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Convoy HX 229
During the Battle of the Atlantic, British merchant shipping was formed into convoys for protection against German submarine attack. In March 1943 convoys HX 229 and SC 122 were the focus of the largest convoy battle of the war. '' Kriegsmarine'' tactics against convoys employed multiple-submarine wolfpack tactics in nearly simultaneous surface attacks at night. Patrolling aircraft restricted the ability of submarines to converge on convoys during daylight. The North Atlantic winters offered the longest periods of darkness to conceal surfaced submarine operations. The winter of 1942–43 saw the largest number of submarines deployed to the mid-Atlantic before comprehensive anti-submarine aircraft patrols could be extended into that area. During March, there was a series of fierce convoy battles which became, for the Allies, the crisis point of the whole campaign. One hundred merchant ships in trade convoys HX 229 and SC 122 encountered three wolfpacks of 38 submarines in a sing ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S. As defined by the Cape Cod Commission's enabling legislation, Cape Cod is conterminous with Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It extends from Provincetown in the northeast to Woods Hole in the southwest, and is bordered by Plymouth to the northwest. The Cape is divided into fifteen towns, several of which are in turn made up of multiple named villages. Cape Cod forms the southern boundary of the Gulf of Maine, which extends north-eastward to Nova Scotia. Since 1914, most of Cape Cod has been separated from the mainland by the Cape Cod Canal. The canal cuts roughly across the base of the peninsula, though small portions of the ...
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Convoy SC 121
Convoy SC 121 was the 121st of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City 23 February 1943; and were met by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) , the American , the British and Canadian s , , and and the convoy rescue ship ''Melrose Abbey''.Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.196 Three of the escorts had defective sonar and three had unserviceable radar.Morison 1975 p.342 Background As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the ''Befehlshaber der U-Boote'' (''BdU'') or commander in chief of U-Boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to find convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through ...
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Mid-Atlantic Gap
The Mid-Atlantic gap is a geographical term applied to an undefended area beyond the reach of land-based RAF Coastal Command antisubmarine (A/S) aircraft during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. It is frequently known as The Black Pit, as well as the Atlantic Gap, Air Gap, Greenland Gap, or just "the Gap". This resulted in heavy merchant shipping losses to U-boats. The gap was eventually closed in May 1943, as growing numbers of VLR Liberators (Very Long Range models) and escort carriers became available, and as basing problems were addressed. History RAF Coastal Command, when it was created in 1936, was given responsibility for A/S (or ASW, anti submarine warfare) patrol. It was equipped only with small numbers of short-ranged aircraft, the most common being the Avro Anson (which was obsolescent by the start of World War II) and Vickers Vildebeest (which was obsolete); for a time, shortages of aircraft were so severe, "scarecrow patrols" using Tiger Moths were ...
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Dominion Of Newfoundland
Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established on 26 September 1907, and confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the original dominions within the meaning of the Balfour Declaration and accordingly enjoyed a constitutional status equivalent to the other dominions of the time. In 1934, Newfoundland became the only dominion to give up its self-governing status, which ended 79 years of self-government. The abolition of self-government came about because of a crisis in Newfoundland's public finances in 1932. Newfoundland had accumulated a significant amount of debt by building a railway across the island, which was completed in the 1890s, and by raising its own regiment during World War I. In November 1932, the government warned th ...
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Convoy HX
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Naval convoys Age of Sail Naval convoys have been in use for centuries, with examples of merchant ships traveling under naval protection dating to the 12th century. The use of organized naval convoys dates from when ships began to be separated into specialist classes and national navies were established. By the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, effective naval convoy tactics had been developed to ward off pirates and privateers. Some convoys contained several hundred merchant ships. The most enduring system of convoys were the Spanish treasure fleets, that sailed from the 1520s until 1790. When merchant ships sailed independently, a privateer could ...
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HMS Aberdeen
HMS ''Aberdeen'' was a sloop in the British Royal Navy. Built in Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, UK by Thornycroft (Southampton, UK), she was launched on 22 January 1936. Construction and design HMS ''Aberdeen'' was one of two s constructed under the 1934 construction programme for the Royal Navy. She was ordered from Devonport Dockyard on 1 March 1935. Two ''Grimsby''-class sloops had been ordered under each of the 1931, 1932 and 1933 programmes, giving a total of eight ''Grimsby''-class ships built for the Royal Navy. Four more were built for Australia and one for India. The ''Grimsby'' class, while based on the previous , was intended to be a more capable escort vessel than previous sloops, and carried a more powerful armament. ''Aberdeen'' was long overall, with a beam of and a draught of at deep load. Displacement was standard, and full load. The ship was powered by two geared steam turbines driving two shafts, fed by two Admiralty 3-drum boilers. This machinery produc ...
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USS Evans (DD-78)
The first USS ''Evans'' (DD–78) was a in the United States Navy during World War I, later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS ''Mansfield''. Construction and career United States Navy Named for Robley Dunglison Evans, she was launched on 30 October 1918 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. D. N. Sewell, granddaughter of Rear Admiral Evans. The ship was commissioned on 11 November 1918, Commander Frank H. Sadler in command. After a training and outfitting period which included a maiden voyage to the Azores, ''Evans'' departed Newport, Rhode Island on 10 June 1919 for European waters, where she operated until 22 August, returning then to New York. She sailed once more on 11 September, and after patrolling off Central America, reached her assigned home port, San Diego, on 14 November. Through the next two years, ''Evans'' joined in a training schedule which found her ranging the eastern Pacific from Valparaíso, Chile, to Astoria, Oregon. She was placed ...
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USS Branch (DD-197)
USS ''Branch'' (DD-197) was a in the United States Navy that entered service in 1920. After a short active life, ''Branch'' was placed in reserve in 1922. The ship was activated again for World War II before being transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940. Renamed HMS ''Beverley'', the destroyer served in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort and was torpedoed and sunk on 11 April 1943. Construction and commissioning The second Navy ship was named for United States Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Navy John Branch (1782–1863), ''Branch'' was Ship naming and launching, launched on 19 April 1919 by Northrop Grumman Newport News, Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company; sponsored by Miss Laurie O'Brien Branch, grandniece of Secretary Branch. The destroyer was ship commissioning, commissioned on 26 July 1920. Service history United States Navy service ''Branch'' was fitted out at Norfolk Navy Yard and in October cruised to Annapolis, Maryland, for a test of ...
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Naval Trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC sonar below, and a or gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties. History Armed trawlers were also used to defend fishing groups from enemy aircraft or submarines. The smallest civilian trawlers were converted to danlayers. Contemporary Some nations still use armed trawlers for fisheries protection and patrol. The Indian Navy used naval trawlers for ...
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St John's, Newfoundland And Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America (excluding Greenland).Paul O'Neill (author), Paul O'Neill, ''The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland'', 2003, . Its name has been attributed to the belief that John Cabot sailed into the harbour on the Nativity of John the Baptist in 1497, although it is most likely a legend that came with British settlement. A more realistic possibility is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for most of the 16th century. The city was founded by Spanish fishermen from the Guipúzcoa port of Pasajes de San Juan, who arrived in those lands at the beginning of the 16th century in search of fishing, settled and called the place San Juan de P ...
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