Blockade of Germany
From the start of the war a blockade was set up to intercept all ships carrying goods, no less than 338,000 tons of contraband were seized, by the December this controled both German imports and exports. Because of the enemy's policy of ordering his merchant ships to destroy themselves to avoid capture, many prizes were lost, but during the first 7 months of the war 58 ships (300,000 tons) were captured or scuttled. 82 ships (480,000 tons) reached their home ports and some 250 ships (about 1 million tons) remained in neutral ports abroad. Some of the last named reached French ports after the German occupation.
The Navy protected convoys against powerful enemy warship raiders which in 1940 accounted for 96.986 tons and armed, disguised merchant ship raiders for 366,644 tons of British, allied and neutral shipping .
A sequel to the Battle of the River Plate, took place the following February, when the Graf Spee's supply ship Altmark with 300 British merchant seamen, prisoners from the ships sunk by the former before her destruction, was located by aircraft when she entered the Inner Leads along tile Norwegian coast on the 15th of that month escorted by 2 Norwegian destroyers. A British destroyer flotilla under Captain P. Vian R.N. was ordered to intercept her and rescue the prisoners. Efforts to stop the ship were frustrated by the Norwegian escort and the ship was taken into Jossing Fjord. The Norwegians insisted that she had been searched at Bergen and that nothing was known of the prisoners alleged to be on board. Captain Vian was then ordered to offer to escort the ship back to Bergen with the Norwegian ships so that a more effective search could be made, and if this offer were refused he was to board her. At 10.00 p.m. Vian took his ship, the Cossack, into the narrow fjord, and the Norwegians proving uncooperative, but passive, he laid her alongside the Altmark, who did her best to force him ashore, but overcoming the resistance of the German crew, the Cossack's boarding party quickly effected the release of the prisoners, numbering 299. At a time when so many major catastrophes were about to occur, the clarion call of the Cossack's men as they swarmed over the bulwarks of the German ship ' The Navy's here' was to be remembered as an omen of ultimate victory.
Invasion of Norway.
The German. war economy was largely dependent on an uninterrupted flow of Swedish iron ore through the Norwegian port of Narvik, and German ships carrying this were using Norwegian territorial waters with impunity. The British and French Governments decided to lay minefields to stop this traffic and at the same time to occupy certain Norwegian ports. They were, however, forestalled by the Germans who invaded Norway on 9 April 1940. First news of enemy movements were received on the forenoon of 7 April, and the Home Fleet put to sea that evening, but as it was believed that these heralded a break out into the Atlantic, dispositions were made accordingly. It was not until 48 hrs later that the enemy's real intentions were evident, and by then it was too late to prevent the invasion. That morning the battle-cruiser Renown had a brief engagement with the 2 German. battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau which were covering the landings, but the enemy was lost to sight in a snow squall. A British destroyer flotilla commanded by Captain B. W. Warburton-Lee R.N. was sent to Narvik to destroy enemy troop transports. After sinking 2 enemy destroyers and damaging 3, the flotilla commenced to withdraw, but was caught in the cross fire of a superior enemy destroyer force and 2 British destroyers were sunk, Captain Warburton-Lee being killed. For the gallant way in which he fought the enemy, he was awarded a posthumous V.C. Two days later a force under Vice-Admiral. Whitworth, flying his flag in the battleship Warspite, accompanied by 9 destroyers steamed up the same fjord and avenged the British losses by sinking 8 German destroyers and 1 U-boat at a cost of damage to 2 British destroyers.
Intense activities continued in Norwegian waters until 20 April 1940, but attempts to dislodge the enemy failed, although Narvik was eventually captured on 28 May. The invasion of Norway cost the German navy losses it could ill afford. These amounted to 3 cruisers and 10 destroyers sunk, with 2 battle-cruisers, 1 pocket-battleship, 2 cruisers and 1 destroyer severely damaged; its strength in Home Waters was thus reduced to 4 cruisers and 7 destroyers. The British losses amounted to the carrier Glorious, sunk after the evacuation of Narvik, 4 destroyers and 3 submarines.
By then the Germans had launched a nonstop attack in the Ardennes with their Panzer ("mail") divisions of armoured troops. Employing a new technique of massed tanks and low-flying dive-bombers against an enemy woefully inferior in mechanisation and aircraft, their columns smashed clean through the Allied line. By 20th May 1940 they had driven right across northern France to Abbeville and reached the English Channel.
The Anglo-French-Belgian forces cut off in the north were hemmed in. The Belgians, exhausted, gave up the fight. Their Allies were relentlessly squeezed into a narrow bridgehead around the French seaport of Dunkirk. Annihilation threatened them, but the German. fleet was in no condition to interfere with the evacuation which took place between 27 May and 4 June. The Ships of the British Navy and merchant fleet, suported by yachts, tugs, barges, saved, no less than 338,000 of the British and French troops.
The Armistice of France 22nd June 1940.
On the occupation of the Netherlands by German forces, the Dutch fleet in Home Waters comprising 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer and 7 submarines escaped to Britain to carry on the fight. On the fall of France, similarly 2 old battleships, 2 large and 2 small destroyers, 7 submarines, 6 torpedo boats and a number of minesweepers sought refuge in British ports. The incomplete new battleships Jean Bart and Richelieu were however, moved by the French to Casablanca and Dakar, respectively. The fate of the main portion of the French fleet, which was in the Mediterranean, represents a very different story. It was evident to the British Government, that now that Italy had entered the war on the side of Germany, if the powerful French fleet then in North African ports were to fall into enemy hands, not only would the British Mediterranean fleet be greatly outnumbered, but Britain's ability to control the Atlantic would be seriously threatened. Orders were accordingly issued to Admiral. Sir James Somerville commanding the British naval forces in the West Mediterranean to deliver an ultimatum to the French Admiral Gensoul, C-in-C. of the French Mediterranean fleet, in which he was offered the alternatives of joining the British fleet and continuing the fight against Germany and Italy, or of sailing with reduced crews to the West Indies or a British port. If neither of these choices proved acceptable, then, within 6 hours he must sink his ships, failing which the British fleet would use force to prevent his ships falling into the hands of the enemy. The French Mediterranean fleet consisted of the battle-cruisers Dunkerque and Strassbourg, two old battleships, Bretagne and Provence, a seaplane tender and 6 destroyers at Mers el Kebir; 7 destroyers and 4 submarines at Oran; four 8 inch gun cruisers at Toulon and 3 at Alexandria; 6 smaller cruisers at Algiers. Admiral Somerville's forces consisted of the battle cruiser Hood (flagship), the battleships Valiant and Resolution, a cruiser and 4 destroyers which took up a position early on 3 July off Mers el Kebir. Parleying continued between British and French officers throughout the day; but the French Admiral rejected all the alternatives offered, so at 5.54 p.m., on urgent instructions from London for a decision to be reached, Somerville reluctantly gave the order to open fire. The engagement lasted only 10 minutes, but the battleship Bretagne was blown up, the Dunkerque, Provence and a number of other ships were seriously damaged. The Strassbourg and 5 destroyers managed to escape back to Toulon. A few days later action. which was only partially successful, was taken to put the Richelieu out of action at Dakar. At Alexandria, thanks to Admiral Cunningham's patience and perseverance, the French Admiral Godfroy in command of the cruisers there, finally agreed to immobilise his ships. The decisions, though repugnant to the British forces involved, were unfortunately necessary, and it was not until North Africa was re-occupied by Allied forces in November 1942 that all misgivings about the disposal of French warships were allayed.
Attack on Toronto.
On 19 July, H.M.A.S. Sydney, attached to Admiral Cunningham's command, with 5 destroyers in company, encountered 2 Italian cruisers off the North coast of Crete. The British force had the advantage of the light and succeeded in approaching to effective gun-range unobserved. One of the enemy ships, the Bartolomeo Colleoni (5069 tons), the fastest ship in the Italian navy, was disabled and sunk. To offset the loss of the support of the French fleet, the Admiralty constituted a force based on Gibraltar under Admiral Somerville, known as Force 'H', and during the next few years this force was to play a very important part in operations both in and outside the Mediterranean. But on 11 November the balance was tilted yet more in favour of the Allies when aircraft from the carriers Eagle and Illustrious attached to Admiral Cunningham's fleet carried out a daring and most successful attack on the Italian fleet lying in Taranto. Complete surprise was achieved, and the new battleship Littorio and two older ones of the Giulio Cesare class were sunk where they lay. Of the 21 aircraft which took part in the attack only 2 were lost. While the attack was in progress British, light forces raided the Straits of Otranto and early on 12 November encountered a convoy of 4 ships escorted by 2 destroyers; 3 of the former were sunk and 1 destroyer damaged. The value of Admiral Cunningham's victory at Taranto was demonstrated a fortnight later when a small convoy was being passed through the Mediterranean under cover of both his and Admiral Somerville's forces. Although the enemy sailed his two serviceable battleships supported by cruisers and destroyers to intercept, when he realised that he was confronted with superior forces he beat a hasty retreat. That Admiral Cunningham's freedom of action was now greatly enhanced was shown decisively during the battle of the Western Desert, when his ships heavily bombarded Italian positions at Bardia, Tobruk and elsewhere, and by so doing made an important contribution to the subsequent victory ashore.
Ocean Warfare 1941.
At the beginning of 1941, the Germans had the pocket battleship Scheer and 6 armed merchant cruisers at large on the ocean trade routes, and 3 more of the latter were fitting out in Germany. On 4 February these were joined by the cruiser Hipper which on 12 February encountered an unescorted group of 19 ships 800 m. West of Gibraltar of which she sank 7. Further North the battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau under Admiral Lutjens were operating on the Halifax - U.K. route and on 17 February sank 5 ships (25,784 tons), and a month later they sank a further 16 ships (82,000 tons) off Newfoundland. On conclusion of this successful sortie, the German ships returned to Brest, despite the intensive efforts made to intercept them. They were joined there by the cruiser Prinz Eugen and great efforts were made by the R.A.F. Bomber Command to destroy them. Between 21 March and 1 July nearly 2000 tons of high explosive and 19 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on them and all three were damaged in varying degrees. They were again attacked in August and thereafter light raids were made at intervals until December when heavy raids were resumed.
The most dramatic episode was the chase of the Bismarck, Germany's powerful new 45,000- ton battleship, in May, 1941. Starting out from Norway on a commerce raid on 22nd May, she was sighted off Iceland, engaged by battleships and aircraft, lost, picked up again, crippled by aircraft and destroyers and finally sunk by gunfire 300 miles off Brest on 27th May. At the beginning of June there were still 4 enemy armed merchant cruisers at large, but during the latter part of the year 2 returned to French ports and 2 were sunk by patrolling British cruisers in the South Atlantic. All told the warship and merchantship raiders had accounted for 59 ships (331,692 tons) and 98 ships (583,201 tons) respectively.
1944-1945 Home and Northern Waters
Although the surface ship threat to the Arctic convoys had virtually been eliminated, the Germans continued to dispute their passage by the use of U-boats and, to a lesser extent, aircraft. On 2 April, when the Tirpitz was about to carry out trials following repairs to the damage inflicted by the midget submarines the previous autumn, she was attacked by carrier-borne aircraft of the Home Fleet and received further damage which put her out of action for another 3 months.
The Allies had gone forward on every active front, but the fact remained that Germany, the main enemy, was stilt intact. The Allied leaders, President Roosevelt of the United States, Mr. Churchill and the Russian Premier Stalin, planned a simultaneous attack, now they stood ready to carry out the greatest amphibious military undertaking in history. No fewer than 1213 warships and 4126 landing craft were employed for the assault, its success was due to careful planning and close inter-service co-operation. In addition there was a complex array of new and ingenious military devices and engines of war, including swimming" tanks, submarine cross-channel petrol-supply pipes, floating piers and artificial harbours. General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander, but the opening moves, before he crossed over to France, were in charge of General (later Field-Marshal) Montgomery. The Allied plan of campaign was to seize and secure bridgeheads along the fifty-mile stretch of sandy beaches between Cherbourg and Le Havre in Normandy and then to break out in a general onslaught on the German armies.
The Allies were already lords of the air and the sea, and Germany and the invasion area had been thoroughly softened up by intense bombing. Nothing could resist the armies advance inland, the enemy was obliged to evacuate the French Biscayan ports, and the U-boats based there were sailed to Norwegian ports. in this they were greatly assisted by the 'schnorkel' or breathing tube with which many of his submarines were now fitted, and which enabled them to charge their batteries without surfacing.On 12 November the Tirpitz, which meanwhile had been moved to Tromsoe for repairs after further damage during an attack by R.A.F. bombers in September, was made the object of an all-out attack by the same aircraft using 12,000 lb. bombs. This time complete success was achieved, the great battleship being so damaged that she capsized with the loss of over 1000 of her crew. Arctic convoys continued throughout the winter and into the following year, the last to sail leaving Britain on 12 May 1945. Altogether 720 ships made the hazardous voyage to North Russia and delivered some 5000 tanks, 7000 aircraft and large quantities of ammunition and strategic raw materials, amounting in all to some 4 million tons. The operations resulted in the loss of 18 British warships and 89 British. and Allied merchantmen, and 2783 Royal Navy and Merchant Navy officers and men. The German, losses in this area amounted to 1 battleship, 1 battle-cruiser, 3 destroyers, 38 U-boats and over 200 aircraft.
When the war ended the only German, surface ships left intact were the cruisers Prinz Eugen
and Nurnberg, which were surrendered at Copenhagen. The last two pocket
battleships, Scheer, and Lutzow, were
sunk by R.A.F. bombers on 9 and 16 April in Kiel and Swinemunde respectively. The cruiser Hipper was scuttled by her crew. This was the end of the German, navy, which Gd Admiral. Raeder
had hoped would restore Germany's position as a maritime nation.
