Fleet Air Arm
Attack on Taranto (see November 1940)
...1940
SEPTEMBER
1940
ATLANTIC
- SEPTEMBER 1940
United States -
After months of negotiations, an agreement was
announced
on the 5th for the transfer of 50 old but valuable
US
destroyers to the Royal Navy in exchange for
British
bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, the West lndies
and
British Guiana. The first of the "flushdeckers"
arrived in Britain towards the end of the month.
1st - Cruiser
Fiji was
torpedoed by "U-32" out in the North Atlantic off
Rockall as she escorted troop transports for the
Dakar expedition. Her place was taken by
Australian heavy cruiser
Australia.
6th - Escorting
convoy 0A205, corvette "GODETIA" was rammed and
sunk by merchantman
"Marsa" north of Ireland, the first 'Flower'
class lost.
15th -
"U-48" attacked convoy SC3 northwest of Ireland
and sank sloop "DUNDEE". Both "Dundee" and
"Penzance", lost the previous month, were long
endurance ships used as anti-submarine (A/S) ocean
escorts for the slow and vulnerable SC convoys.
23rd-25th,
Dakar Expedition, Operation
'Menace' - Because
of Dakar's strategic importance to the North and
South
Atlantic shipping routes, an expedition was
mounted to
acquire the port for Allied use. Free French
troops led
by Gen de Gaulle were carried in ships escorted
and supported by units of the Home Fleet and Force
H
under the command of Vice-Adm John Cunningham.
They included battleships
Barham
and
Resolution,
carrier
Ark
Royal,
three heavy cruisers and other smaller ships
including
Free French. Naval forces at Dakar included the
unfinished battleship "Richelieu" and two
cruisers recently arrived from Toulon (see below).
Attempts to negotiate on the 23rd soon
failed and as Vichy French ships tried to leave
harbour, shore batteries opened fire, damaging
heavy cruiser Cumberland
and two destroyers. Shortly afterwards, the Vichy
submarine "PERSEE" was sunk by gunfire and
large destroyer "L'AUDACIEUX" disabled by cruiser
Australia
and beached. A Free French
landing was beaten off. Next day, on the 24th,
Dakar was bombarded by the warships and
"Richelieu" attacked by "Ark Royal's"
aircraft. Vichy submarine "AJAX" was sunk by
destroyer "Fortune". The bombardment continued
on the 25th, but battleship
"Resolution"
was torpedoed and badly damaged by submarine
"Beveziers", and "Barham" hit by
"Richelieu's" 15in gunfire. At this point the
operation was abandoned and the Anglo-Free French
forces
withdrew.
Battle
of the Atlantic - Early
in the month the first wolf-pack attacks were
directed by
Adm Doenitz against convoy SC2. Five of the 53
ships were
sunk. A similar operation was mounted two weeks
later
against the 40 ships of HX72. The U-boats present
included those commanded by the aces Kretschmer,
Prien
and Schepke. Eleven ships were lost, seven to
Schepke's
"U-100" in one night. The German B-Service was
instrumental in directing U-boats to the convoys,
where
they held the advantage as they manoeuvred on the
surface
between the merchantmen and escorts. Radar was
urgently
needed so the escorts could detect the U-boats,
force
them to dive and lose their speed advantage, and
then
hunt them with ASDIC.
Monthly Loss Summary:
53 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 272,000 tons in the Atlantic
from
all causes; 2 escorts; no German losses
EUROPE
- SEPTEMBER 1940
Battle of Britain
-
By now heavy units of the Home Fleet had come
south from
Scapa Flow ready to oppose the expected German
invasion.
The Blitz on Britain got under way on the 7th when
major
raids were launched against London. An attack on
the 15th
- subsequently known as Battle of Britain Day -
led to
heavy Luftwaffe losses, although no where near the
claimed 185 aircraft: the Luftwaffe lost around 60
in
exchange for 26 RAF fighters. Operation 'Sealion'
was
shortly postponed until further notice and
invasion
shipping started to disperse. The Blitz did not
let up.
