Military unit
Force H
was a
British naval
formation during the
Second World War
. It was formed in late-June 1940, to replace French naval power in the western
Mediterranean
removed by the French
armistice
with
Nazi Germany
. The force occupied an odd place within the naval
chain of command
. Normal British practice was to have naval stations and fleets around the world, whose commanders reported to the
First Sea Lord
via a
flag officer
. Force H was based at
Gibraltar
but there was already a flag officer at the base, Flag Officer Commanding, North Atlantic. The commanding officer of Force H did not report to this Flag Officer but directly to the First Sea Lord,
Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Dudley Pound
.
Operation Catapult
[
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]
One of the first operations that Force H took part in was connected with the reason for its formation. French naval power still existed in the
Mediterranean
, and the British Government viewed it as a threat to British interests. It was feared that the Vichy government of
Philippe Petain
would hand the ships over to Germany, despite a vow that that would never happen. This would almost certainly tip the balance decisively against Britain in the Mediterranean. Consequently, Force H was ordered to execute
Operation Catapult
.
[
citation needed
]
The most powerful of the remaining French forces was in port at
Mers-el-Kebir
in
Algeria
. It consisted of the French battleships
Strasbourg
and
Dunkerque
, two older battleships, and with escorting vessels. Force H steamed to off the Algerian coast, and an envoy was sent to the French commander. Various terms were offered, including internment of the fleet in a neutral country, joining the British forces, or
scuttling
the fleet at its berths. However, the commander of the French forces reported only the scuttling option to his superiors, and was consequently ordered to fight the British. The reasons for the omission have been debated by many. It is often thought that the anti-British bias of the French commander was to blame.
[
citation needed
]
The result of the action was that the remains of the French fleet escaped to
Toulon
, a French base on the Mediterranean coast of metropolitan France. They did so at heavy cost. The French battleship
Bretagne
blew up under British gunfire, killing over 1,000 French sailors. The battleship
Provence
was also badly damaged;
Strasbourg
and
Dunkerque
were also hit, although
Strasbourg
escaped with four destroyers.
[
citation needed
]
Convoy operations
[
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]
After this unpleasant operation, Force H settled down to its more normal operations. These involved general naval tasks in the western basin of the Mediterranean. Prominent amongst these tasks was fighting
convoys
through to
Malta
. The early convoys came through with relatively light losses. That changed in 1941, when the Germans sent the
Luftwaffe
'
s
X.
Fliegerkorps
to
Sicily
; its bombers took a high toll of both warships and merchantmen. Also, from 1942 the improved combat efficiency of the
Regia Aeronautica
(and especially of its
SM.79
torpedo bombers
) and of the
Regia Marina
's submarines posed a far greater threat to these convoys than the 1940 Italian opposition.
In November 1940, screening convoys to Malta, Force H made an important contribution to
Operation MB8
, and the resulting success of
Operation Judgement
, the attack on Taranto harbour.
[1]
"Sink the
Bismarck
!"
[
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]
The most famous incident involving Force H in 1941 did not occur in the Mediterranean, but in the
Atlantic Ocean
. The German battleship
Bismarck
had sailed in company with the heavy cruiser
Prinz Eugen
to attack commercial shipping. She went far to the north of the UK, passing southwest through the
Denmark Strait
between
Iceland
and
Greenland
. There, she was intercepted by a British force made up of the battleship
Prince of Wales
and the battlecruiser
Hood
. The engagement was a disaster for the
Royal Navy
;
Prince of Wales
was damaged and
Hood'
s magazine exploded, breaking the ship in half. Only three out of 1,418 crew aboard were rescued from the sinking. Every Royal Navy unit available was then given the task of destroying
Bismarck
.
Force H set sail from Gibraltar to intercept
Bismarck
with the aircraft carrier
Ark Royal
, the battlecruiser
Renown
and the light cruiser
Sheffield
.
Bismarck
had not come out of the Denmark Strait engagement completely unscathed: a shell from
Prince of Wales
had ruptured the ship's fuel tanks, causing her to lose oil. The commerce-raiding cruise was thus cut short, and the ship headed for the port of
Brest
in occupied France.
Bismarck
was temporarily lost to the Royal Navy after she evaded the radar of the shadowing cruisers
Suffolk
and
Norfolk
. She was found again, but the only way of stopping her was if something slowed the ship down. To try to do this,
Ark Royal
launched a strike with her
Fairey Swordfish
torpedo bombers. However, the aircrews were wrongly informed of the location of
Sheffield
and attacked her instead, mistaking her for
Bismarck
. The torpedoes that the Swordfish had dropped carried a new type of magnetic detonator which proved too unreliable. A second strike was flown carrying the older, and more reliable, contact detonator.
