Transcript 23: WW II : America on the Sidelines

Lesson 23
WW II – America on the Sidelines
Lesson Objectives
• Describe U.S. participation in the Battle of the Atlantic prior to
December 1941.
• Describe and analyze the challenge of the Battle of the Atlantic
to U.S. national interest.
• Describe and analyze how the actions and decisions of the U.S.
prior to its formal entry into World War II placed it in a stronger
position after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Describe and analyze President Franklin Roosevelt’s policy and
strategy for involving the United States in the European war prior
to December 7, 1941.
Review
Allied Strategy in Battle of the Atlantic
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats
Allied Strategy in Battle of the Atlantic
• Protect existing shipping
• Employ convoy system immediately
• Increase escort capability
Remember this one?
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Attributed to Samuel Clements (1835-1910)
Unrestricted
America Gets
Submarine
InvolvedWarfare
… again!
February 1, 1917
Germany resumes unrestricted sub warfare
April 6, 1917
U.S. declares war on Germany
August 17, 1940
Hitler Declares Unrestricted Blockade
Around British Isles
September 2, 1940
Destroyers For Bases Agreement
Why did FDR not ask for declaration of war?
Destroyers For Bases
September 2, 1940
US provided 50 WW I destroyers in exchange for bases
Destroyers For Bases
September 2, 1940
US provided 50 WW I destroyers to UK in exchange for bases:
Newfoundland, Bermuda, West Indies, Guiana
Destroyers For Bases
September 2, 1940
US provided 50 WW I destroyers in exchange for bases
Bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, West India, Guiana
Destroyers became Royal Navy Town-class
• Named for North American cities and towns with namesake in UK
Example:
… became HMS Lewes
Events
September 2, 1940
September 16, 1940
Destroyers For Bases Agreement
Selective Training and Service Act
• First US “peacetime” draft
Jan-March 1941
American-British Staff Conference
American-British Staff Conference
Washington, DC - Jan-Mar 1941
Discussed issues of coalition warfare
“Germany First” decision
• In the event of war with Germany & Japan, defeat of
Germany would have highest priority
“Made before American entry into World War II, in the context of a world
threatened by Axis aggression in Europe and Asia, the judgment that
Germany must be defeated first stands as the most important single
strategic concept of the war.”
Louis Morton
"Germany First: The Basic Concept of Allied Strategy in World War II"
Command Decisions, Kent Roberts Greenfield (ed)
Washington: US Army Center of Military History, 2000
Events
September 2, 1940
September 16, 1940
Destroyers For Bases Agreement
Selective Training and Service Act
• First US “peacetime” draft
Jan-March 1941
American-British Staff Conference
March 11, 1941
Lend-Lease Act
Lend-Lease Act
( 3:52 )
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease Act (March 11, 1941)
President of the United States authorized to "sell,
transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise
dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the
President deems vital to the defense of the United
States] any defense article".
• No repayment requirement - > $50 B transferred
Significance
• US officially became a logistics participant in the war
• Added further emphasis to US mobilization
Events
September 2, 1940
September 16, 1940
Destroyers For Bases Agreement
Selective Training and Service Act
• First US “peacetime” draft
Jan-March 1941
American-British Staff Conference
March 11, 1941
Lend-Lease Act
April 4, 1941
British ships allowed for repairs
April 24, 1941
US warships report German navy moves
July 1941
US assumed occupation of Iceland
Occupation of Iceland
Critical Location
April 9, 1940 - Denmark occupied by Germany
May 10, 1940 - British invade & occupy Iceland
July 1941 -
US Marines assume occupation responsibility
Occupation of Iceland
US Marines in Iceland
Events
August 9-12, 1941
Roosevelt & Churchill meet in Newfoundland
Roosevelt departs
Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/britobje.html
The Atlantic Conference
Argentia, Newfoundland August 9-12, 1941
The Atlantic Conference
Atlantic Charter
Joint declaration of August 14, 1941
Established Allied vision for a post-war world
Major Principles:
