Sea Power and Maritime Affairs Lesson 5.10: World War II: U.S. Navy in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic, 1938-1945

Enabling Objectives Illustrate the absolute priority given to keeping the sea lanes to Britain open and the effect of U.S. attempts to remain neutral prior to 1941. Understand German U-boat strategy versus Allied convoy strategy in the Atlantic. Distinguish the differences between “British War Attrition” versus American Plan for a direct confrontation with Germany. Recognize Allied amphibious landings, Operation Torch to Operation Overlord, that assisted in ending the war in Europe.

Fascism Spreads in Europe 1932: Japan invades Manchuria 1933: Adolf Hitler and Nazi Third Reich replaces Weimar Republic. 1935: Italy invades Ethiopia 1937: Japan renews war with China. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini during Hitler's visit to Venice from 14–16 June 1934.

“Peace In Our Time” March 1938: Germany annexes Austria. Sep 1938: Munich Crisis March 1939: Germany occupies Czechoslovakia April 1939 Italy occupies Albania Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

1 Sep 1939: Germany Invades Poland 6

War in Europe April 1940 Germany invades Denmark/Norway May 1940 Germany invades Netherlands, Belgium, and France June 1940 France Falls to Hitler Soviet Union annexes Baltic States Soviet Union invades Finland Summer 1940 Battle of Britain 7

Germany Invades Soviet Union June 1941: Operation Barbarossa 3 million soldiers 3580 tanks 7184 artillery guns  1830 planes   750,000 horses Winter in Russia… 8

Prime Minister Winston Churchill “We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!” - 4 June 1940

Enlisting American Help U.S. neutrality, 1939-1941 March 1941, Germany 1st Strategy. Lend-Lease Program U.S. Navy Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic Admiral Ernest J. King in command Undeclared naval war in the Atlantic against U-boats Destroyers escort convoys Anti-submarine patrol aircraft used to locate U-boats 10

Allied Convoys vs Wolf Packs German U-boats hunt allied shipping in wolf packs. Very effective when based out of France and Normandy. Feb 1941: 500k tons of UK shipping sunk by U-Boats! The “Happy Time” or Gluckzeit. 11

Competing Allied Strategies U.S. preferred direct attack on Germany through western France Russians desperately want a second front British preferred a peripheral strategy Attack Germany’s weak underbelly. British were interested in saving the Suez US wanted to go straight into Berlin through France Churchill didn’t trust Russians, who were begging for a second front Strategic bombing in Europe Operation Roundup would have been an invasion of France in 1943; ultimately became Operation Overlord British didn’t want another Dunkirk, hoped to bleed the Wehrmacht a little before going in 12

General George S. Patton “When we land against the enemy, don't forget to hit him and hit him hard. When we meet the enemy we will kill him. We will show him no mercy. He has killed thousands of your comrades and he must die. If your company officers in leading your men against the enemy find him shooting at you and when you get within two hundred yards of him he wishes to surrender – oh no! That bastard will die!” 15.2.16 Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt Major General George S. Patton Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower Some mistakes made night landing confusing Hewitt lost one destroyer, an LST, and an ammo ship German army beat the Anglo-Americans in the race across the island to Messina and escaped to the boot of Italy. Mussolini fell from power, and the new government negotiated a peace Patton Speech 13

Operation Torch November 1942 – Feb 1943 Western Naval Task Force 15.2.16 General Dwight D. Eisenhower field Commander goes to Gibraltar to plan Norfolk, Western Naval Task Force is assembled Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt Major General George S. Patton- tank driver D-Day 8 November 1942 The target is Casablanca 14

Operation Husky and Avalanche July 1943 September 1943 15.2.16 Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt Major General George S. Patton Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower Some mistakes made night landing confusing Hewitt lost one destroyer, an LST, and an ammo ship German army beat the Anglo-Americans in the race across the island to Messina and escaped to the boot of Italy. Mussolini fell from power, and the new government negotiated a peace 15

Operation Overlord – D Day 6 June 1944 5,000+ ships 150,000 Allied troops Paris Liberated 25 August 1944 15.2.16 The Mediterranean campaign had lasted 20 months Now it was time to plan for Overlord During that time the Soviets had managed to hold the Eastern Front; meanwhile, periphery operations in the West had not dealt any crushing blows. It was time to go in through France Churchill still wanted to press through from Italy into Vienna; he wanted to beat the Russians to Berlin. We can see why in hindsight Eisenhower, Marshall, and Roosevelt- we wanted to do the French invasion with two landings Overlord and Dragoon A fascinating story. Setup Patton with fake command in England. German intel really bad at this point 16

War Termination 12 April 1945 30 Apr 1945 4 May 1945 7 May 1945 FDR dies 30 Apr 1945 Hitler commits suicide 4 May 1945 Doenitz, sues for peace 7 May 1945 General Alfred Jodl signs surrender documents Midnight 8 May, 1945 War in Europe ends Yalta Conference, 4-11 Feb 1945

Battle History Video 1938-1945 Chapter 2 “Fire and Water” Time 34:00 - 40:48.

Enabling Objectives Illustrate the absolute priority given to keeping the sea lanes to Britain open and the effect of U.S. attempts to remain neutral prior to 1941. Understand German U-boat strategy versus Allied convoy strategy in the Atlantic. Distinguish the differences between “British War Attrition” versus American Plan for a direct confrontation with Germany. Recognize Allied amphibious landings, Operation Torch to Operation Overlord, that assisted in ending the war in Europe.

Questions ? Questions? 1. The students should appreciate the complexities of strategy-making in a war where the three major allies (the United States, Great Britain and Soviet Russia) had many fundamentally different and even opposing goals.   It is especially important to grasp the fact that the surface harmony of Anglo-American cooperation hid many substantial differences in how to defeat the Axis powers and what should be the nature of the post-war world, including the relative military and naval might of the two countries. 2. The students should grapple with the fact that the announced policy and strategy of President Franklin Roosevelt was to defeat Germany prior to taking the offensive against Japan, but in fact the United States took the offensive against Japan as early as August, 1942. a. The question of Navy-Army rivalry must be considered in explaining and understanding this phenomenon. b. The personalities of the top uniformed strategists (General Marshall, Admiral King, Admiral Nimitz, and General MacArthur) must also be factored into this equation. 3. The students should fully grasp the differences between the British peripheral strategy, focusing on the Mediterranean and its littorals, and the American desire for an early cross-Channel landing in northern Europe. This study should include assessing the reasons for the 1942 landings in North Africa. 4. The students should comprehend that the Atlantic and Mediterranean wars were not Mahanian wars of battle fleets contending for command of the seas, and they should assess the reasons that this was the case, despite the pre-war planning on the Axis and Allied sides for capital ship engagements. 5. The students should fully appreciate both the conventional and the technological revolutionary aspects of the Allied ASW campaign in the Atlantic. This study should lead the students to fully reappraise the possibility of having made a cross-Channel invasion in 1942, as General Marshall wished. 6. As a result of the above examinations, the students should grapple with the question of the effects of inter-service rivalry on the conduct of World War II, and they also should gain an appreciation of the extent to which interservice cooperation (“Jointness” in the terminology of the 2000s) prevailed and facilitated the achievement of victory. Next time: World War II: The US Navy in the Pacific, 1941-1945 Official Navy Photo 20