9th - Cruiser
Galatea
was damaged by an acoustic mine in
the Thames Estuary. 18th - Major bombing
raids on
Clydeside, Scotland badly damaged heavy cruiser "Sussex"
as she refitted.
Axis Powers -
Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite
Pact
in Berlin on the 27th. They agreed to jointly
oppose any
country joining the Allies at war - by which they
meant
the United States.
Monthly Loss Summary:
39 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 131,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN
- SEPTEMBER 1940
Royal Navy in the
Mediterranean - Reinforcements were sent to
the
Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria right through
until the
end of the year. They were covered from Gibraltar
by Adm
Somerville's Force H, met in the central basin by
Adm Cunningham and then escorted the rest of the
way. The opportunity was usually taken to carry in
supplies of men and material to Malta. Early in
September new fleet carrier Illustrious
with its armoured flight deck, battleship
Valiant
and two cruisers were transferred in this way in
Operation ''Hats'. On passage with the new
arrivals, aircraft from Force H's
Ark
Royal attacked Sardinian targets. After
joining up with carrier
Eagle and
now in the
eastern Med, "Illustrious" sent aircraft
against Rhodes. The Italian Fleet sortied during
these
operations, but failed to make contact. The
arrival of
"Illustrious" allowed Adm Cunningham to go
ahead with plans to attack the Italian battlefleet
at
Taranto.
("The
Supply of Malta 1940-1942", including the
Malta Convoys)
Vichy France -
Three French cruisers with accompanying destroyers
sailed
from Toulon and, on the 11th, passed through the
Strait
of Gibraltar bound for French West Africa. All but
one of
the cruisers arrived at Dakar just as Operation
'Menace'
(above) was about to get underway. Adm Sir Dudley
North,
Flag Officer, North Atlantic, at Gibraltar was
somewhat
unfairly held responsible for allowing them
passage. He
was relieved of his command and never officially
cleared.
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.
Neither side made a move until December.
17th - Units of
the Mediterranean Fleet including battleship Valiant
sailed with Illustrious
for a raid on Benghazi. Swordfish biplanes
torpedoed
destroyer "BOREA" and mines laid by them off the
port sank "AQUILONE". On the return to Alexandria,
heavy cruiser
Kent was
detached to bombard Bardia, but
torpedoed by Italian aircraft and badly damaged.
22nd - British
submarine "Osiris" on patrol in the southern
Adriatic attacked a convoy and sank Italian
torpedo boat "PALESTRO".
30th - As
Italian
submarine "GONDAR" approached Alexandria carrying
human
torpedoes for an attack on the base, she was found
by a
RAF Sunderland of No 230 Squadron and sunk by
Australian
destroyer "Stuart".
Monthly Loss Summary: 2
ships of 6,000
tons
OCTOBER
1940
ATLANTIC
- OCTOBER 1940
22nd -
Canadian destroyer
MARGAREE
escorting Liverpool-out convoy
OL8, was lost in collision with merchantman "Port
Fairy" to the west of Ireland. This was the last
of
the short-lived fast OL's sailing from Liverpool.
30th
- Destroyers "Harvester" and
"Highlander" sank "U-32" northwest of Ireland
during a
convoy attack. Two days earlier, the U-boat had
finished
off the damaged 42,000-ton liner "Empress of
Britain" (below).
German Surface
Warships
& Raiders - Pocket battleship "Admiral
Scheer" sailed from Germany for the Atlantic and
later Indian Oceans. She returned home in March
1941.
Meanwhile German raider "Widder" arrived in
France after six month's operations in the central
Atlantic where she sank or captured 10 ships of
59,000
tons.
Battle
of the Atlantic - Focke-Wulf
Kondor bombers continued to range the waters off
Ireland
and on the 26th, bombed and damaged the "Empress
of
Britain", later sunk by "U-32" (above).