Bismarck
was found and a torpedo jammed her steering gear. Unable to evade the British ships closing in, the German battleship was scuttled following incapacitating battle damage dealt by a force including
King George V
and
Rodney
.
Britain at rock bottom
[
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]
The end of 1941 saw the nadir of British naval fortunes in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Fleet lost the services of
HMS
Illustrious
to bomb damage,
HMS
Barham
was sunk off
Crete
by
U-331
, and its two remaining battleships were put out of action by an Italian
raid on Alexandria
. Force H in its turn suffered as well:
Ark Royal
was
sunk by
U-81
in November 1941. It was only the lack of action by the Italians that prevented a complete disaster for British fortunes. The most urgent task during the first part of the year was
supplying Malta
. The island had been under heavy attack for many months and supply convoys had to be escorted by many ships and aircraft to stand any chance of getting through. Malta was kept from starving but it was very close.
Operation Pedestal
, the most escorted convoy in the Second World War, delivered enough supplies in August to keep Malta going.
Amphibious assaults and the end of Force H
[
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]
Force H was not actually extant for a portion of 1942. It was stripped bare in May to provide ships for the assault on
Vichy French
forces at
Diego Suarez
in
Madagascar
during
Operation Ironclad
. This operation succeeded, but many
[
who?
]
argue that it was a waste of British naval resources at a critical time in the war.
November saw the turning point of the conflict.
Operation Torch
saw British and American forces landed in Morocco and
Algeria
under the
British First Army
. Force H was reinforced to cover these landings. The two main threats were the Italian fleet and French forces. In the end, only French forces fought, and the most significant battles took place at
Casablanca
where only American naval units supported the operations.
The end of the
campaign in North Africa
saw an interdiction effort on a vast scale. The aim was to cut
Tunisia
completely off from Axis support. It succeeded, and 250,000 men surrendered to the
18th Army Group
, a number equal to those who surrendered at
Stalingrad
. Force H again provided heavy cover for this operation.
Two further sets of landings were covered by Force H against interference from the Italian fleet.
Operation Husky
in July 1943 saw the invasion and conquest of
Sicily
, and
Operation Avalanche
saw an attack on the Italian mainland at
Salerno
.
Following the Allied landings on Italy itself, the
Italian government surrendered
. The Italian fleet mostly escaped German capture and much of it formed the
Italian Co-Belligerent Navy
. However, two German
Fritz X
radio-controlled missiles did hit and sink the battleship
Roma
, killing the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Navy (
Regia Marina
),
Admiral
Carlo Bergamini
.
With the surrender of the Italian fleet, the need for heavy units in the Mediterranean disappeared. The battleships and aircraft carriers of Force H dispersed to the
Home
and
Eastern Fleets
and the command was disbanded. Naval operations in the Mediterranean from now on would be conducted by lighter units.
Battles and operations of Force H
[
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]
Major combatant ships in Force H
[
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]
- Ark Royal
,
aircraft carrier
(June 1940 ? November 1941)
- Eagle
, aircraft carrier (February?August 1942)
- Hood
,
battlecruiser
(June?August 1940)
- Renown
, battlecruiser (August 1940 ? August 1941, October 1941 ? February 1943)
- Resolution
,
battleship
(June?August 1940)
- Valiant
, battleship (June 1940 ? December 1941, June?October 1943)
- Malaya
, battleship (December 1940 ? March 1941)
- Nelson
, battleship (June?September 1941, August 1942 ? November 1943)
- Rodney
, battleship (May 1942 ? October 1943)
- King George V
, battleship (May 1943 ? February 1944)
- Enterprise
,
cruiser
(June?December 1940)
- Arethusa
, cruiser (June 1940 ? December 1941)
- Sheffield
, cruiser (August 1940 ? October 1941)
- Coventry
, cruiser (August 1940 ? September 1942)
- Calcutta
, cruiser (August 1940 ? June 1941)
- Berwick
, cruiser (November 1940)
- Fiji
, cruiser (April?May 1941)
- Hermione
, cruiser (June 1941 ? March 1942)
- Cairo
, cruiser (January?August 1942)
- Charybdis
, cruiser (April?November 1942)
- Argonaut
, cruiser (October?December 1942)
- Sussex
, heavy cruiser (September?December 1939)
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Stephen, Martin.
Sea Battles in Close-up: World War 2
(Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan, 1988), pp. 37?8.
External links
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