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Atlantic Fleet

Grey watchdogs of the U.S. Fleet guard Reykajavik Harbor.

More than two years before the formal entry of the United States into World War II, the Atlantic Fleet began to support the British Fleet. This was done by the Neutrality Patrol, established in September 1939.

Fifteen months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, fifty Atlantic Fleet destroyers were turned over to Great Britain in exchange for base rights, and the rapid development of the outposts during 1941 permitted the Atlantic Fleet to prepare a series of valuable stepping stones for wartime operations. Another vital extension of our defenses occurred in May 1941 when , Brazil authorized the Atlantic Fleet to build and use advanced bases for planes and surface craft at Recife, Bahia, and Natal.

Aggressively committed to the task of maintaining the war-making capacity of the British Isles, the United States could not afford to let German submarines sink lend-lease supplies en route, and the Atlantic Fleet joined British and Canadian naval forces during the summer of 1941, with orders to "shoot on sight" at any ships, planes or submarines which threatened this steady flow of war materials through the Western Atlantic.

By the time the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, the Atlantic Fleet had already completed and had begun to use a destroyer base in Londonderry, Ireland. In the far-flung struggle to maintain convoy lanes which soon stretched from the United Kingdom to Halifax, New York, Trinidad, Aruba, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro, Admiral Doenitz's ruthless offensive maintained a decided edge. But in May 1943, Allied team-work with long-range planes, surface ships and baby flat tops succeeded in sinking 43 U-boats, and this stunning defeat was the climax of the Battle of the Atlantic. Thereafter, the initiative in that phase of the conflict passed to the Allies and was never again lost.

Supporting The European Landings

Closely interlocked with the submarine war were the overseas movements of great armadas to launch those major amphibious operations which led to the final defeat of the Axis: the landings in North Africa, the Sicilian and Italian campaigns, and the invasions of Normandy and Southern France. To assist the British and Canadians in all of these difficult tasks, the Amphibious Force of the Atlantic Fleet provided extensive training to our Army troops. The important part played by Atlantic Fleet ships in transporting these specially trained troops, in landing them successfully on hostile shores, and in supporting their initial assaults, won the grudging praise of an enemy who had never understood the importance of true function of sea power.

All of these landings required preliminary build-up of supplies and subsequent feeding of additional materials and troops from the United States - responsibilities which continued to be taken by units of the Atlantic Fleet. Shipments for the initial invasion of Normandy alone piled up more than 16,000,000 tons of supplies in Britain during one year before D-day.

Another important aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic was the Allied campaign against blockade runners which shuttled high priority minerals and rubber from Japan to Germany, high grade steel and precision instruments from Germany to Japan. During 1941 and 1942, the enemy sent out 49 blockade-running freighters or tankers from Europe, and 40 of them made the round trip successfully. An Allied "barrier" of ships and planes across the narrows of the South Atlantic (greatly strengthened by our Army-Navy air base on Ascension) was gradually developed to maximum efficiency toward the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944. Climax of this "barrier" strategy was achieved during the first week of 1944, when planes and surface craft of the Atlantic Fleet's South Atlantic Force pulled off a triple play and sank three blockade runners in three consecutive days. Forced to abandon such costly and fruitless endeavors, the enemy resorted to using his largest supply-submarines, and again suffered heavy losses. The only Japanese submarine sunk in the Atlantic was one of these supply-submarines, loaded with raw rubber, which was nailed by coordinated attacks of an Atlantic Fleet killer group built around a baby fiat top and operating south of the Azores.

Final tabulations revealed that 126 enemy submarines were sunk by Atlantic Fleet units. On the defensive side of the ledger, Atlantic Fleet ships escorted 17,707 ships in convoy, of which only 17 were sunk and 14 damaged by enemy action. As the Battle of the Atlantic drew to successful conclusion, more than 800 ships, trained in the Atlantic Fleet, passed through the Panama Canal to join forces m the Pacific between 1 January and 16 May 1945.

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign

The geographical definitions of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Area is: West boundary. -- From the North Pole, south along the 75th meridian west longitude to the 77th parallel north latitude, thence southeast through Davis Strait to the intersection of the 40th parallel north latitude and the 35th meridian west longitude, thence sough along that meridian to the 10th parallel north latitude, thence southeast to the intersection of the equator and the 20th meridian west longitude, thence along the 20th meridian west longitude to the South Pole. East boundary -- From the North Pole, south along the 60th meridian east longitude to its intersection with the eastern border of Iran, thence south along that border to the Gulf of Oman and the intersection of the 60th meridian east longitude, thence south along the 60th meridian east longitude to the South Pole.

The Battle of the Atlantic continued at high tempo in the east, as well as in the west, in a life-and-death struggle against the German submarine offensive to choke off the sea passage between the United States and Europe. Had the U-boats succeeded in halting the water-borne movement of men and materials, Nazi Germany would have emerged victorious.

The United States and Great Britain instituted a highly effective convoy control and routing system. The ever versatile destroyer was joined by mass-produced destroyer-escorts; a new ship type designed specifically for convoy duty. Naval aircraft flying from the 19 small escort carrier in Hunter-Killer groups added long range offensive operations to the convoy's protective coverage, and naval armed guard crews on merchant ships discouraged attack by surfaced U-boats.

Convoys laboring through rough waters of the North Atlantic were stalked by submarine "wolf packs," and those making the extremely hazardous run to North Russian ports were subjected to attack from German land-based aircraft and surface ships as well. As courageous seamen continued to bring through the troop-carrying and supply-filled ships, the U-boat campaign was defeated.

At the time of the United States' entry into the war, German armies were in North Africa, and only the United Kingdom stood as the Wehrmacht rolled over western Europe. Thus, the Allies were committed to widespread amphibious operations to seize the initiative and roll back the enemy from strongly entrenched positions.

In August 1942, a task force formed on the United States east coast, successfully established beachheads as 35,000 troops were landed across the Moroccan shores. Carrier aircraft and gunfire from heavy ships offshore so supported the successful assault. Then followed the amphibious assaults in Sicily and the bitterly contested move to the Italian mainland. D-Day for the most massive amphibious operation in history was 6 June 1944.

Preceded by naval bombardment, the clearing of obstacles, and minesweeping, the Allied Expeditionary Force embarked in thousands of ships and craft at British staging areas, crossed the channel, and stormed ashore in Normandy, France.

Naval vessels provided covering fire for establishing and securing the beachheads while shells from the battleships USS Texas, USS Nevada and USS Arkansas destroyed targets far inland to block the movement of German reinforcements. With the beachhead secured, LSTs and a variety of amphibious types assured an uninterrupted flow of logistic support.

Two months after Normandy came the perfectly executed landings in Southern France, last major amphibious action in the European war. Marseilles was seized, and through this excellent Mediterranean port troops were funnelled for the final push on Germany.

After the crossing of the Rhine with the help of naval landing craft, the Third Reich collapsed and surrender came 7 May 1945. The Allied victory in Europe had hinged on preventing the submarines from cutting the sea lanes, on the amphibious capability to project powerful armies onto enemy-held territory, and on the ability to sustain them by sea once ashore.

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