TheSecondWar.pl
Timeline
Battles
People
Places
Series
Glossary
pl
Timeline
Battles
People
Places
Series
Glossary
← Timeline
Atlantic
Front
(68)
1939
September
03
The sinking of the Athenia
On the evening of 3 September 1939 U-30 torpedoed the British liner Athenia without warning, with over 1,400 people aboard. Between 112 and 117 died.
04
The first RAF raids
On 4 September 1939 British bombers attacked warships off Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel. The bombs that hit the Scheer did not explode; the RAF lost 7 aircraft.
06
The Admiralty introduces convoys
On 6 September 1939 the first British convoys and the Northern Patrol set out. A day earlier U-47 had sunk the freighter Bosnia, the first of its kind.
08
Germany mines British waters
In September 1939 U-boats began secretly laying mines off the British coast, including near Portland. Minesweepers were helpless against the new magnetic mines.
14
The sinking of U-39
On 14 September 1939 U-39 attacked the carrier Ark Royal, but its torpedoes exploded prematurely. Destroyers sank it, the first U-boat lost in the war.
16
The first HX convoy
On 16 September 1939 convoy HX 1 sailed from Halifax for Liverpool, escorted by Canadian destroyers – the start of the longest convoy series of the war.
17
The sinking of HMS Courageous
On 17 September 1939 U-29 sank the carrier HMS Courageous west of Ireland; 518 or 519 men died. She was the first Royal Navy warship sunk by the enemy.
24
Dönitz intensifies the U-boat war
On 24 September 1939, at Dönitz's request, U-boats were allowed to sink ships using their radio and to attack French ones – a first step away from prize rules.
26
The first German aircraft shot down by the British
On 26 September 1939 a Skua from Ark Royal shot down a Do 18 flying boat over the North Sea. Germany later falsely announced that the carrier had been sunk.
30
Graf Spee sinks her first ship
On 30 September 1939 the “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee sank the British freighter Clement off the coast of Brazil. Her crew survived.
October
05
Hunting groups against the raiders
On 5 October 1939 the Admiralty, together with the French, formed eight hunting groups of carriers and heavy ships to track down German surface raiders.
09
The seizure of the City of Flint
On 9 October 1939 the Deutschland seized the US freighter City of Flint. A German prize crew took her via Tromsø and Murmansk, while Washington protested.
14
The sinking of HMS Royal Oak
On the night of 13–14 October 1939 Günther Prien’s U-47 slipped into Scapa Flow and sank the battleship Royal Oak. 833 or 835 men were killed.
16
The first Luftwaffe raids on Britain
On 16 October 1939 Ju 88s attacked warships in the Firth of Forth, and on 17 October Scapa Flow. Spitfires shot down two bombers, including the leader’s.
November
04
The end of the City of Flint affair
On 3 November 1939 the Germans brought the captured City of Flint into Haugesund. That night Norway returned her to the Americans and interned the prize crew.
16
Germany extends unrestricted submarine warfare
By mid-November 1939 U-boats had for a month been free to sink enemy ships without warning. Hitler agreed to a further step, but with no official declaration.
21
A magnetic mine damages HMS Belfast
On 21 November 1939 the new cruiser HMS Belfast struck a magnetic mine laid by U-21 in the Firth of Forth. She was out of service for three years.
22
The Shoeburyness mine
On the night of 22–23 November 1939 a German magnetic mine fell on the mudflats off Shoeburyness. Once disarmed, it gave away the secret of its firing unit.
23
The sinking of HMS Rawalpindi
On 23 November 1939 the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank the armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi between Iceland and the Faroes. About 265 men died.
December
04
A mine damages HMS Nelson
On 4 December 1939 the battleship HMS Nelson, flagship of the Home Fleet, struck a magnetic mine laid by U-31 off Loch Ewe. Repairs took over six months.
13
Key event
The Battle of the River Plate
On 13 December 1939 three British cruisers attacked the “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee off the River Plate and forced her into Montevideo.
17
The scuttling of the Admiral Graf Spee
On 17 December 1939 Langsdorff had the damaged Admiral Graf Spee blown up off Montevideo. Argentina interned her crew; on 20 December he shot himself.
18
The air battle of the Heligoland Bight
On 18 December 1939 German fighters, alerted by Freya radar, shot down 12 of 22 RAF Wellingtons. Bomber Command then switched to night raids.
