Battle of the Atlantic

On March 1, 1942, a US Navy PBO Ventura sank U-656 off the Canadian coast. For three critical months, the United States had no success against the U-boats, while the East Coast was increasingly unsafe for American ships.

From the opening day of the war until the cessation of hostilities, the Atlantic was a major theatre of operations. Before the Allies could build an army to take back North Africa or the European continent, they had to secure and protect the shipping lanes to England.