the Germans had sunk Allied and neutral merchant ships at an 

 average rate of 300,000 gross tons per montho A year later, 

 in September 1941, with an average of 35 U-boats at sea, 

 ship sinkings were running only some 200,000 gross tons per 

 montho 



September 1941 was noteworthy because of the declaration 

 by the United States that it would give protection to all 

 ships carrying lend-lease materials, regardless of a ship's 

 nationality,, On 16 September, convoy HX-150 sailed from 

 Halifax with warships of the United States Navy appearing 

 for the first time among the excort vessels. 



During November 1941 only 12 ships of 62,000 gross tons 

 were sunk by U-boats,, In part at leasts this comparatively 

 low rate of sinkings was due to the work of the British 

 Coastal Command whose aircraft made U-boat commanders pre- 

 fer to stay outside their patrol range s some 400 miles off 

 shore o Experience in the evasive routing of convoys was also 

 paying off„ Another contributing factor was, of course, the 

 British offensive in E#b4a, which caused the Germans to di- 

 vert some of their submarines from the Atlantic to the 

 Mediterranean „ 



December 1941 found the United States thrust into the 

 war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,, Between 7 December 

 and the end of the month Japanese submarines sank 9 Allied 

 ships of 42,000 gross tons, On the other side of the world^ 

 the figures of shipping losses remained fairly favorable „ In 

 „the Atlantic s 10 ships of 50,000 gross tons were sunk and in 

 the Mediterranean, 7 ships of 27^000 tons The enemy, however, 

 did not achieve these successes without cost to himself,, Five 

 U-boats were sunk in the Mediterranean and In one attack by 

 six U-boats on convoy HG-76 S four of the attacking submarines 

 were sunk, though at the less of 2 merchant ships, one escort 

 vessel, and HMS AUDACITY, the first British escort carrier,, 



Period III was notable for a number of technical in- 

 novations o 



In July CAM ships were introduced These were merchant 

 ships equipped with fighter aircraft launched from catapults „ 

 Allied aircraft were provided with more effective armament for 

 anti-submarine attacks „ 



Aircraft patrols over the Bay of Biscay were intensified 

 and had the effect of forcing the U-boats to run submerged in 



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