NS102 13 S07 WW2 Atlantic

War Plan Orange: 

War Plan Orange Why Philippines? Open Door => Territorial integrity of China Pacific “balance of power” Guam and Philippines -- remain relatively unfortified 1922 Five Power Naval Limitation Treaty Japanese Islands: Marshalls, Marianas, and Carolines Secretly fortify

U.S. Fleet – Late 1930s: 

U.S. Fleet – Late 1930s New construction: slow Funding issues Majority of U.S. Fleet based in the Pacific Pacific Fleet moves to Pearl Harbor - 1940 Battleships - Capital ships of the fleet Aircraft Carriers Fleet Exercises demonstrate potential USN has 7: Lexington, Saratoga, Ranger, Yorktown, Enterprise, Wasp, Hornet Submarines Fleet boats – high endurance

Asian Events: 

Asian Events Japanese Imperialism Undeclared War with China - 1937 “Shanghai Incident” USS Panay sunk on Yangtze River Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung Occupation of French Indochina - 1940 Jul 1941 - Embargo of oil, other resources U.S., Great Britain, and the Netherlands Oct 1941 - Military government installed General Tojo = Prime Minister

U.S. Fleet in 1937: 

U.S. Fleet in 1937 Strategic disposition Pacific Coast: Main U.S. battle fleet at Pearl Atlantic: Training squadron Asia: Asiatic fleet 2-CAs, 13-DDs, 6-SS, 10 gunboats Panama: 1-DD, 2 gunboats, 6-SS Europe: 1-CA, 2-DD Most probable enemy: Japan Strategy, War Plan Orange

USS Panay Incident: 

USS Panay Incident Yangtze River Patrol, China Sunk by Japanese naval aircraft on 12 December 1937

“Vigilant” Isolationism, 1937-1939: 

“Vigilant” Isolationism, 1937-1939 Panay Incident – verbal action only National Debate Interventionist & Navalist Isolationist Congress Pacifistic National Climate Neutrality Acts U.S. fleet divided between Atlantic and Pacific Revisions to strategic planning Plan Orange becomes “Rainbow II” Naval Expansion Act of 1938

European Events, 1938: 

European Events, 1938 Mar 1938 - German annexation of Austria (Anschluss) Aug 1939 - Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Sep 1938 - Munich Crisis Czechoslovakia’s German-speaking Sudetenland Appeasement of Hitler by Western leaders

European Events, 1939: 

European Events, 1939 Mar 1939 - Germany occupies Czechoslovakia Mar 1939 - Guarantee of protection for Poland Britain and France (Also Holland and Belgium) Apr 1939 - Italian occupation of Albania

War!: 

Sep 1939 – Poland invaded Nazi armor and dive bombers Soviet occupation of eastern Poland Apr 1940 - Denmark and Norway fall May 1940 - Invasion of Benelux, France Maginot Line ineffective vs. Blitzkrieg Summer 1940 - Battle of Britain Operation Sea Lion Jun 1940 - Soviet annexation of Baltic States Nov 1940 Soviet invasion of Finland Jun 1941 German invasion of Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa War!

Rainbow II?: 

Rainbow II? Plan Orange morph Can we do it? YES - enough capital ships NO - insufficient aircraft carriers MAYBE - barely sufficient cruisers NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO - insufficient: Subs, Aircraft, Landing Craft, Manpower, Bases, Marine Corps Retreat Toward Hemispheric Defense

Axis is Formed!: 

Sep 1940 - Tripartite Pact USA faces threats to west and east Axis is Formed!

USA Preps for War, 1940-1941: 

USA Preps for War, 1940-1941 Rainbow II => Rainbow V Two-front war inevitable: “Atlantic First” Defeat Germany and Italy first, then Japan Strong offensive in Atlantic, Defense in Pacific Support British forces in East Indies, and defend Midway, Johnson, Palmyra, Samoa, and Guam Defend Philippines as long as possible No U.S. support for Singapore U.S. fleet kept in Pearl as deterrent

Sea Power and Maritime Affairs: 

Sea Power and Maritime Affairs Lesson 13: War in the Atlantic, North Africa, and the Mediterranean 1935-1945

Germany’s Invasion of Europe: 

Germany’s Invasion of Europe Sept 1939, Germany invades Poland England and France declare war on Germany 1939-1940 = stalemate on the western front Britain => naval blockade of Germany Germany => commerce raiding U-boats Surface raiders

Naval Action 1939-1940: 

Naval Action 1939-1940 Royal Navy blockades Germany German commerce raiding Surface ships and subs Dec 1939 - River Plate Graf Spee scuttled Apr 1940 - German invasion of Norway German access to Atlantic ports; improves commerce raiding May-Jun 1940 - Dunkerque Royal Navy evacuates 337,000 Allied troops

Gulf Spee SUNK!: 

Gulf Spee SUNK!

