Transcript Part 2
Lesson 22 WW II -- Second Battle of the Atlantic, Pt 2 Allied Strategy • Protect existing shipping • Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet • Go on the offensive against the U-boats • Improve intelligence on U-boat operations • Close Mid-Atlantic Gap • Develop Hunter-Killer teams Signals Intelligence ( SIGINT ) Enigma Source Enigma Source Enigma Bletchley Park Source Alan Turing’s “Bombe” Enigma British intelligence received its first Enigma machine in 1939 from Polish military Additional machines captured by Royal Navy • May 9, 1941: U-110 off Iceland • October 30, 1942: U-559 in the Mediterranean USN captured U-505, June 4, 1944 Source Direction Finding ( ELINT ) High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF) “Huff-Duff” German subs required to report positions Allies used information to reroute convoys • Later used to direct Hunter- Killer task forces Mid-Atlantic Gap Source: The World At War Maritime Patrol Aircraft USAAF A-29 Hudson RAF Liberator Blimps RAF Fortress Source Maritime Patrol Aircraft Caught On The Surface – Robert Taylor RAF Sunderland Flying Boat – Coastal Command vs. U-461 20 July 1943 – Bay of Biscay Source Airborne Detection Tools Leigh Light Powerful aircraft light for night attacks Introduced June 1942 Airborne Detection Tools Airborne Radar Antenna Detail RAF Coastal Command Liberator Mk III with ASV radar Permitted location of submarines in bad weather and at night First U-boat kill November 1941 Pioneering video documentary 1952-53 Going on the Offensive (0 – 7:04) Escort Carrier Built in Kaiser shipyards on T-3 tanker hulls USS Bogue T-3 Tanker Escort Carrier Comparison With Fleet Carrier USS Bogue CVE-9 Laid Down: 1 Oct 41 Launched: 15 Jan 42 Commissioned: 28 Sep 42 Displacement: 7,800 tons standard; 15,700 tons full load (design) Length: 495' 8" (151.1 m) Beam: 111.5' (34 m) Power plant: 2 boilers (285 psi); 1 steam turbine; 1 shaft; 8,500 shp Speed: 16.5 knots Armament: 2 single 5"/51 (later 5"/38) gun mounts; (1943) 8 twin 40mm/56-cal gun mounts; (1943) 27 single 20-mm/70-cal gun mounts Aircraft: 24 Aviation facilities: 2 elevators; 1 hydraulic catapult Crew: 890 Source Hunter-Killer Team Hunter Becomes the Hunted U-118 under attack by aircraft from USS Bogue June 12, 1943 Source Battle of the Atlantic Won ( 1:48:30 – 1:54:10 ) Capture of U-505 June 4, 1944 Task Force 22.3 Escort carrier Guadalcanal (CVE-60) Captain Dan Gallery Commander Five destroyer escorts: Pillsbury (DE-133) Pope (DE-134), Flaherty (DE-135), Chatelain (DE-149), Jenks (DE-665) Capture of U-505 ( 18:12 – 25:27 ) Capture of U-505 June 4, 1944 Boarding Party Arrives from USS Pillsbury Capture of U-505 First USN combat prize since War of 1812 Capture of U-505 USS Guadalcanal towing U-505 Players in U-505 Capture Captain Daniel V. Gallery LT(jg) Albert L. David Players in U-505 Capture Captain Daniel V. Gallery • Commander, Task Group 22.3 • Set his sights on capturing a U-boat • After capture, Navy did not know what to do with him • Decorate him • Court martial him • Eventually promoted him to rear admiral Why? Players in U-505 Capture LT(jg) Albert L. David • Asst. Engineering Officer on USS Pillsbury • Led boarding party to U-505 • Remained inside sub despite threat of scuttling charges & open sea valves • Awarded Medal of Honor • Only MOH awarded for Battle of Atlantic May 1943: The Turning Point “What is now decisive is that enemy aircraft have been equipped with a new location apparatus … which enables them to detect submarines and attack them in low cloud, bad visibility, or at nights. Much the largest number of submarines now being sunk are being sunk by aircraft. … These losses are too high. We must now husband our resources because, to do anything else, would simply be to play the enemy’s game” Admiral Dönitz to Hitler, May 1943 U-boat Losses By Month U-boat.net Ship Losses 1940 - 1945 Ships Lost vs. Built 1939-1945 Source US Shipbuilding Ships Built by US Maritime Commission 1939-1947 Source 5,500+ ships US Maritime Commission Losses Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago Victory in the Atlantic ( 25:26 - 26:29) "The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome.” Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, Volume V, Closing the Ring 1951 The Second Battle of the Atlantic “The German people do not understand the sea” Attributed to Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930) Lesson 24 WW II: America Enters the War Lesson Objectives • Understand the Japanese and American strategies for the war in the Pacific and Asia. • Analyze the impact of the military revolution during the interwar years on the war in the Pacific theater. • Become familiar with the timeline of events in the Pacific war. • Understand the significance of the Battle of Midway and the role of signals intelligence in the outcome.