1941 (2): The Battle of the Atlantic and Pearl Harbor

During 1940 and 1941, tremendous efforts were directed towards getting as many ships as possible fitted with some kind of radar. In deciding what alterations and additions had to be made to existing ships, the Admiralty had a system of priority categories lettered from A to D, the most important items being Classification A. In January 1941, priorities became such that a new superior Classification A* had to be created.1 In June, even that proved not to be strong enough for radar fitting. ‘Generally speaking,’ said the Admiralty, ‘RDF items are considered of the first importance among A* items.’2