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STRICT
NEUTRALITY
BRITAIN
& FRANCE AT WAR WITH GERMANY
September 1939 - May 1940
SEPTEMBER
1939
Starting
Conditions - Strategic and
Maritime Situation
Areas under direct
Allied
control of Britain and France included Canada,
Bermuda,
many of the West Indies, British and French
Guiana,
islands in the South Atlantic, much of the
Atlantic
seaboard of Africa, and the fortress of
Gibraltar. The
one major defensive gap was the lack of bases in
Eire to
cover the Western Approaches to Britain. In
contrast
Germany was restricted to short North Sea and
Baltic
coastlines, and its exits to the Atlantic passed
through
the North Sea and the Allied controlled English
Channel,
which American ships and troops would come to
know so
well four and a half years later. However
Britain's
survival, and ultimately Allied success in
Europe,
depended on the Atlantic trade routes. Germany's
did not.
The primary
maritime
tasks of the Allies were based on the
assumption that
Britain and France would face the European
Axis
powers of Germany and Italy. The British Navy
was
responsible for the North Sea and most of the
Atlantic, and both Allies shared in the
defence of
the Mediterranean. Mussolini did not go to war
for
another nine months.
Declaration
of War - Following
the German invasion of Poland on the 1st
September,
Britain and France demanded the withdrawal of
German
forces. The ultimatum was rejected, and the
Allies
together with Australia, New Zealand and India
declared
war on the 3rd. South Africa followed on the 6th
and
Canada on the 10th. Italy announced her
neutrality.
UNITED
STATES - SEPTEMBER 1939
Neutrality
Announced
- On the 5th, President Roosevelt declared the
neutrality
of the United States in accordance with the 1937
Neutrality Act. This included a ban on the sale
of arms
and munitions to all belligerents.
Military Strength
-
On the 8th, he proclaimed a "limited national
emergency" and increased the strength of the
armed
forces. This included Naval enlisted men from
110,000 to
145,000 and Marine Corps from 18,000 to 25,000.
Retired
Navy and Marine officers and men could also be
recalled
to active duty as needed.
Neutrality
Patrol - The
President also ordered the organisation of a
Neutrality
Patrol to protect the neutrality of the Americas
and
report any movement of belligerent forces
towards the
coasts of the United States or the West Indies.
The
Neutrality Patrol was formed on the 12th under
the
command of Commander Atlantic Squadron (Rear-Adm
A W
Johnson). Organised into eight groups consisting
mainly
of cruisers and destroyers, some with patrol
aircraft
support, it covered the coast from Canada down
to the
Caribbean. Battleships and a carrier were held
in
reserve.
ATLANTIC
- SEPTEMBER 1939
Battle
of the Atlantic -
The six year long Battle started the day war was
declared
by Britain, when the British liner "Athenia"
was sunk as a
suspected armed merchant cruiser by a German
U-boat
northwest of Ireland. Survivors were rescued by
a number
of ships including the American "City of Flint"
which was again in the news in October, but the
112 dead
included a number of US citizens. Hitler
initially
ordered a tightening of controls on U-boat
warfare, but
this did not prevent the British Admiralty
immediately
putting convoy plans into operation. By the end
of
September 1939 convoys were sailing (1)
from Britain out
into the Atlantic, (2)
to Britain from Gibraltar and West
Africa, and (3)
from Halifax, Nova Scotia in the HX
convoys. One of these latter convoys saw the
loss of USS
"Reuben James" with HX156 two years later.
Although only limited protection was possible,
convoys
suffered little harm over the next nine months
and most
losses due to U-boats were among independently
routed and
neutral merchantmen.
The first U-boat lost
was "U-39", sunk by British destroyers north
of the British Isles on the 14th, but three days
later to
the south west of Ireland, British fleet carrier
"Courageous" on anti-U-boat patrol was
torpedoed and went to the bottom with heavy loss
of life.
Far to the south, off Brazil on the last day of
the
month, German pocket battleship "Admiral Graf
Spee" sank her first Allied merchantman.
Losses For
September in the Atlantic:
20 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 110,000
tons and
1 British fleet carrier
2 German U-boats sunk by British destroyers off
the
British Isles.
EUROPE
- SEPTEMBER 1939
Western Front
- The
first units of the eventually half a million
strong
British Expeditionary Force crossed the English
Channel
to join the French Army.
Air War - RAF
aircraft made their first attacks on German
warships in
their bases.
German Code
Breaking
- An important step was taken towards the
eventual
successful conclusion of the war when the
British Code
and Cipher School in England moved to Bletchley
Park.
From here, through the "Ultra" programme, the
German "Enigma" codes were eventually broken.
Working on earlier Polish and French successes,
this led
to the Allies penetrating to the very heart of
Axis
planning and operations. "Ultra" also
contributed significantly to the defeat of the
U-boat,
probably the greatest threat faced by the
Western Allies
throughout the war. Early signs of the U-boat
danger were
not only evident in the North Atlantic, but in
the
attacks with torpedo and magnetic mine that
immediately
started around British coasts.
Poland - The
German
advance into Poland continued and on the 17th
September,
Russia invaded from the east. Warsaw surrendered
to the
German Army on the 28th, and next day the
country was
partitioned in accordance with the Soviet-German
Pact.
The last of the Polish Army surrendered on the
5th
October and Poland entered its long dark years
of brutal
oppression.
OCTOBER
1939
UNITED STATES -
OCTOBER 1939
Atomic Bomb -
In an
act that would eventually bring about the end of
World
War 2, President Roosevelt on the advice of
Albert
Einstein established an Advisory Committee on
Uranium
that led to the development of the atomic bomb.
Six
months later, just as the "phoney war" ended
and Europe exploded, the British government sets
up its
own organisation to oversee nuclear research.
Neutrality
Zone - On the 2nd
October by the Act of Panama, a Pan-American
Conference
of Foreign Ministers established a 300-mile wide
neutrality zone off the coasts of the Americas,
but
excluding Canada. This was policed at least as
far south
as Trinidad by the eight US Navy groups of the
Neutrality
Patrol. All hostile action or military
operations by the
belligerent powers were forbidden in this area.
ATLANTIC
- OCTOBER 1939
German Warships
-
As German pocket battleship "Graf Spee" claimed
more victims in the South Atlantic, the British
and
French Navies formed hunting groups in the
Atlantic and
Indian Oceans. By now the Allies were blockading
Germany,
and Germany had announced its own
counter-blockade, both
steps leading to incidents with a protesting
United
States. In the North Atlantic, the second pocket
battleship "Deutchland" captured the US
freighter "City of Flint" as a contraband
carrier while on passage from New York to
Britain. After
accounting for two more ships, "Deutschland"
was ordered home, reaching Germany in November
to be
renamed "Lutzow".
Losses For
October
in the Atlantic:
22 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 133,000
tons
2 German U-boats by British destroyers off
Ireland.
EUROPE
- OCTOBER 1939
Western Front
-
Hitler ordered planning to begin for the
invasion
of France and the Low Countries.
War at Sea -
The
German Air Force launched its first attacks on
British
warships and merchantmen. The Royal Navy
suffered a
tragic loss when anchored battleship "Royal
Oak" was sunk by
"U-47" in the major base of Scapa Flow, north
of Scotland. Three U-boats were lost on Allied
mines in
the Straits of Dover.
NOVEMBER 1939
UNITED STATES -
NOVEMBER 1939
Neutrality Act
- The Neutrality Act was amended on the 4th
November
to allow the supply of arms to belligerents on a
"cash and carry" basis. In practical terms,
this meant supplying the British and French
only.
American shipping and citizens were banned from
entering
defined war zones, including the seas around the
British
Isles.
U.S.
Navy -
"Benson/Gleaves" class destroyer "Benson"
(1,800t, 5-5in, 10tt) was launched by Bethlehem,
Quincy. A total of 96 of these pre-war-designed
destroyers were in the water by early 1943. The
numerous ships of the "Fletcher" class, first
launched in 1942, the "Allen M Sumner's" from
1943, and the "Gearing's" from 1945 followed.
ATLANTIC
- NOVEMBER 1939
German Warships
-
For most of the war, the few powerful German
capital
ships exercised a great influence on British
Navy
operations in the Atlantic, and to a lesser
extent those
of the U.S. Navy. As a foretaste, battlecruisers
"Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" on a
short sortie into the waters near Iceland sank a
British
armed merchant cruiser.
