A convoy is a group of vehicles , typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.
130-700: 1941 1942 1943 1944 1942 1943 1944 1945 The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945, sailing via several seas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with periods with no sailings during several months in 1942, and in
260-755: A joint occupation of Iran in late August, to neutralize German influence. The Soviet Union joined the Second Inter-Allied Conference in London in September. The USSR thereafter became one of the "Big Three" Allies of World War II along with Britain and, from December , the United States, fighting against the Axis Powers . The American Lend-Lease program was signed into law in March 1941. It provided Britain and
390-406: A 500-pound (230 kg) bomb, exploded causing superficial damage. Six aircraft were shot down in the attack. Goodwood IV followed on 29 August, with 34 bombers and 25 fighters from Formidable and Indefatigable . Heavy fog prevented any hits from being scored. Tirpitz ' s gunners shot down one Firefly and a Corsair . The battleship expended 54 rounds from her main guns, 161 from
520-523: A British submarine at the entrance to the Fættenfjord, and was temporarily out of action. In March 1942 Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer , along with the destroyers Z14 Friedrich Ihn , Z5 Paul Jakobi , Z7 Hermann Schoemann and Z25 and a pair of torpedo boats , were intended to attack the homebound convoy QP 8 and the outbound Convoy PQ 12 as part of Unternehmen Sportpalast (Operation Sports Palace). Admiral Scheer , with
650-422: A convoy, its "footprint" (the area within which it could be spotted) was far smaller than if the individual ships had traveled independently. In other words, a submarine had less chance of finding a single convoy than if it were scattered as single ships. Moreover, once an attack had been made, the submarine would need to regain an attack position on the convoy. If, however, an attack were thwarted by escorts, even if
780-465: A design speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph), was too slow to operate with Tirpitz and was left in port, as was the destroyer Paul Jakobi . The two torpedo boats were also released from the operation. On 5 March, Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft spotted PQ 12 near Jan Mayen Island ; the reconnaissance failed to note the battleship HMS Duke of York or the battlecruiser HMS Renown , both of which were escorting
910-418: A forward base at Yagodnik in Russia, 23 Lancasters (17 each carrying one Tallboy and six each carrying twelve JW mines ), scored a single hit on the ship's bow. The Tallboy penetrated the ship, exited the keel, and exploded in the bottom of the fjord. The bow was flooded with 800 to 1,000 t (790 to 980 long tons) of water, causing a serious increase in trim forward. The ship was rendered unseaworthy and
1040-694: A handful of ships before the rest managed to escape, and a small escort of warships could easily thwart it. As a result of the convoy system's effectiveness, wartime insurance premiums were consistently lower for ships that sailed in convoys. Many naval battles in the Age of Sail were fought around convoys, including: By the end of the Napoleonic Wars , the Royal Navy had in place a sophisticated convoy system to protect merchant ships. Losses of ships travelling out of convoy, however, were so high that no merchant ship
1170-459: A highway, convoys are also useful to conserve fuel by drafting . The film Convoy , inspired by a 1975 song of the same name , explores the camaraderie between truck drivers , where the culture of the CB radio encourages truck drivers to travel in convoys. Truck convoys are sometimes organized for fundraising , charity , or promotional purposes. They can also be used as a form of protest , such as
1300-499: A large explosion. Figures for the number of men killed in the attack range from 950 to 1,204. Between 1948 and 1957, the wreck was broken up by a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation. The two Bismarck -class battleships were designed in the mid-1930s by the German Kriegsmarine as a counter to French naval expansion, specifically the two Richelieu -class battleships France had started in 1935. Laid down after
1430-508: A length of 251 m (823 ft 6 in), a beam of 36 m (118 ft 1 in) and a maximum draft of 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in). Her standard crew numbered 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men; during the war this was increased to 108 officers and 2,500 men. She was powered by three Brown, Boveri & Cie geared steam turbines , each driving a screw propeller , with steam provided by twelve oil-fired Wagner superheated water-tube boilers . Her propulsion system developed
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#17331051207831560-537: A major overhaul. Hitler had forbidden the ship to make the dangerous return to Germany, and so the overhaul was conducted in Trondheim. On 23 October, the ship left Bogenfjord and returned to Fættenfjord outside Trondheim. The defences of the anchorage were further strengthened; additional anti-aircraft guns were installed, and double anti-torpedo nets were laid around the vessel. The repairs were conducted in limited phases, so Tirpitz would remain partially operational for
1690-510: A number of vessels including one battleship , three destroyers, 30 U-boats , and many aircraft. The convoys demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union, prior to the opening of a second front, and tied up a substantial part of Germany's naval and air forces. During World War I (1914–1918), Central Powers blockades halted traffic between Imperial Russia and its Allies via
1820-499: A result, the Japanese merchant fleet was largely destroyed by the end of the war. Japanese submarines, unlike their U.S. and German equivalents, focused on U.S. battle fleets rather than merchant convoys, and while they did manage some early successes, sinking two U.S. carriers, they failed to significantly inhibit the invasion convoys carrying troops and equipment in support of the U.S. island-hopping campaign. Several notable battles in
1950-506: A tiny proportion of the ocean in sight, without intelligence or radar, warships and even aircraft would be fortunate in coming across a submarine. The Royal Navy and later the United States Navy each took time to learn this lesson. Conversely, a U-boat's radius of vision was even smaller and had to be supplemented by regular long-range reconnaissance flights. For both major allied navies, it had been difficult to grasp that, however large
2080-589: A total of 163,023 PS (160,793 shp ; 119,903 kW ) and yielded a maximum speed of 30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) on speed trials. She was armed with eight 38 cm SK C/34 L/52 guns arranged in four twin gun turrets : two superfiring turrets forward—Anton and Bruno—and two aft—Caesar and Dora. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm L/55 guns. The main-battery and secondary guns were aimed from three fire-control director stations, using mechanical computers to plot target distances and courses and to calculate angles for
