of Operation Torch invasion convoys.
October 27, 1942
U-boats sink five ships from convoy HX 212.
November 2, 1942
U-boats sink fifteen ships from convoy SC 107.
November 18, 1942
U-43 sinks Brilliant from convoy SC 109.
December 8, 1942
U-boats sink two ships from convoy HX 217.
January 3, 1943
U-507 sinks the British ship Baron Dachmont.
January 8, 1943
U-507 sinks the British ship Yorkwood.
January 13, 1943
U-507 was sunk by the US PBY Catalina VP-83.
January 17, 1943
U-268 sinks Vestfold from convoy HX 222.
January 26, 1943
U-358 sinks Nortind from convoy HX 223.
February 2, 1943
U-223 sinks SS Dorchester from convoy SG 19 killing 675 men.
U-456 sinks Inverilen and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer from convoy HX 224.
February 7, 1943
U-boats sink nine ships from convoy SC 118.
February 15, 1943
A new system of fast CU convoys is initiated to speed the flow of petroleum products from Caribbean Sea refineries to Liverpool.
March 7, 1943
U-boats sink seven ships for convoy SC 121.
March 10, 1943
U-boats sink four ships from convoy HX 228.
March 16, 1943
The largest convoy battle of World War II begins around convoys HX 229 and SC 122.
March 28, 1943
U-boats sink four ships from convoy SL 126.
April 4, 1943
U-boats sink three ships from convoy HX 231.
April 12, 1943
U-563 sinks three ships from convoy HX 232.
April 17, 1943
U-boats sink Fort Rampart from convoy HX 233.
April 22, 1943
U-306 sinks Amerika from convoy HX 234.
May 6, 1943
The battle for convoy ONS 5 reaches a climax with the destruction of seven U-boats.
May 7, 1943
U-89 sinks Laconikos from convoy SL 128MK.
May 11, 1943
U-402 sinks Antigone and Grado from convoy SC 129.
July 31, 1943
In a coordinated action, one American and two Brazilian maritime patrol aircraft sink the then modern U-199.
September 8, 1943
Italy surrenders, and Britain starts to redeploy their Mediterranean destroyers to the Atlantic.
October 9, 1943
U-645 sinks Yorkmar from convoy SC 143.
October 31, 1943
U-262 sinks Hallfried from convoy SL 138MK.
December 26, 1943
Ships of the Royal Navy sink the German battleship Scharnhorst off Norway’s North Cape.
April 6, 1944
U-302 sinks Ruth I and South America from convoy SC 156.
July 20, 1944
U-861 sinks the freighter-troopship Vital de Oliveira, the only Brazilian military ship sunk due to submarine action at WWII, and the last Brazilian vessel to be torpedoed in that war.
August 3, 1944
The largest convoy of World War II, convoy HX 300, arrives in the British Isles without loss.
September 8, 1944
U-482 sinks Empire Heritage and Pinto from convoy HX 305.
January 27, 1945
U-825 sinks Solor from convoy HX 332.
March 2, 1945
U-1302 sinks Novasli and King Edgar from convoy SC 167.
April 18, 1945
U-1107 sinks Empire Gold and Cyrus H McCormick from convoy HX 348.
Battle Of The Atlantic : Summary
1939
September Allied shipping losses total 53 vessels. 41 vessels totalling 153,800 tons are lost to submarines. German losses are two submarines.
October Allied shipping losses total 196,000 tons. German losses are five submarines.
November Allied shipping losses to submarines are 21 vessels totalling 51,600 tons. More than 100,000 tons are lost to German mines.
December Allied shipping losses are 73 vessels totalling 189,900 tons. 25 are sunk by submarines. The Germans lose one submarine.
Total Allied losses to mines during 1939 are 79 vessels totalling 262,700 tons.
1940
January Allied losses are 73 vessels totalling 214,500 tons, of which 40 vessels totalling 111,200 tons are sunk by submarines. Germany has 38 operational submarines to begin the year.
February Allied losses are 226,900 tons, of which 45 vessels totalling 169,500 tons are lost to submarines.
March Allied losses are 45 vessels, of which 23 are lost to submarines. Germany loses three submarines.
October Massacre of Convoy SC 7
1941
June Allied losses are 590,000 tons.
1942
No data
1943
March Allied shipping losses are 627,000 tons.
April Closing of Mid-Atlantic gap
May Allied shipping losses are 157,000 tons, and 37 U-boats are sunk plus 32 damaged.
U-boats withdrawn Black May
June 17 U-boats destroyed
July 46 U-boats destroyed
August 20 U-boats destroyed
1944 – 1945
No data
The following website’s pages give overall information on regional naval / maritime events and operations during WWII, including information on Merchant Navy losses for each period.
https://www.naval-history.net/index.htm
Info on the Battle of the Atlantic can be found on :
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsAtlanticBattles.htm
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsStartEurope.htm
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsAtlanticDev.htm
Info on the Russian convoys is on :
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsRussianConvoys.htm
A very good summary of naval operations in the Indian Ocean and S.E. Asia, including Merchant Navy information is on :
1939 – 1942
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsIndianOcean.htm
1943 1945
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsIndianOcean2.htm
Info on the Pacific area is on :
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsPacific.htm
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsPacific2.htm
WWII Events
Sources :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ww2_summary_01.shtml#five
https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-timeline-1779991
Events of 1939
Three years of mounting international tension – encompassing the Spanish Civil War, the Anschluss (union) of Germany and Austria, Hitler’s occupation of the Sudetenland and the invasion of Czechoslovakia – culminated in the German invasion of Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. While the USA proclaimed neutrality, it continued to supply Britain with essential supplies, and the critical Battle of the Atlantic between German U-Boats and British naval convoys commenced.
Western Europe was eerily quiet during this ‘phoney war’. Preparations for war continued in earnest, but there were few signs of conflict, and civilians who had been evacuated from London in the first months drifted back into the city. Gas masks were distributed, and everybody waited for the proper war to begin.
In eastern Europe and Scandinavia, however, there was nothing phoney about the war. With the Ribbentrop Pact signed between the Soviet Union and Germany in late August, Russia followed Germany into Poland in September. That country was carved up between the two invaders before the end of the year, and Russia continued this aggression by going on to invade Finland.
1939
Sept. 1 may be the official start of World War II, but it didn’t start in a vacuum. Europe and Asia had been tense for years prior to 1939 because of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich in Germany, the Spanish Civil War, the Japanese invasion of China, the German annexation of Austria, and the imprisonment of thousands of Jews in concentration camps. After Germany’s occupation of areas of Czechoslovakia not previously agreed to in the Munich Pact and its invasion of Poland, the rest of Europe realized it couldn’t try to appease Germany any longer. The United States tried to remain neutral, and the Soviet Union invaded Finland.
August 23: Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
September 1: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II.
September 3: Britain and France declare war on Germany.
September: Battle of the Atlantic begins.
Events of 1940
Rationing was introduced in Britain early in the New Year, but little happened in western Europe until the spring. The ‘winter war’ between Russia and Finland concluded in March, and in the following month Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
Denmark surrendered immediately, but the Norwegians fought on – with British and French assistance – surrendering in June only once events in France meant that they were fighting alone.
On 10 May – the same day that Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of the UK – Germany invaded France, Belgium and Holland, and western Europe encountered the Blitzkrieg – or ‘lightning war’.
Germany’s combination of fast armoured tanks on land, and superiority in the air, made a unified attacking force that was both innovative and effective. Despite greater numbers of air and army personnel – and the presence of the British Expeditionary Force – the Low Countries and France proved no match for the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe. Holland and Belgium fell by the end of May; Paris was taken two weeks later.
British troops retreated from the invaders in haste, and some 226,000 British and 110,000 French troops were rescued from the channel port of Dunkirk only by a ragged fleet, using craft that ranged from pleasure boats to Navy destroyers.
In France an armistice was signed with Germany, with the puppet French Vichy government – under a hero of World War One, Marshall Pétain – in control in the ‘unoccupied’ part of southern and eastern France, and Germany in control in the rest of the country.
Charles de Gaulle, as the leader of the Free French, fled to England (much to Churchill’s chagrin) to continue the fight against Hitler . But it looked as if that fight might not last too long. Having conquered France, Hitler turned his attention to Britain, and began preparations for an invasion. For this to be successful, however, he needed air superiority, and he charged the Luftwaffe with destroying British air power and coastal defences.
The Battle of Britain, lasting from July to September, was the first to be fought solely in the air. Germany lacked planes but had many pilots. In Britain, the situation was reversed, but – crucially – it also had radar. This, combined with the German decision to switch the attacks from airfields and factories to the major cities, enabled the RAF to squeak a narrow victory, maintain air superiority and ensure the – ultimately indefinite – postponement of the German invasion plans.
The ‘Blitz’ of Britain’s cities lasted throughout the war, saw the bombing of Buckingham Palace and the near destruction of Coventry, and claimed some 40,000 civilian lives.
1940
The first full year of the war saw Germany invading its European neighbours: Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and Romania, and the bombing of Britain lasted for months. The Royal Air Force undertook nighttime raids in Germany in response. Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a joint military and economic agreement, and Italy invaded Egypt, which was controlled by the British, Albania, and Greece. The United States shifted to a stance of “nonbelligerency” rather than neutrality so it could find ways to help the Allies, and the Lend-Lease Act (the exchange of materiel aid then for 99-year leases on property to be used for foreign military bases) was proposed late in the year. Popular opinion still didn’t want Americans in another war “over there.” The Soviet Union, meanwhile, took part of Romania and installed Communists in the Baltic States, later annexing them.
May: Auschwitz is established.
May 10: Germany invades France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
May 26: Evacuation begins of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France.
June 10: Italy declares war on France and Great Britain.
June 22: France surrenders to Germany.
July 10: Battle of Britain begins.
September 16: The United States begins its first peacetime draft.
Events of 1941
With continental Europe under Nazi control, and Britain safe – for the time being – the war took on a more global dimension. Following the defeat of Mussolini’s armies in Greece and Tobruk, German forces arrived in North Africa in February, and invaded Greece and Yugoslavia in April.
While the bombing of British and German cities continued, and the gas chambers at Auschwitz were put to use, Hitler invaded Russia . Operation Barbarossa, as the invasion was called, began on 22 June. The initial advance was swift, with the fall of Sebastopol at the end of October, and Moscow coming under attack at the end of the year.
The bitter Russian winter, however, like the one that Napoleon had experienced a century and a half earlier, crippled the Germans. The Soviets counterattacked in December and the Eastern Front stagnated until the spring.
Winter in the Pacific, of course, presented no such problems. The Japanese, tired of American trade embargoes, mounted a surprise attack on the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, on 7 December.
This ensured that global conflict commenced, with Germany declaring war on the US, a few days later. Within a week of Pearl Harbor, Japan had invaded the Philippines, Burma and Hong Kong. The Pacific war was on.
1941
The year 1941 was one of escalation around the world. Italy may have been defeated in Greece, but that didn’t mean that Germany wouldn’t take the country. Then it was on to Yugoslavia and Russia. Germany broke its pact with the Soviet Union and invaded there, but the winter and Soviet counterattack killed many German troops. The Soviets next joined the Allies. Within a week of the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan had invaded Burma, Hong Kong (then under British control), and the Philippines, and the United States was officially in the conflict.
March 11: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease bill.
May 24: The British ship Hood is sunk by Germany’s Bismarck.
May 27: The Bismarck is sunk.
June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa).
August 9: Atlantic Conference begins.
September 8: Siege of Leningrad begins.
December 7: The Japanese launch a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
December 11: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; then the United States declares war on Germany and Italy.
Events of 1942
The first Americans arrived in England in January – ‘Over paid, over sexed and over here’ as the gripe went – and in North Africa Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps began their counter-offensive, capturing Tobruk in June.
The Blitz intensified in both England and Germany, with the first thousand-bomber air raid on Cologne, and German bombing of British cathedral cities.
In the Pacific, the Japanese continued their expansion into Borneo, Java and Sumatra. The ‘unassailable’ British fortress of Singapore fell rapidly in February, with around 25,000 prisoners taken, many of whom would die in Japanese camps in the years to follow.
But June saw the peak of Japanese expansion. The Battle of Midway, in which US sea-based aircraft destroyed four Japanese carriers and a cruiser, marked the turning point in the Pacific War.
The second half of the year also saw a reversal of German fortunes. British forces under Montgomery gained the initiative in North Africa at El Alamein, and Russian forces counterattacked at Stalingrad. The news of mass murders of Jewish people by the Nazis reached the Allies, and the US pledged to avenge these crimes.
1942
U.S. troops first arrived in Britain in January 1942. Also that year, Japan captured Singapore, which was Britain’s last location in the Pacific, as well as islands such as Borneo and Sumatra. By the middle of the year, though, the Allies started gaining ground, with the Battle of Midway being the turning point there. Germany captured Libya, but the Allies started making gains in Africa, and Soviet counterattacks made progress as well in Stalingrad.
