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Athenia, a British passenger liner originating from Glasgow and traveling to Montreal, is targeted and sunk by German U-boat U-30 resulting the loss of 112 people. Athenia becomes the first naval casualty of the U-boat scourge in the Atlantic.
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The Bosnia becomes the first merchantman to be sunk by the German U-boats.
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Thirty-six Allied ships set out across the Atlantic in the first coordinated convoy crossing attempt.
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Only 21 operational boats make up the German U-boat fleet at this time.
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German ships begin operating out of captured bases along the French coast.
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German U-boats are given the green light to attack any and all merchant vessels - whether armed or not - in an attempt to stranglehold the British mainland into submission.
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Massive convoys breed equal massive measures - German U-boats begin operating in 20-strong "Wolf Packs" with coordinated
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An attack on two Allied convoys yields 36 sunken ships by the attacking German U-boats.
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The Lend-Lease Bill is signed into law by American President Franklin Roosevelt allowing the United States the unrestricted ability to help supply the Allies in their fight against the Axis.
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The first US combat action against Germany occurs - this being the USS Niblack destroyer firing on a marauding German U-boat violating the US security zone.
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HMS Bulldog acquires the first Enigma code machine during the capture of the U-110. British codebreakers set to work on deciphering the device.
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The first escorted convoy - HX129 - crosses the Atlantic.
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The German U-boat fleet now numbers some 331 operational vessels.
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Off the east coast of the United States, some 216 vessels fall prey to the German U-boat scourge in this span.
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The convoy system is formally adopted by the United States in an effort to protect its merchant shipping in the Atlantic.
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June of 1942 marks the single worst month of Allied shipping losses, totaling some 834,000 tons of goods at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
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German U-boats off the eastern coast of the US are relocated to better assault the merchant fleets streaming across the Atlantic.
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U-boat bases at Cherbourg and Lorient are targeted by the Royal Air Force.
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A Presidential directive calls for some 250 American aircraft to begin offensive actions in the Atlantic.
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Allied aircraft are fitted with U-boat detecting radar systems.
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By the end of May, 43 U-boats are sunk to just 34 merchant vessels.
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Some 33 U-boats assail an Allied convoy. However, the streamlined Allied response nets zero ship losses and fatalities. The U-boats come up empty.
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Due to dwindling results, German Admiral Karl Donitz calls back his U-boats from operations in the Atlantic.
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The German U-boats are unleashed once more, this time operating in substantially smaller groups.
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The Allied D-Day landings in the North of France eventually render the French-German U-boat bases inoperable.
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The USN is credited with sinking four German U-boats in what turns out to be the last recorded combat actions in the Atlantic Theater of War.
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By May of 1945, the U-boat scourge in the Atlantic is over, completing one of the more important battles in all of World War 2.