2210-425: Is used during winter in case weather is too bad for vehicles to pass on their own. Convoy driving is initiated when the strong wind quickly fills the road with snow behind snowplows, particularly on mountain passes. Only a limited number of vehicles are allowed for each convoy and convoy leader is obliged to decline vehicles not fit for the drive. Storm convoys are prone to multiple-vehicle collision . Convoy driving
2340-536: Is used through Hardangervidda pass on road 7 during blizzards. Convoy is sometimes used on road E134 at the highest and most exposed sections during bad weather. On European route E6 through Saltfjellet pass convoy driving is often used when wind speed is over 15–20 m/s ( fresh or strong gale ) in winter conditions. During the winter of 1990 there was convoy driving for almost 500 hours at Saltfjellet German battleship Tirpitz Tirpitz ( German pronunciation: [ˈtɪʁpɪt͡s] )
2470-580: The Hohentwiel , was mounted in 1944 in her topmast, and a Model 213 Würzburg fire-control radar was added on her stern 10.5 cm (4.1 in) Flak rangefinders. The ship's main belt was 320 mm (13 in) thick and was covered by a pair of upper and main armoured decks that were 50 mm (2 in) and 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 in) thick, respectively. The 38 cm turrets were protected by 360 mm (14 in) thick faces and 220 mm (8.7 in) thick sides. Tirpitz
2600-744: The Battle of the Atlantic was a long struggle as the Germans developed anti-convoy tactics and the British developed counter-tactics to thwart the Germans. The capability of a heavily armed warship against a convoy was dramatically illustrated by the fate of Convoy HX 84 . On November 5, 1940, the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer encountered the convoy. Maiden , Trewellard , and Kenbame Head were quickly destroyed, and Beaverford and Fresno City falling afterwards. Only
2730-475: The Canada convoy protest in 2022. The Highway Code of several European countries (Norway, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, possibly more) includes special rights for marked convoys. They have to be treated like a single vehicle. If the first vehicle has passed an intersection, all others may do so without interruption. If other road users overtake the convoy, they are not allowed to split into
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#17331051207832860-563: The Chernobyl disaster in Belarus and Ukraine . The convoys are made possible partly by the relatively small geographic distances between the stable and affluent countries of Western Europe, and the areas of need in Eastern Europe and, in a few cases, North Africa and even Iraq . They are often justified because although less directly cost-effective than mass freight transport, they emphasise
2990-494: The Cold War with its high number of military exercises, the military was the main user of convoy rights. Today, catastrophes like large-scale flooding might bring a high number of flagged convoys to the roads. Large-scale evacuations for the disarming of World War II bombs are another common reason for non-governmental organization (NGO) unit movements under convoy rights. In Norway, "convoy driving" ( Norwegian : kolonnekjøring )
3120-485: The Iran–Iraq War . In the present day, convoys are used as a tactic by navies to deter pirates off the coast of Somalia from capturing unarmed civilian freighters who would otherwise pose easy targets if they sailed alone. The word "convoy" is also associated with groups of road vehicles being driven, mostly by volunteers, to deliver humanitarian aid , supplies, and—a stated objective in some cases—"solidarity". In
3250-624: The Second World War in Norwegian fjords . She was penned in and repeatedly attacked until she was finally sunk in Tromsø fjord on 12 November 1944 by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Other Kriegsmarine capital ships either never got to Norway (e.g. Gneisenau ), were chased off, or were sunk by superior forces (e.g. Scharnhorst ). In particular, the unsuccessful attack on convoy JW-51B (the Battle of
3380-457: The Spanish treasure fleets , that sailed from the 1520s until 1790. When merchant ships sailed independently, a privateer could cruise a shipping lane and capture ships as they passed. Ships sailing in convoy presented a much smaller target: a convoy was as hard to find as a single ship. Even if the privateer found a convoy and the wind was favourable for an attack, it could still hope to capture only
3510-568: The St Nazaire Raid had made operations against the Atlantic convoy lanes too risky. Tirpitz acted as a fleet in being , forcing the British Royal Navy to retain significant naval forces in the area to contain the battleship. In September 1943, Tirpitz , along with the battleship Scharnhorst , bombarded Allied positions on Spitzbergen , the only time the ship used her main battery in an offensive role. Shortly thereafter,
3640-480: The 12th century. The use of organized naval convoys dates from when ships began to be separated into specialist classes and national navies were established. By the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, effective naval convoy tactics had been developed to ward off pirates and privateers . Some convoys contained several hundred merchant ships. The most enduring system of convoys were
3770-601: The 15 cm guns and up to 20 per cent of her light anti-aircraft ammunition. The ineffectiveness of the great majority of the strikes launched by the Fleet Air Arm in mid-1944 led to the task of Tirpitz ' s destruction being transferred to the RAF's No. 5 Group . The RAF used Lancaster bombers to carry 6-short-ton (5.4 t) Tallboy bombs to penetrate the ship's heavy armour. The first attack, Operation Paravane , took place on 15 September 1944; operating from
3900-414: The 1990s these convoys became common traveling from Western Europe to countries of the former Yugoslavia , in particular Bosnia and Kosovo , to deal with the aftermath of the wars there. They also travel to countries where standards of care in institutions such as orphanages are considered low by Western European standards, such as Romania ; and where other disasters have led to problems, such as around
4030-586: The Barents Sea ), where a strong German naval force failed to defeat a British escort of cruisers and destroyers, infuriated Hitler and led to the strategic change from surface raiders to submarines. Some capital ships were physically dismantled and armament used in coastal defences. Leningrad under the siege was one of important destinations for supplies from the convoys. From 1941 food and munition supplies were delivered from British convoys to Leningrad by trains, barges, and trucks. Supplies were often destroyed by
Arctic convoys of World War II - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-635: The Bering Strait and west along the Northern Sea Route by icebreakers and Lend-Lease Admirable class minesweepers . A total of 452,393 tons passed through the Bering Strait aboard 120 ships. Part of this northern tonnage was fuel for the airfields along the Alaska-Siberia Air Route . Provisions for the airfields were transferred to river vessels and barges on the estuaries of large Siberian rivers. Remaining ships continued westbound and were
