Battle of the Atlantic by James Holland

Author:James Holland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405929486
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

A torpedo-carrying Royal Navy Fairey Swordfish attacks the Bismarck.

In the opening eighteen months of the war, a lack of mid-Atlantic refuelling bases, combined with a shortage of escorts, had meant there was a large section in the middle of the ocean where the convoys were on their own and vulnerable. In April 1941, however, Allied naval and air bases finally opened in Iceland, which meant the British could now escort convoys as far as 35° west – a huge improvement. Then, in May, the rapidly growing Royal Canadian Navy agreed to close the final gap all the way to Newfoundland. It was another crucial marker in Canada’s huge commitment to the war, and one that was out of all proportion to the small size of its population of just over 10 million.

There were now some eighty Canadian corvettes in service, or nearly so. The crews lacked the training and experience of the Royal Navy, but this was hardly surprising considering their navy had grown from just 3,000 personnel at the war’s start. In the vicious seas of the north-west Atlantic they would soon learn, however. At any rate, from now on the Canadians, volunteers all, would escort transatlantic convoys to what was called the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point, then head to Iceland for refuelling before escorting another convoy back.

There were also now over 200 aircraft operating from Iceland. For the aircrews, anti-U-boat patrols were thankless: long hours scanning a vast and often empty sea. But they were making a difference, pushing Dönitz’s U-boats further west to the one part of the ocean aircraft still could not reach: the mid-Atlantic.

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