5. The spring of 1940 created a crisis for the Royal Navy
Several events occurred in 1940 which stretched the Royal Navy to near its breaking point. Germany invaded and occupied Norway, gaining access to its fjords. The French were overrun and surrendered to the Germans. The surrender took the French fleet, then the fourth largest in the world, out of the war. Italy declared war on France and Great Britain. The Italian fleet was an immediate threat in the Mediterranean. So were the ships of the French Navy, if the Germans seized them. The Germans in France threatened Britain with invasion. Ships needed to protect Atlantic convoys were also needed in the Channel, to deter or repel a German attack.
The British lost 23 destroyers between May and July of 1940, losses which crippled their ability to resist the increased U-boat threat. At the same time, more German submarines were made available for service in the Atlantic. The British asked for American help. Fifty World War I era destroyers were “loaned” to the British in exchange for leases of British military bases in Canada, the West Indies, and Bermuda. In reality, the Americans did not want the destroyers back. None of them were equipped with the British version of sonar known as asdic, and some were barely seaworthy. For the British, the rest of 1940 was a time a crisis. For the German Navy, it was known as the Happy Time.
