The casualty figures are estimates: about 36,200 Allied sailors and 36,000 merchant seamen were killed, while published totals range from roughly 60,000 to 80,000. Allied material losses included 175 warships and 741 RAF Coastal Command aircraft on anti-submarine sorties. Those aircraft were lost through combat, mechanical failure during long-range operations, and accidents at difficult airfields. German losses included about 30,000 U-boat sailors, 783 submarines, and 47 other warships, including Bismarck and Admiral Graf Spee; Italy lost about 17 submarines. The figures show the campaign's cost in crews, escorts, aircraft, submarines, and surface ships as well as merchant tonnage.
Notable Point · 1:25-3:29
The human and material cost of the Atlantic campaign
Loss figures show why the Battle of the Atlantic was a prolonged contest of sailors, merchant crews, escorts, aircraft, and submarines.