Second Battle of the Atlantic

The Labrador Sea is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelves to... the southwest, northwest, and northeast. It connects to the north with Baffin Bay through the Davis Strait. It has been described as a marginal sea of the Atlantic. The sea formed upon separation of the North American Plate and Greenland Plate that started about 60 million years ago and stopped about 40 million years ago. It contains one of the world's largest turbidity current channel systems, the Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel , that runs for thousands of kilometers along the sea bottom toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Labrador Sea is a major source of the North Atlantic Deep Water, a cold water mass that flows at great depth along the western edge of the North Atlantic, spreading out to form the largest identifiable water mass in the World Ocean. The Labrador Sea formed upon separation of the North American Plate and Greenland Plate that started about 60 million years ago and stopped about 40 million years ago.
more

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the... Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man. The sea is occasionally, but rarely, referred to as the Manx Sea. The sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, fishing, and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear plants. Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland amounts to over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes of traded goods. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea as follows: On the North. The Southern limit of the Scottish Seas [or Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, defined as "a line joining the South extreme of the Mull of Galloway in Scotland and Ballyquintin Point in Ireland"]. On the South. A line joining St.
more

The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. An epeiric ... sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of around 750,000 square kilometres . The North Sea has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery. The sea is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries and more recently has developed into a rich source of energy resources including fossil fuels, wind, and early efforts in wave power. Historically, the North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe but also globally through the power northern European actors projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and modern era.
more

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres , it covers... approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of "Atlantic" is in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC : Atlantis thalassa ; see also: Atlas Mountains. The term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, was applied to the southern Atlantic ocean as late as the mid-19th century. Before Europeans discovered other oceans, the term "ocean" itself was synonymous with the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar that we now know as the Atlantic. The early Greeks believed this ocean to be a gigantic river encircling the world. The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west.
more

The Battle of the Caribbean refers to a naval campaign waged during World War II that was part of the Battle of the Atlantic, from 1941–1945.... German U-boats and Italian submarines attempted to disrupt the Allied supply of oil and other material. They sank shipping in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and attacked coastal targets in the Antilles. Improved Allied anti-submarine warfare eventually drove the Axis submarines out of the Caribbean region, resulting in an Allied victory. Seven German and Italian submarines under the command of Commander Werner Hartenstein launched a coordinated strike against the Lago Company refinery on Dutch-owned Aruba and Allied oil tankers in the area on February 16, 1942. Six tankers were sunk by the U-boats and others were damaged. The Germans also slightly damaged a large storage tank. A Venezuelan gunboat, General Urdaneta, assisted in rescuing the crews of several torpedoed vessels and an American A-20 Havoc light bomber skirmished with one of the German U-boats but was unsuccessful in defeating it. As result an increased American occupation of the island began for its protection.
more

Operation Catechism was the last of nine attempts to sink or sabotage the Kriegsmarine battleship Tirpitz during World War II. On November 12, 1944,... the RAF Bomber Command dispatched 30 Avro Lancaster heavy bombers from No. 9 Squadron RAF and No. 617 Squadron RAF from RAF Lossiemouth to the Tirpitz's mooring in Tromsø, Norway; each one equipped with a Tallboy bomb. At least two bombs hit the Tirpitz, which suffered a violent internal explosion. The battleship capsized and remained bottom upwards . Approximately 1,000 of the 1,900 men on board were killed or injured and one No. 9 Squadron RAF Lancaster was severely damaged by flak; it landed safely in neutral Sweden with its crew unhurt. The final sinking of the battleship Tirpitz is attributable to 617 Squadron and the bomb dropped by the Commanding Officer, Group Captain Tait. On 12 November 2009 the attack was re-enacted in a competition between No. 9 and 617 Squadrons at Wainfleet Air Weapons Range, again 617 Squadron proved to be victorious.
more

The Battle of the St. Lawrence involved a number of submarine and anti-submarine actions throughout the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf... of Saint Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle and Cabot Strait from May-October 1942, September 1943, and again in October-November 1944. During this time, German U-boats sank a number of merchant ships and three Canadian warships. In the inter-war years, poor economic conditions and a sense of security, engendered by the proximity of the United States, had resulted in the Royal Canadian Navy being reduced to six destroyers and some minesweepers, and incapable of defence of its coastal waters. At the start of the war, Canadian naval deployment gave priority to the North Atlantic convoy routes. However, by war's end, the RCN was the third largest allied naval power in the world, with 100,000 men and women and 400 vessels. The Kriegsmarine had made no formal plans to attack merchant shipping in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, despite its activities off the convoy assembly ports of Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, therefore early attacks in the Battle of the St. Lawrence were considered ad-hoc and opportunistic.
more

Operation Paravane was the attack carried out by RAF Bomber Command on September 15, 1944 against the German battleship Tirpitz at harbour in the far... north of Norway. The Tirpitz was a major threat to the convoys supplying the Soviet Union. Flying via a Soviet airfield, two squadrons attacked. A single bomb hit the ship, disabling her and causing the Germans to tow her south to Tromsø where she would be sunk in Operation Catechism a few weeks later. The Tirpitz was a sister to the battleship Bismarck of 42,900 tons, armed with eight 38 cm guns. She was designed to attack merchant shipping in the Atlantic, but the loss of the Bismarck and other commerce raiders led to instructions that she should be used for limited sorties only. In early 1942, the Tirpitz was sent to northern Norway, where she would remain for most of World War II. She was based mostly in Kåfjord, a branch of the Altafjord . She acted mainly as a fleet in being, threatening the Arctic convoys and tying up three British battleships that were needed elsewhere. The operation was planned by Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane of No. 5 Group RAF, and led by "Willie" Tait of No.
more