Canada played a major role in the longest sustaining military campaign of the second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic. Many brave seafaring men died in this arduous battle, and Canada was absolutely vital to its success. The Royal Canadian Navy proved itself and Canada was given much recognition.
This monumental sea battle lasted from 1939 to 1945 and the German surrender. One of the main things at stake during this battle was Britain starving, as most of western Europe was under German control and little food and supplies could be shipped . There needed to be supplies shipped overseas on merchant ships from Canada and the United States, but these ships faced German U-Boats and the enemy navy. |
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As a result of the danger facing the merchant ships, convoys of ships from various Canadian and American navies were formed to escort the merchants to their destinations. Ships from Newfoundland in particular played a major part in these convoys and in the battle in general. This was because they were so close to where the actual battle was taking place on the coast.
Originally, in 1939, Canada had a navy of about 3500 personnel and only 6 warships of the ‘River’ class. Slowly, over the first year the navy expanded. In October of 1939, the HMCS Assiniboine joined the now seven ship Canadian navy. Soon, many smaller fighting ships called “destroyers” joined the navy and were one of the main escorts in the various convoys for merchant ships and larger Allied destroyers. In early 1940, 64 ‘corvettes’ (anti submarine vessels) and 29 ‘Bangor’ class minesweeper ships were built. These ships were slow but were all Canada could produce and were adequate for patrolling and convoys. |
In early 1941 Germany had developed strategies for intercepting weakly protected convoys in Britain and took them down when they were far away from help. Canada responded and started a new naval base in St. John’s, Newfoundland and started to supply most of the warships that escorted all convoys. This started well, but the east ports became overwhelmed and men and ships were being overworked. Eight German U-Boats attacked ports on the coast near Newfoundland in January 1942 and many ships were destroyed. The burden was becoming unbearable on the Royal Canadian Navy since the US had joined the war.
Britain saw how this was affecting the Canadians and withdrew many of the convoys to give Canada some time to regroup and find new ideas and strategies. This worked, and Canada got back on their feet and started to develop new technology and build many more ships. They took all the of the responsibility for the Atlantic Convoys and the Allies started to have the upper hand in 1943 and 1944. They continued to have losses because the Germans were not backing down with their U-Boats, but they had so many ships that it was not as devastating as earlier in the war. |
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By the end of the war in 1945, the RCN had a staggering 95,000 personnel, 6,000 of them being women. They had a total of 270 escort ships and had escorted 25,000 merchant vessels safely across the Atlantic. This was a great success, but sadly not all lived to see it. About one in ten of the seamen in this war died fighting for their country and their world. This battle would be one to be remembered, and was one that changed the fate of many countries for the better.
Battle of the Atlantic Veteran: Robert Charles Nelson
Robert Charles Nelson was a Canadian telegraphist in the Battle of the Atlantic. His duty as a part of the Royal Canadian navy was to send and receive war related telegraphs at a radio station. He worked mainly on the HCMS Quinte, a Bangor class minesweeper. But on a warship, everyone had an action station during a battle. As well as being a radio operator, he dropped depth charges from the stern and back of the ship at his action station, and had to do this at a moments notice. Robert made it out of the war alive and returned to his home in Halifax in 1945. |
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Works Cited:
"Battle of the Atlantic." War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
"Remembering Those Who Served." Veterans Affairs Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
Veteran Stories - The Memory Project." - Veteran Stories - The Memory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
Photos from Google Images
"Battle of the Atlantic." War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
"Remembering Those Who Served." Veterans Affairs Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
Veteran Stories - The Memory Project." - Veteran Stories - The Memory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
Photos from Google Images