Extraneous
Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
|
.P These ASW counters are only used if playing with the Convoy In Flames optional
rule. The counters do not represent any specific individual convoy or any
particular ships, but are designed to represent convoy escort groups. They have
mixed values reflecting the fact that the make-up of an escort group could differ
from one convoy to the next. Examples of escort vessels used during the Second
World War were: escort carriers, destroyers, destroyer escorts, corvettes,
sloops, trawlers etc - in other words a wide variety of ship type was used in the
defence of merchant vessels.
.P At the start of the war the Royal Navy (RN) had too few escorts to allow it to
undertake all its required duties; protecting convoys, escorting capital ships
etc. Matters were made worse by heavy losses incurred off Norway and the Low
Countries, but gradually, the problem was resolved. A large shipbuilding program
was begun, almost from scratch, in Canada, while in the United Kingdom, priority
was given to the construction of specialised escort vessels. The Lend-Lease bill
passed in the United States further assisted the cause. As the war progressed,
the escorts available to the navies of the Commonwealth not only grew in number,
but also in effectiveness - in particular their anti-aircraft (AA) and anti-
submarine (ASW) capability.
.P There were two main threats to ocean-going convoys: Surface raiders and
U-boats, while closer to shore, aircraft and mines were a particular menace.
Unfortunately for the Kriegsmarine, the surface raiders record against Allied
convoys was ultimately to prove a disappointment. In contrast to its U-boat arm,
neither its warships nor its assortment of auxiliary cruisers came anywhere near
causing the level of destruction they had hoped for.
.P Unrestricted submarine warfare by the Germans in the First World War brought
the United Kingdom to the brink of defeat. The UK survived thanks largely to the
introduction of the convoy system, which provided the previously unguarded and
mostly unarmed merchant vessels with warship protection.
.P At the outbreak of World War II convoys were re-introduced as quickly as
possible, but there had been a lack of investment in time and resources devoted
to the subject of convoy defence during the inter-war years. This not only led to
the shortage of specialist escort vessels, but those the RN did have were fitted
with only rudimentary AA and ASW equipment.
.P Fortunately for the British, the Kriegsmarine were equally, if not more
unprepared, and actually started the war with only fifty-seven U-boats. Of
these, just twenty-six were capable of Atlantic operations. The Germans moved
quickly to rectify this deficiency via a large scale U-boat build program, and
great success was achieved in the first half of the Second World War. This led
Winston Churchill to later admit that the only thing that frightened him in World
War II was the U-boat threat. For a time the U-boats were sinking more merchant
ships than could be replaced, but in the end, the greater resources open to the
Allies; more ships and better technology, ground the U-boat menace into oblivion.
.P During the Second World War, the potency of aircraft as ship killers became
evident. Most convoy routes came under threat from air attack at some point
along their length. To reach out into the Atlantic and Arctic, the Germans
employed their long range Focke-Wulf FW200 Condor aircraft that had a range of
2,212 miles (3,560km) and a 14-hour endurance. For more confined waters like the
North Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean, the Axis forces were able
to employ their shorter range aircraft in the ship killer role. Ultimately, a
combination of escort carriers and stronger AA capability on board the escorts
managed to neutralise this threat too. Mines were to prove a potent weapon too,
and the Germans were very active in sowing minefields throughout the war.
Clearing paths through these obstacles was a vital role and the minesweepers of
the RN saved many a ship with their unsung work.
.P Of all the Allied convoy routes, the Atlantic was the most important. The
Battle of the Atlantic was to be the longest battle in World War II. Had the
Allies lost, the United Kingdom could have been literally starved into defeat. It
is worth remembering here that the men of the Merchant Navy suffered a higher
percentage of losses compared to the British Army, RN or Royal Air Force in World
War II, and these losses were mostly incurred in bringing food and supplies to
the Britain.
.P In addition, the movement of troops from the United States and the far flung
colonies and dominions of the Commonwealth to the frontline; France, India, North
Africa etc would have been much more hazardous if the Axis had control of the
sea lanes. That this did not happen is down to the bravery and sacrifice of those
that fought the enemy in all major sea areas of the world. These write-ups tell
some of those stories.
.P Note, the date on the back of these ASW and ASW Carrier counters do not relate
in any meaningful way to actual build dates for the ships that took undertook the
convoy escort role during World War II. The counter date should therefore be
ignored. In addition, the counter mix is unbalanced in terms of origin of the
escorts and those with an aircraft component. As a result there will be a degree
of RN ship write-ups on Canadian counters and carrier units being used to
describe non-Carrier counters. Finally, because these smaller ships do not have
their own counter, some of the more important non-convoy related episodes of the
war that involved these ship types, are also told within some of these write-ups.