Losses For
November in the Atlantic:
6 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 18,000
tons
1 German U-boat by British destroyers north of
Scotland.
EUROPE
- NOVEMBER 1939
Mine Warfare -
Magnetic mines laid by U-boats, surface ships
and
aircraft continued to be a serious threat around
British
coasts, and in November 1939 accounted for 27
merchant
ships of 121,000 tons, two British destroyers
sunk and a
cruiser seriously damaged. However, such
countermeasures
as ship-degaussing and the LL sweep became
possible when
a mine was recovered in the Thames Estuary
leading up to
London.
Russo-Finnish War
-
Europe moved steadily towards all-out war.
Negotiations
between Russia and Finland on border changes and
the
control of islands in the Gulf of Finland broke
down. On
the 30th November, Russia invaded. The Finns
resisted
fiercely and the war dragged on into March 1940
DECEMBER
1939
UNITED STATES -
DECEMBER 1939
Allied Blockade
-
As the German liner "Columbus" of 32,000 tons
broke out into the Atlantic from the Gulf of
Mexico, she
was intercepted by a British destroyer to the
east of
Cape May, New Jersey on the 19th and scuttled.
The
British blockade of Germany continued to cause
difficulties and the US protested about the
seizure of
mail bound for Europe.
U.S.
Navy - Light
cruisers "St Louis" (CL49) and
"Helena" (CL50) - both 9,800t, 15-6in guns -
the last of nine "Brooklyn" class ships were
commissioned at Newport News and New York
respectively.
ATLANTIC
- DECEMBER 1939
War at Sea -
On the
13th December, east of Uruguay in the South
Atlantic, a
British heavy and two light cruisers encountered
and
damaged the 11 inch gunned "Graf Spee" in the
running "Battle of
the River Plate". Putting into Montevideo
for repairs, the
pocket battleship was scuttled on the 17th on
Hitler's
orders. The heavy cruiser that took part was HMS
Exeter,
destined to share the fate of the USS Houston
half a
world away in early 1942.
Losses For
December in the Atlantic:
7 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 38,000
tons
1 German pocket battleship and 1 outward bound
U-boat by
British submarine in the North Sea
JANUARY
1940
UNITED STATES -
JANUARY 1940
U.S.
Navy - Two of the
most senior appointments in the US Navy were
made at this
time - one civilian, the other naval. Assistant
Secretary
Charles Edison who had been Acting Secretary
since the
death of Claude Swanson in July 1939 was
confirmed as
Secretary of the Navy. Adm James O Richardson
relieved
Adm Claude C Bloch as Commander-in-Chief, United
States
Fleet.
United
States/Japanese
Affairs and the Pacific - Even before the
European
war began, Japan had manoeuvred to complete the
conquest
of China. By the end of 1938, north east China
as far
south as Shanghai together with all the major
ports were
in their hands, and in February 1939, the large
island of
Hainan in the South China Sea was occupied.
These and
subsequent events continued to sour US/Japanese
relations, and led inexorably towards total
world war.
For example, on the 26th January 1940, the
US-Japanese
Trade Treaty of 1911 was allowed to expire
because of
Japan's position in China.
ATLANTIC
- JANUARY 1940
U-boat War -
In the
hard fought battle against the U-boat,
comparatively few
of the 780 German submarines lost were destroyed
in the
first two years of the war, and of these, most
fall
victim to the surface ships of the British Navy.
However
the first indication of the eventual part played
by
aircraft was when an RAF Sunderland flying boat
shared in
the sinking of "U-55" at the end of the month
off the southwest
coast of Britain. Allied aircraft went on to
sink around
290 U-boats.
Losses For
January
in the Atlantic:
9 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 36,000
tons in the
North and South Atlantic
1 German U-boat by British escorts and RAF
aircraft off
southwest Britain.
EUROPE
- JANUARY 1940
Western Front
&
Norway - German plans for a Western
Offensive into
Europe involving attacks on Holland, Belgium,
Luxembourg
and France were postponed. Instead, planning
went ahead
for the invasion of Denmark and Norway.
FEBRUARY
1940
ATLANTIC
- FEBRUARY 1940
Losses For
February in the Atlantic:
17 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 75,000
tons
2 German U-boats by British destroyers off the
Faeroes
and Ireland.
EUROPE
- FEBRUARY 1940
Russo-Finnish War
-
Britain and France decided to send aid to
Finland. This
would allow them to occupy Narvik in northern
Norway, and
partly cut off Swedish iron ore supplies to
Germany.
War at Sea -
British warships off Scotland sank two more
German
U-boats.
MARCH
1940
UNITED STATES -
MARCH 1940
U.S.
Navy -
Eleven "Atlanta" class light cruisers
were completed through to 1946, half by the end
of 1942.
The name ship "Atlanta" (6,700t, 16-5in) was
laid down in March 1940 and launched in
September 1941.
United
States/Japanese
Affairs and the Pacific - Japan
established a Chinese
puppet-government in Nanking.
ATLANTIC
- MARCH 1940
German Raiders -
The German Navy added heavily armed merchant
ship to its
armoury of U-boats and surface warships ranged
against
Allied and especially British shipping. The
first German
raider or auxiliary cruiser to leave was
"Atlantis", one of nine that eventually broke
out to create havoc not only in the Atlantic but
also
across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Their
success was
not so much due to their sinkings and captures -
an
average of 15 ships of 90,000 tons for each
raider - but
to the widespread disruption they caused.
Convoys had to
be organised and patrols instituted in many
parts of the
world. In 1942, by which time they had nearly
been swept
from the oceans, the US liberty ship "Stephen
Hopkins" in one of the few single ship actions
of
the war, put paid to the "Stier".
Troopships -
In
another aspect of the war at sea, the newly
completed
giant liner "Queen Elizabeth" sailed from
Britain for New York, later to be converted into
a
troopship. Used for transporting British and
Dominion
troops at first, she, sister "Queen Mary" and
other fast liners came to play a major part in
the
build-up of American forces for the eventual
invasion of
Europe.
Battle
of the Atlantic -
German U-boats started withdrawing from the
Atlantic in
preparation for the invasion of Norway.
Losses For
March
in the Atlantic:
2 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 11,000
tons
1 German U-boat by British destroyer off the
Shetlands.
EUROPE
- MARCH 1940
Russo-Finnish War
-
A peace treaty on the 13th March ended the war,
with the
transfer of Finnish territory to the victor.
Norway -
Later in
the month, and having abandoned plans to help
Finland,
Britain and France decided to disrupt Swedish
iron ore
traffic by mining Norwegian waters. Troops would
also be
landed if necessary to forestall German
retaliation.
Mine Warfare - Magnetic
mines
continued to take a heavy toll of Allied and
neutral shipping in British waters, but were now
countered by ship degaussing and the use of LL
minesweeping gear. The first acoustic mines were
also
used in British waters from August 1940, and
their main
counter was the towed hammer box. Mines remained
a threat
throughout the war, but were never again the
danger they
represented in the first few months.
APRIL
1940
UNITED STATES -
APRIL 1940
U.S.
Navy - Large
carrier "Wasp" (14,700t, 76 aircraft) was
commissioned at Bethlehem, Quincy, the only one
of her
class. The next class to enter service was the
numerous
and successful "Essex" carriers.
United
States/Japanese
Affairs and the Pacific - The United
States Fleet
commanded by the C-in-C, Adm James Richardson
left the
West Coast for exercises in Hawaiian waters.
ATLANTIC
- APRIL 1940
Losses For
April
in the Atlantic:
4 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 25,000
tons
1 German U-boat by British destroyer off the
Shetlands.
EUROPE
- APRIL 1940
Invasion
of Denmark and Norway - German forces
including most of the Navy
took part in the 9th April invasion of Denmark
and
Norway. Copenhagen was soon occupied and Denmark
surrendered on the day of invasion. German
troops landed
at a number of points in Norway. Soon in control
of the
south and centre, they were pushing north by the
end of
the month to relieve the forces landed at Narvik
in the
north
The British Home
Fleet
sailed too late to intercept, but the German
landings led
to heavy German naval losses. Heavy cruiser
"Blücher"
was sunk by Norwegian
shore defences near Oslo, cruiser "Karlsrühe" by
a British
submarine, and in the first such successful
attack of the
war, sister ship "Königsberg" by British Navy
dive-bombers at Bergen. All
ten German destroyers taking part in the
occupation of
Narvik were also lost in the two Battles
of
Narvik. In
the first battle, on the 10th, five British
destroyers
went in to attack supply ships and sank two of
the
Germans for the loss of two of their own. Three
days
later a battleship and more destroyers entered
the fiords
and sank a U-boat and the remaining eight
destroyers.
