ROYAL NAVY BATTLE HONOURS 1939-45 including
Battle & Campaign Honours, Single-Ship Actions, Royal Marine Corps Memorable Dates.
(Go to the website below for more detailed info.)
1939
ATLANTIC 1939-45 - escort & support group ships in North Atlantic from Equator to Arctic Circle, Sept 3rd 1939 - May 1945
NORTH SEA 1939-45 - all waters from Southend-on-Sea, Thames Estuary north to Shetland Isles, excluding Norwegian coastal waters, Sept 3rd 1939-May 1944, June 1944-May 1945
ENGLISH CHANNEL 1939-45 - Southend-on-Sea, Thames Estuary round to Bristol, Bristol Channel; Western limit line from Ushant, France to Scilly Islands, SW England, Sept 3rd 1939-May 1944, June 1944-May 1945
RIVER PLATE 1939 or "Graf Spee" Action - off Uruguay, S America, Dec 13th 1939
1940
NORWAY 1940-45 - North Sea from April 8th to June 1940, thereafter Norwegian coastal waters as far N as Tromso, Apr 8th 1940 - May 1945
ADMIRAL HIPPER 1940 - Single-ship action (HMS Glowworm) off coast of Norway, April 8th 1940
NARVIK 1940 - N Norway, April 10th and 13th 1940
DUNKIRK 1940 (Operation Dynamo) - N coast of France, May 28th-June 4th 1940
SCHARNHOST 1940 - Single-ship action (HMS Acasta, Ardent) off coast of Norway, June 8th 1940
BISCAY 1940-45 - Ushant to Cape Ortegal, from 12W to French coast, June 1940-May 1944, June 1944-May 1945
MEDITERRANEAN 1940-45 - entire Mediterranean to line Cape Trafalgar/Cape Spartel just W of Gibraltar, June 1940 - May 1945
CALABRIA 1940 or Punto Stilo - off SW Italy, July 9th 1940
SPADA 1940 or Cape Spada - off N coast of Crete, July 19th 1940
LIBYA 1940-42 - Inshore Squadron (Force W) sailing in inshore waters between Benghazi, Libya and Port Said, Egypt, from around Sept 1940 - June 1942
ADMIRAL SCHEER 1940 - Single-ship action (HMS Jervis Bay) in North Atlantic, Nov 5th 1940
TARANTO 1940 - SE Italy, Nov 11th 1940
SPARTIVENTO 1940 - SW tip of Italy, Nov 27th 1940
1941
MALTA CONVOYS 1941-42
MATAPAN 1941 or Cape Matapan - S tip of Greece, Mar 28th-29th 1941
GREECE 1941, April 1941
SFAX 1941 - off E coast of Tunisia, April 15th-16th 1941
CRETE 1941 - SE of Greece, May 20th-June 1st 1941
"BISMARCK" 1941 or Denmark Strait - North Atlantic, May 23rd-27th 1941
ARCTIC 1941-45 or Russian Convoys - N of Arctic, but excluding Norwegian coastal waters S of Tromso, Aug 1941 - May 1945
KORMORAN 1941 - Single-ship action (HMAS Sydney) off Western Australia in Indian Ocean, Nov 19th 1941
CAPE BON 1941 - Tunisia, Dec 13th 1941
1942
MALAYA 1942-45 - Malacca Straits between Malaya and Sumatra, from 7N to 7S, and 95E to 108E, Jan 1942 - Aug 1945
PACIFIC 1942-45 - Jan 1942 - Aug 1945, Royal Australian Navy only
SUNDA STRAIT 1942 - between Sumatra and Java, Feb 28th - March 1st 1942, HMAS Perth only
SIRTE 1942 - N of central Libya, March 22nd 1942
ST NAZAIRE 1942 - W coast of France, March 28th 1942
CORAL SEA 1942 - between Australia and Solomons Islands, May 4th-8th 1942, Royal Australian Navy only
DIEGO SAUREZ 1942 or Madagascar - off East Africa, May 5th-7th 1942
NEW GUINEA 1942-44 - N of Australia, June 1942 - 1944, Royal Australian Navy only
GUADALCANAL 1942-43 - southern Solomons Islands, Aug 1942 - Feb 1943, Royal Australian Navy only
SAVO ISLAND 1942 - off Guadalcanal, southern Solomons Islands, Aug 9th 1942, Royal Australian Navy only
DIEPPE 1942 - N coast of France, Aug 19th 1942
NORTH AFRICA 1942-43 (Operation Torch) - Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, Nov 8th 1942 - Feb 20th 1943
HOKOKU MARU 1942 - Single-ship action (HMIS Bengal) in Indian Ocean, Nov 11th 1942
BARENTS SEA 1942 - N of Norway and Russia, Dec 31st 1942
