Timeline of the Second Battle of the Atlantic
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[edit] 1939
[edit] September
September 3, 1939
- German submarine U.30 sinks the SS Athenia. This attack is interpreted by the United Kingdom as the start of unrestricted submarine warfare. However, in Germany it leads to stricter controls being issued by the Kriegsmarine. Germany at this point had 39 of its 58 U-boats at sea, but this was far less than the 300 which Admiral Karl Dönitz, chief of German submarine forces, considered to be necessary before the opening of war.
September 14, 1939
- U.39 attacks the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, but fails to cause any damage. The aircraft carrier's escorts force U.39 to the surface with depth charges and the crew are taken prisoners.
September 15, 1939
- The first British trans-Atlantic convoy sets sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
September 17, 1939
- U.29 sinks the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
September 20, 1939
- U.27 is sunk with depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Fortune and HMS Forester.
September 26, 1939
- German media reports the sinking of the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. However, this report is false: many such reports would be made during the war.
September 30, 1939
- German pocket battleship Graf Spee sinks the first merchant ship of its cruise. Total sinkings for its sortie will total nine vessels totalling 50,000 tons before it becomes embroiled in the Battle of the River Plate.
[edit] October
October 14, 1939
- U.47, under Captain-Lieutenant Gunther Prien, raids the British naval base at Scapa Flow, sinking the HMS Royal Oak at anchor.
October 16, 1939
- Germany begins employing magnetic mines. These cause significant losses to Allied shipping.
[edit] November
November 21, 1939
- British light cruiser HMS Belfast hits a German mine, and is seriously damaged while operating in the Firth of Forth.
November 23, 1939
- A German magnetic mine is recovered successfully by the Allies, leading to the development of effective counter-measures. The German battlecruiser Scharnhorst sinks the British armed merchant vessel Rawalpindi. The Scharnhorst and its accompanying Gniesenau are forced to abandon their sortie and return to port.
[edit] 1940
[edit] February
February 14, 1940
- The United Kingdom announces armaments will be carried by all passenger ships. Germany responds by announcing that no vessels will be considered warships.
[edit] March
March 16, 1940
- A German air raid at Scapa Flow damages a cruiser and causes the first civilian casualties in Britain of the war.
[edit] Month-by-month summaries
[edit] 1939
- September: Allied shipping losses total 53 vessels. 41 vessels totalling 153,800 tons are lost to submarines. German losses are two submarines.
- October: Allied shipping losses total 196,000 tons. German losses are five submarines.
- November: Allied shipping losses to submarines are 21 vessels totalling 51,600 tons. More than 100,000 tons are lost to German mines.
- December: Allied shipping losses are 73 vessels totaling 189,900 tons. 25 are sunk by submarines. The Germans lose one submarine.
Total Allied losses to mines during 1939 are 79 vessels totalling 262,700 tons.
[edit] 1940
- January: Allied losses are 73 vessels totaling 214,500 tons, of which 40 vessels totaling 111,200 tons are sunk by submarines. Germany has 38 operational submarines to begin the year.
- February: Allied losses are 226,900 tons, of which 45 vessels totaling 169,500 tons are lost to submarines.
- March: Allied losses are 45 vessels, of which 23 are lost to submarines. Germany loses three submarines.
- October: Massacre of Convoy SC 7 see HMS Scarborough
