In 1941, as the Battle of the Atlantic raged and ship losses mounted, the British Admiralty desperately tried to find ways to defeat the U-Boat threat to Britain’s maritime lifeline. Facing a shortage of traditional aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft, the Royal Navy, as a stopgap measure, converted merchant ships into small ‘escort carriers’. These were later joined by a growing number of American-built escort carriers, sent as part of the Lend-Lease agreement. The typical Escort Carrier was small, slow and vulnerable, but it could carry about 18 aircraft, which gave the convoys a real chance to detect and sink dangerous U-Boats. Collectively, their contribution to an Allied victory was immense, particularly in the long and gruelling campaigns fought in the Atlantic and Arctic. Illustrated throughout with detailed full-colour artwork and contemporary photographs, this fascinating study explores in detail how these adaptable ships had such an enormous impact on the outcome of World War II’s European Theatre.
ISBN: | 9781472836250 |
Publication date: | 19th September 2019 |
Author: | Angus Konstam |
Illustrator: | Paul (Illustrator) Wright |
Publisher: | Osprey Publishing an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 48 pages |
Series: | New Vanguard |
Genres: |
Military history Warfare and defence Second World War Modern warfare |