Torpedo Alley
| Torpedo Alley | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II, Battle of the Atlantic, the Second Happy Time | |||||||
USCGC Dione escorting a convoy through Torpedo Alley, 1942 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
United States United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Harold Raynsford Stark Ernest King Royal Ingersoll |
Karl Dönitz Robert-Richard Zapp Rolf Mützelburg | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
~5,000 killed 397 ships sunk |
100 killed 40 captured 3 submarines sunk | ||||||
Torpedo Alley (also called Torpedo Junction or the Battle of Torpedo Junction) is a region off the coastline of the North Carolinan Outer Banks, named for the high number of attacks on Allied shipping by German U-boats in World War II. Almost 400 ships were sunk, mostly during the Second Happy Time in 1942, and over 5,000 people were killed, many of whom were civilians and merchant sailors. Torpedo Alley encompassed the area surrounding the Outer Banks, including Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras.