Post by Administrator on Aug 31, 2013 1:43:29 GMT
Sinking of SS Athenia:
The First Shots of the Battle of the Atlantic:
The first shots of the Battle of the Atlantic was fired on September 3rd 1939, by Fritz Julius Lemp of U-30, a Type VIIA U-boat while on patrol in the North Western sector of Ireland. When France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, Hitler was still hopeful of a diplomatic resolution. He believed that he might yet be able to dissuade the Western Powers from war and to this end, he issued strict orders for U-boats to follow the Prize Regulations. Under these regulations, attacks against passenger liners were prohibited, but unfortunately, the first ship that was sunk by a U-boat turned out to be a passenger liner. It caused an immediate furor in both Allied and neutral circles. It appeared that Germany was in favor of conducting unrestricted submarine warfare, as it had done during the First World War which came so close to strangling the shipping lanes of Great Britain.
LINK
The First Shots of the Battle of the Atlantic:
The first shots of the Battle of the Atlantic was fired on September 3rd 1939, by Fritz Julius Lemp of U-30, a Type VIIA U-boat while on patrol in the North Western sector of Ireland. When France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, Hitler was still hopeful of a diplomatic resolution. He believed that he might yet be able to dissuade the Western Powers from war and to this end, he issued strict orders for U-boats to follow the Prize Regulations. Under these regulations, attacks against passenger liners were prohibited, but unfortunately, the first ship that was sunk by a U-boat turned out to be a passenger liner. It caused an immediate furor in both Allied and neutral circles. It appeared that Germany was in favor of conducting unrestricted submarine warfare, as it had done during the First World War which came so close to strangling the shipping lanes of Great Britain.
LINK