In the middle of
the
month, British and French troops landed in
central
Norway to hold the Germans around Trondheim,
and also
in the north to prepare for a ground attack on
Narvik
itself. But the Germans were well established
with
control of the air, and by month's end the
Allied
forces in central Norway were being
evacuated.
Allied Evacuations
- Norway marked the start of nearly two years of
Allied
evacuations from north and south Europe and
later Asia,
during which the British Navy in particular
suffered
heavy losses, usually to air attack. Norway was
no
exception. During the campaign one cruiser was
sunk,
three damaged, and four destroyers including one
French
and one Polish were lost, all to German
aircraft. The
days of carrier-based air cover and powerful AA
defences
were some years in the future, but fortunately
for the
Allies, the U-boats at this time suffered major
torpedo
defect and their many attacks caused few losses.
MAY
1940
UNITED STATES -
MAY 1940
Military Strength
-
With the German invasion of Western Europe,
Pres.
Roosevelt asked Congress for funds totalling $1
billion
to significantly increase US military strength,
and equip
the Navy and Army with 50,000 aircraft each
year.
He also announced plans to re-commission
more
destroyers.
United
States/Japanese
Relations and the Far East - Japan
proclaimed a
"Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" over
much of Asia. The President ordered the US
Fleet to
remain in the Pacific, based at Pearl Harbor as
a
deterrent force for the foreseeable future.
ATLANTIC
- MAY 1940
Iceland, Dutch
West
Indies, Greenland - As events unfolded in
Western
Europe, the Allies took steps to protect their
strategic
position. British troops landed in Iceland to
start
setting up the air and sea bases that become
vital to the
defence of the sea lanes between North America
and
Britain. Soon after the German invasion of
Holland, the
Allies went ashore on the Dutch West Indies
islands of
Aruba and Curacoa to protect the oil
installations.
Greenland also asked the United States for
protection.
Losses For
April
in the Atlantic:
10 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 55,000
tons
EUROPE
- MAY 1940
Norwegian Campaign
-
British, French and Polish forces prepared to
attack
Narvik as the Germans continued to push north
themselves.
As they did, a British troop-carrying
cruiser ran
aground near Bodo becoming a total loss, and
only now
were the first modern RAF fighters flown ashore
from
Royal Navy carriers. Narvik was captured on the
28th but
only to allow the installations to be destroyed.
With the
invasion of France, the decision had already
been taken
to abandon Norway.
United Kingdom
-
The Allies failures in Norway led to one of the
most
important political developments of the war.
British
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and
Winston
Churchill took his place on the 10th May.
Invasion
of Holland, Belgium and France - Germany
invaded Holland, Belgium and
Luxembourg on the day Churchill came to power.
Anglo-French troops moved into Belgium but the
main
German thrust was further south in the centre
through the
Ardennes. By the 13th May they had crossed into
France at
Sedan, and the German Panzers were breaking
through
towards the Channel coast to trap the Allied
armies in
Belgium and northern France. Rotterdam was
blitzed on the
14th and the Dutch army surrendered the
next day.
As the Allies retreated from Belgium, German
forces
entered Brussels on the 17th.
As in Norway, the
Germans
usually had air superiority and the British and
French
Navies suffered heavily, especially in
destroyers. Even
before the Dunkirk evacuation started, three
British and
four French destroyers were lost off the coasts
of France
and the Low Countries.
On the 20th, German
armour
reachesd the Channel near Abbeville and pushed
north as
the British and French fall back on Dunkirk.
The British decide
to
evacuate their Expeditionary Force from
Dunkirk, and
hoped to lift off 45,000 men in two days
starting
from the 26th. Under heavy attack by air, sea
and
from the shore, Operation "Dynamo"
was
endangered by the
collapse of
the Belgium Army and its surrender on
the
28th, but continued into early June. Three
more
British and two French destroyers went down
off the
evacuation beaches before May was out.
ARMED
NEUTRALITY
ITALY AT
WAR WITH BRITAIN, SURRENDER OF FRANCE,
BRITAIN
ALONE
June 1940 - April 1941
JUNE
1940
UNITED STATES -
JUNE 1940
Preparations for
War
- The fall of France was a great shock as the
French Army
and the British Navy between them were expected
to defeat
Hitler. Now there was fear that Nazi governments
would be
set up in South America, and the French and
Dutch West
Indies taken over. President Roosevelt developed
his
"short of war" policy with the aim of:
(1) Keeping Britain
in
the fight in Europe;
(2) Giving the
United
States time to re-arm; and
(3) Keeping Japan
in
check in the Far East by diplomacy and the
deterrence
of the US Fleet.
Various measures were
taken in support of these policies while
maintaining
American neutrality:
U.S.
Navy - The
President declared the Mediterranean area and
the Red Sea
a war zone. In mid-month, he signed the "11%
Naval
Expansion Act" increasing carrier, cruiser and
submarine tonnage by 167,000 tons and auxiliary
shipping
by 75,000, tons and also approved an increase in
naval
aviation up to a level of 10,000 aircraft.
Civilian
scientists were appointed to a new National
Defense
Research Committee from which stemmed most of
the armed
forces research in the pre-Pearl Harbor period.
Continuing the expansion of the Navy, Adm Stark
as Chief
of Naval Operations asked for £4,000 million for
the
construction of a "Two-Ocean Navy", and further
changes took place at the top. The post of
Under-Secretary of the Navy was created, and
Charles
Edison was forced to resign as Secretary of the
Navy.
Appointments to these vital positions were made
over the
next few weeks.
Major
new warships also
entered the scene. The first of the powerful
"Iowa" class battleships (48,000t, 9-16in),
"Iowa", was laid down at New York, followed in
September by "New Jersey" at Philadelphia. Both
were launched in 1942 for commissioning in 1943.
Sister-ships "Missouri" and
"Wisconsin" followed later and entered service
in 1944. Also in June 1940, the two "North
Carolina" class battleships were launched and
the
four "South Dakota's" continued under
construction. All ten of these new battleships
would see
extensive service in the coming World War, but
the even
larger "Montana" class (60,000t, 12-16in) was
never laid down. With the launch of the "North
Carolina" class "Washington" at
Philadelphia on the 1st June, the first new US
battleship
was in the water since the "West Virginia" in
1921.
US
Naval forces
currently consisted of 1,100 vessels of all
types and
161,000 Navy personnel, 28,000 Marine Corps and
14,000
Coast Guard totalling 203,000.
United
States/Japanese
Relations and the Pacific - With its
possession of
the Chinese ports, Japan wanted to close the
remaining
entry points into the country. Pressure was put
on France
to stop the flow of supplies through Indo-China
and to
allow the Japanese into the north of the
country, and
also on Britain to close the Burma Road. Both
complied,
but Britain only until October when the road was
re-opened. In Japan itself a non-aggression pact
with
Thailand was announced.
ATLANTIC
- JUNE 1940
Battle
of the Atlantic -
The loss of Norway brought German warships and
U-boats
many hundreds of miles closer to the Atlantic
convoy
routes, and within close range of the later
Arctic
convoys to Russia. Britain's blockade line from
the
Orkneys to southern Norway was outflanked, and a
new one
had to be established between the Shetlands and
Iceland,
along which the Royal Navy started the massive
task of
laying a mine barrage. Within a matter of days
the first
U-boats were sailing from Bergen in Norway,
while others
were sent on patrol as far south as the Canary
and Cape
Verde Islands off northwest Africa. Italian
submarines
joined them in this area but without any initial
successes.
However it was the
North Western Approaches to the British Isles,
including the waters between Ireland and
Iceland,
where the U-boats enjoyed their first "Happy
Time" until early 1941. With never more than
15
boats on patrol at any one time, by the end of
the
year they had accounted for most of the 315
ships of
1.6 million tons lost in the Atlantic in the
period.
Many of these losses were from the stragglers
and
independently routed ships or the many still
unescorted convoys, but even with the escorted
convoys, U-boat tactics were particularly
worrying.
Instead of attacking submerged where the
British
Asdic (or Sonar) could detect them, they
operated on
the surface at night as 18-knot torpedo boats,
often
faster than the few escorting warships.
Effective
radar was vital. Until it became available,
Snowflake
flares were devised to illuminate the boats
and drive
them under the surface.
Losses For
June in
the Atlantic:
53 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 297,000
tons and
3 British armed merchant cruisers
2 German U-boats in the North Western Approaches
to
Britain, cause of loss unknown
EUROPE
- JUNE 1940
End of the
Norwegian
Campaign - By the 8th June, 25,000 Allied
fighting
men had been evacuated from the Narvik area, and
Norwegian King Haakon VII sailed to Britain and
into
exile. The Norwegian Army surrendered
next day.
Still on the 8th,
the
British fleet carrier "Glorious", also sailing
for Britain, was
sunk by German battlecruisers "Scharnhorst"
and "Gneisenau". Naval losses on both sides
had been high - for the Allies (mainly
Britain), one
carrier, two cruisers, nine destroyers and
five
submarines. For the Germans, a total of 17
surface
ships sunk or damaged of the 23 of destroyer
size and
over that took part. These included three
cruisers
and ten destroyers sunk, plus four U-boats.
Battle for France
-
The evacuation of Dunkirk was over by the 4th,
by which
time another three British and one French
destroyer had
been lost to heavy air attack. By then a total
of 340,000
men had been saved, including the bulk of the
British
Expeditionary Force as well French troops.
As Britain took
steps
to meet the threat of a cross-Channel
invasion, the
Germans completed the conquest of France. The
battle
for France started on the 5th with a German
advance
south from the line River Somme to Sedan. On
the
14th, Paris was entered. The government of
Marshal
Pétain asked for armistice terms on the 17th,
and
five days later, a Franco-German Armistice was
signed.
Its provisions
included the German occupation of the entire
Channel
and Biscay coast and the demilitarisation of
the
large French fleet under Axis control. By the
25th, a
further 215,000 Allied servicemen and
civilians had
been evacuated from French ports, and on the
30th,
the Germans started to occupy the Channel
Islands
belonging to Britain.
Eastern Europe
-
Russia occupied the Baltic states of Lithuania,
Estonia and Latvia, and in July
formally
re-incorporated them into the USSR - a step
never
recognised by the United States. Russia also
took over
Bessarabia and northern Bukovina in Rumania.
MEDITERRANEAN
- JUNE 1940
Starting
Conditions - Strategic and
Maritime Situation
The Mediterranean
area can
be conveniently split into three main theatres:
(1) Mediterranean
and
bordering countries;
(2) Oil production
centres of the Middle or Near East; and
(3) Red Sea, East
Africa and nearby Indian Ocean.
In the space of just
two
weeks, from the entry of Italy into the war
until the
surrender of France, the situation for Britain
changed
drastically. The country's isolation soon become
evident,
as will the flexibility of her naval power.
Before this point was
reached and starting with the Mediterranean
- in the west, Britain
controlled Gibraltar at the entrance to the
Atlantic.
Close to southern France was French Corsica and
the North
African colonies of Morocco, Algeria and
Tunisia. Malta
in the centre was British, and in the east,
Britain
maintained a hold on Egypt and the Suez Canal,
Palestine
and Cyprus. In the Levant, Lebanon and Syria
were French
colonies. Italy
stood astride the central Mediterranean, with
Sardinia
and Sicily to the north and Libya to the south,
and also
controlled Albania in the Adriatic and the
Dodecanese
Islands in the southern Aegean. The only neutral
countries were Fascist Spain to the west,
Yugoslavia in
the centre, and Greece, Crete and Turkey in the
east.
In the Near East,
Iraq, Persia (or Iran) and the
Persian Gulf area were all within the British
sphere of
influence and surrounded by Allied or neutral
countries.
To the east of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
had close ties with
Britain and Aden was a British colony. On the
west were
Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and further
south,
French and British Somaliland. In between were
the linked Italian colonies of Eritrea, Ethiopia
and
Italian Somaliland and bordering them to the
south, Kenya
in British East Africa.
Even assuming
France's
continued involvement in the war, the Allies
position in
the Mediterranean could not be guaranteed.
Gibraltar was
vital, but its security depended on Spain's
neutrality,
and Malta was considered indefensible with the
Italian
Air Force based in nearby Sicily. Egypt and the
Suez
Canal was threatened by a large Italian army in
Libya,
and from bases in Italian East Africa, Allied
Red Sea
shipping could be attacked, and British and
French
Somaliland, Sudan and Kenya invaded. However
Italian
forces in this area could only be supplied by
air.
These threats, at
least to
British territory, depended on Italy taking and
holding
the initiative, especially with her large Navy.
This she
failed to do. Malta became a thorn in the side
of Axis
supply routes to Libya, and Libya and Italian
East Africa
became endangered by comparatively small British
and
Dominion forces in the area. Over the next three
years,
Malta, above all, became the pivot about which
the whole
Mediterranean campaign revolved - both the
problem of its
supply in which the US carrier "Wasp" played a
part, and its effectiveness as an offensive
base. Various
Axis plans to invade the island never come to
anything.
Maritime -
The
Western Mediterranean was primarily the
responsibility of
the French Navy and the Eastern end was in the
hands of a
British Fleet based at Alexandria supported by a
small
French squadron. Apart from submarines, the
Allies had
numerical superiority and the only aircraft
carriers were
British.
Declarations
of War and the French Surrender - On the
10th June, and in a step
condemned by President Roosevelt in scathing
terms,
Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain and
France as
they reeled before the German attacks.
Australia, Canada,
India, New Zealand and South Africa also
declared against
Italy. Later in the month Italian forces invaded
the
south of France, but with little success.
Italian
aircraft carried out their first raids on Malta,
the
island destined to become the most heavily
bombed target
of the war, and the RAF raided mainland Italy.
On the 24th, the
Franco-Italian Armistice was signed, which
included
provision for the demilitarisation of French
naval bases
in the Mediterranean.
War at Sea -
Warships on both sides were soon lost. On a
sweep for
Italian shipping in the Eastern Mediterranean,
an old
British light cruiser fell victim to an Italian
submarine, and submarines on both sides suffered
heavily.
Three British boats were sunk off Italian bases
by
effective anti-submarine forces. In return, four
Italians
were lost from the eight strong Red Sea
flotilla, and six
more in the Mediterranean itself. Throughout the
war,
comparatively little Allied shipping was sunk in
the
Mediterranean as most supplies to and from the
Middle
East were diverted around South Africa's Cape of
Good
Hope.
JULY
1940
UNITED STATES -
JULY 1940
U.S.
Navy - Two major
naval developments took place in July. On the
11th, Frank
Knox, a prominent Republican entered office as
Secretary
of the Navy. (Another Republican, Henry L
Stimson also
became Secretary of War). And on the 19th, the
President
signed the "Naval Expansion" or "Two-Ocean
Navy Act" allowing for a massive extra 1,325,000
tons of warships, 100,000 tons of auxiliary
shipping and
15,000 aircraft. This would double the size of
the
existing Navy, but take valuable time.
Nearly 30
"Cleveland" class light cruisers (11,700t,
12-6in) were eventually completed, some not
until
after the end of the war. "Cleveland"
herself was laid down in July 1940 at New
York,
followed by three more in 1940. Five ships
were
commissioned in 1942, five in 1943, and ten in
1944.
United
States/Japanese
Relations and the Pacific - Prince Konoye
formed a
new and more aggressive Japanese cabinet that
included
Gen Hideki Tojo as Minister of War. To hold back
Japanese
war plans, President Roosevelt invoked the new
Export
Control Act to stop the export of iron, steel,
oil and
other strategic and military materials and
equipment to
Japan.
ATLANTIC
- JULY 1940
Strategic
and Maritime Situation - The defeat of
France transformed the
circumstances for Britain and her remaining
Allies. From
North Cape in Norway down to the Pyrenees at the
Spanish
border, the coast of Western Europe was in
German hands.
With the occupation of the Low Countries and
northern
France, the south and east coasts of England
were in the
front line, and from the French Biscay ports,
German
forces dominated the south western approaches to
the
British Isles. With the Germans also in Norway,
the
British occupation of Iceland took on a new and
vital
importance, but the lack of bases in Eire became
a more
evident problem. To add to this, the majority of
French
possessions on the Atlantic seaboards of Africa
and the
Americas were under the control of Vichy France
and thus
not available to Allied forces. Worse still was
the
danger of their occupation by the Axis powers.