The Luftwaffe's long-range aircraft were now
flying from
bases in Norway as well as France. Inter-service
rivalry
between the Luftwaffe and Navy meant the Kondor
would
never be fully integrated into the Gerrnan effort
in the
Battle of the Atlantic. Escort limits were only
now
pushed out to 19ºW. In a series of wolf-pack
attacks on
lightly-defended Canada/UK convoys, U-boats sank
more
than 30 ships from SC7 and HX79 between the 17th
and
20th, a rate of loss that would soon have brought
Britain
to her knees. Fortunately, a number of measures
were
being taken to ease the dire situation and provide
some
of the foundations from which Britain and her
Allies
would go on to hold the U-boat threat in check:
(1) the
old US destroyers were coming into service and the
British building programme starting to deliver the
escorts needed; (2) the need for permanent escort
groups
to develop and maintain expertise was being
accepted, and
greater emphasis given to A/S training and (3)
co-operation between RAF Coastal Command and
Western
Approaches Command was steadily improving. But
there was
still a long way to go, and vast areas of the
Atlantic
were without air or sea anti-submarine cover.
Monthly Loss Summary:
56 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 287,000 tons in the Atlantic
from
all causes, 1 destroyer; 1 German U-boat.
EUROPE
- OCTOBER 1940
Britain -
Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester joined London
as
targets for German bombers in the Blitz. On the
12th
the planned invasion of Britain was postponed
until the
following Spring.
18th - The old
submarine H-49,
on anti-invasion patrol off the
Dutch coast, was lost to German A/S trawlers. 19th
-
Destroyer VENETIA
also of World War 1 vintage was
sunk by a mine in the Thames Estuary while on
patrol. 30th
- Destroyer STURDY,
local Western Approaches escort
for Halifax/UK convoy SC8, ran aground off the
west coast
of Scotland, on Tiree Island. She was a total
loss.
Eastern Europe - German
troops
occupied the Rumanian oilfields.
Monthly Loss Summary:
43 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 132,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN
- OCTOBER 1940
2nd -
Mediterranean
Fleet destroyers "Havock" and "Hasty"
sank Italian submarine "BERILLO" off Sollum, the
border town between
Libya and Egypt.
12th/14th,
Attacks
on Malta Convoy
- From Alexandria a convoy safely reached
Malta covered by the Mediterranean Fleet with four
battleships and carriers
Illustrious
and
Eagle. As
the
Fleet returned on the 12th, attacks were
made by Italian light forces southeast of Sicily.
Cruiser Ajax
sank Italian torpedo boats "AIRONE" and "ARIEL"
and badly damaged destroyer "ARTIGLIERE" which was
finished off by heavy cruiser
York. Later
heading back east, the
carriers launched air strikes against Leros island
in the
Dodecanese. On the 14th as the Med Fleet
headed for Alexandria, cruiser Liverpool
(right - Navy Photos) was badly damaged by
a torpedo hit
from Italian aircraft.
15th - On patrol
off Calabria, south west Italy in the Ionian Sea,
submarine RAINBOW
was lost in a gun action with the
Italian submarine "Enrico Toti". At about this
time TRIAD
was probably mined off the Gulf of
Taranto.
18th - Air and
sea
patrols accounted for two Italian submarines to
the east
of Gibraltar. On the 18th "DURBO" went down to
attacks by destroyers
"Firedrake" and "Wrestler" working
with RAF London flying boats of No 202 Squadron. 20th
- Two days later, Gibraltar-based destroyers
"Gallant", "Griffin" and
"Hotspur" accounted for the "LAFOLE".
21st - Red Sea
convoy BN7 was attacked by Italian destroyers
based at
Massawa in Eritrea. The escorts, including New
Zealand cruiser
Leander
and the destroyer Kimberley,
drove "NULLO" ashore with their
gunfire, where she was destroyed next day by RAF
Blenheim
light bombers.
Balkans - On
the
28th, the Italians invaded Greece from
points in
Albania, but were soon driven back. Fighting
continued on
Albanian soil until April 1941.