1943
SICILY 1943 - S tip of Italy, July 10th - Aug 17th 1943
KULA GULF 1943 - central Solomons Islands, July 13th 1943. NOTE: In all other reference sources, the Battle of Kula Gulf was fought on the night of the 5th/6th July. The battle on the night of the 12th/13th July when HMNZS Leander was in action and damaged is referred to as the Battle of Kolombangara, Royal New Zealand Navy only
AEGEAN 1943-44 - Aegean Sea N of 35N and from 22E to 30E, Sept 7th-Nov 28th 1943, and Jan-Dec 1944
SALERNO 1943 - W Italy, Sept 9th - Oct 6th 1943
TIRPITZ 1943 - Single-ship action (midget submarines X6, X7) in N Norway, Sept 22nd 1943
NORTH CAPE 1943 or "Scharnhorst" Action - N of Norway, Dec 26th 1943
1944
ANZIO 1944 - Italy, Jan 22nd 1944
ADRIATIC 1944 - Adriatic Sea N of 40N, Jan-Dec 1944
NORMANDY 1944 (Operation Overlord) - N France, June 6th 1944
LANDINGS IN NORMANDY, N France - Royal Marine Corps Memorable Date, June 6th 1944
SABANG 1944 - Sumatra, July 25th 1944
SOUTH FRANCE 1944 - Aug 15th-27th 1944
LEYTE GULF 1944 - central Philippines, Oct 20th-27th 1944, Royal Australian Navy plus one Royal Navy ship
BURMA 1944-45 - SE Asia, Oct 1944-Apr 1945, May-Aug 1945
WALCHEREN 1944 - island, SW Holland, Nov 1st 1944
ASSAULT ON WALCHEREN, SW Holland - Royal Marine Corp
1945
LINGAYEN GULF 1945 - northern Philippines, Jan 5th-9th 1945, Royal Australian Navy only
PALEMBANG 1945 - Sumatra; restricted to four fleet carriers present and their FAA Squadrons, Jan 24th and 29th 1945
OKINAWA 1945 (Operation Iceberg) - island chain SW of Japan, Mar 24th - June 21st 1945
JAPAN 1945 - restricted to four fleet carriers present and their FAA Squadrons, July 16th-Aug 11th 1945
TAKAO 1945 - Single-ship action (midget submarines XE1, XE3) off Singapore, SE Asia, July 31st 1945
Answered By: Elizabeth - 3/20/2009 |
WW1
The British navy was the decisive factor in winning WW1.As soon as declaring war,Britain began a naval blockade of Germany which prevented overseas imports,both food and war materiel, from reaching them.By 1918, the Germans were close to starvation.The front line troops were on rations of hard black bread and horse meat,the civilians existing on turnips.Ultimately, the naval blockade forced the surrender of Germany in WW1.
Additionally, the British navy bottled up the German High Seas Fleet in port,rendering it impotent for the duration of the war,guaranteed the safety of the supply line across the Channel from Britain to France (not a single ship was lost to enemy action in WW1 in this area), and was the main factor in the defeat of German U-boat campaign
WW2
Again, a naval blockade was imposed as soon as war was declared.However, a prewar policy of economic self sufficiency and the fact they conquered Europe meant the Germans were relatively unaffected compared to WW1.
However, the British navy was victorious in virtually all its surface engagements, thus nullifying both the German and Italian navies throughout the war.
More importantly, the British navy was the main factor in winning the Battle of the Atlantic.This meant the vital supply route from the Americas was kept open, enabling Britain to stay in the war in 1940 and 1941.After this, the build up of American and Canadian troops and supplies for D-Day and the liberation of western Europe was facilitated by the British navy.
Finally, the Arctic convoys that sent vital aid to Russia (10 million tons of strategic raw materials alone) helped Russia stave off defeat in 1942.
So, overall, it can be said that the British navy played a key, even decisive role in winning both WW1 and WW2.
