German U-boat wolf packs threaten England's lifeline - spring of 1943 With the end of winter, U-boat wolf packs were so numerous in the Atlantic that convoys were having great difficulty getting supplies to England.  If this were to continue, England could not survive.  Supplies in England were running disastrously low - and it looked as if Dönitz was about able finally to knock England out of the war. German U-Boats:      91 at the beginning of the spring of 1942    212 a year later:  March of 1943     17 new U-Boats being added to the German fleet           each month Allied shipping losses:    101 merchant ships sunk in October of 1942    134 in November    7 of 9 ships sunk carrying much needed fuel to          Eisenhower's forces in North Africa in January of          1943 In the first three weeks of March 1943 alone, the shipping situation was near catastrophic: for instance 17 ships were sunk by U-boats in two days. THE BATTLE TURNS IN FAVOR OF ENGLAND AND THE ALLIES (MARCH-MAY 1943)  The Allies' introduction of bombers as an anti-submarine weapon But then the battle amazingly turned in the opposite direction - in favor of England and the Allies.  Roosevelt ordered the transfer of 60 long-range B-24 Liberator bombers from the Pacific fleet to the Altlantic fleet (these bombers could stay aloft for 18 hours) These were extremely deadly to the very vulnerable U-boats which could not stay underwater for too long German U-boat losses:       8 sunk in the last week of March 1943     31 sunk in April     43 sunk in May The crucial turning Point:  Convoy ONS-5 - early May 1943 A fleet of 42 allied ships and their 7 escort warships ( joined by others as the battle developed) encountered a wolf pack of 30 German U-boats as they headed west in the mid-Atlantic toward America.   Ultimately several allied convoys of a total of 350 ships and 58 U-boats in three groups would get involved.  Gale force storms, fog and other bad weather made conditions for the convoys bad - but for the U-boats even worse. Ultimately in the course of a week's fighting, peaking on May 4th and 5th, the convoys lost a total of 12 ships.  But the escorts destroyed 6 U-boats and crippled 7 others - a huge loss for the German navy. It was becomming apparent (including to Dönitz) that the Allies were learning how to effectively coordinate convoy and escort tactics sufficiently to make U-boat attacks almost suicidal. May 24, 1943 Dönitz orders the withdrawal of the U-boats from the North Atlantic. The Allies now had open passage from the United States to England.  Example:  June to September 1943, 62 convoys with 3,546 merchant ships crossed the Atlantic without the loss of a single ship, the Battle of the Atlantic had clearly been won by the Allies.  This would pave the way for the Allies' eventual victory in Western Europe.   Anti-Submarine Weapons: A Mk VII depth charge being loaded onto a Mk IV depth charge thrower on board HMS Dianthus. Imperial War Museum Anti-Submarine Weapons: Hedgehog, a 24 barreled anti-submarine mortar mounted on the forecastle of HMS Westcott Imperial War Museum - IMW A31000 The Atlantic - c. 1943.  Sailors take cover around the conning tower of a German type IXC submarine under attack from a very low flying aircraft.  A depth bomb explodes in the distance Australian War Memorial "Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-boat's hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy." Sinking of U-175. WO Jack January, April 17, 1943. National Archives 26-G-1517 THE AIR WAR UNLEASHES ALLIED WRATH ON THE GERMAN HOMELAND A tired US airman grabs a quick bite to eat at an English airbase "The first big raid by the 8th Air Force was on a Focke Wulf plant at Marienburg. Coming back, the Germans were up in full force and we lost at least 80 ships-800 men, many of them pals." 1943. National Archives 208-YE-7 A US "Flying Fortress" over the burning Peenemunde base in Germany United States Air Force "Photograph made from B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th AAF Bomber Command on 31 Dec. when they attacked the vital CAM ball- bearing plant and the nearby Hispano Suiza aircraft engine repair depot in Paris." France, 1943. National Archives 208-EX-249A-27 Destroyed U. S. Flying Fortress National Archives US Airmen at an English air base greeting each other after a bombing run over Germany An English Red Cross lady serving coffee and doughnuts to GIs Go on to the next section:  The American Home Front   Miles H. Hodges