Monthly Loss Summary: 1
ship of 3,000
tons
NOVEMBER
1940
ATLANTIC
- NOVEMBER 1940
United States - Franklin
D.
Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented third
term
of office as President of the United States.
2nd - Attacking
a
convoy northwest of Ireland, "U-31" was sunk for
the second and final
time, on this occasion by destroyer "Antelope"
in co-operation with shore-based aircraft of RAF
Coastal
Command. RAF Bomber Command first sank her in
March 1940.
3rd - Two armed
merchant cruisers returning from patrol were sunk
west of
Ireland by Kretschmer's "U-99". The first was
"LAURENTIC" on the 3rd. 4th - Next day,
"PATROCLUS" was lost west of Ireland to an
attack by "U-99". A third AMC was sunk next
day.
5th,
Loss of the "Jervis Bay" - Halifax/UK
convoy HX84 with 37
ships and its solitary escort, armed merchant
cruiser
"Jervis Bay" (Capt Fegen) was attacked by
11in-gunned pocket battleship "Admiral Scheer"
in mid-Atlantic. The convoy was ordered to scatter
as "JERVIS
BAY" headed for
the "Scheer", guns firing. The end was in no
doubt and she went down, but her sacrifice saved
all but
five of the merchant ships. Capt Edward Fegen RN
was
posthumously awarded the Victoria
Cross. It was in this action that tanker
"San Demetrio" was damaged by gunfire and
abandoned. Later re-boarded by a few of her crew,
they
got her into port in spite of the greatest
difficulties
and privations. "Admiral Scheer" headed for the
central and later the South Atlantic.
Battle
of the Atlantic - Outward-bound
OB244 and UK-bound SC11 were attacked by two
groups of
U-boats west of North Channel. Fifteen merchant
ships
were sunk, including seven from SC11 by Schepke's
"U-100" on the night of the 22nd/23rd. In
separate North Atlantic operations, German
submarine "U-104" and the Italian "FAA DI
BRUNO" were lost.
In both cases the circumstances were uncertain,
but
"U-104" was claimed by corvette
"Rhododendron" and the Italian by destroyer
"Havelock". "U-104" was the last
German U-boat lost until March although the
Italians
suffered casualties. By the end of the month they
had 26
submarines operating out of Bordeaux, but were
never as
successful as their Axis ally. Important steps
were taken
in the air war when an RAF Sunderland equipped
with 1.5m
wavelength anti-surface vessel (ASV) radar located
a
U-boat. This was the first success of its kind
with a
system that was mainly effective by day; contact
was lost
within two miles of the target. It was the
addition of
the Leigh light that turned it into a powerful
night-time
weapon as well. Now Coastal Command was using
depth
charges instead of ineffective A/S bombs.
Monthly Loss Summary:
38 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 201,000 tons in the Atlantic
from
all causes; 3 armed merchant cruisers; 2 German
and 1 Italian U-boats.
EUROPE
- NOVEMBER 1940
Britain - The
Blitz
continued with a particularly damaging raid on
Coventry
on the night of the 14th. Night-time attacks on
London
and other ports and cities carried on through to
May.
German cities were also targets for the RAF.
Former Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain died on the 9th.
7th - A planned
attack by German torpedo boats (small destroyers)
off the
coast of Scotland ended when "T-6" was mined on
the British East
Coast barrage and went down.
16th - Submarine
SWORDFISH,
setting out on Bay of Biscay
patrol, struck an enemy mine off the Isle of
Wight,
southern England and sank.
Eastern Europe -
Hungary and Rumania joined the Axis
Tripartite
Pact on the 20th and 23rd. Only Yugoslavia and
Bulgaria
held out against German pressure to become
members, the
only countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans
not
completely dominated by the Axis or Russia.
