Operation Royal Marine
Operation Royal Marine was a military operation in World War II, in which naval mines were floated down rivers from France into Germany, to destroy bridges, barges and other water transport. After postponements, the operation was carried out in May 1940 and caused some damage and delay to German river traffic.
Background
Mines
The mines were specially developed for the operation by MD1.[1] Each mine contained 15 lb (6.8 kg) of TNT and depending upon type, either floated or bounced along the riverbed; trials of the mines were carried out in the Thames in December 1939.[2]
Plan
The plan had been presented to the Cabinet in November by Winston Churchill, as retaliation against illegal German minelaying.[3] (Sir Edward Spears claimed that he had originally proposed the idea to Churchill, when they visited eastern France in August 1939 but by the time the operation began, Churchill believed the idea was his.)[4] Floating mines were to be put into rivers in west Germany by British parties under Commander G. R. S. Wellby.[5] The mines were intended to interfere with barge traffic and other boats and become inert before reaching neutral waters. On 6 March 1940, informed the Cabinet that mines would be ready for release from river banks on 12 March and to be dropped by the RAF by mid-April. Neutrals were to be warned and the first 300–400 fluvial mines released on the night of 14/15 March but after French objections the plan was postponed.[3]
Prelude
Despite the concerns of the French government during the Phoney War, over German air attacks and reprisals against French waterways, it was intended that the operation would take place simultaneously with Operation Wilfred, a scheme to mine the waters around Norway. The novelty of Operation Royal Marine was intended to divert American attention from the possible illegality of Operation Wilfred.[6] Wilfred was intended to force German convoys transporting Swedish iron ore into international waters, where they could be attacked by the Royal Navy.[7] Simultaneously attacking Germany with riverine mines was intended to deflect criticism, that the Allies were not making war on Germany, only the small countries around it, that they claimed to be protecting. A decision of the Anglo French Supreme War Council on 28 March 1940, to commence Operation Royal Marine on 4 April and the air-dropping of mines on 15 April, was vetoed shortly afterwards by the French War Committee for about three months.[8] Operation Wilfred was left to take place on its own on 5 April and was then postponed to 8 April, later parts of the plan being cancelled, when news arrived that the German fleet had sailed.[9][10] The British and French were able to agree that Operation Royal Marine could begin as soon as the German offensive in the west began.[11]
Operation
During the first week of the Battle of France (10–17 May), the British put 1,700 mines in the Rhine near Soufflenheim, resulting in the temporary suspension of most of the river traffic between Karlsruhe and Mainz, causing damage to the river barrage at Karlsruhe and to several pontoon bridges.[11][12] By 24 May, over 2,300 mines had been released into the Rhine, Moselle and Meuse rivers.[5] It was also planned that the Royal Air Force (RAF) would drop mines into the Rhine between Bingen am Rhein and Coblenz and into canals and river estuaries feeding the Heligoland Bight.[13] Small quantities of mines were laid by aircraft during the closing stages of the battle but the damage caused could not be measured.[14]
Footnotes
- ↑ Macrae 1971, p. 31–51.
- ↑ Telegraph 2003.
- 1 2 Butler 1971, p. 114.
- ↑ Spears 1954.
- 1 2 Ellis 2004, p. 52.
- ↑ Derry 2004, p. 24.
- ↑ Roskill 1957, p. 156.
- ↑ Butler 1971, pp. 122–123.
- ↑ Roskill 1957, pp. 156–158.
- ↑ Derry 2004, pp. 25–26.
- 1 2 Butler 1971, pp. 181–182.
- ↑ Churchill 2005, p. 36.
- ↑ Churchill 2005a, p. 647.
- ↑ Ellis 2004, p. 53.
References
- Butler, J. R. M. (1971) [1957]. Grand Strategy: September 1939 – June 1941. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series II (2nd, amd. ed.). HMSO. ISBN 0-11630-095-7.
- Churchill, Winston (2005) [1948]. "Appendix Q - Operation Royal Marine - Note by the First Lord of the Admiralty, March 4, 1940". The Second World War: The Gathering Storm I (Penguin Classics ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-14-008611-0.
- Churchill, Winston (2005) [1949]. The Second World War: Their Finest Hour II (Penguin Classics ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-14-008612-9.
- Derry, T. K. (2004) [1952]. Butler, J. R. M., ed. The Campaign in Norway. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series (Naval & Military Press ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN 1-845740-57-2. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- Ellis, Major L. F. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1954]. "The Counter-Attack at Arras". In Butler, J. R. M. The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-056-6. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- Macrae, Stuart (1971). Winston Churchill's Toyshop. Kineton: Roundwood Press. OCLC 603643856.
- "Obituary: Rear-Admiral Roger Wellby". The Daily Telegraph (online ed.). 3 December 2003. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M., ed. The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945 I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 881709135. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- Spears, Sir Edward (1954). Assignment to Catastrophe: Prelude to Dunkirk. July 1939 – May 1940 I. London: Heinemann. OCLC 929260462.