Editing Battle of the Atlantic (section)

==Outcomes==
[[File:Atlanticflagsub.jpg|right|thumb|Seamen raise the [[White Ensign]] over the captured German U-boat {{GS|U-190||2}} in [[St. John's, Newfoundland]] 1945]]

The Germans failed to stop the flow of strategic supplies to Britain. This failure resulted in the build-up of troops and supplies needed for the [[D-Day landings]]. The defeat of the U-boat was a necessary precursor for accumulation of Allied troops and supplies to ensure Germany's defeat.

Between 1939 and 1945, 72,200 Allied naval and merchant seamen died.{{Sfn|White|2008|p=2}} The Germans lost about 30,000 U-boat sailors killed, three-quarters of the 40,000-man U-boat fleet.{{sfn|Bennett|2007|p=301}}

The Admiralty later estimated that ceding the three [[Treaty Ports (Ireland)|Treaty Ports]] to Ireland in 1938 led to the loss of 368 Allied ships and 5,070 lives during the war.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=417 }}

=== Merchant losses ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+
!
! colspan="7" |British Allied and neutral shipping losses by worldwide Axis Operations ( [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]] ){{sfn|Costello|Hughes|1977|p=305}}
! colspan="2" |shipping losses by German and
Italian submarines{{Efn|Includes ships sunk by submarine laid mines}}{{sfn|Blair|1996a| p= 771}}{{Sfn|Blair|1996b|p=820}}
|-
!year
!submarines
!aircraft
!mines
!surface ships
!other
!total
!in Atlantic
!number<br /> of ships
!GRT
|-
|1939
|421,156
|2,949
|262,697
|61,337
|7,253
|'''{{color|#505050|755,392}}'''
|754,686
|147
|509,321
|-
|1940
|2,156,158
|580,074
|509,889
|511,615
|203,905
|'''{{color|#505050|3,991,641}}'''
|3,654,511
|520
|2,462,867
|-
|1941
|2,171,070
|1,017,422
|230,842
|487,204
|421,336
|'''{{color|#505050|4,328,558}}'''
|3,295,909
|457
|2,298,714
|-
|1942
|6,266,215
|700,020
|104,588
|396,242
|323,632
|'''{{color|#505050|7,790,697}}'''
|6,150,340
|1155
|6,149,473
|-
|1943
|2,588,906
|424,411
|111,658
|56,986
|43,177
|'''{{color|#505050|3,225,138}}'''
|2,200,410
|452
|2,510,304
|-
|1944
|773,327
|120,656
|95,855
|33,693
|22,098
|'''{{color|#505050|1,045,629}}'''
|505,759
|125
|663,308
|-
|1945
|283,133
|44,351
|93,663
|10,222
|7,063
|'''{{color|#505050|438,432}}'''
|366,843
|63
|284,476
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''14,659,965'''
|'''2,889,883'''
|'''1,409,192'''
|'''1,557,299'''
|'''1,028,464'''
|'''21,575,490'''
|'''16,928,460'''
|'''2919'''
|'''14,878,463'''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="4" |German surface raider successes
|-
!raider
!period
!number<br /> of ships
!tonnage<br /> ( GRT )
|-
|heavy cruiser {{lang|de|Deutschland}}
|Sep 39 - Nov 39
|{{right|2}}
|{{right|6,962}}{{Sfn|Rohwer|2005|pp=5-6}}
|-
|heavy cruiser {{lang|de|Admiral Graf Spee}}
|Sep 39 - Dec 39
|{{right|9}}
|{{right|50,089}}{{Sfn|Rohwer|2005|pp=5-10}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis|Atlantis]]
|Mar 40 - Nov 41
|{{right|22}}
|{{right|145,697}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=27}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Orion|Orion]]
|Apr 40 - Aug 41
|{{right|8}}
|{{right|48,477}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=57}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Widder|Widder]]
|May 40- Oct 40
|{{right|10}}
|{{right|58,464}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=61}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Thor|Thor]]
|Jun 40 - Apr 41
|{{right|12}}
|{{right|96,602}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=63}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin|Pinguin]]
|Jun 40 - May 41
|{{right|28}}
|{{right|158,256}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=68}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Komet|Komet]]
|Jul 40 - Nov 41
|{{right|6}}
|{{right|41,567}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=69}}
|-
|heavy cruiser {{Lang|de|Admiral Scheer}}
|Oct 40 - Mar 41
|{{right|17}}
|{{right|113,223}}
|-
|heavy cruiser {{Lang|de|Admiral Hipper}}
|Nov 40 - Dec 40
|{{right|1}}
|{{right|6,078}}{{Sfn|Rohwer|2005|p=53}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran|Kormoran]]
|Dec 40 - Nov 41
|{{right|11}}
|{{right|68,274}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=135}}
|-
|battleships {{Lang|de|Scharnhorst}} and {{Lang|de|Gneisenau}}
|Jan 41 - Mar 41
|{{right|22}}
|{{right|115,622}}
|-
|heavy cruiser {{Lang|de|Admiral Hipper}}
|Feb 41
|{{right|8}}
|{{right|34,042}}{{Sfn|Rohwer|2005|pp=58-59}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser Thor
|Nov 41 - Oct 42
|{{right|10}}
|{{right|56,037}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=63}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Michel|Michel]]
|Mar 42 - Mar 43
|{{right|14}}
|{{right|94,363}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=203}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser [[German auxiliary cruiser Stier|Stier]]
|May 42 - Sep 42
|{{right|4}}
|{{right|30,728}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=211}}
|-
|auxiliary cruiser Michel
|May 43 - Oct 43
|{{right|3}}
|{{right|27,632}}{{Sfn|Muggenthaler|1981|p=203}}
|-
| colspan="2" |'''total'''
|{{right|'''187'''}}
|{{right|'''931,116'''}}
|}

