Channel Dash; Scharnhorst and Gneisenau Run the British Blockade - Animated

[Music] during the winter of early 1941 the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau do untold damage to the Atlantic convoys that are bringing vital food fuel and war materiel to Britain they sink a hundred and fifteen thousand tons of shipping 22 vessels the highest success rate that the creased marine surface fleet achieved at any time in the war Britain's war supply lifeline is under serious threat after their highly successful hunt the two battleships returned to the port of breasts for overhaul and repairs in March 1941 a photoreconnaissance Spitfire spots them six days later Shawn horse requires at least 10 weeks of repairs to her boilers organiser now only needs minor work before she'll be able to put to sea to devastate the Atlantic convoys again on the 30th of March RAF Bomber Command sent 109 light and medium bombers with armor-piercing bomb load outs to attack the ships in harbour with no success the German command have mandated that all maintenance on the ships is carried out by German workers so as to minimize the risk that the French Resistance can sabotage progress or report valuable intelligence to the British with repairs complete Ganesa now moves out of drydock to an exposed mooring in the bay on the 5th of April she could slip away into the Atlantic at any moment the next day for coastal command Beaufort's launched torpedo attacks on Ginoza now the first three can't break through the heavy anti-aircraft fire defending the battleship but the fourth piloted by flying officer Kenneth Campbell presses on it and releases his torpedo it explodes against kanai's now Campbell's aircraft takes a direct hit from flak and crashes into the sea instantly killing the four-man crew Ganesa now starboard propeller and shaft have been disabled she begins to take on water but a salvage boat arrives quickly to stabilize the ship Campbell's attack has taken gun Eisenhower out of action for a further six months he's posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross the night attacks by Bomber Command continue on the port for several months the Germans rapidly enforced their anti-aircraft defenses and install a smokescreen system to cloak the aiming points when raids are detected however denies now takes damaging hits in June the cruiser Prinz oigan arrives in Brest after escorting the battleship Bismarck on its ill-fated sortie into the Atlantic and is damaged by RAF bombing in July with repairs complete Scharnhorst leaves press to exercise near la police worried about a breakout into the Atlantic Bomber Command sent when t1 Stirling's and Halifax's to attack the ship scoring several direct hits Shawn horse limps back to drydock in Brest between July and December 1941 1000 further bombing sorties are conducted against breasts with further success against the port infrastructure and damage inflicted on the ship's owing to successful air attacks all three ships have been prevented from becoming operational again in 1941 the ability of the Royal Navy to track down and hunt Bismarck in the Atlantic has worried the senior German leadership along with the obvious vulnerability to air attack while in Brest it is decided that the use of battleships for commerce raiding should be suspended it's not worth the risk there's a wider strategic problem Britain is using commandos to raid targets along the German occupied Norwegian coast the high command fear that these are a prelude to a seaborne british invasion of Norway commander in chief of the crease Marines Admiral Rader is instructed to bring the three capital ships at Brest back to Germany for redeployment taking the wide route around the British Isles would take the ships dangerously close to the massive British fleet at Scarpa flow which would have time to track the vessels and prepare for the interception the second option would be a surprise fast - up the English Channel in range of British bombers coastal guns and lighter Navy vessels that could be scrambled in time because the hard-hitting Royal Navy Home Fleet is in Scarpa flow in Scotland in anticipation of a potential source he by the modern German battleship Tirpitz from Norway the channel - plan is chosen on the night of the 11th of February 1942 the three ships can either now Scharnhorst and Prince Orion finally sail out of Brest with an escort of six destroyers and turned north towards the channel they narrowly avoid detection from a recon flight of RAF Hudson's the Bomber Command raid on breasts planned for that night doesn't spot that the vessels have left because the defensive smokescreen has been deployed 26 German e-boats fast attack craft will join the fleet early the following morning to escort in the week leading to the sortie British codebreakers at Bletchley Park have intercepted communications about the deployment of the six destroyers to press the Admiralty believe this could be a prelude to a sortie and prepare for a possible - of the channel by priming anti-surface vessel Hudson aircraft swordfish and beaufort torpedo aircraft motor torpedo boats and squadrons of fighter and bomber commands to be prepared to attack the ships at short notice if spotted the response plan is named Operation fuller a brilliant plan has been put in action by the Germans signal service to degrade the British coastal radar that would have been used to spot the ships in the channel over a number of weeks week transmissions have been made as sunrise every morning from German stations in France using the same frequencies as the British radar stations degrading and confusing their radar return signals this has created the illusion that the radar degradation is due to morning atmospheric interference and doesn't raise suspicion the German vessels past Cherbourg as the Sun rises the following morning and rendezvous with the first of the 215 Luftwaffe fighters that will provide air cover throughout the day Admiral Otto celiacs has no choice but to sail his fleet through a newly laid minefield RAF Spitfires are beginning their morning reconnaissance flights over the channel one spots a number of e-books leaving the loin in a southwesterly direction another spots far away Luftwaffe aircraft circling a point just off the French coast but doesn't spot any shipping the radar station at beachy head reports the so called atmospheric interference but can just about make out the aircraft circling something below they aren't sure the report potential naval activity Fighter Command initially believed that there is a search and rescue operation underway but the plot seemed to be gradually moving east along the coast sensing something unusual Fighter Command deploy to further Spitfires to the area to investigate the February weather of rain low clouds and wind closes in but the pilot spots the escorting ie boats and site a fleet of larger vessels further away through the rain because they're on a recon mission their orders are for radio silence in the air so as not to give