January 20: The Wannsee Conference
February 19: Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, which allows the internment of Japanese Americans.
April 18: The Doolittle Raid on Japan
June 3: The Battle of Midway begins.
July 1: First Battle of El Alamein begins.
July 6: Anne Frank and her family go into hiding.
August 2: Guadalcanal Campaign begins.
August 21: Battle of Stalingrad begins.
October 23: Second Battle of El Alamein begins.
November 8: The Allies invade North Africa (Operation Torch).
Events of 1943
February saw German surrender at Stalingrad: the first major defeat of Hitler’s armies. Battle continued to rage in the Atlantic, and one four-day period in March saw 27 merchant vessels sunk by German U-boats.
A combination of long-range aircraft and the codebreakers at Bletchley, however, were inflicting enormous losses on the U-boats. Towards the end of May Admiral Dönitz withdrew the German fleet from the contended areas – the Battle of the Atlantic was effectively over.
In mid-May German and Italian forces in North Africa surrendered to the Allies, who used Tunisia as a springboard to invade Sicily in July. By the end of the month Mussolini had fallen, and in September the Italians surrendered to the Allies, prompting a German invasion into northern Italy.
Mussolini was audaciously rescued by a German task force, led by Otto Skorzeny, and established a fascist republic in the north. German troops also engaged the Allies in the south – the fight through Italy was to prove slow and costly.
In the Pacific, US forces overcame the Japanese at Guadalcanal, and British and Indian troops began their guerrilla campaign in Burma. American progress continued in the Aleutian Islands, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
As the Russian advance on the Eastern Front gathered pace, recapturing Kharkov and Kiev from Germany, Allied bombers began to attack German cities in enormous daylight air raids. The opening of the Second Front in Europe, long discussed and always postponed, was being prepared for the following year.
1943
Stalingrad turned into Germany’s first major defeat in 1943, and the North Africa stalemate ended, with the surrender of the Axis powers to the Allies in Tunisia. The tide was finally turning, though not fast enough for the people in the 27 merchant vessels sunk by Germany in the Atlantic in four days in March. But Bletchley codebreakers and long-range aircraft inflicted a serious toll on the U-boats, pretty much ending the Battle of the Atlantic. The autumn of the year saw the fall of Italy to Allied forces, prompting Germany to invade there. The Germans successfully rescued Mussolini, and battles in Italy between forces in the north and south drug on. In the Pacific, Allied forces gained territory in New Guinea—to attempt to protect Australia from Japanese invasion—as well as Guadalcanal. The Soviets continued expelling Germans from their territory, and the Battle of Kursk was key. The end of the year saw Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin meeting in Iran to discuss the invasion of France.
January 14: Casablanca Conference begins.
February 2: The Germans surrender at Stalingrad, Soviet Union.
April 19: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins.
July 5: Battle of Kursk begins.
July 25: Mussolini resigns.
September 3: Italy surrenders.
November 28: Tehran Conference begins.
Events of 1944
With advances in Burma, New Guinea and Guam, Japan began its last offensive in China, capturing further territory in the south to add to the acquisitions made in central and northern areas following the invasion of 1938. However, their control was limited to the major cities and lines of communication, and resistance – often led by the Communists – was widespread.
The Allied advance in Italy continued with landings at Anzio, in central Italy, in January. It was a static campaign. The Germans counter-attacked in February and the fighting saw the destruction of the medieval monastery at Monte Cassino after Allied bombing. Only at the end of May did the Germans retreat from Anzio. Rome was liberated in June, the day before the Allies’ ‘Operation Overlord’, now known as the D-Day landings.
On 6 June – as Operation Overlord got underway – some 6,500 vessels landed over 130,000 Allied forces on five Normandy beaches: codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
Some 12,000 aircraft ensured air superiority for the Allies – bombing German defences, and providing cover. The pessimistic predictions that had been made of massive Allied casualties were not borne out. On Utah beach 23,000 troops were landed, with 197 casualties, and most of the 4,649 American casualties that day occurred at Omaha beach, where the landing was significantly more difficult to achieve, meeting with fierce German resistance.
Overall, however, the landings caught the Germans by surprise, and they were unable to counter-attack with the necessary speed and strength. Anything that was moving and German was liable to be attacked from the air.