Maritime -
The Naval situation was
similarly transformed. Not only was the French
Fleet
denied to the Allies, but the fear was that
its
considerable strength would be added to the
German
and Italian Navies and totally alter the naval
balance of power. Rather than make for British
ports,
most of the modern ships, including two
uncompleted
battleships sailed for French North and West
Africa.
Battle
of the Atlantic -
In the Atlantic Ocean, convoys to and from the
British
Isles were now re-routed through the North
Western
Approaches of Britain, instead of south of
Ireland and
through the Irish Sea. The escort limits of the
few ships
available (many were retained on anti-invasion
duties)
were only now pushed out from 15°W to 17°W, but
as
U-boats were patrolling well beyond this area,
many
sinkings took place amongst unescorted convoys
or after
the ships have dispersed.
Losses For
July in
the Atlantic:
34 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 173,000
tons and
1 British destroyer
1 German U-boat by British escort and RAF
aircraft
southwest of Ireland.
EUROPE
- JULY 1940
French Fleet -
Britain was desperate to ensure the French Fleet
stayed
out of Axis hands. Starting on the 3rd July, the
old
battleships "Courbet" and "Paris",
and several smaller warships including the large
submarine "Surcouf" were seized in British
ports. On the 8th, British naval attacks
were made on
the uncompleted battleship "Richelieu" laying
off Dakar in West Africa, but to little
effect.
Further north at Casablanca in Morocco,
no action
was taken against sister ship "Jean Bart". In
the West Indies, carrier "Bearn" and two
cruisers were immobilised by mainly diplomatic
means. In
August, the US and France reached an
understanding on the
status of French warships and aircraft in the
French
West Indies.
Battle of Britain
-
Having decided to invade Britain, Hitler ordered
preliminary air attacks to start on English
Channel
shipping and ports. Preparations for the
landings -
Operation "Sealion" - started in mid-month, and
were scheduled to take place in mid-August. On
the 19th,
Hitler made peace overtures to Britain, but
these were
rejected.
War at Sea -
Amongst the losses inflicted by the Germans were
four
Royal Navy destroyers sunk off the south and
east coasts
of Britain, and eight out of 21 ships in a
single Channel
convoy to Ju87 Stuka dive-bombers and
E-boats.
MEDITERRANEAN
- JULY 1940
Strategic
and Maritime Situation - With the fall of
France, Italy continued to
dominate the central basin and only Gibraltar
was left to
Britain at the western end. Malta in the middle
was even
more indefensible than before. And southern
France,
Corsica, Morocco, Algeria and Tunis to the west
became
Vichy French, together with Lebanon and Syria at
the east
end. At this stage, Greece and Crete were
fortunately
neutral, otherwise Axis aircraft would dominate
the
British Mediterranean Fleet as soon as it left
Egyptian
waters.
Maritime -
The comparatively healthy
naval position also changed for the worst. In
all
except capital ships, the Royal Navy was
distinctly
inferior in numbers to the Italians, except
for its
two near-priceless fleet carriers. These
enabled the
British to virtually dominate the
Mediterranean over
the next six months. This was helped by the
eventual
French commitment to stay neutral and keep its
fleet
out of Axis hands.
French Fleet -
At
this time, still fearing for the fate of the
French Navy,
units of the Royal Navy arrived off the French
Algerian
base of Mers-el-Kebir near Oran. French
Admiral
Gensoul was offered a number of choices to
ensure his
fleet, including four capital ships stayed out
of Axis
hands. All were turned down, and on a tragic day
for
Anglo-French relations, fire was opened at the
start of
the "Action
at Oran", or
Operation "Catapult". Old battleship "Bretagne"
blew up, two more capital ships
were badly damaged and the fourth escaped to
Toulon. A
happier solution was found at Alexandria,
where
British Admiral Andrew Cunningham persuaded the
French to
demilitarise their one old battleship and other
ships. No
action was taken against French warships at
Algiers
and Toulon.
War a Sea - In
the "Action off
Calabria" or
"Battle of Punto Stilo" which took place on the
9th July, British and Italian battlefleets
covering
respectively, convoys between Malta and Egypt,
and Italy
and Libya, clashed in the Ionian Sea. High-level
bombing
damaged one British cruiser and one Italian
battleship
was hit by a 15in shell before the Italians
turned back.
Ten days later off Crete, in the "Action off
Cape
Spada", an Australian cruiser and British
destroyers
sank one of two intercepted Italian cruisers.
East Africa -
Italian forces from bases in Ethiopia occupied
British
border posts in Kenya and the Sudan.
AUGUST
1940
UNITED STATES -
AUGUST 1940
US-Canada
Relations -
The United States made further preparations for
war
including greater involvement with the Allies.
At the
highest level, Pres. Roosevelt met with Canadian
Prime
Minister MacKenzie King leading to a US-Canada
Mutual
Defense Pact.
U.S.
Navy - Back
home, James Forrestal of New York was appointed
the first
under-secretary of the Navy, and the President
started
calling up National Guardsmen into Federal
Service.
Rear-Adm Ghormley, Assistant Chief of Naval
Operations
and other senior US military officers arrived in
London
to hold early informal discussions with the
British.
Naval topics covered with the Admiralty included
anti-submarine warfare.
British Scientific
Developments - A British mission arrived
in the
United States with a number of vitally important
scientific developments including the
newly-invented
cavity magnetron, needed for the introduction of
short
wavelength radar and the eventual defeat of the
U-boats.
This device also led to the proximity AA fuse,
so
important in the later battle against Japanese
kamikaze
aircraft.
ATLANTIC
- AUGUST 1940
Battle
of the Atlantic - German
long range Focke Wulf Kondors started operations
off the
coasts of Ireland from bases near Bordeaux,
France. As
well as spotting for U-boats, they attacked and
sank many
merchantmen, and remained a major threat until
the
introduction of ship-borne aircraft.
Losses For
August
in the Atlantic:
39 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 190,000
tons, 2
British armed merchant cruisers and 1 escort
1 German U-boat by British submarine in the Bay
of
Biscay.
EUROPE
- AUGUST 1940
Battle of Britain
-
The Luftwaffe switched its attacks from Channel
ports and
shipping to RAF Fighter Command, and on the 13th
August
launched a major offensive - "Adlertag" -
especially against airfields. Damage to
installations and
losses in aircraft on both sides were heavy.
Then bombs
dropped inadvertently on London led to RAF
Bomber Command
raiding Berlin, and the Germans shortly changed
their
tactics to Britain's advantage.
Eastern Europe
-
Germany started planning for the invasion of Russia.
MEDITERRANEAN
- AUGUST 1940
Malta -
Britain
decided to reinforce and hold Malta, and
Hurricane
fighters were flown off to the island from a
Royal Navy
carrier to the southwest of Sardinia. This was
the first
of many such supply operations, often bitterly
fought, to
keep Malta in the fight against the Axis' own
supply
routes to their armies in North Africa.
East Africa -
From
Ethiopia, Italian forces invaded British
Somaliland and
against strong resistance, entered the capital
of Berbera
on the 19th. By then the Royal Navy had
evacuated the
surviving garrison. At the same time, a British
mission
entered Ethiopia to help organise
uprisings
against the occupying Italians.
SEPTEMBER
1940
UNITED STATES -
SEPTEMBER 1940
"Destroyers-for-Bases"
- On the 3rd, the
President announced the deal with Britain. After
months
of negotiations with Winston Churchill, and to
help
Britain stay in the war, 50 old US flushdeck
destroyers
were exchanged for bases in Newfoundland,
Bermuda, the
West Indies and British Guiana. The first eight
destroyers were soon transferred.
U.S.
Navy - As the Navy
prepared for a war in two oceans, contracts were
awarded
for 210 major warships including 12 aircraft
carriers and
seven battleships.
Conscription -
In
mid-month, Pres. Roosevelt signed the Selective
Training
and Service Act, the first US compulsory
military
training in peacetime. A month later, 16 million
men were
registering for the draft.
United
States/Japanese
Relations and the Pacific - Vichy France
was forced
to agree to the Japanese occupying ports,
airfields and
railways in northern Indochina. Steps were now
taken to
build-up US defences in the Pacific. A Fleet
Marine Force
detachment arrived on Midway Island to start
work.
ATLANTIC
- SEPTEMBER 1940
Dakar, West Africa
- Because of its strategic importance in French
West
Africa, the "Dakar Expedition"
was
mounted from Britain
to take the
port for Allied use. Free French troops led by
Gen de
Gaulle were transported in warships of the Royal
Navy.
Vichy French forces included the unfinished
battleship
"Richelieu" and two cruisers recently arrived
from Toulon in southern France. Attempts to
negotiate on
the 23rd soon broke down, and in two days of
fighting two
Vichy French submarines and a destroyer were
lost in
exchange for damage to a Royal Navy battleship.
Unable to
land, the operation was abandoned and the
Anglo-Free
French forces withdrew.
Battle
of the Atlantic - September
1940 saw the first German wolfpack attacks
directed by
Admiral Doenitz against British convoys in the
North
Atlantic. The U-boats taking part included those
commanded by such aces as Kretschmer, Prien and
Schepke,
and in just one night, Schepke's "U-100" sank
seven of the eleven ships lost from Halifax/UK
convoy
HX72. Directed to the convoys by German Navy
code-breakers of the B-Service, the U-boats held
the
advantage as they manoeuvred on the surface
between the
merchantmen and escorts. Radar was urgently
needed to
detect and drive them under, so the escorts
could gain
the advantage of speed and use their Asdic (or
Sonar).
Losses For
June in
the Atlantic:
53 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 272,000
tons, 2
British escorts
No U-boats were lost in the Atlantic.
EUROPE
- SEPTEMBER 1940
Battle of Britain
-
The "Blitz" on Britain got underway on the 7th
when major raids were launched on London. The
attack on
the 15th led to heavy Luftwaffe losses. Although
nowhere
near the 185 aircraft claimed, 60 valuable
machines and
their crews were lost in exchange for 26 RAF
fighters.
Operation "Sealion" was shortly postponed until
further notice and German invasion shipping
started to
disperse. There was no let up in the blitz.
Axis Powers -
In
Berlin on the 27th, Germany, Italy and Japan
signed the Tripartite Pact, and agreed to oppose
any
country joining the Allies at war. The main
purpose was
to keep the United States out by
threatening a
two-front war in the Atlantic and the Pacific.
MEDITERRANEAN
- SEPTEMBER 1940
North Africa -
From
bases in Libya, Italy invaded Egypt on
the 13th.
Sollum, just over the border was occupied and
Sidi
Barrani reached on the 16th. There the Italian
advance
stopped and neither side made a move until
December 1940.
OCTOBER
1940
UNITED STATES -
OCTOBER 1940
U.S.
Navy - The
Secretary of the Navy ordered Naval reserves to
prepare
for active duty at short notice.
United
States/Japanese
Relations and the Pacific - As Japan
protested
against the American embargo on petroleum
products and
scrap metal, the US advised its citizens to
leave the Far
East.
ATLANTIC
- OCTOBER 1940
Battle
of the Atlantic -
Flying from France and now Norway, German
Kondors
continued to hunt the waters off Ireland, one of
them
setting ablaze the 42,000 ton British liner
"Empress
of Britain". Fortunately, inter-service rivalry
between the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine meant
they were
never fully integrated into German naval
operations.
British escort limits
were
only now pushed out to 19°W, and in a series of
wolfpack
attacks on two lightly defended convoys sailing
between
Canada and Britain, 30 merchantmen were sunk, a
rate of
loss impossible for Britain to sustain. However,
a number
of measures were being taken that would
contribute to the
eventual defeat of the U-boats:
(1) The ex-US
flushdeckers were coming into service and the
British
building programme was delivering new escorts;
(2) Permanent
escort
groups were being developed and trained
intensively
in anti-submarine (A/S) warfare;
(3) Co-operation
between the Royal Navy and RAF Coastal Command
was
improving, although vast areas of the Atlantic
remained without A/S cover.
German Surface
Raiders
and Warships - The first auxiliary raider
returned to
France after six months in the Central Atlantic
after
sinking or capturing ten ships of 59,000 tons.
Pocket
battleship "Admiral Scheer" with her 11in guns,
sailed from Germany at the start of six month's
successful operations in the Atlantic and Indian
Oceans.
Losses For
October
in the Atlantic:
56 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 287,000
tons, 1
Canadian destroyer
1 German U-boat by British destroyers northwest
of
Ireland.
EUROPE
- OCTOBER 1940
Battle of Britain
-
As the blitz continued, other British cities
joined
London as targets for German bombers. On the
12th, Hitler
postponed the planned invasion of Britain until
the
spring of 1941.
Eastern Europe
-
German troops occupied the Rumanian oilfields,
including
Ploesti, a name soon to become familiar to
USAAF crews.
MEDITERRANEAN
- OCTOBER 1940
U.S.
Navy - U.S. Naval
Squadron 40-T (Rear-Adm D M LeBreton), operating
in the
western Mediterranean, was disbanded on the
22nd.
Balkans - On
the
28th, Italian forces invaded Greece from
points
within Albania, but were soon driven back.
Fighting
continued on Albanian soil until April
1941.
NOVEMBER
1940
UNITED STATES -
NOVEMBER 1940
President Franklin
D
Roosevelt - was elected to an
unprecedented third
term of office. In another political move, Adm W
D Leahy
USN (Rtd) was appointed Ambassador to Vichy
France.
U.S.
Navy - In the
Atlantic, the relatively small Atlantic Squadron
of the
US Navy was renamed Patrol Force, US Fleet.
Naval flying
boats started flying from Bermuda on
reconnaissance
flights.
Merchant
Shipping Loss -
Much further afield in the Bass Straits between
Australia
and Tasmania, the United States lost its first
merchant
vessel sunk in the war. On the 8th, the SS "City
of
Rayville" went down after hitting a mine laid by
a
German raider.
ATLANTIC
- NOVEMBER 1940
Battle
of the Atlantic -
Transatlantic convoys were continuing to lose
heavily
from U-boat attacks (two convoys in the North
Western
Approaches to the British Isles lost 15
merchantmen,
including seven in one night to "U-100"), but
important progress was made in the air war
against them.
An RAF Sunderland flying boat located a U-boat
using 1.5m
wavelength radar in the first success of its
kind, but
because of sea "clutter", the system was only
effective by day. When later linked to the
airborne
"Leigh-light", it became a powerful night-time
weapon for the Allies. But at present they were
a long
way from gaining the upper hand.
From December 1940
to
March 1941, not one German U-boat was sunk in
the
North Atlantic, although the Italian flotillas
suffered losses. By the end of the month, 26
of their
submarines were operating out of Bordeaux, but
never
with the success enjoyed by the Germans.
Losses For
November in the Atlantic:
38 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 201,000
tons, 3
British armed merchant cruisers
2 German and 1 Italian U-boats by British
escorts in the
North Atlantic.
EUROPE
- NOVEMBER 1940
Battle of Britain
-
As night-time attacks continued on London and
other
British ports and cities through to May 1941, a
particularly damaging raid was made on Coventry
in
mid-month.
Air War -
German
cities also increasingly became targets for the
RAF.
Eastern Europe
- Hungary
on the 20th and Rumania three days later
joined
the Axis Tripartite Pact. Only Yugoslavia
and Bulgaria
held out against German pressure to become
members.
They remained the only countries in Eastern
Europe and
the Balkans not completely dominated by the Axis
or
Russia
MEDITERRANEAN
- NOVEMBER 1940
War at Sea -
As the
Royal Navy built up strength and wrested control
of the
Mediterranean from the Italians, mainly through
the use
of carrier airpower, there were warship losses
on both
side, mainly in destroyers and submarines. But
now the
Italians lost half of their battlefleet in one
of the
classic actions of the war, and one in which the
Japanese
showed great interest. On the night of the 11th,
as part
of supply operations to Malta and Crete, carrier
"Illustrious" launched 20 old Swordfish
biplanes for the "Attack on Taranto".
Three battleships were sunk and
disabled by torpedoes, the "Conte di Cavour"
permanently, for the loss of two
aircraft.
Towards the end of
the
month, in the "Action off Cape
Spartivento", Sardinia, British and
Italian
battlefleets were again in action, but with
only
limited damage to each side before the
Italians
turned away.
Balkans - As
the
Greek Army forced back the Italians in Albania,
RAF squadrons were sent from Egypt to Greece
and
the first British Empire troops were carried
across by
warships.
DECEMBER
1940
UNITED STATES -
DECEMBER 1940
U.S.
