Atlantic lifelines

摘要

The Battle of the Atlantic was by far the longest armed struggle of World War II and was immensely costly in terms of the lives, supplies and vessels lost. Maintaining the maritime link between the United States, Canada and the UK was vital to the Allied cause and the eventual outcome of the conflict. On the British side, only Bomber Command air crews sustained a proportionally higher casualty rate than the technically civilian-manned Merchant Navy For the German U-boat crews, the death toll was even greater. The Battle of the Atlantic was a crucial one which the Allies had to win to stand a chance of victory. The immense build up of men and material which allowed the recapture of North Africa, the invasion of Italy, the D-Day landings and the supply of Russia, all depended totally on the shepherding of enough merchant ships across the Atlantic. For Germany, whose manpower and production could never match that of 'the arsenal of democracy,' as the United States thought of itself, severing the Atlantic supply lines offered the best chance for the Axis powers to avoid defeat.