.P These counters give information on the main types of convoy escort that were
available to the RN and the dominion navies. This write-up looks at the B-class
destroyers - specifically, the flotilla leader, HMS Keith, and the most famous of
all evacuation operations, Dynamo.
.P One of the most keenly contested stretches of water during the Second World
War was the English Channel. There was the "Channel Dash" by three heavy units of
the Kriegsmarine in 1942 (see HMS Victorious); Neptune - the naval operation that
supported the Normandy landings in 1944 (see HMS Ramillies); and of course the
evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk in May and June 1940 (see this write-
up).
.P For the Royal Navy in World War II the Channel, which since 1066 had been the
impenetrable barrier that kept the United Kingdom safe from its continental foes,
would prove to be the scene of both triumph and tragedy. The events of May and
June 1940 provided both in equal measure.
.B
.B Name: HMS Keith
.B Engine(s) Output: 34,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 35 knots
.B Main Armament: 4 x 4.7-inch (119mm) guns and 2 x 2-pdr pompom
.B Displacement (full load): 1,821 tons
.B Thickest Armour: N/a
.P The B-class were ten destroyers, plus a flotilla leader, that were built
between 1929 and 1931. Two of the ships - Saguenay and Skeena - were constructed
for the Royal Canadian Navy.
.P Unusually for that time, the flotilla leader was built to the same size as the
other destroyers of the flotilla. This meant that she could not actually
accommodate all the staff officers her flotilla leader status required. Thought
was given to removing one of the 4.7-inch turrets to make additional space
available, but this was not carried out. As a result, the surplus personnel had
to be housed in other ships of the flotilla!
.P These destroyers were similar to the preceding A-class, but with detail
modifications. Four of the ships were lost before the end of 1940 and the
surviving ships were modified for use as destroyer escorts. This was achieved in
a variety of ways, and no two B-class were re-fitted to the same design.
.P Like all RN destroyers, the ships of the B-class were to see extensive service
and no less than five were to be lost during the war.
.P The B-class were all given names beginning with the letter B, although the
flotilla leader was named Keith, in honour of Admiral Elphinstone, later Lord
Keith, who captured Capetown, South Africa, at the end of the nineteenth century.
.P HMS Keith was completed in March 1931. At the outbreak of World War II she was
not based with her sisters at Dover within the 19th Destroyer Flotilla (DF). She
was instead part of Western Approaches Command where her role was to escort
Atlantic convoys. She remained there for just one month before transferring to
the east coast of England and duty with the 22nd DF based at Harwich.
.P From Harwich, Keith was employed in the North Sea for convoy defence alongside
the destroyers Boadicea, Greyhound, Griffin and Gipsy. Gipsy sank after striking a mine
while off Harwich that November. However, she was not the first destroyer lost to
enemy action in the Second World War. That dubious distinction went to one of
Keith's sister ships, HMS Blanche, two weeks before. While Keith was just along
the North Sea coast at Harwich, Blanche and the 19th DF: Codrington (Flotilla
Leader), Basilisk, Beagle, Blanche, Boadicea, Boreas, Brazen and Brilliant, were
operating from Dover and were heavily involved in a variety of operations. They
provided escort to convoys, including those made up of troop transports ferrying
the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. They were also called upon to
escort both minelayers (that were successfully charged with making the Channel
unusable to U-boats) and minesweepers that were constantly in action to keep the
Channel free from German laid mines.
.P The Kriegsmarine proved a formidable and audacious adversary however, and they
used their small destroyer force to sow numerous minefields. It was one of these
that sunk HMS Blanche on the 13th November. Keith was soon re-united with her
fellow B-class sisters. She had repair work carried out at the turn of the year,
before briefly returning to convoy escort work. Then, in February, she received
the order to replace Codrington as the Flotilla Leader of the 19th DF. For the
next couple of months the 19th DF continued their unsung, but vital work;
escorting convoys and protecting minelayers and minesweepers alike. The
continuous operations put great strain on their machinery and the flotilla was
never up to full strength as one or more destroyers were required to visit the
repair yard at any one time. Keith then compounded this problem by running
aground in March and requiring further attention at the dockyard.
.P By the time that she was ready to return to action, the war was just about to
get serious. On the 10th May 1940 the German army invaded the Low Countries and
France; the Phoney War was over, and the war, for the officers and men aboard HMS
Keith and hundreds of other warships and requisitioned merchant vessels, was
about to intensify to an entirely new level.
.P The forces allocated to Dover Command, under Vice-Admiral Ramsay, as well as
other nearby commands had been strengthened as soon as it became clear that a
German attack was in the offing. Plans had already been laid out to mine Dutch
and Belgian waters and ensure that none of the ports would be taken intact if
they were about to fall to the enemy.
.P On the day of the attack, Keith and Boreas provided the escort for the light
cruisers Arethusa and Galatea which sailed to the Dutch port of Ijmuiden to
rendezvous with two merchant ships that brought the Dutch gold reserves to the
United Kingdom.
.P Other warships made the journey to Holland to ensure the safe evacuation of
the Dutch Royal Family and Government officials. The hard-pressed destroyers were
sailing back and forth at this time, delivering supplies, evacuating non-combat
troops and landing the shore parties that would, if required, demolish the port
facilities. While they were doing this, minesweepers were busy sweeping channels
for other Allied ships to use. Another crucial task undertaken at this time was
to ensure that as many Dutch and Belgian ships, of all types and all sizes, were
sent to the United Kingdom and not left to be captured by the invaders. Many
Dutch warships made it safely to England, including the cruiser Jacob van
Heemskerck, but there were losses too.
.P Six destroyers were lent by the RN to the French navy based at Dunkirk in view
of the latters lack of AA guns on their own destroyers. These veteran V and W-
class ships were severely mauled for their trouble; HMS Valentine was sunk,
Winchester and Westminster were badly damaged and then Whitley had to be beached and
destroyed. A constant presence in these Channel operations at this time
was HMS Keith, and indeed it was she that was ordered to destroy Whitley with her
guns.
.P One can only imagine what it must have been like to be aboard these
un-armoured vessels, almost completely unprotected by Allied aircraft and subject
to air attack constantly. The actual evacuation operation had not even begun yet,
but the Allied ships were already heavily stretched and taking losses.
.P By the 20th May the French navy could no longer use Dunkirk harbour so
incessant were the air attacks upon the port, and they sailed for England. At
around this time, the workload for the destroyers increased yet again. The German
panzers that had poured through the weakly defended Ardennes region, had now
wheeled north and effectively cut off the BEF and their French and Belgian Allies
from the rest of the French army. The Germans had therefore been able to cut-off
the British and French supply columns. The Allied ships now had another duty to
perform; the re-supply of the surrounded Allied troops.
.P Within a few days it became clear to Churchill and senior commanders that the
position of the BEF was becoming ever more precarious and that the possibility of
wholsale evacuation would have to be considered if the entire force were not to
be lost. Vice-Admiral Ramsay in Dover was tasked with drawing up the plans for
Operation Dynamo; the evacuation of as many troops as possible from Dunkirk and
whatever ports remained open to the Allies. To this effect, the ports of Dover
and Southampton became full of passenger ships and boats of every shape and size.
.P Over the coming days, the naval losses continued to mount. Keith came under
fire whilst at Boulogne on the 23rd while dropping off reinforcements, and her
captain was killed in the attack. It was on this day, late in the afternoon, that
an order came through to evacuate Boulogne and for the demolition parties to
destroy her facilities. All the RN destroyers taking part in the evacuation were
damaged and the French ships providing covering fire offshore fared even worse.
The final embarkation from Boulogne took place the following day, while a French
rearguard stubbornly resisted until the 25th.
.P With Boulogne lost to the surrounded Allied armies, Calais became the next
target for the German panzers, and this port was lost to the Allies the following
day. HMS Keith played no part at Calais, as she required urgent repairs to the
damage taken at Boulogne. Indeed there were few RN destroyers available for the
Calais operation, and one of those, HMS Wessex, was sunk while two others were
damaged. The light cruisers Galatea and Arethusa were ordered to provide naval
gunfire support during the day.
.P The attacks on Boulogne and Calais aside, on the 24th May, the German panzer
forces west of Dunkirk had been ordered to halt their move on that port. There
are many theories given for why this order was made, with the two most likely
being: a) the need for the panzer forces to rest and refit, and b) the Luftwaffe
agreeing to finish the destruction of the Allied armies itself. Whatever the
reason, this two day halt to the main German operations gave further vital time
to the Allied forces defending the ever shrinking perimeter around Dunkirk. On
the day that Calais fell to the Germans, this halt order was rescinded and the
panzers began to roll once more. However, on the other side of the channel, an
equally important decision was being made. At just before 1900hrs on the 26th
May, the order was given by the Admiralty to Vice-Admiral Ramsay; commence
Operation Dynamo. Captain Tennant (later to command HMS Repulse) was sent to
Dunkirk, as the Senior Naval Officer tasked with ensuring there was a sound plan
for the embarkation of troops.
.P For Dynamo, the RN used two evacuation routes, named Y and Z. These routes
took shipping around the vast minefields that had been previously sown. Route Z
was the shortest, most direct route from Dover to Dunkirk, but with German
artillery now occupying the French coast, the use of this route had to be stopped
during daylight. This left route Y, which was almost double the length, and took
shipping initially east from Dunkirk to a point called Kwinte Bank, off Ostend.
