Black May (1943)
Overview
 
‘Black May’ refers to a period (May 1943) in the Battle of the Atlantic campaign during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when the German
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 U-boat arm (U-Bootwaffe) suffered high casualties with fewer Allied ships sunk; it is considered a turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.

After February battles around convoys SC 118
Convoy SC 118
Convoy SC-118 was the 118th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool.-Prelude:...

, ON 166, and UC 1, Black May was the culmination of the March thru May 1943 crisis in the Battle of the Atlantic.
March had seen the U-boat offensive reach its peak, with a series of major convoy battles, first around convoys HX 228
Convoy HX 228
HX 228 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of 4 convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of March 1943 and is notable for seeing the loss of the Escort Group leader Cdr AA "Harry" Tait.-Prelude:HX 228 was...

, SC 121, and UGS 6; then followed the battle for HX229/SC122
Convoys HX.229/SC.122
The battle around convoys HX 229 and SC 122 occurred during March 1943 in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was the largest convoy battle of World War II. British merchant shipping was formed into convoys for protection against...

, the largest convoy battle of the war.

Allied losses for March totalled 120 ships of 693000 LT (704,122.7 t), of which 82 (476000 LT (483,639.8 t)) were lost in the Atlantic.
Quotations

Festina lente.

Make haste slowly.

Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales|The Canterbury Tales, "The Merchant's Tale|The Merchant's Tale"

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Max Ehrmann|Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata|Desiderata" (1927)

The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing that we ought to do, we have no time for anything else—we are the busiest people in the world.

Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition (1973), § 156

Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry.

John Wesley (1703–1791). Letter to a member of the Society, 10th December 1777, Select Letters (1837)

Haste makes waste.

English proverb. Reported in John Heywood, Dialogue of Proverbs (1546), part 1, ch. 2 Category:Themes el:Βιασύνη

 
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