In 1942, by far the most alarming year of the U-boat war, 609 ships were sunk in the North Atlantic, a total of some 6 million tons. So prodigious was American shipbuilding capacity, however, that in the same period the Allies launched 7.1 million tons of ships, increasing their available pool of 30 million tons. Yet, as is the way of mankind, the Allies perceived most of the difficulties on their own side.