away to the enemy that they've been spotted they turned back to their base at big inhale another pair of Spitfires descend out of the cloud directly over the fleet anti-aircraft fire flashes up at them as they realize they've discovered German capital ships they spot one own lines above and climb back into the safety of cloud the time is 10:40 when the for Spitfires eventually landed their bases and report their sightings 31 minutes have passed and the fleet has progressed another 17 miles up the channel the message is transmitted along the south coast of England the German ships are out the operation fully units are mobilized swordfish and motor torpedo boats from Dover prepare to launch attacks on the fleet and Beaufort's begin to move forward to bases in Kent to be able to support later in the day the coastal gun battery at South foreland near Dover is the first to open fire with its nine inch guns at 12:19 the k-type fire control radar used to direct the fire of guns is brand new and the gun is here are still in training the mist and low cloud obscures the enemy and the splashes of the shells in the water not detectable on radar they're unable to correct their fire for wind the first five motor torpedo boats with motor gun boat escorts come within firing range at 12:33 but can't penetrate the outer screen of a boat's and destroyers that are now opening fire on them they have no choice but to launch their torpedoes from long-range at the capital ships within the screen all torpedoes myths while the enemy fleet performs evasive maneuvers one torpedo boat moves in for a closer shot but also misses shortly after leftenant commander Esmond leads his flight of six swordfish of eight to five Naval Air Squadron towards the German fleet with 10 Spitfires from 72 squadron as Minton's is squadron had performed the torpedo attack against Bismarck disabling its rudder the year before and will now face down Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the channel knowing the odds of the six aircraft making it through the fleet's anti-aircraft fire alive is slim the final decision on whether to commit to the attack has been left to Esmond himself he chooses to go three further squadrons of Spitfires are supposed to be with them to draw some far away from the swordfish but the weather and bad timing has prevented the rendezvous German 109 and 190 fighters dropped from the clouds to attack and had chased off by the 10 Spitfires the now alone swordfish dropped to 50 feet off the waves and pushed through the heavy anti-aircraft fire at a hopelessly slow 85 knots more 109s appear and tear into the old bombers an anti-aircraft shell hits Esmond aircraft and crashes into the sea killing him instantly two torpedoes are definitely released in the attack and myth all six swordfish are shot down on the run end with only five of the 18 crew members surviving Esmond is awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross Vice Admiral celiacs will later describe the attack on his fleet by the swordfish cruise as a mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day 20 minutes later a further three torpedo boats from Ramsgate attempt to attack the fleet but are unable to penetrate the e boat screen in the still deteriorating weather a little while after Sean ha states of mind dropped by the RAF some time previously and is forced to stop while the rest of the fleet carries on Vice Admiral celiacs is forced to transfer to a nearby destroyer to continue commanding the fleet still under way alone the crew desperately work to repair the damage hoping that they aren't spotted by British aircraft 45 minutes later her engines come back to life and she sets off two tries to catch up with the rest of the fleet not knowing that Scharnhorst is alone and vulnerable coastal command Beaufort's attack the main fleet to the northeast with torpedoes five elderly First World War Royal Navy destroyers also closeand they've been diverted from gunnery exercises in the North Sea at last minute and use onboard radar to track the fleet through the mist they speed ahead and turn in to make their torpedo attack as the Destroyers approach their torpedo launch points 73 aircraft of Bomber Command drop out of the cloud to join the attack the Sterling's Halifax's Wellington's Hamptons plenums and Manchester's on the first of the three mixed aircraft type waves of bombers to attack the German fleet throughout the afternoon and evening some German fighters engage with the aircraft releasing their ordnance overhead the destroyers move in all guns in the German fleet opened fire on them and they zigzag to avoid the incoming salvos with shells falling on all sides Danger Close HMS Campbell and vivacious fire their torpedoes and turn away Worcester continues to close in and as she makes her turn to launch her torpedoes she's hit by multiple heavy shells she stops McCoy and Witt shed close in on Prince eigen and also fire off their munitions performing violent evasive maneuvers the German vessels avoid all incoming torpedoes not hanging around to engage the stricken HMS Worcester they continue their - for home Campbell and vivacious stopped to help Worcester and her fires are brought under control miraculously she's able to limp home over the next two hours are further two waves of bombers totaling 169 attackin Iser now and Scharnhorst the cloud base is now down to 600 feet and the terrible visibility is making bombing difficult the formation breaks up into single aircraft flying around to find the ships and get a good unhindered bomb run it is no surprise that no hits are scored in the evening both Jean Horst and gun eyes are now hit mines but the damage is contained under the cover of darkness can either now and Prinze organ arrived together at the German port of Bruns brutal at the sunrise the following morning Jean host arrives at Ville Helms Hovind in the mid-morning vice-admiral celiacs is the first commander in 300 years to lead a hostile surface battle fleet through the English Channel the failure to enforce the blockade in her own channel is a humiliation for Britain and the press label it of fiasco the integrated commander control chain between Navy and Air Force has shown to be inadequate the failure of Bomber Command to land any hits on moving naval targets and the failure of coastal command and the Royal Navy to land any torpedo hits is embarrassing Britain's naval power for now still relies on its much dominant Home Fleet in Scapa Flow two weeks later Ganesa now is bombed by the RAF in drydock and takes unsustainable damage she never sails again the Royal Navy sinks Shawn host at the Battle of North Cape in late 1943

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 902,953

Rating: 4.9359879 out of 5

Keywords: battleship, ww2, battle of the atlantic, royal navy, Kriegsmarine, history, warship, second world war, scharnhorst, gneisenau, channel dash, operation cerberus, raf

Id: Sj-3ntOMLys

Length: 14min 53sec (893 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020