The Battle of the Atlantic is a popular historical name for the long struggle--spanning the entire six years of World War II, from 1939 to 1945--to secure the Atlantic convoy routes, which were the lifeline for the European Allies. It was by no means a battle in the traditional military sense but, rather, a long series of numerous encounters, engagements, attacks, and campaigns. For the Allies, the overall objectives of the struggle were straightforward: blockade Axis Europe; secure sea movements, especially of vital convoys; and attain and maintain the ability to project military force overseas.

The first objective was achieved with relative ease, since the Allied navies far outnumbered German and Italian naval forces. Although Germany enjoyed very limited success with blockade-running operations, generally the Allied naval blockade was quite effective. It is also true, however, that the European Axis did not have to rely on the Atlantic for most of its supplies, since, through much of the war, Germany controlled many European overland routes and had conquered numerous manufacturing and agricultural centers.

The third objective depended largely on the development of amphibious warfare doctrine, techniques, and tactics, which had not fully matured until Operation Overlord and the Normandy landings (D-day) of June 1944. By that time, the second objective, securing Allied sea movements, had been largely achieved, which also enabled achievement of the amphibious warfare objective.

That second objective, securing Allied sea movements, was, however, extremely difficult to attain. While the surface fleet of the Kriegsmarine, the Navy of Germany, was not large, its submarine (or U-boat) fleet was substantial, modern, and growing. It was the German U-boat that was the most destructive weapon in the Battle of the Atlantic, and the menace posed by submarine warfare largely dictated Allied operations in the battle.

Yet the U-boat did not immediately come to the fore in the Battle of the Atlantic. During the opening months of the war, after the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and before the fall of France in June 1940, the Kriegsmarine operated against Allied shipping mainly using surface ships, including so-called pocket battleships (smaller than conventional battleships, but typically with even greater firepower) and cruisers, collectively called surface raiders. These vessels were augmented by smaller cruisers called auxiliary cruisers. This early phase of the Battle of the Atlantic largely consisted of German surface raiders harassing Allied shipping. . .

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