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The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917-49 (Naval Policy and History) PDF

241 Pages·2006·3.46 MB·English
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17.7mm BLACK 3015 spine T h e R The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine o y a Warfare, 1917–49 l N a CASS SERIES: NAVAL POLICY AND HISTORY v y Series Editor: Geoffrey Till a n d A n Until 1944 U-boats operated as submersible torpedo craft which relied heavily on the t i - surface for movement and charging their batteries. This pattern was repeated in S u World War II until Allied anti-submarine countermeasures had forced the Germans to b m modify their existing U-boats with the schnorkel. Countermeasures also pushed a along the development of high-speed U-boats capable of continuously submerged r i operations. n e W These improved submarines became the benchmark of the post-war Russian a submarine challenge. Royal Navy doctrine was developed by professional anti- r f submarine officers, and was based on the well-tried combination of defensive and a r offensive anti-submarine measures that had stood the test of time since 1917, e , notwithstanding considerable technological change. 1 9 1 This consistent and holistic view of anti-submarine warfare has not been understood 7 – by most of the subsequent historians of these anti-submarine campaigns, and this 4 book provides an essential and new insight into how Cold War (and indeed modern) 9 anti-submarine warfare has been conducted. Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones served in the Royal Navy for 26 years, mainly in the Fleet Air Arm. After retiring from the Navy he completed an MA and a PhD in War Studies at M A King’s College, London. He is a historian in the Naval Historical Branch, MoD. L C O L M MILITARY HISTORY / BRITISH HISTORY / STRATEGIC STUDIES L MALCOLM LLEWELLYN-JONES L E W Cover image: HMS Cossackfires her Squid, IWM A.33268. Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. E L L Y N - J O N E S www.routledge.com/strategicstudies Printed in Great Britain The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917–49 Until 1944 U-boats operated as submersible torpedo craft which relied heavily on the surface for movement and charging their batteries. This pattern was repeated in World War II until Allied anti-submarine countermeasures had forced the Germans to modify their existing U-boats with the schnorkel. Countermeasures also pushed along the development of high-speed U-boats capable of continuously submerged operations. These improved submarines became the benchmark of the post-war Russian submarine challenge. Royal Navy doctrine was developed by professional anti- submarine officers, and was based on the well-tried combination of defensive and offensive anti-submarine measures that had stood the test of time since 1917, notwithstanding considerable technological change. This consistent and holistic view of anti-submarine warfare has not been understood by most of the subsequent historians of these anti-submarine campaigns, and this book provides an essential and new insight into how Cold War (and indeed modern) anti-submarine warfare is conducted. Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones served in the Royal Navy for 26 years, mainly in the Fleet Air Arm. After retiring form the Navy he completed an MA and a PhD in War Studies at King’s College, London. He is a historian in the Naval Historical Branch, MoD. Cass series: Naval policy and history Series Editor: Geoffrey Till This series consists primarily of original manuscripts by research scholars in the general area of naval policy and history, without national or chronological limitations. It will from time to time also include collections of important articles as well as reprints of classic works. 1 Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy, 10 Naval Policy and Strategy in the 1904–1914 Mediterranean Sea Milan N. Vego Past, present and future Edited by John B. Hattendorf 2 Far-Flung Lines Studies in imperial defence in 11 Stalin’s Ocean-going Fleet honour of Donald Mackenzie Soviet naval strategy and Schurman shipbuilding programmes 1935–1953 Edited by Keith Neilson and Greg Jürgen Rohwer and Mikhail S Kennedy Monakov 3 Maritime Strategy and 12 Imperial Defence, 1868–1887 Continental Wars Donald Mackenzie Schurman: edited Rear Admiral Raja Menon by John Beeler 4 The Royal Navy and German 13 Technology and Naval Combat in Naval Disarmament 1942–1947 the Twentieth Century and Chris Madsen Beyond Edited by Phillips Payson O’Brien 5 Naval Strategy and 0perations in Narrow Seas 14 The Royal Navy and Nuclear Milan N. Vego Weapons Richard Moore 6 The Pen and Ink Sailor Charles Middleton and the King’s 15 The Royal Navy and The Capital navy, 1778–1813 Ship in the Interwar Period John E. Talbot An operational perspective Joseph Moretz 7 The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism 1935–1940 16 Chinese Grand Strategy and Robert Mallett Maritime Power Thomas M. Kane 8 The Merchant Marine and International Affairs, 1850–1950 17 Britain’s Anti-submarine Edited by Reg Kennedy Capability 1919–1939 George Franklin 9 Naval Strategy in Northeast Asia Geo-strategic goals, policies and 18 Britain, France and the Naval prospects Arms Trade in the Baltic, Duk-Ki Kim 1919–1939 Grand strategy and failure Donald Stoker 19 Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth 28 British Naval Strategy East of Century Suez, 1900–2000 An international perspective Influences and actions Edited by Christopher Bell and Edited by Greg Kennedy Bruce Elleman 29 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet 20 The Road to Oran Navy in the Baltic, 1921–1940 Anglo–French naval relations, Gunnar Aselius September 1939–July 1940 30 The Royal Navy, 1930–1990 David Brown Innovation and defence 21 The Secret War against Sweden Edited by Richard Harding US and British submarine 31 The Royal Navy and Maritime deception and political control in Power in the Twentieth Century the 1980s Edited by Ian Speller Ola Tunander 32 Dreadnought Gunnery and the 22 Royal Navy Strategy in the Far Battle of Jutland East, 1919–1939 The question of fire control Planning for a war against Japan John Brooks Andrew Field 33 Greek Naval Strategy and 23 Seapower Policy, 1910–1919 A guide for the twenty-first Zisis Fotakis century Geoffrey Till 34 Naval Blockades and Seapower Strategies and counter-strategies, 24 Britain’s Economic Blockade of 1805–2005 Germany, 1914–1919 Edited by Bruce A. Elleman and Eric W. Osborne Sarah C. M. Paine 25 A Life of Admiral of the Fleet 35 The US Pacific Campaign in Andrew Cunningham World War II A twentieth-century naval leader From Pearl Harbor to Michael Simpson Guadalcanal 26 Navies in Northern Waters, William Bruce Johnson 1721–2000 36 Anti-Submarine Warfare in Edited by Rolf Hobson and Tom World War I Kristiansen British naval aviation and the 27 German Naval Strategy, defeat of the U-boats 1856–1888 John J. Abbatello Firerunners to Tirpitz 37 The Royal Navy and Anti- David Olivier Submarine Warfare, 1917–49 Malcom Llewellyn-Jones The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare 1917–49 Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2006 Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones Typeset in Times by HWA Text and Data Management, Tunbridge Wells Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0–415–38532–6 For my beloved Mother and Father Contents ix Contents Preface xi List of abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1 Echoes from the past, 1917–40 8 British anti-submarine warfare, 1917–40 8 Convoys and striking forces 12 Wartime experience 17 2 Mastering the submersible, 1939–43 25 U-boats and their tactics, 1939–43 25 Methods of detecting and attacking U-boats 28 Tactics on gaining contact 35 Beating the submersible 39 3 Elusive victory: countering the schnorkel, 1944–45 46 Introduction of the schnorkel and its effect on anti-submarine operations 46 British tactical countermeasures 50 Tactics refined from experience 56 Coastal Command’s response 58 Results of the anti-schnorkel campaign 60 Prospects of the U-boat war 63 4 The dawn of modern anti-submarine warfare, 1944–46 68 The problem of the fast U-boat 68 HM submarine Seraph trials 69 Further assessment of the type XXI 75 Captain Roberts’ interrogation of German U-boat officers 78

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