=== Surface fleet losses ===
The German surface fleet commissioned 16 capital ships before or during the war: 4 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers. Of these, only the {{lang|de|Admiral Graf Spee}} and {{Lang|de|Bismarck}} were sunk in battle on the Atlantic Ocean. Three cruisers were sunk during the April 1940 invasion of Norway and {{Lang|de|Scharnhorst}} was sunk in the Arctic. Apart from the heavy cruiser {{Lang|de|Prinz Eugen}} and light cruiser {{Lang|de|Nürnberg}} all other ships were destroyed in port by bombers.

The British and Allied fleets fought battles all over the world and lost many ships, but only three ships were lost in battle against German surface ships : the battlecruiser ''Hood'' and the light cruisers [[HMAS Sydney (D48)|Sydney]] and ''Charybdis''.

U-boats sank 175 Allied warships in total,{{Sfn|White|2008|p=2}} in all theatres of operations. Many of these were sunk in the Mediterranean or the Arctic. The adversaries of U-boats were mostly small anti-submarine ships like destroyers, destroyer escorts, frigates and corvettes, but on a few occasions U-boats could sink capital ships in the Atlantic: the battleship ''Royal Oak'' was sunk in harbour, the aircraft carrier ''Courageous'' was sunk while on anti-submarine patrol, the escort carriers ''Audacity'', [[HMS Avenger (D14)|''Avenger'']] and [[USS Block Island (CVE-21)|''Block Island'']] were sunk while escorting convoys, and the light cruiser ''[[HMS Dunedin|Dunedin]]'' was sunk searching for German raiders.

=== U-boat losses ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="3" |daily average numbers{{sfn|Costello|Hughes|1977|p=305}}
! colspan="2" |
|-
!style=width:90px|Total
fleet
!style=width:90px|Operational
!style=width:90px|Engaged in
Atlantic
!style=width:90px|Sunk{{sfn|Costello|Hughes|1977|p=305}}
!style=width:90px|new
U-boats{{sfn|Costello|Hughes|1977|p=305}}
|-
|{{nowrap|Sep-Dec 1939}}
|57
|12
|5
|9
|2
|-
|Jan-Mar 1940
|51
|11
|5
|6
|4
|-
|Apr-Jun 1940
|49
|10
|7
|8
|9
|-
|Jul-Sep 1940
|56
|10
|8
|5
|15
|-
|Oct-Dec 1940
|75
|11
|9
|3
|26
|-
|Jan-Mar 1941
|102
|20
|12
|5
|31
|-
|Apr-Jun 1941
|136
|25
|15
|7
|53
|-
|Jul-Sep 1941
|182
|30
|17
|6
|70
|-
|Oct-Dec 1941
|233
|35
|16
|17
|70
|-
|Jan-Mar 1942
|272
|45
|13
|11
|49
|-
|Apr-Jun 1942
|315
|60
|15
|10
|58
|-
|Jul-Sep 1942
|352
|95
|25
|32
|61
|-
|Oct-Dec 1942
|382
|100
|40
|34
|70
|-
|Jan-Mar 1943
|418
|110
|50
|40
|70
|-
|Apr-Jun 1943
|424
|90
|40
|73
|69
|-
|Jul-Sep 1943
|408
|60
|20
|71
|68
|-
|Oct-Dec 1943
|425
|70
|25
|53
|83
|-
|Jan-Mar 1944
|445
|65
|30
|60
|62
|-
|Apr-Jun 1944
|437
|50
|20
|68
|53
|-
|Jul-Sep 1944
|396
|40
|15
|79
|50
|-
|Oct-Dec 1944
|398
|35
|20
|32
|67
|-
|Jan-May 1945
|349
|45
|20
|153
|93
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''5962'''
|'''1029'''
|'''337'''
|'''782'''
|'''1133'''
|}