The+1943+Battle+of+Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic –1943 __Bio__: Name: Skruffy “James” McMahon Age: 27 Hometown: El Paso, Texas School Attending: Graduating College of Texas Birthday: 3/17/1913 Listed as: Married, no children Occupation: Deep sea fisherman Income: Depends on amount of fish caught and amount of people who buy fish

As the Naval Commander of the fleet of ships that supplied goods to Great Britain from 1939 to 1943, it was an extremely nerve racking time for the crew onboard, but especially me. The constant fear of being attacked by German subs at any time had me, along with the crew, constantly alert. Hitler’s long campaign to cut of the supply of supplies from America to Great Britain began about the time after the Pearl Harbor attack, in 1939. At that time, I was told that Germany had 20 u-boats in its arsenal in the beginning of 1939 but by the end, its number of U-boats had doubled to 40 (Danzer 570 and Laurie 1). As the British began to stretch out their anti-sub forces in 1939 to reduce the sinking of American supply ships, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz of Germany ordered U-boats to attack supply ships in “Wolf Packs” of up to 20 U-boats, sinking an increasing number of ships from 1940 to 1941, a total of 1,229 ships alone in 1942, luckily not my ship (“Overview of 1939 – 1943” 1). Despite British and American successes in code breaking, and in using improved radio direction-finding equipment, radar, sonar, depth charges, and sea and air escorts, Wolf Packs still dominated the Atlantic ocean, in  the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, “Murmansk run” to the Soviet Union, and all along the American coast (“Overview of 1939 – 1943” 1). This would lasted for three and a half years, from 1939 up to January of 1943. The tides of this long campaign turned quickly between February and May of 1943. America and it allies responded by organizing cargo ships into convoys and equipping them with sonar and airplanes equipped with search lights and radar to spot out German U-boats. What a relief! Due to major losses of experienced and inexperienced naval captains throughout this campaign, I was promoted to Grand Admiral and put incharge of the convoys heading across the Atlantic (Laurie 1 and Danzer 570). With the improvement of tracking, America and its allies are now able to find and destroy German U-boats faster than Germany can build them. Yesterday, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz of Germany was broadcasted saying that Germany’s losses had, “reached an unbearable height.” I am hoping that this campaign in the Atlantic will end within the next month or two, after about halfway through the year. It is very saddening though that during his campaign, about 2,600 allied ships were sunken but hey, we sank some 785 out of Germany’s 1,160 U-boats in the coarse of this campaign. Maybe next time they will think twice about messing with the Allies (Laurie 2)!

Citation: Picture 1: Man walking - http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/gray/pics/4782_soldier_1020.jpg Picture 2: Sea warfare - http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/chrono/images/1931atlantic.jpg 1. Danzer, Gerald et al. __The Americans: Reconstruction of the 21st Century.__ Illinois: McDougal Inc, 2003 2. Laurie, Clayton D. “Battle of the Atlantic, 1940-1943.” __Encyclopedia of American History: The Great__ __Depression and WWII, 1929 to 1945, Vol 8.__ New York: Facts On File, inc., 2003. Hunterdon Central Regional High School. 3. “Overview of 1939 – 1943.” __Battle of the Atlantic__. 2001. 23 November. 2007. 