However, this meant that the RAF could recover and made sure that the RAF controlled daylight skies over Britain for the rest of the war. German planes continued to attack London at night for the rest of the War.
The main advantage for the RAF was the home soil. British fighters could refuel and return to battle within minutes. German fighter range was only 30 minutes. If a German pilot was shot down, he was either
killed or captured. If a GB pilot was shot down they could fly again if not killed. This meant that the Germans would lose experienced pilots but Britain's would just become more experienced.
The Spitfire was probably the best fighter of its time. It was faster than the ME 109 and had a more effective firepower. But the German fighter was faster and easier controlled than the Hurricanes which made
up two-thirds of the RAF.
There were many reasons for Britain's victory over Germany. The most
important reason was radar, home soil and poor German tactics. The more minor reasons were the German's strength, the spitfire's superiority over German fighters and German delay.
By 15th September the Germans had given up destroying RAF airfields and concentrated attacks on London and other major cities in Britain.
This showed the end of the . The RAF had shown that they had superior air power and now controlling the day skies
over Britain. Sealion was postponed and was never put into action.
Instead the Germans turned to a different tactic of destroying Britain's supplies from the USA and other countries by sea. And The Battle of the begun.
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The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest campaign of the Second World War. In a hard-fought and intense struggle to cut off Britain's sea supply lines. Germany's mobilized submarines (or U-boats),
battleships, battle cruisers, aircraft and mines against Allied merchant shipping. Substantial British, Canadian and American naval and air forces were made to defeat this challenge. By far the biggest danger came from the U-boat.
Success in this struggle went back and fro. Escorted convoys-which the British used from the early days of the war, proved difficult targets for single submarines. The Germans then developed attacks by groups
of submarines- wolf packs. These packs were called together when a
lone U-Boat sighted a convoy. The submarines then shadowed the convoy
on the surface by day. At night the wolf pack would strike from all points with huge amounts of damage.
Britain is a small island and therefore depended on imports of food, oil, rubber etc. Convoys were introduced immediately
but in 1940 the U-boats were better used than WW1. The German aim was to starve Britain and therefore make Britain surrender to Germany. Hitler wanted to achieve this using U-boat in the Atlantic.
At first counter measures were ineffective, Sonar/Asdic was no good if sub was at surface. Radar was ineffective because of the Earth's curvature and the sub gave a poor radar signature. There were very few
long range planes.
In 1941 britain mastered the U-boat threats due to lots of different actions.
Aircraft were used to fight the U-boats. The Canadian Navy became 50x bigger to protect merchant ships. The RAF and Navy worked closer together. The best U-boat captains were killed. America started to
protect convoys. New convoy tactics were introduced.
This problem was made by the fact that although the USA had entered the war, it did not immediately put into place some protective measures - such as introducing convoys, and 'blacking out' coastal
towns. A handful of U-boats operating on the North American and
Caribbean seaboards area in the first half of 1942 sank nearly 500 Allied ships. The period of this campaign, called Operation
Drumbeat, was the second 'happy time' for the German submariners
Intelligence was the other major factor in this second Battle of the Atlantic. Both sides at various times were able to read the signal of the other. Britain's ability to break the Enigma codes, and the resulting 'Ultra' intelligence was a great advantage,
particularly after the Royal Navy took an Enigma machine from a captured U-boat in May 1941. filled with information about where U-boats were patrolling, the British were able to move convoys in safe areas, away from the wolfpacks.
There were many advances in technology to fight the U-boats in 1942
and 1943. Short wave radar was brought in. It had a 4 mile range and could detect a periscope to within 1 mile by the end of the war. Day or night subs could be seen, which made wolfpacks less effective. This
was a major factor.
Huff duff gave the position of U-boats using their radio messages.
This meant that U-boats could be detected long before they came near the convoy. This was a major factor.
Hedgehog was a new weapon against U-boats. 24 depth charges were sent
out at once and once they hit a sub hull they exploded. This was a
minor factor.
Long range aircraft were used to detect and destroy U-boats. The B24
Liberator, for example, could cover the whole of the Atlantic with a
range of 3000 miles. It had 4 engines, mini radar and 6 depth charges.
With this new weapon U-boats could be detected and destroyed much more
easily. Also the whole of the Atlantic was protected. This was a major
factor.
New ships were also developed to combat the U-boats. Frigates were
quick to build and had the manoeuvrability of the corvette and the
firepower of a destroyer. These ships were also fitted with new
equipment which meant they were very effective anti-sub ships. This
was a major factor.
The Allied captains came up with new tactics using the new equipment
to protect convoys effectively and destroy enemy U-boats. This was a minor factor.
Convoy ships also became easier to build. Liberty ships were produced
by the US using mass production. It used welding techniques instead of
rivieting. 3 of these ships were being produced by the end of the war
and by June 1943 the US had replaced every merchant ship lost in WW2
up till then. Ships were being built faster than they were being
destroyed. This was a major factor.
In spring 1943, Bletchley Park broke the Shark code.
These factors gave the Allies a huge advantage over the U-boats and
were a deciding factor of the battle.
By April the U-boats were clearly struggling to make an impact. Even worse, from Hitler's point of view, was the fact that Allied sinking of German submarines began to climb, with 45 being destroyed in the
months of April and May. Döntiz, recognising that the U-boat's moment
had passed, and called off the battle on 23 May 1943.
In May turning point convoys travelled the Atlantic. SC-130 had 38 ships and reached Britain with none lost. 21 stalked the convoy and 3 subs were sunk. This was the first convoy were air cover was needed.
ONS-5 was attacked by and beat off a 40 sub attack.
The Battle of the Atlantic was one of the longest campaigns of World War Two, and it was among the most costly. Between
75,000 and 85,000 Allied seamen were killed. About 28,000 - out of 41,000 - U-boat crew were killed during World War Two, and some two-thirds of these died in the course of the Battle of the Atlantic.
The victory in the Atlantic was significant to the outcome of WW2.
Britain could get supplies from America without threat and 1 yr later on May 43-June 44 2 million troops were involved in D Day landings launched from Britain. With the U-boat threat neutralised, troops from
the US and Canada could be used in this attack.
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I think the reasons on why the allies won the battles were because-
-they had different tactics
-they developed technology
-they had help from other countries
-they had better weapons
-they were somewhat smarter
-they planned out things
the germans were successful too for a while-such as developing wolfpack u-boats, but overall Britain had won the war and battered Germany.
books or websites i have used
bbc.co.uk/history/world/wars/
historylearning site.co.uk
bbc.co.uk/history/battle_of_britain
johndclare.net/wwii6
wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_won_the_Battle_of_Britain_and_why
woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/battleofbritain
centennialofflight.gov/essay/Air_Power/Battle_of_Britain/AP22
century-of-flight.net/new%20site/add_ons/frames/battle_of_britain
the blitzed brits-horrible histories
horrible_histories.co.uk
historylearningsite.co.uk/atlantic
www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/.../launch_gms_battle_atlantic.sht...
www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_atlantic_01.shtml
www.johndclare.net/wwii8.htm
www.uboataces.com/
ww.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_atlantic_01.shtml
www.history.co.uk/explore-history/ww2/battle-of-the-atlantic.html
ww.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsAtlanticDev.htm
worldwarships.webs.com/battleforatlanticww2.htm