Navy - A future
architect of Allied victory, Rear-Adm Ernest J
King was
appointed Commander Patrol Force, US Fleet in
the
Atlantic in succession to Rear-Adm Ellis. He
hoisted his
flag in battleship "Texas" at Norfolk,
Virginia.
ATLANTIC
- DECEMBER 1940
German Warships
-
Apart from the U-boats on Atlantic patrol,
German raiders
were in action in the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, and
the 8in cruiser "Admiral Hipper" was operating
to the west of Cape Finisterre before heading
for France.
From here, she and later battlecruisers
"Scharnhorst" and Gneisenau" posed a major
threat to Atlantic convoys until February 1942.
Losses For
December in the Atlantic:
42 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 239,000
tons, 1
British armed merchant cruiser
1 Italian U-boat by British submarine in the Bay
of
Biscay.
EUROPE
- DECEMBER 1940
Eastern Europe
-
Hitler ordered detailed planning for Operation
"Barbarossa", the invasion of Russia.
MEDITERRANEAN
- DECEMBER 1940
North Africa -
On
the 9th December, the British launched their
first major
attack against Italian forces in Egypt.
Sidi
Barrani was captured on the 10th, and by the end
of the
month, British Empire troops had crossed into
Libya
for the first time. The offensive continued into
February, by which time El Agheila, well on the
way to
the capital of Tripoli, had been reached.
Italian losses
in men and material were considerable.
War at Sea -
Units
of the Royal Navy, including an Australian
destroyer
flotilla played an important part supporting and
supplying the land campaign.
Mediterranean
Theatres - Strategic Situation - By the
end of 1940 and in spite of
the loss of French naval power, the Royal Navy
had more
than held the Italians in check at sea, Malta
had been
supplied and reinforced, and the British
offensive in
North Africa was well underway. The Greeks were
driving
back the Italians into Albania, and much further
south, a
start was made on winding-up the Italian East
African
Empire. But it was now only a matter of months
and even
weeks before the German Luftwaffe appeared in
Sicily,
General Rommel arrived in North Africa, and the
German
army invaded Greece, followed by paratroop
landings on
Crete.
JANUARY
1941
UNITED STATES -
JANUARY 1941
Preparations
for War -
American preparations accelerated as the
President asked
Congress to agree funding for the construction
of 200
merchant ships. Even more significantly US and
British
staff officers started secret discussions in
Washington
to agree on a joint strategy in the event of
America
being brought into the conflict. U.S. Navy
members
included Rear Adm's Robert Ghormley and Richmond
Kelly
Turner.
US/Japanese
Relations
and the Pacific - The Japanese also
started
contingency planning but of a different nature.
Under Adm
Yamamoto, the Imperial Navy worked on the
problems of
attacking by air the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl
Harbor.
ATLANTIC
- JANUARY 1941
Battle
of the Atlantic - For
the next few months, the U-boat "Happy Time"
continued against the poorly defended convoys in
the
North Western Approaches to the British Isles,
although
bad weather in January and February kept
sinkings down.
Approximately 22 U-boats were operational out of
the 90
in commission, and long-range aircraft still
roamed the
waters off Ireland sinking ships and spotting
for
U-boats. In the case of German surface ships,
pocket
battleship "Admiral Scheer" stayed at sea until
late March, and battlecruisers "Scharnhorst"
and "Gneisenau", and separately, a heavy
cruiser prepared to sail for the Atlantic and
successful
operations starting in February. Of the seven
original
surface raiders, six remained at large in the
Atlantic,
Indian and Pacific Oceans. Allied losses to
surface
raiders were high through until June 1941, after
which
the threat diminished as world-wide convoys were
organised and the German supply ships were sunk.
Losses For
January
in the Atlantic:
59 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 273,000
tons
1 Italian U-boat by British escort in the NW
approaches
to the British Isles
MEDITERRANEAN
- JANUARY 1941
Malta -
Another
complex series of convoy movements around Malta
from both
ends of the Mediterranean, including
Gibraltar/Malta
convoy Operation
"Excess",
together with the recent arrival of the German
Luftwaffe
in Sicily led to the Royal Navy losing its
comparative
freedom of operation in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
Carrier "Illustrious" was singled out and badly
damaged by Ju87 and Ju88 divebombers to the west
of Malta
on the 10th January, and a cruiser was sunk next
day. All
merchantmen reached their destinations, but for
the loss
of the carrier's vital airpower.
North Africa -
As
the British continued to advance into Libya,
Bardia was taken on the 5th, Australian troops
captured
Tobruk on the 22nd and Derna by the end of the
month.
East Africa -
The
British campaign to oust the Italians from East
Africa
started. Eritrea in the north was
invaded from the
Sudan by largely Indian forces, and in the
south, Italian
Somaliland was attacked from
Kenya by African
and South African troops.
FEBRUARY
1941
UNITED STATES -
FEBRUARY 1941
U.S.
Navy - On
the 1st of the month, the Navy Department
announced a
re-organisation of the United States Fleet. The
US Fleet
in the Pacific was to be revived as the Pacific
Fleet
with Adm Richardson being relieved as C-in-C by
Adm
Husband E Kimmel, who also had the additional
duty of
C-in-C United States Fleet. The Atlantic Patrol
Force was
reactivated as the Atlantic Fleet with Adm
Ernest J King
as Cinclant. And the smaller Asiatic Fleet, with
no ships
larger than cruisers, continued to be based at
Manila Bay
in the Philippines with Adm Thomas C Hart in
command.
The main task of
the
Pacific Fleet remained the execution of Plan
"Orange" (now Rainbow 5), the capture by
U.S. Marines of the Marshalls and Caroline
Islands on
the way to the relief of the Philippines. It
lacked
the ships and capability to do this.
ATLANTIC
- FEBRUARY 1941
Losses For
February in the Atlantic:
69 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 317,000
tons
1 Italian U-boat by British escorts in the NW
approaches
to the British Isles
MEDITERRANEAN
- FEBRUARY 1941
North Africa -
British armoured forces crossed the Libyan
desert
to a point south of Benghazi and cut off the
retreating
Italians on the 5th in the Battle of Beda Fomm.
Australians captured the important port of
Benghazi
itself, and by the 9th February, El Agheila was
reached
where the advance stopped. Just as the first
units of the
German Army under Gen Rommel arrived in Tripoli,
large
numbers of British and Dominion troops were
withdrawn and
transferred to Greece.
East Africa -
To
the north, the Indian advance into Eritrea was
held
up for most of February and March in the Battle
for
Keren. In the south, the Italian Somaliland
capital of Mogadishu was captured on the 25th,
after
which British forces advanced northwest into Ethiopia.
MARCH
1941
UNITED STATES -
MARCH 1941
Preparations
for War - More
steps, major and minor, took the United States
further
into the Allied camp. Britain was rapidly losing
the
ability to wage war by having to pay cash for
American
munitions and supplies and then transport them
in her own
ships. As the US moved into large-scale
rearmament,
President Roosevelt introduced "Lend-lease" to
allow the Allies to have all that could be
spared without
immediate payment. Congress passed this vital
Act on the
11th.
Meanwhile
US-British
Staff discussions had been held in Washington
and
concluded with the issue of the "ABC-1 Staff
Agreement" covering the direction of the war
if
America came in. Whether war with Japan was
avoided
or not, the defeat of Germany would be given
first
priority. It was also agreed that the US Joint
and
British Chiefs of Staff would meet as the
Combined
Chiefs of Staff to thrash out the Allies
strategic
plans. Thus even before war began, the
blueprint for
eventual victory had been prepared - (1) An
agreed
strategy supported by (2) a unified command
and
control structure for the vast military forces
that
would be needed.
U.S.
Navy - One
immediate effect of the ABC Agreement was that
the US
Navy was to take over some of the responsibility
for
escorting trans-Atlantic convoys so that
lend-lease
supplies got through. Before then, at the
beginning of
the month a Support Force, Atlantic Fleet
(Rear-Adm A L
Bristol) was established with destroyer
flotillas and
patrol plane squadrons for convoy protection.
Then right
at the end of March, German, Italian and Danish
merchantmen laying in US ports were seized.
Greenland -
Further
afield a US expedition arrived at Godthaab in
Greenland
to identify suitable military and naval bases,
and in
April 1941 the US signed an agreement with
Denmark for
the defence of this barren land.
