User:Xyl 54/Sandbox
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[edit] First suggestion
The Battle of the Atlantic
(changes in italics) Is the term given to/covers the struggle to protect Britains Atlantic trade routes during World War II.
It can be seen as the longest continuous military campaign of World War II, running from 1939 through to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, [ref.
(and was at its height from mid-1940 through to about the end of 1943),
Or as a series of campaigns over several theatres in several phases [ref.
xyl_54
[edit] Suggested intro rewording
(Changes in italics)
(the name - related to its purpose)
The name 'Battle of the Atlantic, was first coined by Winston Churchill in 1941,
over a year after the start of the Second World War, in reference to the naval war for the control of the Atlantic ocean sea lanes.(X un-neccessary)
- (This is the pro forma first sentence that is included (or supposed to be) in all articles that in one sentence summarise the article)--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
(the who)
The name is a partial misnomer for the naval war in the Atlantic ocean that begun on the first day of the European war in 1939 between the German and Italian navies on the side of the Axis, and the British and French navies on the side of the Western Allies that were joined by the United States Navy after the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. (? repeated further down)
- (yes, one is the who, the other is a summary; my personal wish for a consistent approach to article structuring. It is necessary to say who was involved, however, it is impossible to summarise without repeating, so if excluded later on, the entire summary would need to be removed)--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
(the when and where)
The naval war in the Atlantic theatre of operations
continued for six years
until 1945,
involved thousands of ships and stretched over hundreds of miles of vast ocean and seas in a suuccession of(but this is better)
(I retained this from your own intro because I thought it did justice to the vastness of the area and scale of combat)--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC) and included several distinct areas of the ocean which with its adjacent seas occupies an area of about 106,400,000 square kilometers (41,100,000 sq mi); the naval operations were conducted over two-thirds of this vast area. The Royal Navy conducted operations as part of its strategic naval commands responsible for the local territorial waters, the North Atlantic Command, South Atlantic Command, Americas and West Indies Command and the Mediterranean Command dependant of the operations in the Atlantic ocean. The United States Navy divided the same area into eighteen naval operations Atlantic Areas broadly divided into three strategic zones, the North Atlantic Convoy Areas (area north of the line between Nova Scotia and Spain), the Eastern Atlantic, and the Western Atlantic.(X original is more concise) (The point is not in being concise, but covering the subject of when and where the "battle" took place. This was a vast theatre that took four volumes over six years for the RN to document, so I would suggest that a Wikipedia article can afford this extravagance of extra two paragraphs)--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
(the what)
The navies participating in the Battle of Atlantic were involved the conduct of several distinct naval and naval aviation campaigns, naval battles, amphibious operations, and numerous smaller engagements, actions and duels between thousands of naval and merchant surface vessels and submarines, military aircraft and significant land forces, including(X original more concise)
(Again, as above there is no absolute need to minimalise the introduction of such a huge subject)--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC) more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters.
(the summary of events)
Begun as a campaign to safeguard merchant shipping between North America and Europe
, the Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) against Allied convoys. The convoys, coming mainly from North America and the South Atlantic and going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were protected for the most part by the British and Canadian navies and air forces. These forces were later aided by ships and aircraft of the United States. The German warships were joined by submarines of the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) after Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940.
( The hight in the intensity of naval warfare was reached
from mid-1940 through to about the end of 1943 (√. better here)
in the North Atlantic convoy areas.
Tactical Strategic advantage (√. probably better)
switched back and forth between Axis and Allied naval forces for the six years as new weapons, tactics and counter-measures were developed by both sides. The British and their allies gradually gained the
upper hand
initiative and quantitative advantage, (√. hmm, OK)
and succeeded in driving the German surface raiders from the ocean's trade routes by the middle of 1941, and decisively defeating the U-boats in a series of convoy battles between March and May 1943. New German submarines arrived in 1945, but they were too late to affect the course of the war.
