WORLD WAR II CONVOYS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC
February 14, 2022
1:15pm
Presented by Bob Begin via Zoom seminar
The program is free and open to the public, but you will need to sign up in advance here.
1:15pm
Presented by Bob Begin via Zoom seminar
The program is free and open to the public, but you will need to sign up in advance here.
Bob Begin
WORLD WAR II CONVOYS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC
On September 3, 1939, two days after Germany declared war on Poland, a German U-boat, the U-30, sank the British liner Athenia, an unarmed passenger ship carrying 98 passengers and 19 crew. This first sinking of a British ship in World War II was a clear violation of the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which both Germany and Great Britain had signed. It was also a stark indication of how the war would be waged.
Bob Begin, U.S. Army Veteran and frequent presenter of talks on naval history, will tell the story of the Convoys of the North Atlantic, the longest campaign in all of World War II, from its inception in 1939 until the German surrender in May 1945.
The first two years of the war pitted the navies of Great Britain and Canada, which were protecting convoys coming mainly from North America and predominantly going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, against wolfpacks of German U-boats in waters of the British Isles, Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Newfoundland, the east coast of America, and the Azores. As a small island country, Great Britain was highly dependent on imported goods. Germany’s stated goal was to force England to surrender by isolating it from its allies and curtailing the flow of imported goods. She came perilously close.
After the United States entered the war in December 1941, the Axis powers sought to prevent the build-up of Allied supplies and equipment in Great Britain in preparation for the invasion of occupied Europe. The Allies had to defeat the U-boat threat as a prerequisite for pushing back the Axis in western Europe.
The campaign had many components: Lend Lease, the Neutrality Patrols, the Merchant Marine, Liberty Ships, American shipbuilding, Rosie the Riveter, the Naval Armed Guard, the Enigma Machine, and the Four Chaplains.
It was a bloody, costly struggle on all sides. Chances of survival were nil in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Over 36,000 merchant ship sailors, 3,000 merchant ships and 200 allied warships were lost. Germany lost 700 U-boats and 33,000 U-boat officers and men. It was a struggle for survival, with no quarter expected or given.
Bob Begin was raised in Maine and, immediately after graduation from Babson College, was drafted into the US. Army during the Vietnam War. After his Army service, Bob worked for 35 years for St. Regis Paper, working his way up to Logistics Manager. In retirement, Bob has pursued his passion for naval history and has presented numerous talks on the subject.
On September 3, 1939, two days after Germany declared war on Poland, a German U-boat, the U-30, sank the British liner Athenia, an unarmed passenger ship carrying 98 passengers and 19 crew. This first sinking of a British ship in World War II was a clear violation of the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which both Germany and Great Britain had signed. It was also a stark indication of how the war would be waged.
Bob Begin, U.S. Army Veteran and frequent presenter of talks on naval history, will tell the story of the Convoys of the North Atlantic, the longest campaign in all of World War II, from its inception in 1939 until the German surrender in May 1945.
The first two years of the war pitted the navies of Great Britain and Canada, which were protecting convoys coming mainly from North America and predominantly going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, against wolfpacks of German U-boats in waters of the British Isles, Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Newfoundland, the east coast of America, and the Azores. As a small island country, Great Britain was highly dependent on imported goods. Germany’s stated goal was to force England to surrender by isolating it from its allies and curtailing the flow of imported goods. She came perilously close.
After the United States entered the war in December 1941, the Axis powers sought to prevent the build-up of Allied supplies and equipment in Great Britain in preparation for the invasion of occupied Europe. The Allies had to defeat the U-boat threat as a prerequisite for pushing back the Axis in western Europe.
The campaign had many components: Lend Lease, the Neutrality Patrols, the Merchant Marine, Liberty Ships, American shipbuilding, Rosie the Riveter, the Naval Armed Guard, the Enigma Machine, and the Four Chaplains.
It was a bloody, costly struggle on all sides. Chances of survival were nil in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Over 36,000 merchant ship sailors, 3,000 merchant ships and 200 allied warships were lost. Germany lost 700 U-boats and 33,000 U-boat officers and men. It was a struggle for survival, with no quarter expected or given.
Bob Begin was raised in Maine and, immediately after graduation from Babson College, was drafted into the US. Army during the Vietnam War. After his Army service, Bob worked for 35 years for St. Regis Paper, working his way up to Logistics Manager. In retirement, Bob has pursued his passion for naval history and has presented numerous talks on the subject.