SEPTEMBER 1939
In 1939 ....
..... the heart of the Royal Navy was its
centuries old traditions and 200,000 officers and men
including the Royal Marines and Reserves. At the very top
as professional head was the First Sea Lord, Admiral of
the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound.
Royal Navy Warship Strength
The Royal Navy, still the largest in the world in
September 1939, included:
15 Battleships
& battlecruisers, of which only two were post-World War
1. Five 'King George V' class battleships were
building.
7 Aircraft
carriers. One was
new and five of the planned six fleet carriers were
under construction. There were no escort carriers.
66 Cruisers, mainly post-World War 1 with
some older ships converted for AA duties. Including
cruiser-minelayers, 23 new ones had been laid down.
184 Destroyers of all types. Over half were
modern, with 15 of the old 'V' and 'W' classes
modified as escorts. Under construction or on order
were 32 fleet destroyers and 20 escort types of the
'Hunt' class.
60 Submarines, mainly modern with nine
building.
45
escort and patrol vessels with nine building, and the first 56
'Flower' class corvettes on order to add to the
converted 'V' and 'W's' and 'Hunts'. However, there
were few fast, long-endurance convoy escorts.
Commonwealth Navies
Included in the Royal Navy
totals were:
Royal
Australian Navy -
six cruisers, five destroyers and two sloops;
Royal
Canadian Navy -
six destroyers;
Royal
Indian Navy - six
escort and patrol vessels;
Royal
New Zealand Navy,
until October 1941 the New Zealand Division of the
Royal Navy - two cruisers and two sloops.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The Fleet was reasonably
well-equipped to fight conventional surface actions with
effective guns, torpedoes and fire control, but in a maritime war that would soon
revolve around the battle with the U-boat, the exercise
of air power, and eventually the ability to land large
armies on hostile shores, the picture was far from good.
ASDIC, the RN's answer to the
submarine, had limited range and was of little use
against surfaced U-boats, and the stern-dropped or
mortar-fired depth charge
was the only reasonably lethal
anti-submarine weapon available. The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) recently returned to
full control of the Navy, was equipped with
obsolescent aircraft, and in the face of heavy air
attack the Fleet had few, modern anti-aircraft
guns. Co-operation
with the RAF
was limited although three Area Combined
Headquarters had been established in Britain. Coastal Command, the RAF's maritime wing, had
only short range aircraft, mainly for reconnaissance.
And there was little combined operations capability.
On the technical side,
early air warning radars were fitted to a small number of ships.
The introduction by the Germans of magnetic mines found the Royal Navy only
equipped to sweep moored contact mines. Finally, the
German Navy's B-Service could read the Navy's
operational and convoy codes.
Primary Maritime Tasks
These were based on the
assumption Britain
and
France were actively
allied against the European Axis powers of Germany and Italy. The Royal Navy would be responsible for
the North Sea and most of the Atlantic, although the
French would contribute some forces. In the
Mediterranean, defence would be shared between both
Navies, but as it happened, Benito Mussolini's claimed
ownership of the Mediterranean - his 'Mare Nostrum' - did
not have to be disputed for another nine months.
Threats to and Responses by the Royal Navies -
September 1939
|
OBJECTIVE 1 - Defence
of trade routes, and convoy organisation and
escort, especially to and from Britain. |
| - Until May 1940
the main threat was from U-Boats operating in the North Sea
and South Western Approaches. For a few months
two pocket battleships posed a danger in the
broader reaches of the Atlantic.
- The first overseas
convoys left
Britain via the South Western Approaches. From
the Thames they sailed through the English
Channel (OA) and from Liverpool through the Irish
Sea (OB). Later in September, convoys left
Freetown, Sierra Leone (SL), Halifax, Nova Scotia
(HX) and Gibraltar (HG) for the UK.
- In the North
Atlantic anti-submarine escorts were provided from Britain
out to 200 miles west of Ireland (15W) and to the
middle of the Bay of Biscay. For a few hundred
miles from Halifax, cover was given by Canadian
warships. The same degree of protection was given
to ships sailing from other overseas assembly
ports.
- Cruisers and
(shortly) armed merchant cruisers sometimes took
over as ocean escorts. Particularly fast or slow ships
from British, Canadian and other assembly ports
sailed independently, as did the many hundreds of
vessels scattered across the rest of the oceans.
Almost throughout the war it was the
independently-routed ships and the convoy stragglers that suffered
most from the mainly German warships, raiders, aircraft
and above all submarines that sought to break the
Allied supply lines. |
|
OBJECTIVE 2 -
Detection and destruction of surface raiders and
U-boats. |
| - Patrols were
carried out by RAF Coastal Command in the North Sea, and by
Home Fleet submarines off southwest Norway and
the German North Sea bases. RAF Bomber
Command prepared
to attack German warships in their bases.
- Fleet aircraft
carriers were
employed on anti-U-boat sweeps in the Western Approaches.
|
|
OBJECTIVE 3 -
Maritime blockade of Germany and contraband
control. |
| - As German merchant ships tried to
reach home or neutral ports, units of the Home Fleet sortied into the North Sea
and waters between Scotland, Norway and Iceland.
The Northern Patrol of old cruisers, followed
later by armed merchant cruisers had the
unenviable task of covering the area between the
Shetlands and Iceland. In addition, British and
French warships patrolled the North and South
Atlantic. -
Closer to Germany the first mines were laid by Royal Navy
destroyers in the approaches to Germany's North
Sea bases.
|
|
OBJECTIVE 4 -
Defence of own coasts. |
| - Right through
until May 1940 U-boats operated around the coasts
of Britain and in the North Sea. Scotland's Moray
Firth was often a focus for their activities.
They attacked with both torpedoes and magnetic
mines. Mines were also laid by surface ships and
aircraft. -
British East Coast convoys (FN/FS) commenced between
the Thames Estuary and the Firth of Forth in
Scotland. Southend-on-Sea, the Thames peacetime
seaside resort, saw over 2,000 convoys arrive and
depart in the course of the war.
- Defensive
mine laying began
with an anti-U-boat barrier in the English Channel
across the Straits of Dover, followed by an East
Coast barrier to protect coastal convoy routes. |
|
OBJECTIVE 5 -
Escort troops to France and between Britain, the
Dominions and other areas under Allied control. |
| - An immediate
start was made transporting the British
Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. By the end of 1939
the first Canadian troops had arrived in Britain, and
by early 1940 Australian, Indian and New Zealand forces were on their way
to Egypt and the Middle East. Troop convoys were
always heavily escorted, and the Commonwealth
Navies played an important part in protecting the
men as they left their home shores. Australian and New Zealand
cruisers were
particularly active in the Indian Ocean. |
Belligerent Warship Strengths in European Waters
& Atlantic Ocean
| Warship type |
Royal
Navy
Home waters (a)
& Atlantic (b)
|
French Navy
Atlantic and Channel
|
German Navy
European waters
+ Atlantic Station
|
| Battleships |
9
|
2
|
3 + 2(c)
|
| Carriers |
4
|
1
|
-
|
| Cruisers |
35
|
3
|
7
|
| Destroyers |
95
|
20
|
22
|
| Submarines |
25
|
-
|
41(d) + 16
|
Totals
|
168
|
26
|
73 + 18
|
| |
plus escorts
|
-
|
plus torpedo boats
|
Notes:
- Royal Navy was a mix
of World War 1, modernised and recently completed
ships. The French warships allocated to the Atlantic
and the German were mainly modern.
(a) Home Fleet commanded by Adm Sir Charles Forbes
with 7 capital ships, 2 carriers and 16 cruisers
based at Scapa Flow and Rosyth; Channel Force with 2 battleships, 2 carriers
and 3 cruisers; Humber Force with 2 cruisers; and various destroyer
flotillas.
(b) North Atlantic
Command based at Gibraltar with 2 cruisers and 9
destroyers; America and West Indies Command at Bermuda with 4
cruisers; and South Atlantic at Freetown with 8 cruisers and 4
destroyers.
(c) Pocket
battleships
"Admiral Graf Spee" in the South and
"Deutschland" in the North Atlantic.
(d) Included U-boats on patrol in the North Sea and
British coastal waters.
AUGUST 1945
Main Wartime Developments
As the war progressed, the
Royal and Dominion Navies expanded rapidly with large
construction programmes, particularly escort carriers,
destroyers, corvettes, frigates, submarines, landing
ships and craft.
By mid-1944, 800,000 officers and men and 73,000 WRNS
were
in uniform.
Vastly improved radars and anti-submarine
weapons
had been
introduced, and the tactics to use them effectively,
honed to a fine pitch.
Ship-borne and
land-based aircraft became vital in the life and death
struggle against the U-boat, the only concern Prime
Minister Winston Churchill retained throughout six
years of war.
Huge combined
operations
landings took place with air superiority usually
assured.
Although not defeated,
magnetic, then acoustic and finally pressure mines
were kept under control.
Perhaps of greatest single
significance, the 'Ultra' operation against the German Enigma codes allowed the
Allies to penetrate to the very heart of German and Axis
planning and operations.
In short, in a war that started with
Polish cavalry and ended with the Anglo-US atomic
bomb, the Royal and Commonwealth Navies faced new and
continuing threats and learnt to deal with them
technically, operationally and above all,
successfully.
But there was a price to be paid:
British Naval Casualties,
not including RAF and Army personnel killed in
related circumstances - Coastal Command,
Defensively-Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) etc
Royal
Navy - 50,758 killed, 820 missing, 14,663
wounded
Women's
Royal Naval Service
- 102 killed,
22 wounded
Merchant
Navy - 30,248 lost through enemy action
and
in ships:
ROYAL NAVY LOSSES -
Total - by Year - by Theatre
- by Enemy
Click
her for details of major warship losses
also for
all Royal Navy ships lost
TOTAL STRENGTH AND LOSSES
ROYAL
NAVY
Warship types |
Strength
as of Sept 1939
|
Commissioned
to Aug 1945
|
TOTAL IN SERVICE
|
TOTAL LOSSES
|
| Capital
ships |
15
|
5
|
20
|
5
|
| Carriers |
7
|
58
|
65
|
10
|
| Cruisers |
66
|
35
|
101
|
34
|
| Destroyers |
184
|
277
|
461
|
153
|
| Submarines |
60
|
178
|
238
|
76
|
|
TOTALS |
332
|
553
|
885
|
278
|
LOSSES BY YEAR - including not repaired
ROYAL NAVY
Warship types |
1939
|
1940
|
1941
|
1942
|
1943
|
1944
|
1945
|
Totals
|
| Capital
ships |
1
|
-
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
- |
5
|
| Carriers |
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
10
|
|
Cruisers |
-
|
3
-
|
11
(1 RAN)
|
13
(2 RAN)
|
4
-
|
3
-
|
-
|
34
(3 RAN)
|
| Destroyers |
3
-
-
|
37
-
(2 RCN)
|
22
(1 RAN)
-
|
51
(3 RAN)
(2 RCN)
|
18
-
(1 RCN)
|
20
-
(2 RCN)
|
2
-
-
|
153
(4 RAN)
(7 RCN)
|
| Submarines |
1
|
24
|
11
|
19
|
13
|
5
|
3
|
76
|
|
TOTALS
|
6
|
65
|
50
|
86
|
36
|
29
|
6
|
278
|
LOSSES BY THEATRE
ROYAL NAVY
Warship types |
Atlantic
|
Europe
|
Mediterranean
|
Indian & Pacific Oceans
|
| Capital
ships |
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
| Carriers |
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
|
Cruisers |
4
|
4
|
20
|
6 (3 RAN)
|
| Destroyers |
23 (5 RCN)
|
53 (2 RCN)
|
67 (2 RAN)
|
10 (2 RAN)
|
| Submarines |
3
|
23
|
45
|
5
|
|
TOTALS
|
35
|
84
|
135
|
24
|
LOSS BY ENEMY
ROYAL NAVY
Warship types |
German
|
Italian
|
Japanese
|
French
|
Other (a)
|
Unknown
|
Total
|
| Capital
ships |
3
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
5
|
| Carriers |
8
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
10
|
| Cruisers |
20
|
6
|
5
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
34
|
| Destroyers |
114
|
15
|
8
|
1 (b)
|
15
|
-
|
153
|
| Submarines
(c) |
24
|
37
|
4
|
-
|
6
|
5
|
76
|
|
TOTALS
|
169
|
58
|
20
|
1
|
25
|
5
|
278
|
NOTES:
(a)
Includes accidental explosion and fire, collision
with Royal Navy or Allied ships, deliberately
expended, and marine loss from grounding or weather
(b)
French shore batteries
(c)
Submarines "presumed" or
"possibly" lost due to various causes have
been allocated to the Axis power most likely to have
been responsible
SUMMARY OF AXIS NAVY LOSSES -
German Navy - Italian Navy -
Japanese Navy
GERMAN NAVY - ALL MAJOR WARSHIPS - Totals and
(Due to Royal Navy)
| GERMAN NAVY |
1939
|
1940
|
1941
|
1942
|
1943
|
1944
|
1945
|
Total
|
|
Capital
ships |
1 (RN)
|
-
|
1 (RN)
|
-
|
1 (RN)
|
1
|
3 (a)
|
7 (3 RN)
|
| Cruisers |
-
|
3 (2 RN)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3 (a)
|
6 (2 RN)
|
| Raiders |
-
|
-
|
3 (RN)
|
3 (1 RN)
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
7 (4 RN)
|
| Destroyers
(b) |
-
|
12 (RN)
|
-
|
4 (3 RN)
|
2 (1 RN)
|
7 (2 RN)
|
2
|
27 (18 RN)
|
| Submarines |
9 (RN)
|
22 (17 RN)
|
35 (28 RN)
|
86 (34 RN)
|
237 (61 RN)
|
242 (85 RN)
|
149 (41 RN)
|
780 (275 RN)
|
|
TOTALS
|
10 (RN)
|
37 (31 RN)
|
39 (32 RN)
|
93 (38 RN)
|
241 (63 RN)
|
250 (87 RN)
|
157 (41 RN)
|
827 (302
RN)
|
ITALIAN NAVY - to 8th September 1943 - Totals and (Due
to Royal Navy)
|
Warship
types |
1939
|
1940
|
1941
|
1942
|
1943
|
Total
|
| Battleships |
N/A
|
1 (RN)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1 (RN)
|
| Cruisers |
N/A
|
1 (RN)
|
6 (RN)
|
3 (2 RN)
|
2
|
12 (9 RN)
|
| Destroyers(a) |
N/A
|
8 (RN)
|
14 (10 RN)
|
8 (4 RN)
|
13 (6 RN)
|
43 (28 RN)
|
| Submarines |
N/A
|
20 (12 RN)
|
18 (14 RN)
|
22 (17 RN)
|
25 (13 RN)
|
85 (56 RN)
|
|
TOTALS |
N/A
|
30 (22 RN)
|
38 (30 RN)
|
33 (23 RN)
|
40 (19 RN)
|
141 (94 RN)
|
JAPANESE NAVY Totals and (Due to Royal Navy)
|
Warship
types |
1939
|
1940
|
1941
|
1942
|
1943
|
1944
|
1945
|
Total
|
| Battleships |
n/a
|
n/a
|
-
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
4
|
11
|
| Carriers |
n/a
|
n/a
|
-
|
6
|
1
|
12
|
2
|
21
|
| Cruisers |
n/a
|
n/a
|
-
|
6
|
2
|
24 (1 RN)
|
9 (3 RN)
|
41 (4 RN)
|
| Destroyers |
n/a
|
n/a
|
4
|
18
|
34
|
61
|
18
|
135
|
| Submarines |
n/a
|
n/a
|
3
|
16 (2.5 RN)
|
28 (2.5 RN)
|
53 (3 RN)
|
27
|
127 (8 RN)
|
|
TOTALS |
n/a
|
n/a
|
7
|
48 (2.5
RN)
|
66 (2.5
RN)
|
154 (4
RN)
|
60 (3
RN)
|
335 (12 RN)
|
NOTE:
Of 12 submarines sunk by RN: Royal Navy - 4,
Australian - 2, Indian - 0.5, New Zealand - 1.5
|