Monthly Loss Summary:
48 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 93,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN
- NOVEMBER 1940
11th,
Fleet Air Arm Attack on Taranto,
Operation 'Judgement'
(map
above)
- Early in the month, a complex
series of reinforcement and supply moves (1-5)
mounted from both ends of the
Mediterranean led to the classic air attack (6)
on the Italian battlefleet at
Taranto. (1) From Alexandria, Adm
Cunningham, with battleships
Malaya,
Ramillies,
Valiant
and
Warspite,
carrier
Illustrious,
cruisers and destroyers, sailed to cover
west-bound convoys to Crete and Malta. Aircraft
carrier Eagle
had to be left behind because of
defects caused by earlier bombing. (2)
From Gibraltar, Force H in a separate operation
called "Coat" supported the east-bound passage of
battleship Barham,
two
cruisers and three destroyers to reinforce the
Mediterranean Fleet. (3)
Troop reinforcements were also carried to
Malta at this time from Gibraltar. (4)
Still in the eastern half of the
Med, Adm Cunningham's Fleet met its new members
and
covered the return of an empty ship convoy from
Malta. (5) On the 11th a cruiser
force
was detached for a successful attack on Italian
shipping
in the Strait of Otranto at the entrance to the
Adriatic
Sea. (6) "Illustrious" meanwhile,
escorted
by cruisers and destroyers, headed for a position
in the
Ionian Sea 170 miles to the southeast of Taranto.
All six
battleships of the Italian Navy were at anchor
there.
That
night she launched
two waves of Swordfish biplanes, some belonging to
"Eagle". Under the command of Lt-Cdrs K.
Williamson and J. W. Hale, the total of no more
than 20
aircraft of Numbers 813, 815, 819 and 824
Squadrons hit "CONTE DI
CAVOUR" and "CAIO
DIULIO" (right - Maritime Quest) with one
torpedo each and the brand new "LITTORIA" with
three. All three
battleships sank at their moorings and "Cavour"
was never recommissioned, all for the loss of just
two Swordfish. The Japanese Navy carefully
studied the attack as Pearl Harbor learnt to its
cost
just a year later.
27th,
Action off Cape Spartivento,
Southern Sardinia - A fast convoy under the
codename Operation 'Collar' sailed eastward from
Gibraltar with ships for Malta and Alexandria.
Cover as usual was provided by Force H with
battlecruiser
Renown,
carrier
Ark
Royal, cruisers
Despatch
and
Sheffield.
Meanwhile, units of the Mediterranean Fleet
including
Ramillies
and cruisers
Newcastle,
Berwick
and
Coventry
headed west for a position south of Sardinia to
meet them. Other ships accompanied the two
Mediterranean Fleet carriers in separate attacks
on Italian targets -
Eagle on
Tripoli, Libya, and
Illustrious
on Rhodes off the southwest
Turkish coast. These moves took place on the 26th.
Next day, on the 27th, south of Sardinia,
aircraft
of Force H's "Ark Royal" sighted an Italian
force with two battleships and seven heavy
cruisers.
Force H, now joined by the Med Fleet's
"Ramillies", sailed to meet them. In an
hour-long exchange of gunfire "Renown" and the
cruisers were in action, during which time
"Berwick" was damaged and an Italian
destroyer badly hit. The slower "Ramillies" had
not come up by the time the Italians turned back
for
home. Adm Somerville pursued, but as he approached
Italian shores had to turn back himself. The
convoys
arrived safely. Adm Somerville was later subjected
to a
board of enquiry for not continuing the pursuit of
the
Italian force, but soon exonerated.
Balkans - As
the
Greek Army pushed back the Italians into Albania,
RAF squadrons were sent from Egypt to Greece
and
the Royal Navy carried over the first Australian,
British
and New Zealand troops by cruiser. Mediterranean
Fleet
established an advance base at Suda Bay on the
north
coast of Crete.
Monthly Loss Summary:
There are no
British or Allied shipping losses in November
1940.
DECEMBER
1940
ATLANTIC
- DECEMBER 1940
German Raiders - "Kormoran"
was
the first of the second wave of raiders to leave
for
operations. She started in the central Atlantic
and later
moved to the Indian Ocean, where she was lost in
November
1941. Much further afield in the South West
Pacific,
"Komet" and "Orion" shared in the
sinking of five ships near the phosphate island of
Nauru.
Later in the month "Komet" shelled the
installations on Nauru. 1st - Armed
merchant
cruiser "Carnarvon Castle" was badly damaged in
action with
raider "Thor" off Brazil, the German ship's
second and equally successful fight with an AMC.
2nd - Cdr
Kretschmer and "U-99" claimed a third armed
merchant cruiser when "FORFAR" was sent to the
bottom west of
Ireland; the others were "Laurentic" and
"Patroclus" a month earlier. At the same time
nearby convoy HX90 was attacked just before the
Western
Approaches escorts arrived. Eleven ships were lost
to the
U-boats.
15th - Italian
submarine "TARANTINI" returning from North
Atlantic patrol was
torpedoed and sunk by submarine "Thunderbolt"
in the Bay of Biscay.
German Heavy
Warships -
Earlier in the month the 8in heavy cruiser
"Admiral Hipper" left Germany and passed into the
Atlantic through the Denmark Strait. On Christmas
Day the 25th December, 700 miles to the west of
Cape Finisterre, northwest Spain she encountered
Middle East troop convoy WS5A, one of 'Winston's
Specials', escorted by cruisers. They were
accompanied by carrier Furious
ferrying aircraft to Takoradi in West Africa. In
an
exchange of gunfire the heavy cruiser "Berwick"
and two merchantmen were slightly
damaged. "Hipper" retired and soon reached
Brest. She was the first of the Gerrnan big ships
to
reach the French Biscay ports. From there she and
her
companions posed a major threat to the Atlantic
convoy
routes right up until the Channel Dash of February
1942.
Monthly Loss Summary:
42 British, Allied and neutral ships of
239,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes, 1
armed
merchant cruiser; 1 Italian U-boat
EUROPE
- DECEMBER 1940
Royal Navy - Adm
Sir
John Tovey succeeded Adm Forbes as
Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.
5th - The
ex-American destroyer
CAMERON
undergoing refit in Portsmouth
harbour was bombed and badly damaged. Not worth
repairing, she was used for experimental purposes.
17th
- Following repairs to bomb damage, destroyer
ACHERON
was carrying out
trials off the Isle of Wight, southern England
when she
detonated a mine and went to the bottom.
Eastern Europe - Hitler
ordered
detailed planning for Operation 'Barbarossa' -
the invasion of Russia.
Monthly Loss Summary:
34 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 83,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN
- DECEMBER 1940
Late November/early
December - Submarines
REGULUS
and
TRITON
were lost in late November or
early December, possibly mined in the Strait of
Otranto
area at the southern end of the Adriatic Sea.
Alternatively "Regulus" may have been sunk by
Italian aircraft on 26th November.
3rd - At anchor
in the poorly defended Suda Bay, cruiser Glasgow
was hit by two torpedoes
from Italian aircraft and badly damaged.
North Africa - Gen
Wavell
launched the first British offensive on the 9th
against the Italian forces in Egypt. Sidi Barrani
was
captured on the 10th and by the end of the month
British
and Dominion troops had entered Libya for the
first time.
The offensive continued until February by which
time El
Agheila, half way across Libya and well on the way
to
Tripoli, had been reached. Italian losses in men
and
material were considerable. Units of the
Mediterranean
Fleet including the small ship Inshore Squadron
and the Australian Destroyer Flotilla played an
important
part in supporting and supplying the North African
land
campaign. On the 13th, cruiser
Coventry
was torpedoed by Italian submarine
"Neghelli", but remained operational. 14th -
Also operating in support of
the land campaign, destroyers "Hereward" and
"Hyperion" sank Italian submarine "NAIADE" off
Bardia, Libya just over the
Egyptian border.
Mediterranean
Operations - Another series of convoy and
offensive operations were carried out by the
Mediterranean Fleet with battleships
Warspite,
Valiant
and carrier
Illustrious.
