GLOBAL WAR STUDIES
The Journal for the Study of Warfare
and Weapons, 1919-1945 Society for
Nautical Research
Programme:
Decision in the
Atlantic
Friday 17 – Saturday 18 May 2013
Department of War Studies, King’s College London
In the history of warfare few campaigns have been as long, as complex or covered as
large an area as the Battle of the Atlantic did in the Second World War. The contest
for allied maritime communications began on the first day of the war in 1939 and
continued until the German surrender in May 1945. On the seventieth anniversary of
the climax of the battle, this conference aims to draw together international
scholarship with a view to highlighting recent approaches to its study and the
campaign’s emerging role in the wider historiography of the war.
Friday
1300-1730
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones, Naval Historical Branch & Marcus Faulkner, King’s
College London
Chair: TBA
Some Questions, Nicholas Rodger, All Souls College, University of Oxford
1941: The First Turning Point, Eric Grove, University of Salford
TEA
Chair – Richard Gimblett, Naval Command Historian, RCN
The Allied Victory of 1943: Tactical and Technological Triumph or Victory
through Years of Plain Hard Work?, Marc Milner, University of New Brunswick
The Colin White Memorial Lecture
All Should be ‘A’ Teams: The Development of Group Anti-Submarine Escort
Training in the British and Canadian Navies During the Atlantic Campaign, James
Goldrick, Royal Australian Navy (Ret.)
Saturday
Panel A sessions are held in the DWS Conference Room, 6th Floor
Panel B sessions are held in the Pyramid Room, 4th Floor
Session 1 0900-1030
A1 – Chair - Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones, Naval Historical Branch
‘The Cinderella Service’: RAF Coastal Command, Organisational Culture and
Cultural Adaption in the Battle of the Atlantic, Ross Mahoney, University of
Birmingham
The Fleet Air Arm and Trade Defence, 1939-1944, Ben Jones, University of
Portsmouth
Closing the Atlantic Air Gap: The Casablanca Conference and the
Reassessment of Allied Antisubmarine Air Tactics, George Monahan, Suffolk County
Community College, New York
B1 – Chair TBA
The German naval bases in France in World War II, Lars Hellwinkel
Hidden Behind the War: The Battle of the Atlantic and the Anglo-American
rivalry for military and civil air facilities in the Azores Archipelago, Alexandre
Moreli, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro
Outposts in the Azores: Lajes Field, the Battle of the Atlantic and the
Importance of Airpower to Allied Grand Strategy, Martin Morgan, University of
Southern Mississippi
COFFEE 1030-1100
Session 2 11-1230
Chair: Andrew Lambert, King’s College London
Meat Exports, Wartime Multilateralism, and the Managerial Challenges Posed by the
Battle of the Atlantic: Secretary of Agriculture Claude Wickard’s Response to
America’s Changing Global Role,
Kevin Smith, Ball State University, Indiana
Britain and the Approaching Shipping Crisis, 1942-1943,
Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones, Naval Historical Branch
LUNCH 1230-1330
Session 3 1330-1500
A3 – Chair TBA
The other critical convoy battles of 1943: The Eclipse of the Schnellboot in the
English Channel and North Sea, Harry Bennett, University of Plymouth
The Battle for the Atlantic Begins in the Baltic: The German Defense of the
Baltic ‘Springboard’ for the Resumption of offensive U-Boat Operations in the
Atlantic, 1944-45, Russell A Hart, Hawai’i Pacific University
Dönitz’s Final Fling in the Battle of the Atlantic:” A Re-evaluation of the
Development of the Kriegsmarine 'Electro-boat' Submarine Offensive and its Impact
on German Military Strategy during 1945, Stephen Hart, Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst
B3 – Chair – Alessio Patalano, King’s College London
Fact and Fiction in Sink the Bismarck, Antoine Capet, Université de Rouen
Examining the Human Experience of the Battle for the Atlantic Through
Fiction: Nicolas Monsarrat’s works depicting the Atlantic War, John A. Rodgaard,
United States Navy (Rtd.), Independent Scholar
Battle of the Atlantic Student Initiative, Thomas M. Dykes, Blakelock H.S. School,
Oakville, Ontario
TEA 1500-1530
Session 4 1530-1630
A4 – Chair – Marcus Faulkner, King’s College London
Commander in Chief, U.S. Navy: Admiral Ernest J. King and his Headquarters,
1943-1945, David Kohnen, US Naval War College, RI
Followed by Closing Remarks and Farewell
Attendance of the conference is free, however registration is necessary and the
number of places is limited. These will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Should
you
wish
to
attend
please
contact
Marcus
Faulkner
([email protected]). General queries may also be addressed to the coorganisers of the conference Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones on behalf of the Society for
Nautical Research ([email protected]) and Robert von Maier
on behalf of Global War Studies ([email protected]).
N.B. The conference programme is correct as of 31st March 2013, however
might be subject to last minute changes.