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Sea Power & Maritime Affairs
Lesson 11
WORLD WAR II
North Africa, Mediterranean & Atlantic
1941-1945
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Last Class
Navy during Inter-War Period (1918-1939)
 Treaty of Versailles
 State of world navies
 Naval Arms Limitations
– Washington Conferences
 Birth of new technologies
– Aircraft carrier
Today
WWII in the Africa, Med, Atlantic
 Causes of war
 Navies in Atlantic, Africa & Med
 US navy involvement
 End of war in Europe
8 Key Themes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Navy as an instrument of foreign policy
Interaction between Congress and Navy
Interservice relations
Technology
Leadership
Strategy & Tactics
Evolution of US Naval Doctrine
Future missions of Navy and USMC
Sea Power & Maritime Affairs
Lesson 13
WWII
Naval War in Europe
Why study separately?
 Battle for the Atlantic
 Battle for the Pacific
Allied Navy Roles in European War
1. Convoy Escort
-
Supply protection
Anti-submarine warfare
2. Troop Transport
-
Dunkirk evacuation
Amphibious Assault execution
Navy surface gunfire support
Naval aircraft support
3. Random surface engagements
-
Battleships, cruisers, carrier
4. Air superiority
Axis Navy Roles in European War
1. Supply-Chain Destruction
-
“Surface Raiders”
U-Boats (submarines)
2. Troop Transport
-
Plans for Britain
Northern Africa
3. Random surface engagements
- Battleships, cruisers, carrier
4. Air superiority
Warning of Impending War
Germany
- Extremism
- Repudiates Treaty of
Versailles
- Military development
Military Mobilization
 Rhineland
 Austria
 Sudetenland
 Czechoslovakia
Japan
 Extremism
 Military development
Military Mobilization
 China
 South-east Asia
Phase I
1936
 Rhineland
1937
• Nothing
1938
• Austrian “Anschluss”
• Sudetenland
Territorial Gains
1939
 Czechoslovakia
 Poland
1940
• Denmark
• Norway
• Holland
• Belgium
• France
• Britain (Failure)
• Soviet Union
Germany
Post WWI
Rhineland
1936
“Anschluss” (Austria)
1938
Sudetenland
1938
Czechoslovakia
1939
Poland
Sept 1, 1939
* Official Start of War / UK, France declare War
Start of War in Europe




Germany & USSR invade Poland
UK and France declare war
Germany declares war
Italy declares war
– During French invasion
 US : Neutral
What about the Navy?
Initial Allied Naval Strategy
Big Picture
1. Prevent German fleet
from getting into
Atlantic
2. Preserve control of seas
a. Supply
b. Troop movement
** Combined British and French
fleets made largest fleet in
the world. Confident they
could control the seas.
Initial German Naval Strategy
Big Picture
1. Control of seas
a. Supply
b. Troop movement
2. Cripple Allied supply
-
Convoy Surface “Raiders”
Submarines “Wolf packs”
3. Air superiority
What about the Navy?
Initial Allied Warfare
WWI-style
 Blockade
 Mine laying
 Convoys
 Royal Air Force
Initial German Warfare
WWI-style
 Submarine warfare
 Luftwaffe
• NEW TECHNOLOGY: Aircraft Carriers
Denmark & Norway
Apr 1940
Holland
May 10-15, 1940
Belgium
May 28, 1940
“Miracle” of Dunkirk
- Allies enveloped
Hope: Rescue 45,000
Actual: 338,000 rescued
Reason:
1. Army holds back Germans 9 Days
2. British Navy and merchantmen combine efforts
France on Verge of Defeat
Verge of Defeat
1. French plead for
British Support
2. Brits plead for France
to release their fleet
*Neither side agrees
Defeat



Armistice: 22 June
1940
Create “Vichy France”
Brits start seizing
French ships
Strategic Implications
1. No western threat
2. British blockade
ineffective
3. Britain all alone
France Armistice
June 22, 1940
How are the Allies Doing?
Poorly
 Only Brits left
– Remnants of Army
– Combined Fleet split in half
 German Empire enormous and growing
– Men & military resources
 British supply dwindling
 Italy now at war with Britain
– Mediterranean
You are Hitler
 What do you do next?
Battle of Britain
“Operation Sea Lion”
August 1940
Hitler’s Next Target
 Wants to defeat Britain
 Plan: Amphibious Assault
– Army and Navy dispute over where to land
– Both agree: Must control air first
German Luftwaffe begins bombing
campaign and the Battle of Britain
begins
You are Churchill
 What do you do?
Battle of Britain Video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O71
FJDkfngY&feature=related
British Strategy & Tactics
 Enormous resources into Royal Air Force
British Advantage
1. English channel
– Move fleet from Scapa Flow
2. Logistics
3. Advanced Warning
– Radar
– More important: “Ultra” – German message
coding
Does Germany Win?
Short Answer
No
Long Answer
No, Because
1. Brits exploit their advantage
a. Losses:
(Britain)
915 fighters
(Germany)
1733 aircraft
2. Germans get distracted
a. Bomb cities rather than
airfields and radar installations
b. Divert attention to invading
USSR and saving Italians in North
Africa
Early American Role
“Neutrality”
Supply, Supply, Supply
Ready the Troops
Early American Role
 Supposed “Neutrality”
– FDR: American interest in defeating
fascism
– Diplomacy: “Equal opportunity for American
goods”
– Reality: “Preserve UK through material
support”
Early American Role
1. Loan 50 WWI Destroyers to Britain
2. Lend Lease (March 1941) to Britain
(later USSR)
3. “Neutrality Patrols”
-
In response to several incidents with Germans
inspecting or sinking US merchant ships
4. Destroyer escort as far as Iceland
–
–
Unofficial convoy escort
Dangerous life for “non-combatant” sailors
5. Escort in and out of British ports
German War on Supply
1.
2.
3.
4.
Brits assumed “Unrestricted Sub Warfare”
Brits arm merchant vessels
Germans remove submarine restrictions
Germans increase submarine war
- Hone “Wolf-pack” tactics
Problem: Brits mined English Channel.
North sea is only option. But subs use
too much fuel going through North Sea.
Wolf-pack Tactics
1. Surface sighting
2. Relay to headquarters
3. Assign of pack
4. Trail and study
5. Multi-angle attack at night
* Prefer independent ship
**”Greenland Air Gap”
German War on Supply
Big Events: Norway, France (50% time save)
Total Numbers
 2,775 Allied merchants sunk
 1,175 U-Boats committed / 781 lost
 “The Cruel Sea” – Nicholas Monsarrat
How were the U-Boats Defeated?
Convoys
– More convoy boats
– Different types of convoy boats
• Corvettes & frigates
– Longer escorts
– Air escort
Technology
– More accurate surface radar
– More accurate asdic (sonar)
– Better depth charges
Cryptology
– Brits crack German Navy’s “Ultra” cipher (Twice)
How were the U-Boats Defeated?
For the US
–
–
–
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Air coverage : 300 anti-sub planes
“Black Out” at night
Interlocking convoy hand-off
“Hunter-Killer Groups”
Final reason: Sinking more U-Boats than
Germany could build
- Ratio of 3:1 (Merchants:U-Boats sank)
- Escorts and aircraft each account for 50%
Bottom Line: War on supply became too costly
for Germans
Navy’s Other Roles
Troop Transport
Historical Context
 Oct 1940: Germany attacks USSR
 Dec 1941: US enters war (joins Britain &
USSR)
* Allied Quandary: How to defeat
Germany?
Europe in 1942
Where would you begin?
Europe in 1942
Close in from all sides
Conflicting Plans
 Soviets want western front
– Take pressure off them
 British want to start in Africa
– Avoid catastrophic defeat and stalemate of WWI
 US “Germany-First” Plan
– Planners fear starting in Africa will delay western
invasion until 1944 and USSR will not last until
then
– Planners also want more time to build and train
• Amphibious landing vehicles
*What do we do?
Navy Facilitates Amphibious Assaults
The Big Four:
 North Africa – “Torch”
 Sicily – “Husky”
 Italy – “Avalanche” and “Shingle”
 France – “Neptune” and “Overlord”
* Grand strategy: Work into Europe from
the south (knock out Italy) while
preparing for assault on France’s
western coast. Combine these assaults
with USSR from east.
Navy Transport Instrumental
 Enormous success transporting troops
 28 KTS
 Amphibious landings more deadly
– Normandy
North Africa
Operation “Torch”
-Time delay
-Over 100 transports
-Naval bombardment
-Mine clearing
Nov 1942
North Africa
Nov 1942
Operation “Torch”
-Time delay
-Over 100 transports
-Naval bombardment
-Mine clearing
Other Navy contributions in Northern Africa:
Allied Naval control of Med prevented evacuation of Rommel’s troops in
Tunisia. Leads to surrender of 230,000 Germany soldiers.
Italy
 Over 500 vessels
 24,000 soldiers
Jan 1943-1944
Operation “Shingle”
Operation “Avalanche”
Standard Operations:
1. Naval
Bombardment
2. Assault
3. Naval gunfire
support
Operation “Husky”
4. Naval aircraft
support
Normandy
6 June 1944
Operation “Neptune”
-Largest amphibious Op
in World History
-Over 4,000 ships
-714,000 men
-111,000 vehicles
-250,000 tons supply
Normandy
6 June 1944
Operation “Neptune”
1. Paratroopers
2. Ariel bombing
3. Meet in “Zebra”
4. Minesweepers
5. Surface gunfire
6. Assault
Normandy
June 1944
Operation “Overlord”
Video
 Saving Private Ryan
Normandy
June 1944
Operation “Overlord”
End Result
 ~16,000 killed
Other Naval Battles
Other Naval Battles
 Many skirmishes between individual
ships and squadrons
– Surface “Raiders”
– Bismarck
– HMS Hood
– HMS Prince of Whales
 Regular Aircraft Carrier engagements
 Though deadly…
– No BIG battle like Jutland
– No strategically critical battle
Review
 What were the Navies’ primary roles in
Europe?
– Allies
– Axis
 What are examples of how they fulfilled
these roles?
Big Picture
 The naval war in Europe was different
than the war in the Pacific in many
regards. In some sense, it resembled
much of the naval war in WWI, but the
addition of amphibious operations and
aircraft engagements added a
dimension that was unexplored in WWI.
Overall, the Navies played a critical role
in the Allied victory over the axis.
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WWII in the Pacific