1. No territorial gains sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.
2. Territorial adjustments in accord with wishes of the peoples concerned.
3. People have a right to self-determination.
4. Trade barriers to be lowered.
5. Global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
6. Freedom from want and fear to be enforced.
7. Freedom of the seas
8. Disarmament of aggressor nations and postwar common disarmament
Events
September 1, 1941
US warships escort convoys containing
US vessels
September 11, 1941
US warships ordered to “shoot on sight”
Events
October 31, 1941
USS Reuben James sunk by U-boat
• 100 killed
USS Reuben James DD-245
Link
Escort Vessels
Royal Navy hard pressed in all theaters of operation
Not enough destroyers (standard escort)
Still needed “numbers” to protect convoys everywhere
U.S. Shipbuilding Steps In
Available shipbuilding capacity
New ocean escort design: Destroyer Escort
HMS Cosby, one of 78 DE’s provided to RN
Provided to Britain under Lend-Lease Act
Destroyer Escorts
(DE)
Fleet destroyer
Fletcher class
Destroyer Escort
Cannon class
Destroyer escorts did not need speed of fleet destroyers
• 21 knots vs. 35 knots for destroyers
DEs could be smaller, cheaper, easier to produce
Destroyer Escorts
(DE)
USS Slater (DE-766)
Displacement: 1,240 tons (std) 1,620 tons (full) Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 10" x 11' 8" (max)
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),
1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Machinery: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 knots Range: 10,800 nm @ 12 knots Crew: 15 / 201
Source
Building DEs
Prefabricated DE parts arrive at Mare Island CA from Denver
Building DEs
DE construction techniques
Building DEs
Rolling out a completed DE hull
Bay City, MI
!
Building DEs
DEs Fitting Out
Hingham, MA
Allied Strategy in Battle of the Atlantic
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Expand US shipbuilding industry
• Apply mass production techniques to shipbuilding
Ships Lost vs. Built
1939 - 1941
Source
All was ruled by that harsh and despotic factor,
shipping.
Winston S. Churchill,
The Second World War, Volume III, The Grand Alliance
1950
Liberty Ships
Based on a British design
• Simple, welded hull
• Proven 1890-era steam engine
Originally tagged “ugly duckling” by FDR
“Liberty” campaign by Maritime Commissioner Emory Land changed image
• First ship: Patrick Henry
• Liberty Fleet Day: 15 ships launched across country (Sept. 27, 1941)
US Shipbuilding
US Maritime Commission
Source
Henry J. Kaiser
Industrialist (1882-1967)
Began in construction: Hoover Dam, Grand Coolee Dam, SF Bay Bridge
Joined with Todd Shipbuilding (1939)
Built two new shipyards: Richmond CA & Portland OR
Introduced mass production techniques to build standardized ships
• Liberty ships, Victory ships; C-1, C-2, C-3 cargo; T-1, T-2, T-3 tankers
Record for one Liberty ship: 4 days, 15 hours, 30 minutes
Source
Shipyards
Kaiser Shipyard - Richmond, CA
1943
Workforce
Rosie the Riveter
Norman Rockwell - 1943
Source
"Your must tell your children, putting all
modesty aside, that without us, without women,
there would have been no spring in 1945."
Source
Rosie the Riveter
Update
The Riveter
The Rifleman
Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune
January 25, 2013
Workforce
Rosie the Riveter
Wanda the Welder
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
Mass Production Techniques
The Finished Product
Record for one Liberty ship: 4 days, 15 hours, 30 minutes
Liberty Ships
SS Jeremiah O’Brien
National Liberty Ship Memorial
Speed: 11 knots
Royal Navy Photo
One of 2,718 built at 17 US shipyards
Source
Source
Victory Ships
Larger, faster than Liberty ship
550 built
SS United Victory
Source
T-2 Tankers
533 built
Source
SS Huntington Hills (completed in 33 days)
• 523 feet long overall
• 68 foot beam
Source
• 30 foot draft
• 10,448 Gross tons
• 21,880 Loaded displacement tons
• 6,000 shaft horsepower Turbo-Electric propulsion
• Speed 14.5-16 knots
Aircraft on “skeleton deck”
• Liquid capacity 141,200 barrels (nearly 6 million gal)
Source
Concrete Ships
SS Arthur Talbot
Shortage of steel caused search for alternatives.
Concrete ships had been tried in WW I with limited success.
WW II: 24 built in Tampa beginning in 1942 but with limited use
• Two crossed Atlantic and were used as breakwaters
• Others used for training in US
ConcreteShips.org
Next:
Lesson 22
WW II -- Second Battle of the Atlantic, Pt 2
End