Naval Action 1940-1941: 

Naval Action 1940-1941 July 1940 – Oran British destroy Vichy French fleet Mar 1941 - Cape Matapan Italian fleet defeated May 1941 - Bismarck sunk Battle of the Atlantic – 1941

Germany’s Surface Fleet: 

Germany’s Surface Fleet Germany used surface raiders with moderate success No large surface battles in Atlantic German ships unable to break out into the Atlantic Exceptions

Battle of the Atlantic: 

Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945 Precursor to Campaign for Europe

Slide21: 

Convoy strategy adopted by Brits from outset Must keep North American SLOCs open Döenitz organizes “Wolfpacks” Multiple U-boats Effective when based out of France and Normandy U-Boat sinkings climax in fall of 1940 Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1941

War Impact on USA: 

War Impact on USA Neutrality Patrols – Sep 1939 “Fourth” Neutrality Act of 1939 Embargo clauses lifted President still may order American shipping out of “danger zones” Shift from isolationism Rearmament: Naval Expansion Acts of 1940 “Two Ocean” Navy – 11+70% increase (+200 ships)! The Declaration of Panama – Oct 1939 Pan-American neutrality zone Panama Canal under U.S. military control Sep 1939 Destroyers for bases deal – Sep 1940 50 overage destroyers for 99-year leases on bases in Bahamas, Jamaica and Newfoundland

War Impact on USA: 

War Impact on USA Atlantic Fleet activated – Feb 1941 Admiral Ernest J. King in command. Undeclared naval war in the Atlantic against U-boats. U.S. Destroyers escort convoys. Anti-submarine patrol aircraft used to locate U-boats Torpedoing of the Greer, Kearney and Reuben James Lend-Lease – Mar 1941 Britain, Russia, China, others American Occupation of Greenland/Iceland 4 Dec 1941 New opportunities for Japan

Slide25: 

USS Reuben James (DD-245) Sunk by U-562 on 31 Oct 1941 with loss of 115 men.

Enlisting American Help: 

Enlisting American Help US sends “Neutrality Patrols” to help British ASW. “All aid to Britain short of war” includes “destroyer-bases deal” and “Lend-Lease” program. FDR concedes this is not Wilson’s neutrality in thought and deed.

Enlisting American Help: 

Enlisting American Help British acquire more escorts from USN Break the German Ultra Code The U.S. drifts into undeclared war with Germany

U.S. Enters War: 

U.S. Enters War U.S. joins Allies after attack on Pearl Harbor USN plays fully in convoy escort and ASW

Battle of the Atlantic, 1942-1945: 

Battle of the Atlantic, 1942-1945 U-boat offensive moves to the U.S. East Coast Doenitz shifts U-boats south (“Tonnage Strategy”) Convoy Strategy becomes effective in North Atlantic U-boats shift back to North Atlantic in 1942 U.S. counteracts with escort carriers and HF/DF Doenitz forced into Central Atlantic Allies strengthen convoys ASW tactics developed 1943-1944: Hunter-Killer Groups very, very effective

Slide32: 

Allied & Neutral Merchant Shipping Losses 3 Sep 1939 - 2 Sep 1945

Slide33: 

Allied & Neutral Merchant Shipping Losses 1939 - 1945 (# Ships)

U-Boat Losses: 

U-Boat Losses Germany built over 1,158 U-boats

Campaign for Europe: 

Campaign for Europe

Competing Allied Strategies: 

Competing Allied Strategies British preferred a peripheral strategy War of Attrition; wear down German Secure strategic choke points and SLOCs Egypt & North Africa (Suez Canal & Mideast oil) Sicily U.S. preferred direct attack on Germany through western France Operation Roundup Concerns re USSR Correlation of forces

Slide38: 

U.S. acquiesces to British plan Allows U.S. to pursue Pacific War Draws German resources off the Western Front Weakens Festung Europa for an eventual cross channel invasion Allies check German advances in Egypt Stalemate on Russian front Attack Italy Jul 1943 Competing Allied Strategies

Competing Allied Strategies: 

Competing Allied Strategies Sequence for pursuing peripheral strategy in the Mediterranean Operation Torch Operation Husky

Operation Torch: 

Operation Torch General Dwight D. Eisenhower Western Naval Task Force Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt Major General George S. Patton D-Day 8 November 1942 Target is Casablanca

Operation Husky: 

Operation Husky Invasion of Sicily Same leadership as “Torch” More sophisticated amphibious landing LSTs, LCTs, LCIs Night landing Mussolini falls from power

France Invaded: 

France Invaded Allies spend 1943-44 building up in England for cross channel invasion Normandy Operation Overlord invasion (June 1944) Southern France Dragoon (August 1944) German armies pushed into Fatherland Naval Support continues Spring 1945: War ends in Europe

D-Day: 

D-Day

Extra Slides: 

Extra Slides

Slide52: 

Hitler giving awards for sinking of HMS Courageous