The Battle of the Atlantic

The Queen Mary, a British ocean liner, steams alongside the smaller Kent class cruiser HMAS Canberra, in the Atlantic during the Second World War. Some of the crew are on deck watching the Queen Mary sail past.

Today we honour the Allied naval and merchant mariners who took part in the relentless battle to control the sea lanes of the Atlantic Ocean from September 1939 to May 1945, the longest battle of the Second World War.

The six-year battle began with the sinking of the British passenger liner SS Athenia by a German submarine on 3 September 1939 and finished with Germany’s surrender in May 1945.

Australian service personnel and merchant mariners participated in many different roles during the Battle for the Atlantic, with some 5,000 of them awarded the Atlantic Star in recognition of their service in this battle.

Throughout the six-year Battle of the Atlantic, more than 72,000 Allied naval and merchant mariners lost their lives.

For more information on the Battle of the Atlantic and the Second World War, visit DVA’s Anzac Portal.

(Image: The Queen Mary, steams alongside the Kent class cruiser HMAS Canberra, in the Atlantic during the Second World War.)

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