First Happy Time

The First Happy Time was a phase of the Battle of the Atlantic during which German Navy U-boats enjoyed significant success against the British Royal Navy and its allies. It started in July 1940, almost immediately after the Fall of France, which brought the German U-boat fleet closer to the British shipping lanes in the Atlantic. When it ended is a matter of interpretation, with some sources claiming October 1940[1] and others extending it to April 1941.[2] The reason for this successful Axis period was the British lack of radar and Huff-Duff equipped ships which meant that the U-boats were very hard to detect when they made nighttime surface attacks (ASDIC [ sonar ] could only detect submerged U-boats).

From July 1940 to the end of October, 282 Allied ships were sunk off the north-west approaches to Ireland for a loss of 1,489,795 tons of merchant shipping.[3]

Various dates and reasons for the end of the First Happy Time include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hughes, Terry; Costello, John. The Battle of the Atlantic, pg. 88
  2. ↑ Macintyre, Donald G. F. W. The Naval War Against Hitler, pg. 52
  3. ↑ Blouet, Brian W. Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence of the West, pg. 131
  4. ↑ Milner, Marc (June 2008). "The Battle That Had to Be Won". Naval History Magazine. United States Naval Institute. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
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