430 : The Atlantic 



everywhere, at various times staging raids ofiF the American coast 

 and entering the Caribbean, and in June, 1942, a German submarine 

 even landed eight enemy agents on Long Island. 



The effectiveness of the submarine campaign so far as the British 

 were concerned is reflected in the following figures: when the war 

 started the British merchant fleet accounted for a trifle less than 

 18,000,000 gross tons; an additional 8,000,000 had been captured from 

 the Axis. Over 26,000,000 tons might be considered an impressive 

 and satisfactory fleet were it not for the fact that 4,000,000 tons were 

 continually in demand by the British army and navy for their own 

 purposes. The remaining vessels were everywhere in demand. As the 

 war progressed and Poland fell, Denmark and Norway were invaded, 

 Holland, Belgium and France successively occupied by the German 

 army, England was cut off from many sources of supply of foods 

 and raw materials that were customarily open to her. The Mediter- 

 ranean was unsafe and routes to the east led again around South 

 Africa. In fact, no waters were then safe from submarine attack. 



Before 1941 the British had lost over 5,000,000 tons of shipping. 

 At this time British ships were being sunk faster than the replace- 

 ment rate of all British shipyards combined. Great Britain then or- 

 dered sixty ships built in American yards according to an old and 

 familiar British pattern on which the American publicity methods 

 fastened the name of "Liberty" ships. Fortunately under the Mari- 

 time Commission the pace of American shipbuilding was experi- 

 encing an acceleration of its own. In January 1941 Roosevelt asked 

 for an additional 200 Liberty ships. 



That Britain could benefit from the increased rate of American 

 shipbuilding was assured in March by the so-called Lend-Lease Bill 

 under which any country could receive by sale, transfer, exchange or 

 lease, any articles required for its defense provided that the Presi- 

 dent deemed that the defense of that country was vital to the defense 

 of the United States. 



In the meantime, while the ships were being built, steps were also 

 gradually being taken which improved the defense against submarine 

 attack. On September 3, 1940, Roosevelt announced the completion 

 of an executive agreement under which fifty American destroyers of 

 a type used in World War I had been given to Britain in exchange 

 for the right to build and operate naval and air bases in British pos- 

 sessions in the Western Hemisphere. Protective sea and air patrols 

 were already in operation along the seaboard of the United States. 



The acquisition of the new bases at once permitted the extension 



