How did the Battle of Atlantic affect the outcome of WWII?

Question

How did the Battle of Atlantic affect the outcome of WWII?

Answer 1

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of WW II. Britain blockaded Germany and Germany blockaded Britain. However, battles occurred from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic and from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. The German surface ships and U-boats attacked convoys of merchant ships headed to Britain and Russia with supplies to fight the Germans in occupied Europe and the Germans fighting Russia on the Eastern front in Russia. The German's used fleets of submarines (called wolf packs) to attack convoys in the Mid-Atlantic. Individual U-Boats attacked oil tankers off the coast of the U.S and Canada and cities could see the burning tankers just off the East coast of North America. By wars end, 3,000 merchant ships from U.S. and Canada and 75% of all Germany's U-boats had been sunk.

Answer 2

yes it was America and Canada were supplying Britain with arms and food large fleets of merchant vessels were easy pickings for the U Boats and Britain was suffering heavy losses advances in technology and the cracking of the famous enigma code helped Britain to put warships in the right places to counter the threat and the battle was fierce we must remember these merchant seamen that braved the gauntlet often forgotten they weren't soldiers are part of the fighting force ordinary men and many lives were lost millions of tons of shipping were lost but eventually the tide turned with these aids but it was as the Battle of Britain very close at one time we were staggering under the strain had it gone the other way how could we have survived

Answer 3

the uk required imports of virtually everything in order to continue the war after 1940



when the US came into the war in 1941 they needed to get their men+equipment+planes over to the UK in order to fight germany



the battle of the atlantic was the germans attempt to stop this



If it had been lost by 1941 the UK would have had to surrender (no food or oil or weapons)



If it had been lost after 1941 then the same again+ the US could not have got their stuff over



winning it allowed the UK to continue to fight, the US to get their stuff across, D day to happen, and the war to be won



i.e if battle of atlantic lost- germany wins war

battle of atlantic won - germany loses war.

Answer 4

Yes in a Small way with all the Losses the British needed a regular supply that was the Suez canal which kept us alive until the USA took over



It was Not Until 1943 before we Cracked the German Navy Codes

Answer 5

For England, yes. Destroying the German navy wouldn't have necessarily brought about the defeat of Germany since they controlled most of Europe and had the most powerful army and air force (at the time) in the world, But destroy the British navy, in particular her merchant marine, and England would have faced eventual starvation with her supply lines cut off from America. Hitler didn't want to challenge the USA until he was ready to do so, but Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor forced his hand to support his ally. The Battle of the Atlantic was really a battle of attrition that England couldn't afford to lose and with American industrial/military power on a Germany-first basis, plus the advantage of technology and code-cracking on the side, the battle eventually swung in the favor of the Allies. Thanx.