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The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and Reality

The impact of submarines, 1939-45

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Recall questions on Donitz and the wolf packs, the scale of shipping losses, the technologies that defeated the U-boats, why May 1943 was decisive, and Ultra.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

What was Dönitz's strategy in the Battle of the Atlantic?

Who and when

How did Enigma and naval codes matter?

Key term

How serious was the Atlantic threat?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was Dönitz's strategy in the Battle of the Atlantic?

    Model answer

    Admiral Dönitz used U-boat 'wolf packs' against Allied convoys from 1939 to sever Britain's supply lines.

  2. 2

    Why was May 1943 a turning point in the Atlantic?

    Model answer

    Better radar, air cover, escort carriers and code-breaking inflicted such heavy U-boat losses ('Black May') that Dönitz withdrew his submarines from the convoy routes.

  3. 3

    How did Enigma and naval codes matter?

    Model answer

    German Enigma-encrypted messages were broken at Bletchley Park ('Ultra'), helping the Allies route convoys away from the U-boats.

  4. 4

    What was Dönitz's wolf pack strategy?

    Model answer

    Concentrating U-boats to attack a convoy at night on the surface, directed by radio from headquarters once a shadowing boat had found the target.

  5. 5

    How serious was the Atlantic threat?

    Model answer

    Churchill said the U-boat peril was the only thing that ever really frightened him; over 3,500 Allied merchant ships were sunk during the war.

  6. 6

    What technologies defeated the U-boats?

    Model answer

    Centimetric radar, high-frequency direction finding, better depth charges and Hedgehog, escort carriers, and very long range aircraft closing the mid-Atlantic gap.

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AThe government admitted 96 dead and 333 wounded.
BOther estimates run to several hundred dead.
COpponents claimed thousands.

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