28
U-30 hits HMS Barham
On 28 December 1939 Lemp’s U-30 torpedoed the battleship HMS Barham off the Hebrides. Two weeks earlier Barham had sunk her own destroyer Duchess in fog.
1940
January
21
The sinking of HMS Exmouth
On 21 January 1940 U-22 sank the destroyer HMS Exmouth in the Moray Firth with all 190 hands. A day earlier U-44 had sunk a Greek ship off Portugal.
February
15
Germany widens the U-boat war
Contrary to popular chronologies, no new order came on 15 February 1940. The zones where U-boats sank even neutral ships unwarned had grown since January.
March
16
The Scapa Flow raid and the first civilian death
On 16 March 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked the fleet at Scapa Flow and damaged the cruiser Norfolk. Bombs on Orkney killed James Isbister, the first civilian.
April
12
The British occupy the Faroe Islands
On 12 April 1940 British destroyers entered Tórshavn, and the next day Royal Marines landed from the cruiser Suffolk. The occupation lasted until 1945.
May
10
The British occupy Iceland
On 10 May 1940 some 750 Royal Marines occupied Reykjavík without a fight. An army brigade arrived on 17 May, and the marines soon sailed home.
August
01
The Italian submarine base at Bordeaux
In summer 1940 the Regia Marina set up the BETASOM base at Bordeaux. Italian submarines joined the Battle of the Atlantic under Dönitz’s operational control.
17
The German blockade of the British Isles
On 17 August 1940 Germany declared a total blockade of the British Isles; any ship in the zone around Britain could be sunk. Italy followed on 20 August.
September
22
The attack on convoy HX 72
On 20–22 September 1940 the U-boats of Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke sank 11 ships of convoy HX 72 from Halifax without losing a single boat.
October
19
The slaughter of convoys SC 7 and HX 79
On 16–20 October 1940 U-boats sank 20 of the 35 ships of slow convoy SC 7 and 12 of the 49 ships of convoy HX 79 without losing a single boat.
November
05
The sinking of HMS Jervis Bay
On 5 November 1940 the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay took on the Admiral Scheer to shield convoy HX 84. She sank, but most of the ships escaped.
1941
February
24
Attacks on convoys OB 288 and OB 290
In the last week of February 1941 U-boats and Fw 200 Condors shattered three convoys sailing from Liverpool to America, sinking more than 20 ships.
March
17
The end of the U-boat aces
On the night of 16–17 March 1941, at convoy HX 112, Joachim Schepke was killed and Otto Kretschmer captured. Ten days earlier Prien had gone missing.
April
04
The attack on convoy SC 26
From 2 to 5 April 1941 a wolf pack south of Iceland sank 10 of the 22–23 ships of convoy SC 26 and torpedoed its sole escort. Some 150 men were killed.
10
The United States takes Greenland under its protection
On 10 April 1941 the US announced an agreement with Denmark's envoy Kauffmann, signed without Copenhagen's consent. Greenland joined US Atlantic defences.
May
09
The capture of U-110
On 9 May 1941 the escort of convoy OB 318 forced U-110 to the surface. The British boarded her and carried off an Enigma machine and secret cipher documents.
21
The sinking of the Robin Moor
On 21 May 1941 U-69 stopped and sank the American freighter Robin Moor far from the war routes. Her survivors spent almost three weeks in the lifeboats.
24
The sinking of HMS Hood
On 24 May 1941 in the Denmark Strait a shell from the battleship Bismarck blew apart the British battlecruiser Hood. Of her crew of 1,418, three survived.
27
Key event
The sinking of the Bismarck
On 27 May 1941 British battleships wrecked the Bismarck in the Atlantic, crippled the day before by a Swordfish torpedo. More than 2,000 Germans died.
July
07
The Americans in Iceland
On 7 July 1941 a US Marine brigade arrived in Reykjavík. The formally neutral United States took on the defence of Iceland alongside the British.
August
27
The capture of U-570
On 27 August 1941 a British Hudson attacked U-570 south of Iceland. The crew hoisted a white flag, and the boat was towed in and taken into the Royal Navy.
September
04
The USS Greer incident
On 4 September 1941 U-652 fired torpedoes at the US destroyer Greer, which had been tracking it for hours. Both missed, and Roosevelt called it piracy.
11
The shoot-on-sight order
On 11 September 1941 Roosevelt announced that US ships would no longer wait for U-boats to strike first. Days later the navy began escorting British convoys.
