<Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Battle of the Atlantic </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Part of World War II </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Officers on the bridge of an escorting British destroyer stand watch for enemy submarines, October 1941 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Td> September 3, 1939--May 8, 1945 (5 years, 8 months and 5 days) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Atlantic Ocean, Río de la Plata, North Sea, Irish Sea, Labrador Sea, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Outer Banks, Arctic Ocean </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Result </Th> <Td> Allied Victory </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Belligerents </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> United Kingdom Canada United States (1941--45) France (1939--40) Free France (1940--45) Poland Brazil (1942--45) Netherlands Norway Belgium </Td> <Td> <P> Germany </P> Italy (1940--43) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Commanders and leaders </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <P> Martin E. Nasmith (1939--41) Sir Percy Noble (1941--42) Sir Max K. Horton (1943--45) Frederick Bowhill (1939--41) Philip de la Ferté (1941--43) Sir John Slessor (1943--45) Dudley Pound (1939--43) Leonard W. Murray Ernest J. King </P> Royal E. Ingersoll </Td> <Td> Erich Raeder Karl Dönitz Hans - Georg von Friedeburg Martin Harlinghausen Günther Lütjens † Angelo Parona Romolo Polacchini </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 36,200 sailors killed 36,000 merchant seamen killed 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships 741 RAF Coastal Command Aircraft lost in anti-submarine sorties </Td> <Td> ~ 30,000 U-boat sailors killed 783 submarines lost 47 other warships lost ~ 500 killed 17 submarines lost </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Battle of the Atlantic </Th> </Tr>

When did the battle of atlantic start and end