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The Battle of the Atlantic rages on into the fourth year of the war. It is clear that
the Allies are losing this battle far into 1943. But the Americans, Canadians and British
set up a ring of strategic air bases to counteract the destructive damage
that the German U-Boats are causing. Allied air power forces the U-Boats to stay submerged longer.
The ones that attempt to surface are often found and are then destroyed by Allied destroyers,
airplanes and other ships. But in the middle of the North Atlantic is the "Black Pit" where
the planes are too far from their bases. The Allies then turn to bombing the factories that
mass-produce the U-Boats and destroy them before they are put to sea. The Americans build
their forces to win the Battle of the Atlantic by producing new long range planes and convert
other merchant ships into mini-flat tops, which help win the battle during 1944. Many pilots
are trained to help win this important prelude to the D-Day invasion. Just weeks before the
Allied invasion of Normandy, the USS Guadalcanal, which is one of the converted aircraft
carriers actually captures the U-Boat "U-505", the first enemy ship captured on the high seas since
the War of 1812. The Allied anti-submarine plan annilates almost the entire German U-Boat force
and is the key to winning this battle which, help ensures that the Allied armies which are deployed in France
never run out of supplies. Lastly, before the ultimate German surrender in April 1945, some
866 U-Boats are sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Victory in the Atlantic is the result
of teamwork and the integration of all available weapons for the Allies. The Battle of the Atlantic
is over and the seas are once again safe for merchant ships to deliver their supplies to help win
the grandest battleof all: World War II.
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