Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure One
Directions: Answer each of the questions below using the information provided. Reference
the Vocabulary Sheet as needed.
Source: King, Third Report to the Secretary of the Navy, page 206
During which year(s) were more Allied ships sunk than were built?
How many total German U-boats were sunk during that same period?
Based on your answer to the first question, what does that answer imply about the relative success of Allied
forces in stopping German U-boat attacks on convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic during that period?
During which year(s) were more Allied ships built than were sunk?
How many total German U-boats were sunk during that same period?
What does your answer imply about the relative success of Allied forces in stopping German U-boat attacks
on convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic during that period?
Which year appears to mark an important shift for Allied success?
Make three predictions about how the Allies created this reversal.
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Two
“By the time the convoy was attacked, it was too late to do “The U-boat war has been a war of wits...There is a constant
anything except fight. Any [change of course] to avoid an interplay of new devices and new tactics on the part of forces
attack would have had to come sufficiently early so that working against the submarines…”
the U-boats could not catch the convoy and get into attack
position...” King, First Report to the Secretary of the Navy, 1946, page 82
Russell, Ultra and the Campaign Against the U-boats in World
War II, 1980, page 11
How does Russell suggest the Allies could have protected How does Admiral King describe the battle against German
their convoys? U-boats? What does he mean by this?
What did the Allies need to be able to do to accomplish this? What does Admiral King suggest is the key to defeating the
U-boats?
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Three
Directions: Using the information provided, determine how each of the items below helped
Allied forces prevent U-boat attacks on their convoys.
High Frequency Direction Finder (aka HF/DF or “Huff Duff”)
What information can be determined using
“Huff Duff”?
How would this tool help prevent U-boat
attacks on Allied convoys?
Source: Naval History and Heritage Command (L55-03.07.02),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Explanation:
How can the information about HF/DF help us understand how the Allies won the Battle of the
Atlantic?
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Four
Directions: Using the information provided, determine how each of the items below helped
Allied forces prevent U-boat attacks on their convoys.
Sound Navigation Ranging (aka SONAR)
What information can be determined
using SONAR?
How would this tool help prevent
U-boat attacks on Allied convoys?
Source: Naval History and Heritage Command (L55-03.07.02),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Rate this tool on the scale below.
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Explanation:
How can the information about SONAR help us understand how the Allies won the Battle of the
Atlantic?
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Five
Directions: Using the information provided, determine how each of the items below helped
Allied forces prevent U-boat attacks on their convoys.
Radio Detection and Ranging (aka RADAR)
What information can be determined using
RADAR?
How would this tool help prevent U-boat
attacks on Allied convoys?
Source: Battleship North Carolina (1982.010.0522),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Explanation:
How can the information about RADAR help us understand how the Allies won the Battle of the
Atlantic?
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Six
Directions: Using the information provided, determine how each of the items below helped
Allied forces prevent U-boat attacks on their convoys.
Ultra Intelligence
1941-1942: “The Germans used a cipher machine called What information could be determined
Enigma to put messages into secret form, and the British first using Ultra Intelligence?
broke the code…[and] were able to read German naval traffic
(code-named ‘Hydra’)...But the Germans changed the Hyrda
code in February of 1942 to the more complex Triton code.
This act ‘blinded’ both British and American code breakers for
most of the remainder of 1942…By the end of 1942, Allied
code breakers had broken the Triton code, and the Ultra
blackout ended,”
Puleo, Due to Enemy Action, page 28
1943-1945: “By the summer of 1943, the most significant
U-boat tracking work was performed in the security of the
Secret Room, whose staff maintained three wall charts - one
depicting the North Atlantic, one the South Atlantic, and
How would this tool help prevent U-boat
a third, the Indian Ocean. They recorded individual U-boat attacks on Allied convoys?
positions with color-coded pins on the wall charts, and
labeled the pins with the type and tonnage of the U-boat…”
Puleo, Due to Enemy Action, page 31
“[High ranking naval intelligence officers] either drafted or
approved the daily U-boat situation estimate, with its forecast
of where submarines were going, and then transmitted it to
task forces at sea…”
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Explanation:
How can the information about Ultra Intelligence help us understand how the Allies won the Battle
of the Atlantic?
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Activity: “A War of Wits”: Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Battle of the Atlantic | Handouts
Battle of the Atlantic Document Packet: Figure Seven
Directions: Using the information provided, determine how each of the items below helped
Allied forces prevent U-boat attacks on their convoys.
Ships and Aircraft
A U.S. Navy dive bomber Describe how the U.S. Navy protected convoys at sea.
scouts ahead of a
convoy of ships being
escorted by U.S. Navy
vessels. Ships such
as destroyers (DD),
destroyer escorts (DE),
and escort carriers (CVE)
were often used for
Source: Naval History and Heritage escort duty.
Command (80-G-464654)
How would these ships and aircraft help prevent
U-boat attacks on Allied convoys?
Source: Naval History and Heritage Command (NH 92485)
“For our four-engine, land-based search plane, we have...a plane
with a range of well over 3000 miles, heavy armament and a
wealth of new navigational, radio and radar equipment, enabling
it to fly long hours of reconnaissance over trackless oceans.
These planes, which carry bombs and depth charges, have made
impressive records against...[enemy] submarines…”
King, First Report to the Secretary of the Navy, page 216
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Explanation:
How can the information about ships and aircraft help us understand how the Allies won the Battle
of the Atlantic?
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