|
The last actions of the Battle of the Atlantic in American waters took place on 5–6 May 1945. There were two such actions, against ''U-853'' off the Rhode Island coast, and ''U 881'', south of Cape Race, both sunk during the same period. ==Background== US involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic began with the deaths of 28 US citizens during the sinking of the ''Athenia'' by ''U-30'', on the first day of the war in the west. Thereafter US ships were attacked, and US warships involved in action against U-boats while protecting US interests, in the two years before America’s entry into the war. Following Nazi Germany’s declaration of war on the US on 11 December 1941, the U-boat Arm of the ''Kriegsmarine'' attacked American shipping in earnest in January 1942 with Operation Drumbeat, sinking over 600 ships (representing 3 million tons of shipping) over a six-month period. Thereafter the U-boat Arm continued to make offensive patrols against US coastal shipping, while German wolf-packs searched for and attacked convoys in mid-ocean. By 1945 U-Boat actions had reduced to pinpricks, but their potential forced the Allies to maintain large naval and air forces, and expend considerable resources, to counter the threat. During the first five months of 1945, the U-boat Arm dispatched 19 U-boat patrols to American waters, including seven sailings constituting group ''Seewolf'', the last wolf pack of the Battle of the Atlantic. By 5 May 1945, the day U-boat Command (BdU) ordered the U Boat Arm to cease hostilities, just nine were still at large; six off the US coast, and three Seewolf boats in mid-ocean. Of these, two were involved in action with the USN, the last actions in American waters during the Atlantic campaign. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Actions of 5–6 May 1945」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|