Timeline of the Second Battle of the Atlantic

This is a Timeline for the Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945) in World War II.

1939

September

September 3, 1939: German submarine "U.30" sinks the "SS Athenia". This attack is interpreted by the United Kingdom as the start of unrestricted submarine warfare. However, in Germany it leads to stricter controls being issued by the Kriegsmarine. Germany at this point had 39 of its 58 U-boats at sea, but this was far less than the 300 which Admiral Karl Dönitz, chief of German submarine forces, considered to be necessary before the opening of war.September 14, 1939: "U.39" attacks the British aircraft carrier HMS "Ark Royal", but fails to cause any damage. The aircraft carrier's escorts force "U.39" to the surface with depth charges and the crew are taken prisoners.September 15, 1939: The first British trans-Atlantic convoy sets sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia.September 17, 1939: "U.29" sinks the Royal Navy aircraft carrier "HMS Courageous".September 20, 1939: "U.27" is sunk with depth charges from the British destroyers "HMS Fortune" and "HMS Forester".September 26, 1939: German media reports the sinking of the British aircraft carrier "HMS Ark Royal". However, this report is false: many such reports would be made during the war.September 30, 1939: German pocket battleship "Graf Spee" sinks the first merchant ship of its cruise. Total sinkings for its sortie will total nine vessels totalling 50,000 tons before it becomes embroiled in the Battle of the River Plate".

Dec 4:First U-boat lost to an Allied submarine in the war when HMS Salmon sank the U-36 outside Kristiansund in Norway.

October

October 14, 1939: "U-47", under Captain-Lieutenant Günther Prien, raids the British naval base at Scapa Flow, sinking "HMS Royal Oak" at anchor.October 16, 1939: Germany begins employing magnetic mines. These cause significant losses to Allied shipping.

November

November 21, 1939: British light cruiser "HMS Belfast" hits a German mine, and is seriously damaged while operating in the Firth of Forth.November 23, 1939: A German magnetic mine is recovered successfully by the Allies, leading to the development of effective counter-measures. The German battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" sinks the British armed merchant vessel "Rawalpindi". The "Scharnhorst" and its accompanying "Gniesenau" are forced to abandon their sortie and return to port.

1940

February

February 14, 1940: The United Kingdom announces armaments will be carried by all passenger ships. Germany responds by announcing that no vessels will be considered warships.

March

March 16, 1940: A German air raid at Scapa Flow damages a cruiser and causes the first civilian casualties in Britain of the war.

August

4 August, 1940: U-52 sinks 3 British merchant steamships.

1942

June

10 June: "U-553", torpedoed and sank the British freighter "Nicoya" at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River several kilometres off Anticosti Island on , followed by the Dutch freighter "Leto"

july

July 6: "U-132" sank three freighters off the Gaspé coast

oct

the Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry SS "Caribou" was torpedoed by the "U-69", in Cabot Strait,

1943

dec

26 December 1943: ships of the Royal Navy sank the German battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" off Norway's North Cape on.

Month-by-month summaries

1939

* September: Allied shipping losses total 53 vessels. 41 vessels totaling 153,800 tons are lost to submarines. German losses are two submarines.
* October: Allied shipping losses total 196,000 tons. German losses are five submarines.
* November: Allied shipping losses to submarines are 21 vessels totaling 51,600 tons. More than 100,000 tons are lost to German mines.
* December: Allied shipping losses are 73 vessels totaling 189,900 tons. 25 are sunk by submarines. The Germans lose one submarine.

Total Allied losses to mines during 1939 are 79 vessels totaling 262,700 tons.

1940

* January: Allied losses are 73 vessels totaling 214,500 tons, of which 40 vessels totaling 111,200 tons are sunk by submarines. Germany has 38 operational submarines to begin the year.
* February: Allied losses are 226,900 tons, of which 45 vessels totaling 169,500 tons are lost to submarines.
* March: Allied losses are 45 vessels, of which 23 are lost to submarines. Germany loses three submarines.
* October: Massacre of Convoy SC-7

1941

1942

1943

* April: Closing of Mid-Atlantic gap
* May: U-boats withdrawn Black May

References

"The Battle of the Atlantic" by John Costello and Terry Hughes (1977, Collins, London) ISBN 0 00 216048 10