During the war, Great Britain got most of its food, war materials and other supplies from North America. Throughout the war, Germany tried to destroy the ships that brought goods to the island. German U-boats or submarines were the biggest threat to the British navy. At first, these U-boats were very successful in tracking down British cargo ships and sinking them. They often attacked in groups called wolf packs.

To survive such attacks, British ships travelled in groups called convoys. They were protected by destroyers and also supported by planes. As time went on, America gave British ships more and more protection.

In 1943 the Allies began to escort the convoys with small aircraft carriers. The planes that could take off from the carriers and long-range bombers from land began to attack and destroy more and more German submarines. The Allies began winning the sea war also because they started using an underwater radar system called sonar to locate submarines. By the middle of 1943 the Allies were sinking U-boats faster than the Germans could replace them.



Officers on board a British destroyer on the lookout for German U-boats

Image: Post-Work: User:W.wolny, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons



Words

  • aircraft carrier = ship that planes can take off from and land on
  • Allies = the countries that fought against Germany and Japan in World War II (the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union)
  • cargo = the goods that are carried on a ship or plane
  • convoy = group of ships that are travelling together
  • destroy = to damage completely
  • destroyer = a small, fast military ship with guns
  • escort = a ship that travels with another one in order to protect it
  • goods = products
  • locate = find
  • long-range = to be able to hit something that is a long distance away
  • navy = part of a country's military that fights at sea
  • protect = defend, guard
  • radar = a machine that uses radio waves to find out where things are
  • replace = take the place of
  • sonar = machine on a ship or submarine that uses sound waves to find out where objects underwater are
  • successful = to be good at doing something
  • supplies = things that are necessary for daily life, like food, clothes, medicine etc...
  • support = help
  • survive = here: to escape without any damage
  • take off = start
  • threat = danger
  • track down = find
  • throughout = in all of
  • wolf pack = a group of submarines that travel together and attack enemy ships