On the 17th
carrier aircraft attacked Rhodes and on the night
of the 18th/19th
the two battleships bombarded Valona, Albania. At
the same time, battleship Malaya
passed through
to the west for Gibraltar. On the way, escorting
destroyer HYPERION
hit a mine near Cape Bon,
northeast tip of Tunisia on the 22nd and
had to be
scuttled. "Malaya" carried on to meet up with
Force H. The German Luftwaffe's X Fliegerkorps -
including Ju87 Stuka dive-bombers - was ordered to
Sicily
and southern Italy to bolster the Italian Air
Force.
|
Mediterranean
Theatre
after Seven Months
A total of
nine Royal Navy
submarines had
been lost since June in the
Mediterranean, a poor
exchange for the sinking of 10 Italian
merchantmen of 45,000 tons. Most of
the
submarines were the large, older boats
transferred from the Far East and
unsuited to the
waters of the Mediterranean. In the
same time the
Italians lost 18 submarines from all
causes
throughout the Mediterranean and Red
Sea areas.
Mussolini's claimed domination of the
Mediterranean had not been apparent.
In spite of
the loss of French naval power, Force
H and the Mediterranean
Fleet more
than held the Italian Navy in check.
Malta had
been supplied and reinforced, and the
British
offensive in North Africa was
underway.
Elsewhere, the Greeks were driving the
Italians
back into Albania and away to the
south the
Italian East African Empire was about
to be wound
up. However, it was now only a matter
of months
and even weeks before the Luftwaffe
appeared in Sicily, Gen Rommel in
North Africa and the German Army in
Greece, followed by
their paratroops in Crete
|
Monthly
Loss Summary: There were no British or Allied
shipping
losses in December.
DEFENCE
OF TRADE - April to December 1940
U-boats and now
long-range
aircraft had taken a heavy toll of British, Allied
and
neutral shipping in the Atlantic, mainly
in the
North Western Approaches to the British Isles.
Further
afield surface raiders had sunk, captured and
disrupted
shipping as far away as the Pacific. U-boats also
operated with success off West Africa. In UK
waters,
attacks by aircraft and E-boats had added to the
continuous threat from mines. Over half the ships
and 40
percent of tonnage had been lost close to home.
Vital as
the Battle of the Atlantic was, there could be no
let up
in the equally important battle for the coastal
convoy
routes once the ships reached UK waters. Only
heavily
escorted transports used the Mediterranean
until
1943. The monthly loss rate in these months was
twice
that of the first seven months of the war, and
each form
of attack required a different technical and
operational
response by the Royal Navy and its Allies. The
1940
patterns of assault against the trade routes
continued
throughout 1941, although the U-boats moved
further out
into the Atlantic. By year's end they had reached
the
coasts of America.
Total
Losses = 878 British, Allied and
neutral ships of 3,441,000 tons (382,000 tons
per month)
By
Location
|
Location
|
Number
of
British, Allied, neutral ships
|
Total
Gross
Registered Tonnage
|
|
North
Atlantic |
321
|
1,683,000
tons
|
|
South Atlantic
|
8
|
55,000 tons
|
|
UK waters
|
497
|
1,367,000
tons
|
|
Mediterranean
|
13
|
64,000 tons
|
|
Indian Ocean
|
24
|
173,000 tons
|
|
Pacific Ocean
|
15
|
99,000 tons
|
By
Cause
Causes in
order of tonnage sunk
(1. 4. ... -
Order when weapon first introduced)
|
Number
of
British, Allied, neutral ships
|
Total
Gross
Registered Tonnage
|
|
1.
Submarines |
363
|
1,842,000
tons
|
|
4. Aircraft
|
172
|
546,000 tons
|
|
6. Raiders
(new cause) |
54
|
367,000 tons
|
|
2. Mines
|
151
|
342,000 tons
|
|
5. Other
causes |
99
|
201,000 tons
|
|
3. Warships
|
16
|
95,000 tons
|
|
7. Coastal
forces (new cause)
|
23
|
48,000 tons
|