Despite this, in the weeks following the landings Allied progress was slowed considerably, by the narrow lanes and thick hedgerows of the French countryside. Nevertheless, Cherbourg was liberated by the end of June. Paris followed two months later.
Hitler’s troubles were compounded by a Russian counterattack in June. This drove 300 miles west to Warsaw, and killed, wounded or captured 350,000 German soldiers. By the end of August the Russians had taken Bucharest. Estonia was taken within months, and Budapest was under siege by the end of the year.
One glimmer of light for Germany came in the Ardennes, in France, where in December a German counteroffensive – the Battle of the Bulge – killed 19,000 Americans and delayed the Allies’ march into Germany.
1944
American troops played a big role in battles to take back France in 1944, including landings on Normandy beaches that caught the Germans by surprise. Italy was finally liberated as well, and the Soviets’ counterattack pushed the German soldiers back to Warsaw, Poland. Germany lost 100,000 soldiers (captured) during the battle in Minsk.1
Carter, Ian. “Operation Barbarossa And Germanys Failure In The Soviet Union.” Imperial War Museums, 27 June 2018.
The Battle of the Bulge, however, postponed the Allies marching into Germany for a while. In the Pacific, Japan gained more territory in China, but its success was limited by the Communist troops there. The Allies fought back by taking Saipan and invading the Philippines.
January 27: After 900 days, the Siege of Leningrad is finally over
June 6: D-Day
June 19: Battle of the Philippine Sea
July 20: Assassination attempt against Hitler fails.
August 4: Anne Frank and her family are discovered and arrested.
August 25: The Allies liberate Paris.
October 23: Battle of Leyte Gulf begins.
December 16: Battle of the Bulge begins.
Events of 1945
The New Year saw the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz, and the revelation of the sickening obscenity of the Holocaust, its scale becoming clearer as more camps were liberated in the following months.
The Soviet army continued its offensive from the east, while from the west the Allies established a bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, in March.
While the bombing campaigns of the Blitz were over, German V1 and V2 rockets continued to drop on London. The return bombing raids on Dresden, which devastated the city in a huge firestorm, have often been considered misguided.
Meantime, the Western Allies raced the Russians to be the first into Berlin. The Russians won, reaching the capital on 21 April. Hitler killed himself on the 30th, two days after Mussolini had been captured and hanged by Italian partisans. Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May, and the following day was celebrated as VE (Victory in Europe) day. The war in Europe was over.
In the Pacific, however, it had continued to rage throughout this time. The British advanced further in Burma, and in February the Americans had invaded Iwo Jima. The Philippines and Okinawa followed and Japanese forces began to withdraw from China.
Plans were being prepared for an Allied invasion of Japan, but fears of fierce resistance and massive casualties prompted Harry Truman – the new American president following Roosevelt’s death in April – to sanction the use of an atomic bomb against Japan.
Such bombs had been in development since 1942, and on 6 August one of them was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki. No country could withstand such attacks, and the Japanese surrendered on 14 August.
The biggest conflict in history had lasted almost six years. Some 100 million people had been militarised, and 50 million had been killed. Of those who had died, 15 million were soldiers, 20 million were Russian civilians, six million were Jews and over four million were Poles.
1945
Liberation of concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, made the extent of the Holocaust clearer to the Allies. Bombs still fell on London and Germany in 1945, but before April was over, two of the Axis leaders would be dead and Germany’s surrender would soon follow. Franklin D. Roosevelt also died in April but of natural causes. The war in the Pacific continued, but the Allies made significant progress there through battles at Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, and Japan started to retreat from China. By mid-August, it was all over. Japan surrendered shortly after the second atomic bomb was unleashed on the island nation and, on Sept. 2, the surrender was formally signed and accepted, officially ending the conflict. Estimates put the death toll at 62 and 78 million, including 24 million from the Soviet Union, and 6 million Jews, 60 percent of all the Jewish population in Europe.
February 4: Yalta Conference begins.
February 13: Allies begin bombing Dresden.
February 19: Battle of Iwo Jima begins.
April 1: Battle of Okinawa.
April 12: Franklin D. Roosevelt dies.
April 16: Battle of Berlin begins.
April 28: Mussolini is hanged by Italian partisans.
April 30: Adolf Hitler commits suicide.
May 7: Germany signs an unconditional surrender.
July 17: Potsdam Conference begins.
August 6: The United States drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
August 9: The United States drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
Further, detailed, timeline info is available on :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_timelines_of_World_War_II