October
17
The torpedoing of USS Kearny
On 17 October 1941 U-568 torpedoed the US destroyer Kearny while she was defending convoy SC 48. Eleven sailors were killed; the ship limped to Iceland.
31
The sinking of USS Reuben James
On 31 October 1941 Erich Topp’s U-552 sank the US destroyer Reuben James escorting convoy HX 156. About a hundred men died, including all the officers.
1942
January
13
Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag)
On 13 January 1942 German U-boats began attacking shipping off the US East Coast. An unprepared America gave them their “second happy time”.
April
01
The Bucket Brigade
From 1 April 1942 ships off the US east coast sailed only by day, from anchorage to anchorage. Dönitz then moved his U-boats further south.
14
The sinking of U-85
On the night of 13–14 April 1942 the destroyer Roper sank U-85 off Nags Head. Four days later a dim-out was ordered on the US East Coast.
May
12
The Battle of the St Lawrence begins
On the night of 11–12 May 1942 U-553 sank the Nicoya and the Leto off the Gaspé Peninsula. The U-boat war had reached Canada's inland waters.
June
27
Convoy PQ 17 sails from Iceland
On 27 June 1942 convoy PQ 17 sailed from Iceland for the USSR – 35 ships carrying equipment for the Red Army, covered by British and American warships.
July
19
U-boats withdrawn from the US coast
On 19 July 1942 Dönitz recalled the last two U-boats from off Cape Hatteras. Convoys and air patrols had ended the “second happy time” off the US coast.
September
12
Key event
The sinking of the Laconia
On 12 September 1942 U-156 sank the troopship Laconia with 1,800 Italian POWs aboard. The rescue that followed ended in Dönitz's Laconia Order.
14
Convoys PQ 18 and ON 127
On 13–14 September 1942 aircraft and U-boats sank 12 ships of convoy PQ 18 to the USSR, while a wolf pack in the mid-Atlantic mauled convoy ON 127.
October
14
The sinking of the Caribou
On 14 October 1942 U-69 sank the ferry Caribou, bound from Sydney to Newfoundland, in the Cabot Strait. 136 or 137 people died, children among them.
December
31
The Battle of the Barents Sea
On 31 December 1942 British destroyers and two cruisers beat off an attack by Admiral Hipper and Lützow on convoy JW 51B. Every ship reached the USSR.
1943
March
17
Key event
The battle for convoys HX 229 and SC 122
On 16–20 March 1943 some 40 U-boats attacked convoys HX 229 and SC 122 in the Atlantic air gap and sank 22 ships for the loss of one submarine.
April
28
Closing the Atlantic air gap
In spring 1943 the Allies sent long-range Liberators, escort carriers and support groups over the mid-Atlantic. On 28 April U-boats sighted convoy ONS 5.
May
24
Key event
Black May
In May 1943 the U-boats lost 41–43 boats for meagre results. On 24 May Dönitz pulled them out of the North Atlantic – the turning point of the Atlantic battle.
September
22
Operation Source
On 22 September 1943 British midget submarines laid charges under the Tirpitz in Kåfjord. The battleship was put out of action for half a year.
October
23
The sinking of HMS Charybdis
On 23 October 1943 German torpedo boats sank the cruiser HMS Charybdis and the destroyer Limbourne off Brittany. More than 500 British servicemen died.
December
26
Key event
The sinking of the Scharnhorst
On 26 December 1943 ships of Admiral Fraser's Home Fleet sank the Scharnhorst in the Barents Sea. Of a crew of almost two thousand, only 36 survived.
1944
January
12
The launch of United Victory
On 12 January 1944 United Victory, the first Victory ship and a faster successor to the Liberty ships, was launched in Portland. 534 were built.
June
04
The capture of U-505
On 4 June 1944 a US carrier group led by USS Guadalcanal forced U-505 to surface off Africa. A boarding party seized the boat, its Enigma and codes.
December
24
The sinking of the Leopoldville
On 24 December 1944 U-486 torpedoed the Belgian troopship Leopoldville off Cherbourg. 763 soldiers of the US 66th Infantry Division were killed.
1945
May
04
The end of the U-boat war
On 4 May 1945 Dönitz ordered the U-boats to cease fighting. The day before, the Admiral Hipper had been scuttled at Kiel; crews scuttled over 200 U-boats.