4290-656: The Black Sea and the Baltic. The Tsarist authorities sped up development of an ice-free port at Romanov-on-Murman (present-day Murmansk); however, supplies arriving via the Arctic came too little and too late to prevent the Allied collapse on the Eastern Front . But the operation of Murmansk proved and established the feasibility of an Arctic supply-line for military materiel . In June 1941,
4420-692: The European Axis powers launched Operation Barbarossa , invading the USSR. The following month, Britain and the Soviet Union formed an alliance, the Anglo-Soviet Agreement . Britain was quick to provide materiel aid to the USSR beginning in August - including tanks and aircraft - in order to try to keep her new ally in the war against the Axis powers. One major conduit for supplies was through Iran. The two nations began
4550-516: The Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U-boats and the Luftwaffe. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports. Tirpitz returned to Altafjord via the Lofoten Islands . Following Rösselsprung , the Germans moved Tirpitz to Bogenfjord near Narvik. By this time, the ship needed
4680-524: The Nazi air-bombings, and by Naval Detachment K while on the way to Leningrad. However, convoys continued deliveries of food in 1942, 1943, and through 1944. Towards the end of the war the material significance of the supplies was probably not as great as the symbolic value hence the continuation—at Stalin's insistence—of these convoys long after the Soviets had turned the German land offensive. It has been said that
4810-586: The North Atlantic on February 8, 1941. When the Germans detected the slow but well-protected battleship HMS Ramillies escorting the convoy, they fled the scene rather than risk damage from her 15 in (38 cm) guns. The enormous number of vessels involved and the frequency of engagements meant that statistical techniques could be applied to evaluate tactics: an early use of operational research in war. Prior to overt participation in World War II,
4940-550: The RAF Y-station at RAF Cheadle , which eavesdropped on communications between Luftwaffe aircraft and ground stations. The reinforcement of the U-boat force in the Arctic to 12 in March and 21 in August (the real number was later found to be 23) was followed, along with the transfer orders to the large German ships, leading to the ambush of Prinz Eugen by the submarine HMS Trident off Trondheim on 23 February. Prinz Eugen
5070-578: The RAF. Admiral John Tovey , the commander in chief of the British Home Fleet , was not made aware of Tirpitz ' s activities until 17 January, well after the ship had arrived in Norway. On 16 January, British aerial reconnaissance located the ship in Trondheim. Tirpitz then moved to the Fættenfjord , just north-east of Trondheim. The movement was codenamed Operation Polarnacht (Polar Night);
5200-555: The Second World War". Repairs lasted until 2 April 1944; full speed trials were scheduled for the following day in Altafjord. The British were aware that Neumark and the repair crews left in March, which intimated Tirpitz was nearly operational. A major air strike— Operation Tungsten —involving the fleet carriers Victorious and Furious and the escort carriers Emperor , Fencer , Pursuer , and Searcher ,
5330-643: The South Pacific involved Allied bombers interdicting Japanese troopship convoys which were often defended by Japanese fighters, notable Guadalcanal (13 November 1942), Rabaul (5 January 1943), and the Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943). At the Battle off Samar , the effectiveness of the U.S. Navy's escorts was demonstrated when they managed to defend their troop convoy from a much larger and more powerful Japanese battle-fleet. The Japanese force comprised four battleships and numerous heavy cruisers, while
Arctic convoys of World War II - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-587: The Soviet Union with limited war materiel beginning in October that year. The programme began to increase in scale during 1943. The British Commonwealth and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union reciprocated with a smaller Reverse Lend-Lease program. After the first convoy, code-named Operation Dervish in August 1941, the Arctic convoys ran in two series: The convoys ran from Iceland (usually off Hvalfjörður ) and traveled north of Jan Mayen Island to Arkhangelsk when
5590-646: The Soviet Union, and act as a fleet in being to tie down British naval assets and deter an Allied invasion of Norway. Hitler, who had forbidden an Atlantic sortie after the loss of Bismarck , agreed to the proposal. The ship was taken into dock for modifications for the deployment. The ship's anti-aircraft battery was strengthened, and the 10.5 cm guns on the superstructure next to the catapult were moved outboard to increase their field of fire. The two quadruple 53.3 cm torpedo tube mounts were also installed during this refit. The ship's commander, Kapitän zur See (KzS–Captain at Sea) Karl Topp , pronounced
5720-595: The Soviet Union, caused him to direct that heavier ships, especially the battleship Tirpitz , be sent to Norway. The Channel Dash was partly undertaken for this reason. As a " fleet in being ", Tirpitz and the other German capital ships tied down British resources which might have been better used elsewhere, for example combating the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. The success of Gneisenau and Scharnhorst in Operation Berlin during early 1941 had demonstrated
5850-536: The Soviet Union, was the next convoy targeted by Tirpitz and the rest of the German fleet stationed in Norway, during Unternehmen Rösselsprung ( Operation Knight's Move ). Escorting the convoy were the battleships Duke of York and USS Washington and the carrier Victorious . Tirpitz , Admiral Hipper , and six destroyers sortied from Trondheim, while a second task force consisting of Lützow , Admiral Scheer , and six destroyers operated from Narvik and Bogenfjord. Lützow and three of
5980-478: The Soviet Union. The Arctic convoys caused major changes to naval dispositions on both sides, which arguably had a major impact on the course of events in other theatres of war. As a result of early raids by destroyers on German coastal shipping and the Commando raid on Vågsøy , Hitler was led to believe that the British intended to invade Norway again. This, together with the obvious need to stop convoy supplies reaching
6110-559: The U-boats presented themselves as targets to the escorts with increasing possibility of destruction. In this way, the Ubootwaffe suffered severe losses, for little gain, when pressing pack attacks on well-defended convoys. The largest convoy effort since World War II was Operation Earnest Will , the U.S. Navy's 1987–88 escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf during
6240-574: The U.S. force consisted of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts. Large numbers of American aircraft (albeit without much anti-ship ordnance other than torpedoes) and aggressive tactics of the destroyers (with their radar-directed gunfire) allowed the U.S. to sink three Japanese heavy cruisers at the cost of one escort carrier and three destroyers. The German anti-convoy tactics included: The Allied responses included: They were also aided by Many naval battles of World War II were fought around convoys, including: The convoy prefix indicates
6370-729: The US was actively engaged in convoys with the British in the North Atlantic Ocean, primarily supporting British activities in Iceland. After Germany declared war on the US, the US Navy decided not to organize convoys on the American eastern seaboard. US Fleet Admiral Ernest King ignored advice on this subject from the British, as he had formed a poor opinion of the Royal Navy early in his career. The result
6500-695: The USSR observed a strict neutrality towards each other, only non-military goods could be transported. Nevertheless, 8,244,000 tons of goods went by this route, 50 percent of the total. A branch of the Pacific Route began carrying goods through the Bering Strait to the Soviet Arctic coast in June 1942. From July through September small Soviet convoys assembled in Providence Bay, Siberia to be escorted north through
6630-475: The aftermath of the Battle of the Barents Sea on 31 December 1942, ordered an attack on Spitzbergen , which housed a British weather station and refuelling base. Spitzbergen was defended by a garrison of 152 men from the Norwegian Armed Forces in exile . The two battleships, escorted by ten destroyers, left port on 6 September; in a ruse de guerre , Tirpitz flew the white ensign on
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#17331051207836760-401: The aircraft catapult and the funnel and caused severe damage. A very large hole was blown in the ship's side and bottom; the entire section of belt armour abreast of the bomb hit was completely destroyed. A third bomb may have struck the port side of turret Caesar. The amidships hit caused significant flooding and quickly increased the port list to between 15 and 20 degrees. In ten minutes
6890-495: The approach to the island the following day. During the bombardment, Tirpitz fired 52 main-battery shells and 82 rounds from her 15 cm secondaries. This was the first and only time the ship fired her main battery at an enemy surface target. An assault force destroyed shore installations and captured 74 prisoners. By 11:00, the battleships had destroyed their targets and headed back to their Norwegian ports. The British were determined to neutralise Tirpitz and remove
7020-651: The atmosphere of combined extreme belligerent action and inhospitable nature, pushing protagonists to the edge of endurance and beyond. The Norwegian historic account One in Ten Had to Die ( Hver tiende mann måtte dø ) also 1967 by writer Per Hansson is based on the experience of the Norwegian sailor Leif Heimstad and other members of the Norwegian merchant fleet during World War II. The 1973 Russian novel Requiem for Convoy PQ-17 ( Реквием каравану PQ-17 ) by writer Valentin Pikul depicts
7150-413: The attack together, which resulted in only one near miss, partially the result of bad weather over the target. The underwater explosion damaged the port rudder and shaft and caused some flooding. Tirpitz ' s 38 cm fragmentation shells proved ineffective in countering the high-level bombers; one aircraft was damaged by ground-based anti-aircraft guns. Following the attack, the ship's anchorage
7280-498: The attack, Tirpitz made for Vestfjord , and from there to Trondheim, arriving on the evening of 13 March. On 30 March, thirty-three Halifax bombers attacked the ship; they scored no hits, and five aircraft were shot down. The RAF launched a pair of unsuccessful strikes in late April. On the night of 27–28 April, thirty-one Halifaxes and twelve Lancasters attacked; five of the bombers were shot down. Another raid, composed of twenty-three Halifaxes and eleven Lancasters, took place
7410-480: The attack. A force of 32 Lancasters from Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons dropped 29 Tallboys on the ship, landing two direct hits and one near miss. Several other bombs landed within the anti-torpedo net barrier and caused significant cratering of the seabed; this removed much of the sandbank that had been constructed to prevent the ship from capsizing. One bomb penetrated the ship's deck between turrets Anton and Bruno but failed to explode. A second hit amidships between
7540-465: The attacking aircraft were shot down. Goodwood III followed on 24 August, composed of aircraft from the fleet carriers only. Forty-eight bombers and 29 fighters attacked the ship and scored two hits which caused minor damage. One, a 1,600-pound bomb, penetrated the upper and lower armour decks and came to rest in the No. 4 switchboard room. Its fuze had been damaged and the bomb did not detonate. The second,
7670-424: The battleship was escorted by the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen , Z5 Paul Jakobi , Z8 Bruno Heinemann and Z29 for the voyage. The Norwegian resistance movement transmitted the location to London. She was moored next to a cliff, which protected the ship from air attacks from the southwest. The ship's crew cut down trees and placed them aboard Tirpitz to camouflage her. The crew also frequently hid
7800-406: The bomb hits caused serious fires aboard the ship. Concussive shock disabled the starboard turbine engine, and saltwater used to fight the fires reached the boilers and contaminated the feed water. Some 2,000 t (2,000 long tons) of water flooded the ship, primarily through the two holes in the side shell created by shell splinters from near misses. Water used to fight the fires also contributed to
7930-545: The centrepiece of the Baltic Fleet, which was intended to prevent a possible break-out attempt by the Soviet Baltic Fleet . In early 1942, the ship sailed to Norway to act as a deterrent against an Allied invasion. While stationed in Norway, Tirpitz was also intended to be used to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union , and two such missions were attempted in 1942. This was the only feasible role for her, since
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#17331051207838060-613: The commander of III./ Jagdgeschwader 5 (3rd Wing of the 5th Fighter Group), was blamed for the Luftwaffe's failure to intercept the British bombers. He was court-martialled in Oslo and threatened with the death penalty. Evidence was presented that his unit had failed to help the Kriegsmarine when requested. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released after a month, demoted, and reassigned to an Me 262 fighter squadron in Germany. Ehrler
8190-413: The commander of the German squadron, had decided to return to port the previous evening. An air attack was launched early on the 9th; twelve Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers attacked the ship in three groups, and Tirpitz successfully evaded the torpedoes. Only three men were wounded in the attack. Tirpitz ' s anti-aircraft gunners shot down two of the British aircraft. After the conclusion of
8320-548: The commando raids of Operation Archery and Operation Anklet (27 December 1941). The documents enabled the British to read messages on the home waters naval Enigma used by surface ships and U-boats in the Arctic ( Heimisch , later Hydra network; Dolphin to the British) for the rest of the war. In January 1942 reinforcements of Luftwaffe bombers, torpedo-bombers and long range reconnaissance aircraft were sent to northern Norway and new command organisations established at Stavanger and Kirkenes, followed by Fliegerführer Lofoten who
8450-491: The convoy, along with four destroyers. Unknown to the Germans, Admiral Tovey was providing distant support to the convoys with the battleship HMS King George V , the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious , the heavy cruiser HMS Berwick , and six destroyers. Enigma intercepts again forewarned the British of Tirpitz ' s attack, which allowed them to reroute the convoys. Admiral Tovey attempted to pursue Tirpitz on 9 March, but Admiral Otto Ciliax,
8580-447: The destroyers struck uncharted rocks while en route to the rendezvous and had to return to port. Shortly after Tirpitz left Norway, the Soviet submarine K-21 fired two or four torpedoes at the ship, all of which missed. The Soviets claimed two hits on the battleship. Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty , which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected,
8710-406: The end of the month gunnery trials were possible. During the repair process, the 15 cm guns were modified to allow their use against aircraft, and specially fuzed 38 cm shells for barrage anti-aircraft fire were supplied. A series of carrier strikes was planned over the next three months, but bad weather forced their cancellation. A repeat of Operation Tungsten, codenamed Operation Planet,
8840-401: The entire ship from aerial reconnaissance and attacks inside a cloud of artificial fog, created using water and chlorosulfuric acid . Additional anti-aircraft batteries were installed around the fjord, as were anti-torpedo nets and heavy booms in the entrance to the anchorage. Tirpitz was known as the "Lonely Queen of the North" because she was so rarely deployed, and life for her crew
8970-508: The escorting warships to the sometimes hazardous conditions of the North Atlantic, with only rare occurrences of visible achievement (i.e. fending off a submarine assault). The British adopted a convoy system, initially voluntary and later compulsory for almost all merchant ships, the moment that World War II was declared. Each convoy consisted of between 30 and 70 mostly unarmed merchant ships. Canadian, and later American, supplies were vital for Britain to continue its war effort. The course of
9100-400: The fleet on 25 February for sea trials , which were conducted in the Baltic. After sea trials, Tirpitz was stationed in Kiel and performed intensive training in the Baltic. While the ship was in Kiel, Germany invaded the Soviet Union . A temporary Baltic Fleet was created to prevent the breakout of the Soviet fleet based in Leningrad . Tirpitz was briefly made the flagship of
9230-421: The flooding. Dönitz ordered the ship be repaired, regardless of the cost, despite the fact that he understood Tirpitz could no longer be used in a surface action because of insufficient fighter support. Repair work began in early May; destroyers ferried important equipment and workers from Kiel to Altafjord over the span of three days. By 2 June, the ship was again able to steam under her own power, and by
9360-433: The following night. Two of the bombers were shot down by the German anti-aircraft defences. The actions of Tirpitz and her escorting destroyers in March used up 8,230 tonnes (8,100 long tons) of fuel oil , which greatly reduced the available fuel supply. It took the Germans three months to replenish the fuel spent in the attempt to intercept the two Allied convoys. Convoy PQ 17 , which left Iceland on 27 June bound for
9490-465: The guns. On top of each fire-control station a rangefinder was mounted in a rotating cupola. The heavy anti-aircraft armament consisted of sixteen 10.5 cm L/65 . Anti-aircraft fire control for these guns was provided by four stabilized SL-8 directors . The middle and light anti-aircraft armament consisted of sixteen 3.7 cm (1.5 in) L/83, and initially twelve 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns. The number of 2 cm guns
9620-453: The ice permitted in the summer months, shifting south as the pack ice increased and terminating at Murmansk. From February 1942 they assembled and sailed from Loch Ewe in Scotland. Outbound and homebound convoys were planned to run simultaneously; a close escort accompanied the merchant ships to port, remaining to make the subsequent return trip, whilst a covering force of heavy surface units
9750-466: The list increased to 30 to 40 degrees, and the captain issued the order to abandon ship. The list increased to 60 degrees by 09:50; this appeared to stabilise temporarily. Eight minutes later, a large explosion rocked turret Caesar. The turret roof and part of the rotating structure were thrown 25 m (82 ft) into the air and into a group of men swimming to shore, crushing them. Tirpitz rapidly rolled over and buried her superstructure in
9880-454: The main armour but nonetheless caused significant damage to the ship's superstructure and inflicted serious casualties. William Garzke and Robert Dulin report the attack killed 122 men and wounded 316 others, while Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz report 132 fatalities and 270 wounded men, including the ship's commander, KzS Hans Meyer. Two of the 15 cm turrets were destroyed by bombs, and both Ar 196 floatplanes were destroyed. Several of
10010-579: The main reason that the British Admiralty did not adopt convoy tactics at the start of the first Battle of the Atlantic in World War I . But the German capital ships had been bottled up in the North Sea, and the main threat to shipping came from U-boats . From a tactical point of view, World War I–era submarines were similar to privateers in the age of sail. These submarines were only a little faster than
10140-511: The main value of the convoys was political, proving that the Allies were committed to helping the Soviet Union at a time when they were unable to open a second front. Ultra signals intelligence gained from the German Enigma code being broken at Bletchley Park played an important part in the eventual success of the convoys. German documents related to the Enigma coding machine were captured during
10270-588: The majority of the overhaul. A caisson was built around the stern to allow the replacement of the ship's rudders. During the repair process, the British attempted to attack the battleship with two Chariot human torpedoes , but before they could be launched, rough seas caused them to break away from the fishing vessel which was towing them. By 28 December, the overhaul had been completed, and Tirpitz began sea trials. She conducted gunnery trials on 4 January 1943 in Trondheim Fjord . On 21 February, Topp
10400-469: The merchant ships they were attacking, and capable of sinking only a small number of vessels in a convoy because of their limited supply of torpedoes and shells. The Admiralty took a long time to respond to this change in the tactical position, and in April 1917 convoys were trialled, before being officially introduced in the Atlantic in September 1917. Other arguments against convoys were raised. The primary issue
10530-454: The mission of Convoy PQ 17 , reflecting the bravery and courage of ordinary sailors in the merchant ships and their escorts, who took mortal risks to provide Allied aid. The Arctic route was the shortest and most direct route for lend-lease aid to the USSR, though it was also the most dangerous. Some 3,964,000 tons of goods were shipped by the Arctic route; 7 percent was lost, while 93 percent arrived safely. This constituted some 23 percent of
10660-444: The nets and sunk by a combination of gunfire and depth charges. The mines damaged the ship extensively. The first exploded abreast of turret Caesar, and the second detonated 45 to 55 m (148 to 180 ft) off the port bow. A fuel oil tank was ruptured, shell plating was torn, a large indentation was formed in the bottom of the ship, and bulkheads in the double bottom buckled. Some 1,430 t (1,410 long tons) of water flooded
10790-563: The only seaborne cargoes to reach Archangel while J W convoys were suspended through the summers of 1943 and 1944. The northern town in Scotland, Poolewe was an important port in this route. Today there are several plaques commemorating this work. The Loch Ewe Brewing Company commemorates the Arctic Convoys by a special brand beer named Arctic Convoy IPA . Convoy Naval convoys have been in use for centuries, with examples of merchant ships traveling under naval protection dating to
10920-445: The potential German threat. As the Allies closed the air gap over the North Atlantic with very long range aircraft, Huff-Duff (radio triangulation equipment) improved, airborne centimetric radar was introduced and convoys received escort carrier protection, the scope for commerce raiding diminished. Aside from an abortive attempt to interdict PQ12 in March 1942 and a raid on Spitsbergen in September 1943, Tirpitz spent most of
11050-417: The prime targets of speed traps . Most truckers had difficult schedules to keep and as a result had to maintain a speed above the posted speed limit to reach their destinations on time. Convoys were started so that multiple trucks could run together at a high speed with the rationale being that if they passed a speed trap the police would only be able to pull over one of the trucks in the convoy. When driving on
11180-502: The queue. Clear and uniform marking has been required in court decisions for these rights to apply. Operating such convoy usually needs special permission, but there are exemptions for emergency and catastrophe intervention. Common practice is, to operate with the same style of marking as NATO convoys: STANAG 2154 marking plus country-specific augmentation listed in Annex B to the STANAG. During
11310-403: The route of the convoy. For example, 'PQ' would be Iceland to Northern Russia and 'QP' the return route. The success of convoys as an anti-submarine tactic during the world wars can be ascribed to several reasons related to U-boat capabilities, the size of the ocean and convoy escorts. In practice, Type VII and Type IX U-boats were limited in their capabilities. Submerged speed and endurance
11440-552: The sacrifices of the armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay and the freighter Beaverford to stall the Scheer , in addition to failing light, allowed the rest of the convoy to escape. The deterrence value of a battleship in protecting a convoy was also dramatically illustrated when the German light battleships (referred by some as battlecruisers) Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , mounting 11 in (28 cm) guns, came upon an eastbound British convoy ( HX 106 , with 41 ships) in
11570-408: The sea bed under the target. Ten vessels were assigned to the operation, scheduled for 20–25 September 1943. Only eight of them reached Kåfjord in Norway for the attack, which began early on 22 September. Three of the vessels, X5 , X6 , and X7 , successfully breached Tirpitz ' s defences, two of which— X6 and X7 —managed to lay their mines. X5 was detected 200 m (660 ft) from
11700-493: The sea floor. In the aftermath of the attack, 82 men trapped in the upturned hull were rescued by cutting through the exposed bottom. Figures for the death toll vary from approximately 950 to 1,204. Approximately 200 survivors of the sinking were transferred to the heavy cruiser Lützow in January 1945. The performance of the Luftwaffe in the defence of Tirpitz was heavily criticised after her loss. Major Heinrich Ehrler ,
11830-453: The ship in fuel tanks and void spaces in the double bottom of the port side, which caused a list of one to two degrees, which was balanced by counter-flooding on the starboard side. The flooding damaged all of the turbo-generators in generator room No. 2, and all apart from one generator in generator room No. 1 were disabled by broken steam lines or severed power cables. Turret Dora was thrown from its bearings and could not be rotated; this
11960-400: The ship made the 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) trip to Tromsø under her own power, the last voyage of her career. The RAF made a second attempt on 29 October, after the ship was moored off Håkøya Island outside Tromsø. Thirty-two Lancasters attacked the ship with Tallboys during Operation Obviate . As on Operation Paravane, No. 9 Squadron and No. 617 Squadron carried out
12090-539: The ship ready for combat operations on 10 January 1942. The following day, Tirpitz left for Wilhelmshaven, a move designed to conceal her actual destination. The ship left Wilhelmshaven at 23:00 on 14 January and made for Trondheim . British military intelligence, which was capable of decrypting the Enigma messages sent by the German navy, detected the departure of the vessel, but poor weather in Britain prevented action by
12220-416: The ship was damaged in an attack by British mini-submarines and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British Lancaster bombers equipped with 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bombs scored two direct hits and a near miss which caused the ship to capsize rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused
12350-469: The ship's namesake. Adolf von Trotha , a former admiral in the Imperial German Navy , spoke at the ship's launching, which was also attended by Adolf Hitler . Fitting-out work was completed by February 1941. British bombers repeatedly attacked the harbour in which the ship was being built; no bombs struck Tirpitz , but the attacks slowed construction work. Tirpitz was commissioned into
12480-834: The signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Tirpitz and her sister Bismarck were nominally within the 35,000- long-ton (36,000 t ) limit imposed by the Washington regime that governed battleship construction in the interwar period . The ships secretly exceeded the figure by a wide margin, though before either vessel was completed, the international treaty system had fallen apart following Japan's withdrawal in 1937, allowing signatories to invoke an "escalator clause" that permitted displacements as high as 45,000 long tons (46,000 t). Tirpitz displaced 42,900 t (42,200 long tons) as built and 52,600 t (51,800 long tons) fully loaded , with
12610-405: The squadron, which consisted of the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer , the light cruisers Köln , Nürnberg , Leipzig , and Emden , several destroyers, and two flotillas of minesweepers . The Baltic Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Otto Ciliax , patrolled off Åland from 23 to 26 September 1941, after which the unit was disbanded and Tirpitz resumed training. During
12740-664: The submarine had escaped damage, it would have to remain submerged for its own safety and might only recover its position after many hours' hard work. U-boats patrolling areas with constant and predictable flows of sea traffic, such as the United States Atlantic coast in early 1942, could dismiss a missed opportunity in the certain knowledge that another would soon present itself. The destruction of submarines required their discovery, an improbable occurrence on aggressive patrols, by chance alone. Convoys, however, presented irresistible targets and could not be ignored. For this reason,
12870-418: The summers of 1943 and 1944. About 1,400 merchant ships delivered essential supplies to the Soviet Union under the Anglo-Soviet Agreement and US Lend-Lease program, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy , Royal Canadian Navy , and the U.S. Navy . Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost. Nazi Germany 's Kriegsmarine lost
13000-405: The support of large numbers of small groups, and are quite distinct from multinational organisations such as United Nations humanitarian efforts. Truckers' convoys consisting of semi-trailer trucks and/or petrol tankers are more similar to a caravan than a military convoy. Truckers' convoys were created as a byproduct of the U.S.' national 55 mph speed limit and 18-wheelers becoming
13130-549: The threat she posed to the Allied arctic convoys . Following the repeated, ineffectual bombing attacks and the failed torpedo attack in October 1942, the British turned to the newly designed X Craft midget submarines . The planned attack, Operation Source , included attacks on Tirpitz , Scharnhorst , and Lützow . The X Craft were towed by large submarines to their destinations, where they could slip under anti-torpedo nets and each drop two powerful two-tonne mines onto
13260-532: The total aid to the USSR during the war. The Persian Corridor was the longest route (and the only all-weather route) to the USSR, but was not fully operational until mid-1942. Thereafter it saw the passage of 4,160,000 tons of goods, 27 percent of the total. The Pacific Route opened in late summer 1941, but was affected by the start of hostilities between Japan and the US with the Attack on Pearl Harbor . After December 1941, only Soviet ships could be used and as Japan and
13390-614: The training period, Tirpitz tested her primary and secondary guns on the old pre-dreadnought battleship Hessen , which had been converted into a radio-controlled target ship . The British Royal Air Force (RAF) continued to launch unsuccessful bombing raids on Tirpitz while she was stationed in Kiel. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , the commander of the Kriegsmarine , proposed on 13 November 1941 that Tirpitz be deployed to Norway. The ship would be able to attack convoys bound for
13520-468: The weather improved, allowing the Goodwood series of attacks . Operations Goodwood I and II were launched on 22 August; a carrier force consisting of the fleet carriers Furious , Indefatigable and Formidable and the escort carriers Nabob and Trumpeter launched a total of 38 bombers and 43 escort fighters between the two raids. The attacks failed to inflict any damage on Tirpitz and three of
13650-456: The withdrawal of the German destroyer forces to support Operation Cerberus , the movement of the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen through the English Channel . These caused a planned attack against the outbound convoy PQ 8 at the end of January to be abandoned. A planned British air attack at the end of January by four-engined heavy bombers
13780-563: Was allowed to sail unescorted. In the early 20th century, the dreadnought changed the balance of power in convoy battles. Steaming faster than merchant ships and firing at long ranges, a single battleship could destroy many ships in a convoy before the others could scatter over the horizon. To protect a convoy against a capital ship required providing it with an escort of another capital ship, at very high opportunity cost (i.e. potentially tying down multiple capital ships to defend different convoys against one opponent ship). Battleships were
13910-603: Was also provided to guard against sorties by ships such as Tirpitz . Escorts would accompany the outbound convoy to a cross-over point, meeting and then conducting the homebound convoy back, while the close escort finished the voyage with its charges. The route skirted occupied Norway en route to the Soviet ports. Particular dangers included: Cargo included tanks, fighter planes, fuel, ammunition, raw materials, and food. The early convoys in particular delivered armoured vehicles and Hawker Hurricanes to make up for shortages in
14040-454: Was badly damaged by a torpedo and the Admiralty was informed of the hit by an Enigma intercept the next day. The information could not always be acted upon because much of it was obtained at short notice but the intelligence did allow the Royal Navy to prepare for battle and convoys could be given appropriate escorting forces. The interception and sinking of Scharnhorst by HMS Duke of York
14170-535: Was charged with the defence of Norway and offensive operations against Allied convoys. The three U-boats in the area were increased to nine and another six were distributed between Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik to reconnoitre and oppose Allied landings. In May, all the U-boats came under Arctic Command and on 23 May, Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen joined Tirpitz at Trondheim, followed by Admiral Hipper ; by 26 May Lützow had arrived at Narvik. The British read these moves from Ultra intercepts and traffic analysis from
14300-510: Was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister ship, Bismarck , Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimetre (15 in) guns in four twin turrets . After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck , making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy. After completing sea trials in early 1941, Tirpitz briefly served as
14430-555: Was disrupted by poor weather over the target, which prevented the aircraft from finding the ship. In early February, Tirpitz took part in the deceptions that distracted the British in the run-up to Operation Cerberus. These included steaming out of the fjord and the appearance of preparations for a sortie into the North Sea . Later that month, the ship was reinforced by the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen and several destroyers. Prinz Eugen had been torpedoed by
14560-430: Was eventually increased to 58. After 1942, eight 53.3 cm (21 in) above-water torpedo tubes were installed in two quadruple mounts, one mount on each side of the ship. As built, Tirpitz was equipped with Model 23 search radars mounted on the forward, foretop, and rear rangefinders. These were later replaced with Model 27 and then Model 26 radars, which had a larger antenna array. A Model 30 radar, known as
14690-428: Was exonerated by further investigations which concluded poor communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe had caused the fiasco; the aircrews had not been informed that Tirpitz had been moved off Håkøya two weeks before the attack. The wreck of Tirpitz remained in place until after the war, when a joint German-Norwegian company began salvage operations. Work lasted from 1948 until 1957; fragments of
14820-415: Was greatly assisted by ULTRA intercepts. The 1955 novel HMS Ulysses by Scottish writer Alistair MacLean , considered a classic of naval warfare literature, and the 1967 novel The Captain by Dutch author Jan de Hartog , are set during the Arctic convoys. The two books differ in style, characterisation and philosophy (de Hartog was a pacifist , which cannot be said about MacLean). Both convey vividly
14950-432: Was limited and not suited for overhauling many ships. Even a surfaced U-boat could take several hours to gain an attack position. Torpedo capacity was also restricted to around fourteen (Type VII) or 24 (Type IX), thus limiting the number of attacks that could be made, particularly when multiple firings were necessary for a single target. There was a real problem for the U-boats and their adversaries in finding each other; with
15080-422: Was limited to 8 to 10 knots (15 to 19 km/h; 9.2 to 11.5 mph). Concussive shock caused severe damage to fire-control equipment. The damage persuaded the naval command to repair the ship for use only as a floating gun battery. Repair work was estimated to take nine months, but patching of the holes could be effected within a few weeks, allowing Tirpitz to be moved further south to Tromsø . On 15 October,
15210-442: Was lost in the first wave; it took twelve to fourteen minutes for all of Tirpitz ' ' s anti-aircraft batteries to be fully manned. The first wave struck at 05:29, as tugs were preparing to assist the ship out of her mooring. The second wave arrived over the target an hour later, shortly after 06:30. Despite the alertness of the German anti-aircraft gunners, only one other bomber was shot down. The air strikes did not penetrate
15340-407: Was necessary to power the turbo-generators, and the crew was reduced to 1,600 officers and enlisted men. Operation Catechism , the final British attack on Tirpitz , took place on 12 November 1944. The ship again used her 38 cm guns against the bombers, which approached the battleship at 09:35; Tirpitz ' s main guns forced the bombers to disperse temporarily, but could not break up
15470-497: Was ordered as Ersatz Schleswig-Holstein as a replacement for the old pre-dreadnought Schleswig-Holstein , under the contract name "G". The Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven was awarded the contract, where the keel was laid on 20 October 1936. The hull was launched on 1 April 1939; during the elaborate ceremonies, the ship was christened by Ilse von Hassell, the daughter of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz ,
15600-420: Was particularly significant, as there were no heavy-lift cranes in Norway powerful enough to lift the turret and place it back on its bearings. The ship's two Arado Ar 196 floatplanes were completely destroyed. Repairs were conducted by the repair ship Neumark ; historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin remarked that the successful repair effort was "one of the most notable feats of naval engineering during
15730-527: Was promoted to Rear Admiral and was replaced by Captain Hans Meyer ; five days later the battleship Scharnhorst was ordered to reinforce the fleet in Norway. Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz was given command of the warships stationed in Norway. By the time Scharnhorst arrived in Norway in March 1943, Allied convoys to the Soviet Union had temporarily ceased. To give the ships an opportunity to work together, Admiral Karl Dönitz , who had replaced Raeder in
15860-405: Was scheduled for 24 April. Operation Brawn, which was to have been carried out by 27 bombers and 36 fighters from Victorious and Furious , was to have taken place on 15 May, and Operation Tiger Claw was intended for 28 May. Formidable and Furious were joined by Indefatigable for Operation Mascot , which was carried out in bad weather on 17 July by 62 bombers and 30 fighters. In late August
15990-462: Was set for 4 April 1944, but rescheduled a day earlier when Enigma decrypts revealed that Tirpitz was to depart at 05:29 on 3 April for sea trials. The attack consisted of 40 Barracuda dive-bombers carrying 500-pound (230 kg), 600-pound (270 kg) and 1,600-pound (730 kg) armour-piercing bombs and 40 escorting fighters in two waves, scoring fifteen direct hits and two near misses. The aircraft achieved surprise, and only one
16120-418: Was significantly improved. A large sandbank was constructed under and around the ship to prevent her from capsizing, and anti-torpedo nets were installed. Tirpitz retained a one-degree list to port from earlier damage, and this was not corrected by counter-flooding to retain as much reserve buoyancy as possible. The ship was also prepared for her role as a floating artillery platform: fuel was limited to what
16250-570: Was small compared with the loss of productivity due to ships being sunk. Ports could deal more easily with convoys because they tended to arrive on schedule and so loading and unloading could be planned. In his book On the Psychology of Military Incompetence , Norman Dixon suggested that the hostility towards convoys in the naval establishment were in part caused by a (sub-conscious) perception of convoys as effeminating, due to warships having to care for civilian merchant ships. Convoy duty also exposes
16380-635: Was the loss of productivity, as merchant shipping in convoy has to travel at the speed of the slowest vessel in the convoy and spent a considerable amount of time in ports waiting for the next convoy to depart. Further, large convoys were thought to overload port resources. Actual analysis of shipping losses in World War I disproved all these arguments, at least so far as they applied to transatlantic and other long-distance traffic. Ships sailing in convoys were far less likely to be sunk, even when not provided with an escort. The loss of productivity due to convoy delays
16510-578: Was the second of two Bismarck -class battleships built for Nazi Germany 's Kriegsmarine (navy) prior to and during the Second World War. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , the architect of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and her hull was launched two and a half years later. Work
16640-479: Was too late. In the early part of the conflict, American submarines in the Pacific were ineffective as they suffered from timid tactics, faulty torpedoes, and poor deployment, while there were only small numbers of British and Dutch boats. U.S. Admiral Charles A. Lockwood 's efforts, coupled with strenuous complaints from his captains, rectified these problems and U.S. submarines became much more successful by war's end. As
16770-455: Was very monotonous. Frequent fuel shortages curtailed training and kept the battleship and her escorts moored behind their protective netting. The crew was primarily occupied with maintaining the ship and continuously manning anti-aircraft defences. Sports activities were organised to keep the crew occupied and physically fit. Several factors hindered Tirpitz ' s freedom of operation in Norway. The most pressing were shortages of fuel and
16900-496: Was what the U-boat crews called their Second Happy Time , which did not end until convoys were introduced. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, Japanese merchant ships rarely traveled in convoys. Japanese destroyers were generally deficient in antisubmarine weaponry compared to their Allied counterparts, and the Japanese navy did not develop an inexpensive convoy escort like the Allies' destroyer escort / frigate until it
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