Map -
Approaches to Japan, British Pacific Fleet Operations (see May
1945)
...1945
MAY 1945
ATLANTIC - MAY 1945
Russian Convoys
- One last convoy sailed each way soon after the German
surrender. JW67 left the Clyde on the 12th with 23
merchantmen and reached Kola on the 20th. Three days later return
RA67, again with 23 ships, set out and on the last day of the
month sailed up the Clyde. Since August
1941, 78 convoys had sailed in both directions and passed
through nearly 1,400 merchant ships for the loss of 85 - a loss rate
of 6 percent. Millions of tons of vital cargo and thousands of tanks
and aircraft had been delivered to the Russians. The cost to the
Royal Navy included one escort carrier severely damaged, two
cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escorts sunk in the cold and
often stormy waters of the Arctic. The Germans lost "Scharnhorst"
and indirectly "Tirpitz", three big destroyers, over 30 U-boats.
Battle of the Atlantic, Conclusion
- Just 68 months before,
northwest of the British Isles liner "Athenia" was torpedoed by
"U-30" and 11 days later "U-39" sunk by Royal Navy destroyers. Since
then, tens of thousands of lives, thousands of ships and hundreds of
U-boats had been lost in the battle to sustain Britain as the base
without which the liberation of Europe would have been impossible.
As the United States took over from Britain the mantle of the
world's most powerful navy, so the last merchantmen and U-boats of
the Battle of the Atlantic went to the bottom in American waters and
involved American ships. 6th - "U-881"
was
sunk by the US Navy south of Newfoundland.
On the same day, "U-853" torpedoed freighter "Black Point" off New
York, was hunted down and sunk by US destroyer escort "Atherton" and
frigate "Moberley". The cost of the Battle is usually measured in
terms of the 2,400 merchantmen sunk in the North and South Atlantic.
To this must be added one battlecruiser, three fleet and escort
carriers, two cruisers, 47 destroyers and escorts of the British and
Canadian Navies lost in the Atlantic, excluding the convoy routes to
Russia. Plus the warships lost by the US and other Allied Navies.
Monthly Loss Summary: 1 merchant ship
of 5,000 tons in the Atlantic: 2 German U-boats
EUROPE - MAY 1945
End of the U-boats
- Right to the end of the war
there was no let-up in the struggle against the U-boats, especially
faced with the threat from the new and dangerous Type XXI and XXIII.
Between the 2nd and 6th, 23 U-boats of all types were destroyed by
the Typhoons, Beaufighters, Mosquitoes and Liberators of the RAF and
Allied Tactical Air Forces. As the German fighter defences crumbled,
the Allied aircraft roamed the Kattegat and nearby waters catching
many of the U-boats in the Baltic or sailing for Norway. One more
was lost by unknown causes off Scotland. Two others respectively
represent the last U-boat destroyed by the Royal Navy and the final
sinking of the European war. While much of this was happening, steps
were taken to arrange for the surrender of Germany's still
formidable submarine fleet. 4th - A Royal Navy task force
consisting of escort carriers
Queen,
Searcher
and
Trumpeter
with cruisers and destroyers and under the command of Vice-Adm R. R.
McGrigor returning from Murmansk, launched strikes against shipping
off Norway, and "U-711"
was
sunk near Narvik. The same day Adm Doenitz ordered his U-boats to
stop operations and return to base. Many crews prefered to scuttle
their boats. 7th - U-boats gained their last success when
Type XXIII coastal boat "U-2336" sank merchantmen "Avondale Park"
and "Sneland" off the Firth of Forth. Further north, to the west of
Bergen, a RAF Catalina of No 210 Squadron on Northern Transit Area
patrol destroyed "U-320", the very last U-boat casualty. 8th
- Operational U-boats were ordered to surface and sail for Allied
ports flying a black flag of surrender. Most made for the UK,
although a few reached the US. 9th - The first of over 150
surrendered boats started to arrive, but more than 200 were
scuttled. Of those surrendering, a quarter were taken over by the
Allied powers and the rest sunk by the Royal Navy in the Atlantic
off Northern Ireland in Operation 'Deadlight' through to January
1946.
Germany, Final Defeat and Surrender -
Western Front - In the last
week of the war in Europe, US First and Ninth Armies stood along the
west bank of the River Elbe. To their north, British Second Army
reached the Baltic on the 2nd and next day took Hamburg. In the
south, US Third Army pushed into Czechoslovakia as far as Pilsen and
Austria around Linz, and Seventh Army into Austria and through
Innsbruck before crossing the Brenner Pass into Italy. There the
Western Allies stopped. On the 4th outside Hamburg, German envoys
surrendered their forces in Holland, Denmark and northwest Germany
to Field Marshal Montgomery.
Eastern Front - Berlin fell to
the Russian Army on the 2nd. Fighting continued in Czechoslovakia
and Austria and, on the 5th, resistance forces rose to take over
Prague. A few days later the last major German units surrendered to
the Russians to the east of the Czech capital.
Surrender and Occupation - At
Gen Eisenhower's HQ at Rheims in France on the 7th, the
unconditional surrender of Germany was signed to take effect from
midnight on the 8th - VE day. On the 9th it was ratified in Berlin
and signed for the Allies by ACM Tedder (as Gen Eisenhower's Deputy)
and Russian Marshal Zhukov. As the last remaining German forces
surrendered in France, Germany, Norway and elsewhere, and the Allies
completed the liberation of all Europe from their hold, the four
major powers moved into their zones of occupation in Germany and
Austria. The war in Europe was over.
Monthly Loss Summary: 2 merchant
ships of 5,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - MAY 1945
Italy, Conclusion - As agreed,
the cease-fire took place on the 2nd just as the Allies reached
Trieste near the Yugoslavian border. On the 6th they arrived at the
Brenner Pass into Austria in time to meet units of the US Seventh
Army coming from the north through Germany.
Mediterranean, Final Victory -
The entire Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and North and East
Africa were now completely free from threat of German and Italian
military domination. In five short years the RN had moved from
having to fight hard to maintain a presence in the Mediterranean, to
where it had been largely responsible for landing large Allied
armies on enemy shores and supplying and supporting them. The cost
had been high - over 40 percent of total major warship losses of the
Royal Navy world-wide: one battleship, two fleet carriers, 20
cruisers and cruiser-minelayers, 67 destroyers and escort
destroyers, 45 submarines, escorts, minesweepers, landing craft,
coastal forces, and thousands of officers and men.
INDIAN & PACIFIC OCEANS - MAY 1945
Burma, Conclusion - Concerned
that 14th Army coming from the north would not reach Rangoon - the
capital and major port of Burma, before the monsoon broke, the
go-ahead was given for airborne and amphibious landings. On the 1st,
Gurkha paratroops landed near the coast. Early next morning the main
landings took place. 2nd, Landings near Rangoon, Operation
'Dracula' - Under the naval command of Rear-Adm B. C. S. Martin,
an Indian division was carried from Ramree Island in landing ships
and craft and put ashore at Rangoon, covered by escort carriers,
cruisers and destroyers (Cdre G. N. Oliver). At the same time,
diversionary attacks were made on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by
Vice-Adm H. T. C. Walker with battleships
Queen Elizabeth
and the French "Richelieu" and aircraft from two escort carriers.
Rangoon was entered on the 3rd by the Indian landing force to find
the Japanese gone. On the 6th they met up with 14th Army units just
a few miles to the north. The rest of the war was spent mopping up
those Japanese unable to escape to Thailand.
16th, Sinking of the "Haguro",
Last Major Surface Warship Action of the War - Japanese heavy
cruiser "Haguro" sailed for the Andaman Islands to evacuate the
garrison. She was reported by East lndies Fleet submarines in the
Malacca Strait and Adm Walker set out with his escort carriers to
catch her. They were are sighted on the 11th and "Haguro" turned
back. She tried again a few days later. This time 26th Destroyer
Flotilla (Capt M. L. Power) with "Saumarez", "Venus", "Verulam",
"Vigilant" and "Virago" was waiting off Penang. In a classic night
torpedo action they attacked from all sides and sent "HAGURO" to the
bottom early on the 16th.
19th - On patrol in the Java
Sea, submarine
"TERRAPIN" attacked an escorted Japanese tanker and was
badly damaged by depth charges in the counter-attack. She was not
repaired, the last Royal Navy submarine casualty of the war.
Borneo - Australian forces
under Gen MacArthur started landing operations in Borneo, partly to
recover the oil fields. On the 1st they went ashore at
Tarakan on the east coast of Dutch Borneo, covered by ships
of Seventh Fleet including the Australian cruiser "Hobart". Similar
assaults took place at Brunei Bay on the north
coast of British Borneo on 10th June, after which the Australians
advanced south down the coast of Sarawak. In the last major
amphibious operation of the war on the 1st July, the
Australians landed at Balikpapan, south of Tarakan
on the east coast. Tough fighting was needed to secure the port.
Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands
(see map above)
- As the struggle for Okinawa continued, US Fifth Fleet was hit by
four 'kikusui' attacks in May. By the 4th, BPF was back off the
Sakishimas and also under fire: 4th -
Formidable
and
Indomitable
were
hit by one aircraft each. 9th -
Victorious
was
damaged and "Formidable" hit again by a suicide
aircraft. In all cases the carriers' armoured deck allowed them to
resume flight operations in a remarkably fast time. On the 25th the
RN ships headed first for Manus to prepare for the next stage of the
attack on Japan. In two months the aircraft of BPF had flown over
5,000 sorties. (HMS
Indomitable in the Far East 1944-45, a Photographic Record)
DEFENCE OF TRADE - June 1944
to May 1945
Total Losses = 210 British, Allied and neutral ships
of 942,000 tons ( 78,000 tons per month)
By Location
Location |
Number of British,
Allied, neutral ships |
Total Gross
Registered Tonnage |
North Atlantic |
31 |
177,000 tons |
South Atlantic |
5
|
28,000 tons |
UK waters
|
135 |
500,000
tons |
Mediterranean |
5 |
7,000 tons |
Indian Ocean |
21 |
134,000 tons |
Pacific Ocean |
13 |
96,000 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 |
120 |
629,000
tons |
2. Mines |
50 |
162,000 tons |
4. Aircraft |
14 |
96,000 tons |
5. Other causes |
15 |
28,000 tons |
7. Coastal forces |
11 |
27,000 tons |
3. Warships |
- |
- |
6. Raiders |
- |
- |
JUNE
1945
INDIAN & PACIFIC OCEANS - JUNE 1945
8th - As Japanese heavy
cruiser "ASHIGARA" (sister-ship to "Haguro") carried troops from
Batavia to Singapore, she was torpedoed five times by submarine
"Trenchant" and sank in the Banka Strait off southeast Sumatra.
British Pacific Fleet - The
main body of the Fleet prepared to leave Sydney to join the US
fleet, now the Third under Adm Halsey. As they did, newly arrived
fleet carrier
Implacable
with an escort carrier and cruisers in support, launched raids on
the by-passed island of Truk in the Carolines on the 14th and 15th.
Okinawa,
Ryukyu Islands - The
fighting finally came to an end on the 22nd after one of the
bitterest of campaigns. More than 7,000 men of the US Army and
Marine Corps had been killed - and nearly 5,000 men of the US Navy,
mainly from kamikaze attacks. The Japanese had lost well over
100,000 killed. USN losses in ships include five carriers badly
damaged and 32 destroyer types, many on radar picket duty, sunk or
never repaired. Over 7,000 Japanese aircraft were lost from all
causes.
JULY 1945
ATLANTIC - JULY 1945
Atomic Bomb - The world's
first A-bomb was successfully exploded at Alamogordo, New Mexico on
the 16th July in Operation 'Trinity'.
EUROPE - JULY 1945
Potsdam Conference - In the
second half of the month, the heads of the three great powers met at
Potsdam outside Berlin to continue discussing the future of Europe
and final defeat of Japan. By the end of the conference only Stalin
remained of the original three major Allied leaders who had met in
the past. Accompanied by President Truman of the United States for
the first time, Winston Churchill was only there at the start. On
the 26th the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast, demanding the
unconditional surrender of Japan.
Britain - Winston
Churchill's Conservative Party was swept from power and the Labour
Party under Clement Attlee took over the reins of the wartime
Coalition Government. The new Prime Minister travelled to Potsdam
for the rest of the conference.
INDIAN & PACIFIC OCEANS - JULY 1945
Australia - Prime Minister
John Curtin failed to see the end of the war dying on the 5th after
an illness. Acting PM, Joseph Chiffley, succeeded him.
24th/26th,
Last Major Warship Casualties of the RN in the War - In East
lndies Fleet operations against the Phuket Island area off the west
coast of southern Thailand, including mine clearance, fleet
minesweeper
SQUIRREL
was
mined and sunk on the 24th. Two days later on the 26th,
kamikaze aircraft attacked for the first and last time in the Indian
Ocean theatre. Fleet minesweeper "VESTAL"
was
hit and scuttled. Heavy cruiser
Sussex (right -
NavyPhotos)
was
very slightly damaged by a near miss.
29th - Late on the 29th after
delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian, US cruiser
"lNDIANAPOLIS" was
sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Philippines Sea.
31st, Sinking of the "Takao" -
Japanese heavy cruiser "Takao", previously damaged by US submarines
on passage to the Battle of Leyte Gulf, was now laying off Singapore
in the Johore Straits. On the night of the 30th/31st,
midget submarines
"XE-1" (Lt Smart) and "XE-3" (Lt Fraser) were released by towing
submarines "Spark" and "Stygian" and managed to reach the cruiser to
drop their charges. "XE-3" was almost trapped beneath the hull of
"Takao" on a falling tide. "TAKAO"
was
badly damaged in the resulting explosions and sank to the bottom. Lt
Ian Fraser RNR and his diver, Leading Seaman James Magennis were
awarded the Victoria Cross. Other
XE craft cut or damaged the undersea telephone cables off Saigon and
Hong Kong at this time.
British Pacific Fleet - Adm
Rawlings, now with King George
V,
Formidable,
Implacable,
Victorious
and six cruisers including the Canadian
Uganda
and New Zealand
Achilles
and
Gambia
joined Third Fleet in mid-month to bombard Japan by sea and air
through into August.
Japan - During the attacks on
Japan the US Navy reserved the right to finish off the Imperial
Japanese Navy and in aircraft strikes on Kure destroyed battleship
"HARUNA", battleship/carriers "ISE" and "HYUGA", carrier "AMAGI" and
several carriers under construction.
AUGUST 1945
INDIAN & PACIFIC OCEANS - AUGUST 1945
Japan - As US Third Fleet and
the British Pacific Fleet continued to bombard Japan, the British
and Commonwealth Navies won their last Victoria Cross of World War
2. Lt Robert Gray RCNVR, Corsair fighter-bomber pilot with
Formidable's
1841 Squadron pressed home an attack on shipping in Onagawa harbour,
north-eastern Honshu on the 9th. Under heavy fire, he sank his
target before crashing in flames and was posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross.
Japan - Final Defeat .....
Although Japan's cities and
production facilities were being destroyed by the strategic bombing
offensive and now by Third Fleet warships laying off her shores, the
Imperial Navy and merchant marine annihilated, and remaining
overseas conquests isolated and under attack, the country was not
beaten. There was therefore no let-up in the planning and execution
of the campaigns needed to bring the war to a final conclusion. In
South East Asia, Adm Mountbatten prepared to land in Malaya and the
Americans planned to invade the southern Japanese island of Kyushu
in the Autumn and Honshu around Tokyo early in 1946. US casualties
of a million or more were expected, plus how many million Japanese?
In a matter of days, all the planning came to nought: 6th -
B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay", flying from Tinian dropped the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT killed
80,000 people. 8th - Russia declared war on Japan and invaded
Manchuria early next day overwhelming the Japanese defenders. 9th
- The second A-bomb was detonated over Nagasaki and over 40,000
people died. 15th, VJ-Day -
After days of internal argument, Emperor Hirohito over-rode the
politicians and military and broadcast Japan's unconditional
surrender over the radio. 27th - Ships of Third Fleet under
Adm Halsey started to arrive in Tokyo Bay and anchor within sight of
Mount Fuji. Representative ships of the British Pacific Fleet and
Dominion Navies included
Duke of York
(flying the flag of Adm Fraser),
King George V,
Indefatigable,
cruisers
Newfoundland and
New Zealand
Gambia
and two Australian destroyers. Australian cruisers
Shropshire and
Hobart
later joined them. 29th - Adm Nimitz, C-in-C Pacific flew to
Japan, followed by Gen MacArthur, C-in-C South West Pacific and
future Allied overlord of Japan.
TOTAL MERCHANT SHIP LOSSES
SEPTEMBER
1939
to AUGUST
1945
Summarised here in all its immensity
are the losses in ships suffered by Britain, its Allies and neutral
countries throughout the war. Of the grand totals that follow,
Britain's losses amounted to around 50% of tonnage, with a similar
percentage applying to sinkings in the North and South Atlantic.
Both figures point to the critical importance of the Battle of the
Atlantic and the price Britain paid for keeping open the sea-lanes.
In concentrating on losses, it should not be overlooked that taking
the war as a whole, well over 99 percent of merchantmen reached
their destination safely. On the other side of the balance sheet,
more than 30,000 officers and men of the British Merchant Navy did
not come home plus the many men of Allied and Neutral nations. Axis
losses were also considerable.
Total Losses = 5,150 British, Allied and neutral
ships of 21,570,000 tons (300,000 tons per month)
By Location
Location |
Number of British,
Allied, neutral ships |
Total Gross
Registered Tonnage |
North Atlantic
|
2,232 |
11,900,000
tons |
South Atlantic |
174 |
1,024,000 tons |
UK waters |
1,431 |
3,768,000 tons |
Mediterranean |
413 |
1,740,000 tons |
Indian Ocean |
385 |
1,790,000 tons |
Pacific Ocean |
515 |
1,348,000 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 |
2,828 |
14,686,000
tons |
4. Aircraft |
820 |
2,890,000 tons |
2. Mines |
534 |
1,406,000 tons |
5. Other causes |
632 |
1,030,000 tons |
6. Raiders |
133 |
830,000 tons |
3. Warships |
104 |
498,000 tons |
7. Coastal forces |
99 |
230,000 tons |
SEPTEMBER 1945
INDIAN & PACIFIC OCEANS - SEPTEMBER 1945
... and Surrender
2nd - Gen MacArthur accepted
Japan's surrender on behalf of the Allied powers on the quarterdeck
of US battleship "Missouri".
Amongst the signatories of the surrender document were Adm
Sir Bruce Fraser for Great Britain, Gen Blamey for Australia, Col
Moore-Cosgrove for Canada, Air Vice Marshal lsitt for New Zealand
and, for the United States, Adm Nimitz.
Royal Navy - As ships of the
Royal and Dominion Navies repatriated Allied prisoners of war and
transported food and supplies throughout South East Asia, other
surrenders followed during the next few days: 6th - On board
light carrier
Glory
off the by-passed Japanese stronghold of Rabaul, Australian Gen
Sturdee took the surrender of the Bismarck Archipelago,
New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Local surrenders in the area took place on Australian warships.
12th - South East Asia was surrendered to Adm
Mountbatten at a ceremony in Singapore. 16th - Arriving at
Hong Kong in cruiser
Swiftsure,
Rear-Adm C. H. J. Harcourt accepted the Japanese surrender.