U.S./Japanese
Relations
and the Far East - Japan mediated in the
undeclared
war between Vichy France and Thailand with
France ceding
Indochina territory and Japan gaining further
rights over
the colony.
ATLANTIC
- MARCH 1941
Battle
of the Atlantic -
With Britain fighting for its very survival,
Prime
Minister Winston Churchill issued on the 6th
March his
"Battle of the Atlantic" directive aimed at
combating the German submarine and aircraft
offensive:
Catapult armed
merchantmen (CAM-ships) were to be fitted out,
Merchant ships given AA weapons as a first
priority,
More radar-equipped, RAF Coastal Command
squadrons
formed,
Port and dockyard congestion tackled with the
defence
of ports greatly improved.
Better weather in the
North Atlantic now meant an increase in U-boat
attacks,
but for the first time since November 1940 the
enemy
suffered losses - five boats including those
commanded by
the top-scoring Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke
were sunk
in a matter of days by Royal Navy escorts. From
then on,
convoy escort/wolfpack battles predominated in
the North
Atlantic.
German Warships
-
Battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and
"Gneisenau" returned from their successful
Atlantic raiding to Brest in France, where they
were
subject to frequent, heavy raids by the RAF
until
February 1942.
Losses For
March
in the Atlantic:
63 Allied and neutral merchant ships of 365,000
tons
5 German U-boats by British escorts to the south
of
Iceland.
EUROPE
- MARCH 1941
Eastern Europe -
Bulgaria
joined the Tripartite Pact on the 1st March and
German
troops entered the country. In the Balkans, only
Yugoslavia
stayed outside, but only until the 25th, when
she too
joined. Two days later an anti-Nazi coup toppled
the
government.
MEDITERRANEAN
- MARCH 1941
North Africa -
Gen
Rommel opened his first offensive with German
and Italian
troops by taking El Agheila on the 24th. Within
three
weeks, the British were back to Sollum on the Egyptian
side of the border.
War at Sea -
As the
British Mediterranean Fleet sailed from
Alexandria to
cover troop and supply movements to Greece, an
Italian
force including one battleship, sortied to
attack the
convoy routes. Using "Ultra" intelligence, Adm
Andrew Cunningham with a fleet carrier and three
old
battleships prepared to engage them to the south
and west
of Crete in the "Battle of Cape Matapan".
Following a daytime action on the
28th between the Italians and a British cruiser
force,
three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers
were sunk
that night by battleship gunfire. British losses
were one
aircraft. However the Crete area in the month
did see the
loss of one British heavy cruiser to Italian
explosive
motor boats and a light cruiser to submarine
attack.
East Africa -
British forces sailed from Aden to land at
Berbera in British
Somaliland on the 16th, followed by an
advance
southwest into Ethiopia. In the north,
Keren fell
to the attacking Indian troops and the road was
opened to
the Eritrean capital of Asmara and Red
Sea port of
Massawa.
APRIL
1941
UNITED STATES -
APRIL 1941
U.S.
Navy - As the
authorized enlisted strength of the Navy
increased
further, battleship "North Carolina" (37,000t,
9-16in), the first US capital ship for nearly 20
years,
was commissioned at New York. And now the first
of 24
completed "Essex" class carriers (27,000t, 90
aircraft), the "Essex", was laid down at
Newport News, launched in July 1942 and
commissioned in
December the same year. Six more were
commissioned in
1943, seven in 1944 and ten through until as
late as
1950.
U.S./Japanese
Relations
and the Pacific - A five-year Neutrality
Pact between
Japan and Russia benefited both powers. Russia
was able
to free troops for the European theatre, and
Japan could
concentrate on expansion southwards. Reflecting
the
tension in the Far East, an
American-Dutch-British-Australian (ABDA)
conference was
held at Singapore in an attempt to agree on
plans for
local defence in the event of war with Japan.
Little
resulted from this with the British wanting to
concentrate the future Allied strength at
Singapore and
the United States disagreeing.
ATLANTIC
- APRIL 1941
Battle
of the Atlantic - Early
in the month, a German wolf pack sank 10 ships
in a slow
UK-bound convoy. Aware that without further help
at sea,
Allied lease-lend supplies would just not get
through,
Adm Stark started transferring warships from the
Pacific
to the Atlantic Fleets, including the new
carrier
"Yorktown", three battleships, four light
cruisers and two destroyer squadrons. Other
moves towards
war involving the U.S. Navy came when:
(1) Denmark invited
the US to take over the defence of Greenland,
(2) Adm King
ordered
that any Axis forces coming within 25 miles of
the
Western Hemisphere including Greenland, would
be
treated as hostile, and
(3) The Neutrality
Patrol was extended eastward to 26°W and
southward
to 20°S.
More directly, on
the
10th, the first possible action took place
between US
and German warships. As destroyer "Niblack"
rescued survivors from a torpedoed Dutch
freighter
off Iceland, she depth-charged a suspected
U-boat.
Then on the 17th April, Egyptian passenger
ships
"Zamzam" was sunk by raider
"Atlantis" in the South Atlantic and 150
Americans were among those rescued.
Over the next few
months,
the Royal Navy started to introduce a
number of
long-awaited ship-types and weapons into the
crucial
Battle of the Atlantic:
(1) The first Royal
Navy fighter catapult ships, equipped with a
single
"one-way" Hurricane were ready in April and
shot down their first Kondor in August.
(2) Soon to join
them
were catapult-armed merchantmen (CAM), which
were
eventually superseded in 1943 by merchant
aircraft
carriers (MAC) - civilian-manned merchantmen
carrying oil or grain and constructed with
full-length flight decks.
(3 )The final step
in
the introduction of ship-borne aircraft came
in June
when escort carrier HMS "Audacity" entered
service after conversion from a German prize.
Her
life was short, but proved the great value of
these
vessels.
New scientific and
engineering developments also started to play
their part:
(4) In May, the
first
high-definition, 10cm wavelength radar was
installed
in a British corvette.
(5) Later still,
high
frequency, direction finding (HF/DF) was
introduced
afloat to add to the efforts of shore
stations. It
was many months before either system was
widely in
service, and not until 1942 did they claim
their
first U-boats.
(6) British
inter-service co-ordination was further
improved when
RAF Coastal Command was placed under the
operational
control of the Royal Navy.
Of equal importance
were
major improvements in the efficient operation of
new and
existing weapons through the work of
multi-disciplinary
"operational or operations research" (OR)
teams. Even simple statistical and mathematical
techniques applied to depth-charge settings,
aircraft
search patterns, and convoy sizes etc led to
significant
benefits. But the German successes and heavy
Allied
losses continued.
Losses For
April
in the Atlantic:
48 Allied and neutral ships of 282,000 tons, 3
British
armed merchant cruisers
2 German U-boats by British escorts south of
Iceland.
MEDITERRANEAN
- APRIL 1941
North Africa -
Germans entered Benghazi on the 4th, and by
mid-month had
surrounded Tobruk and reached the Egyptian
border.
Attacks on the British and Australian troops
defending
Tobruk were unsuccessful, and an eight month
siege began.
War at Sea -
In the "Action off
Sfax",
Tunisia on the 16th April, a German Afrika Korps
convoy
of five transports and three Italian destroyers
was wiped
out by four British destroyers, for the loss of
one of
destroyer.
Balkans -
German
forces invaded Yugoslavia and Greece
on the
6th, and by the 12th, were entering the
Yugoslavian
capital of Belgrade. The Yugoslav army
surrendered five
days later. Greek forces in Albania and Greece
followed
suit, and starting on the 24th, 50,000 British
and
Dominion troops were evacuated to Crete and
Egypt under
heavy air attack. Athens was occupied on the
27th.
Near East - A
pro-German coup in Iraq threatened
Allied oil
supplies. By the middle of the month, British
and Indian
units were entering the country through the
Persian Gulf.
East Africa -
The
capture of Eritrea was completed when
the capital
of Asmara was occupied on the 1st and the port
of Massawa
on the 8th. Two days earlier, Addis Ababa,
capital of
Ethiopia was taken, after which Italian
resistance
continued mainly in the north of the country.
United States
Affairs
- On the 10th, President Roosevelt announced
that the Red
Sea and Gulf of Aden were no
longer
combat areas, and were open to US shipping.
JUST SHORT OF WAR
RUSSIA AT
WAR, JAPAN PREPARES
May - December 1941
to
be concluded
|
