Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook408 pages11 hours
The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats: Victory in the Battle of the Atlantic
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
No weapon platform sank more U-boats in the Second World War than the Allied aircraft. Whether it was an American ’plane operating from American escort carriers, US aircraft from Royal Air Force bases, or British aircraft from bases throughout the world, these officers and men became the most decisive factor in turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic against the German submarine threat. While the German crews could threaten escort vessels with torpedoes, or avoid them by remaining submerged, their leaders never developed an effective strategy against aircraft.
However, the Allied aircraft did not enjoy much early success. British, Canadian and Australian air crews that fought the U-boats from 1939 until 1941 achieved few triumphs. They possessed neither the aircraft nor the bases necessary to deliver consistent lethal attacks against German submarines.
In 1941, the Royal Air Force finally began implementing an effective aircraft response when it initiated training on the American-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Supported by other types then in service, these four-engine bombers would prove to be decisive. With America’s entry into the war, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces also began employing Liberators against the U-boats so that by mid-1943, the Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of U-boat forces, withdrew his submarines from the North Atlantic in recognition of the Allied aircraft’s new dominance.
From Dönitz’s retreat to the end of the war, Allied aircraft continued to dominate the U-boat battle as it shifted to other areas including the Bay of Biscay. Dönitz eventually ordered his U-boats to remain on the surface and engage Allied aircraft as opposed to submerging. This approach did lead to the demise of some Allied aircraft, but it also resulted in even more U-boat being sunk. Most critically, Dönitz acknowledged with his new policy that he knew of no tactics or weapons that would defend his submarines from Allied aircraft. In the end, it was a matter of choosing whether his submariners would die submerged or die surfaced. Either way, Allied aircraft prevailed.
The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler’s U-Boats is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of this most crucial battle which helped turn the Battle of the Atlantic irrevocably in favour of the Allies.
However, the Allied aircraft did not enjoy much early success. British, Canadian and Australian air crews that fought the U-boats from 1939 until 1941 achieved few triumphs. They possessed neither the aircraft nor the bases necessary to deliver consistent lethal attacks against German submarines.
In 1941, the Royal Air Force finally began implementing an effective aircraft response when it initiated training on the American-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Supported by other types then in service, these four-engine bombers would prove to be decisive. With America’s entry into the war, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces also began employing Liberators against the U-boats so that by mid-1943, the Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of U-boat forces, withdrew his submarines from the North Atlantic in recognition of the Allied aircraft’s new dominance.
From Dönitz’s retreat to the end of the war, Allied aircraft continued to dominate the U-boat battle as it shifted to other areas including the Bay of Biscay. Dönitz eventually ordered his U-boats to remain on the surface and engage Allied aircraft as opposed to submerging. This approach did lead to the demise of some Allied aircraft, but it also resulted in even more U-boat being sunk. Most critically, Dönitz acknowledged with his new policy that he knew of no tactics or weapons that would defend his submarines from Allied aircraft. In the end, it was a matter of choosing whether his submariners would die submerged or die surfaced. Either way, Allied aircraft prevailed.
The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler’s U-Boats is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of this most crucial battle which helped turn the Battle of the Atlantic irrevocably in favour of the Allies.
Unavailable
Related to The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats
Related ebooks
Battle of the Atlantic 1942–45: The climax of World War II’s greatest naval campaign Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTotal Undersea War: The Evolutionary Role of the Snorkel in Dönitz's U-Boat Fleet, 1944–1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunter-Killer: U.S. Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Building for Battle: U-Boat Pens of the Atlantic Battle Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Aerial War: 1939–45: The Role of Aviation in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFriend or Foe: Friendly Fire at Sea, 1939–1945 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The War With Hitler's Navy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Luftwaffe Fighters and Bombers: The Battle of Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decisive Moments of World War II: The Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the Manhattan Project Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMitsubishi A5M Claude Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fighting Captain: The Story of Frederic Walker RN CB DSO & The Battle of the Atlantic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pioneers of Irregular Warfare: Secrets of the Military Intelligence Research Department of the Second World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Battleship Helgoland: As Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDefeat At Sea: The Struggle and Eventual Destruction of the German Navy, 1939-1945 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A World War 1 Adventure: The Life and Times of Rnas Bomber Pilot Donald E. Harkness Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBismarck: The Epic Chase Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hurricane over the Jungle: 120 Days Fighting the Japanese Onslaught in 1942 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, June 1916–November 1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTacitus on Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTorpedo Bombers Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905: Volume Two Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMalta Convoys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's First General Staff: A Short History of the Rise and Fall of the General Board of the U.S. Navy, 1900–1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Escort Carrier of the Second World War: Combustible, Vulnerable and Expendable! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Napoleon As A General. Vol. I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler's U-boats
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews