Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF) was a Second World War naval command created on 20 May 1941 as part of the Allied convoy system in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The German adoption of these tactics forced the Allies to alter their own strategy by extending the range of the escorts into the Atlantic.

[2] On 20 May 1941, Canada was formally requested by the United Kingdom to base its new Flower-class corvettes at St. John's to cover the gap.

[1] The position of St. John's moved the forward base of the Canadian escorts nearly a full quarter of the way closer to Iceland.

[7] As part of its creation, the United Kingdom agreed to return Canadian destroyers operating in European waters.

There was very little reserve force that could be sent to augment convoy battles and vessels delayed their refit schedules, making those ships out on escort less capable.

Six merchant vessels were lost in exchange for two U-boats sunk by British reinforcements to the convoy escort.

[7] Following the introduction of the US destroyers, German tactics changed, moving concentrations of U-boats around the Atlantic in response to battle and circumstance.

In September and October, the Germans began targeting SC convoys at the same time as the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point was moved five degrees further east in order to free British warships for escort duties in other theatres.

To ease the strain in mid-October, every ocean-going escort of the Royal Canadian Navy was deployed to the NEF.

[15] In mid-November the NEF gained respite as the Germans abandoned the North Atlantic and re-directed their efforts elsewhere.

With the entry of the United States into the war in an official capacity in December, command over the western Atlantic was altered.

However, with the conflict with Japan in the Pacific needing more escorts, the United States began withdrawing from the battle in the Atlantic.

[18] The US contribution further diminished after German attacks on shipping off the US East Coast and in the Caribbean Sea.