Answered By: ammianus - 3/20/2009 |
The Navy did not play that much of a role in WWI, although they did fight some sea battles. WWI was mostly a land fight. The Royal Navy CAN be credited with keeping the embargo of Germany in place, gradually starving them of raw materials that would have been used to support the German war effort.
The Royal Navy played a CRUCIAL role in winning WWII for Great Britain. They kept the sea lanes open, and deterred the Germans from invading. Hitler was afraid of the size and power of the Royal Navy, and this is what kept the proposed invasion fleets tied to the docks in France and Holland. Unlike when the allies invaded France to retake Europe, Hitler was never able to establish air superiority, but if you look at the historical record, it wouldn't have mattered much. The Battle of Britain ended because the Germans were out of pilots and airplanes, and the ones they did use got slaughtered by the Spitfires and Hurricanes.
But what really stopped the invasion of Britain was the fact that the Royal Navy was completely intact, and actually at the height of it's power as a strategic weapon. If Hitler had tried to invade, with his fairly weak invasion force, and the Royal Navy had gone into action, there would have been a massive defeat for the Germans. Even if the largest German battleships had been deployed, they would almost certainly have been sunk. This is another reason there were no big naval battles in WWII. Hitler did not ever want to really confront the Royal Navy, not because of the aircraft. (Although they certainly helped) but because he was afraid that no matter how many ships he sent, or how powerful they were, they would be destroyed or sunk completely. (For instance, the Bismarck WAS damaged by aircraft, but her fate was not sealed until the British cruisers came up and obliterated her.) Even with all her armor, if you read the accounts of the few German survivors, there was nothing left. Every turret had been hit and knocked out of action. Most of the deck guns had been destroyed, and her superstructure was pounded into rubble. The decks were filled with holes from vertical shells fired from the British ships. This was all done by Royal Navy ships.
Also, the Royal Navy efforts against the U-Boats deserve mention. Until the organization of the convoy system, things were bad. But once the convoy system was established, with the escorts being Royal Navy, the U-Boats found it increasingly difficult to sink any ships. They eventually had no chance at all of penetrating a convoy, and if you look at the kill records for German U-Boats, they drop from 10-15 ships on a patrol, down to 1 or even 0 sunk. The Royal Navy defeated them completely.
Source(s):
Reading the histories of World War I and World War II
Answered By: William M - 3/20/2009 |
The history of the British Navy in both wars is too rich to recount here, but in a nutshell:
WWI:
The British threw up a naval blockade against Germany which stood to starve the Germans out. In response, the Germans launched a counter campaign against British shipping that came close to wrecking the British war effort. This was the U-boat war that you probably read about. One of the British responses was to use civilian passenger ships and ships belonging to complicit "neutral" countries to run military supplies through the blockade. This eventually gave rise to a German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which meant that the Germans were attacking any ship bearing the flag of the British or her allies. One of the early results of this was the Lusitania disaster.
The German campaign was very successful until the British learned convoy tactics and anti submarine warfare. The British blockade took its toll, and the Germans were eventually unable to effectively keep up the fight at sea. The British Navy was also able to keep the German High Seas Fleet bottled up in harbor and prevented the Germans from seriously contesting control of the seas. The British naval blockade of Germany caused a great deal of privation in Germany and was probably responsible for speeding up the end of the war. I don't know that the British Navy was decisive in WWI, but it was a very important factor in the defeat of the Germans.
The idea of total war at sea was fairly new at the time and the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare was widely regarded as a war crime, and may have been a contributing factor that brought America into the war.
WWII:
The same sort of thing took place, except that the Germans were a lot more self sufficient by that time, so a British naval blockade stood to be less effective. The Germans, however, had built up her surface and submarine fleet and immediately launched a submarine and surface ship blockade of England in order to attempt to starve the British out of the war and to seize mastery of the sea lanes. At first, the British took the worst licking. The truth is that Germany came within weeks of starving the British out of the war. Between them, the British and the nominally neutral Americans reinstituted convoy tactics and far more sophisticated aerial anti-submarine warfare than was possible in WWI, and eventually defeated the German blockade in an event that is known to history as the Battle of the Atlantic.
In both wars, the British Navy was all about protecting British supply lines and disrupting those of the Germans. In both wars, there were attempts by each side to blockade the other and in both wars the British eventually seized control of the seas.
Answered By: neoimperialistxxi - 3/20/2009 |