From there, ships headed directly west back to England. A third route, named X,
between the other two was prepared, but a path through the minefields was not
cleared until a couple of days into the operation.
.P The almost constant menace that plagued the operation came from the sky, in
the form of the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. German aircraft were able
to operate almost without any interference from the Royal Air Force, whose lack
of contribution to the operation has always been a source of acrimony. The RN
used the AA cruiser Calcutta for some of the time, but her success was limited
and she was herself soon damaged and had to retire to the UK.
.P The port of Dunkirk had been well and truly put out of action by the Luftwaffe
by this time and initially troops were evacuated from the beaches alone. As a
result, on the 27th May, the first full day of Dynamo, less than 8,000 troops
were evacuated.
.P The following day, the Belgian army surrendered, putting further pressure on
the remaining British and French troops fighting to keep the Germans at bay.
However, there were also two pieces of good fortune that assisted the evacuation
process. Firstly, poor weather meant that the air attacks on shipping and troops
awaiting embarkation were limited and, just as importantly, Captain Tennant came
up with a solution to the slow embarkation problem. Although the port of Dunkirk
was out of action, there was an old breakwater, known as the east mole, that was
over 4,000 feet long and that Tennant realised, with a bit of improvisation,
could be used to embark troops.
.P Having successfully tested his theory with a passenger vessel, a constant
stream of ships was then ordered to the east mole over the coming days. While
some ships used the east mole, other continued to anchor off the beaches and
smaller craft were used to then take men from the beach to the waiting ships. The
results were dramatic. On the 28th, the evacuated numbered 18,000 on the 29th it
was 47,000. The numbers rose each day, eventually peaking at 68,000 on the 31st
May.
.P By the time the evacuation was halted on the 4th June, 338,000 men had been
evacuated since the 27th May, of which 123,000 were French. These numbers do not
include those evacuated prior to Dynamo being launched - believed to be another
30,000. 100,000 of the total number were lifted from the beaches, and it was here
that the little armada of ships came into their own; taking troops to the larger
vessels waiting offshore.
.P But in saving the BEF and a large part of the French army, the RN and their
French counterparts suffered grievous losses. The 29th May saw a further three RN
destroyers lost, although the Luftwaffe were responsible for only one of these.
In the early hours of that morning the old destroyer Wakeful, packed with troops,
was returning to England via route Y when the S-boat S30 attacked her. One
torpedo was sufficient to cut Wakeful in two and she quickly sank, taking over
700 soldiers and sailors with her. Just a few hours later, the new destroyer HMS
Grafton, taking the same route as Wakeful, was torpedoed by the submarine U-62.
One torpedo blew away her stern and she later sank with the loss of over 50 men.
Later that day, HMS Grenade, another of the precious new destroyers, was berthed
at the east mole when Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers attacked her. She was hit
by two bombs and was very soon ablaze uncontrollably and beyond help. She was
towed away from the harbour so as not to render the mole unusable and was left to
burn. In the early evening her magazines ignited and the little destroyer was
blown apart.
.P The 1st June was to cost the RN another three destroyers, including Keith,
which had Rear-Admiral Wake-Walker aboard, and her sister Basilisk. They both
fell victim to air attack while off the beaches at Bray-Dunes. 36 were killed on
board Keith and some of her survivors were transferred to the tug St. Abbs. Sadly
St Abbs took a direct hit during a subsequent air attack and a further 105 of
Keith's crew were killed. HMS Havant was the last of the RN destroyers sunk
during Dynamo.
.P Exact numbers of ships that took part in Dynamo vary from source to source,
but the following gives a guide to what the operation cost the Royal Navy and the
Marine Nationale: 848 ships of all types were involved, of which 235 were sunk
and many more damaged. The losses included 9 destroyers, 29 trawlers, 6
minesweepers, 9 ferries, 1 hospital ship and 142 private boats. The remainder was
made up of barges, tugs, landing craft and sundry other small merchant and naval
vessels. In addition, there were many more vessels damaged, of which 19 were
destroyers so vitally needed elsewhere.
.P Just as it had previously in Norway, just as it would in the near future in
Greece, Crete and Singapore, the RN made huge sacrifice in men and ships in order
to save a defeated army. The Allied armies were beaten in the French Campaign of
1940, the RN and MN most certainly were not.
_____________________________
University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)
|
Printable Version
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 
. I will post a few more examples of French ships than usual as they are not very detailed and someone may be able to add something of interest 
. First example are two "What if" CVL's. I have assumed there were actual plans to convert these cruisers to CVL's as opposed to just being out and out "what ifs" but I can find nothing to support that comment, much less any technical detail.. 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread