Practices_Naval

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**1. Submarine Warfare and technological advances ** (Eric)
 * Submarine Warfare
 * German Submarine Warfare
 * US Submarine Warfare
 * Technological Developments
 *  Amphibious Tactics
 * Aircraft carriers
 * Anti-submarine warfare techniques
 * Radar


 * 2. Key naval events of the Second World War ** (Liam)
 * The Battle of the River Plate
 * Operation Cerberus
 * The sinking of the Bismarck
 * The Battle of Coral Sea
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Battle of Midway
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Battle of the Philippine Sea


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">3. Compare and contrast the role of naval warfare in WW1 and WW2 **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">(Bruce)

=Submarine Warfare=
 * ==** German Submarine Warfare **==
 * At the outset of WWII, the German navy was too small to directly attempt to challenge the British navy for control of the seas, so submarine warfare was the only viable option
 * The ToV had prevented Germany from having submarines, so crews were trained in Spain and Russia
 * Germany wanted to destroy Britain’s supply lines by destroying merchant ships in the atlantic much like they did in World War 1. Later in the war, they also wanted to prevent the influence of the American productive and military capability on the European theatre
 * Employed the use of the ‘wolfpack’ tactic, which consisted of attacking the convoy the Germans sought to destroy with as many U-Boats as possible.
 * ==** US Submarine Warfare **==
 * After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the only weaponry that was readily available to retaliate against the Japanese was the US submarine force
 * The US Submarine fleet received a message at 4pm on December 7th 1941 (the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor) to conduct “unrestricted submarine warfare” on any and all Japanese vessels, which include Japanese shipping vessels
 * US Submarines accounted for 60% of the 8.1 Million tons lost of the Japanese Merchant Marine
 * This attack on Japan severely reduced Japanese war production, and also affected the ability of the Japanese military to move troops and supplies into crucial combat zones.

=Technological Developments=


 * ==** Amphibious Tactics **==
 * The US Marines had developed methods for landing troops and equipment on strongly defended shores by 1943.
 * Landing craft were developed that could be beached on to enemy shores for easy unloading.


 * ==** Aircraft carriers **==
 * Arguably one of the most significant developments in terms of naval warfare during WW1.
 * Aircraft carriers were used as the main warship, or capital ship, of many fleets
 * In contrast to World War I, aircraft had a significant advantage over surface naval vessels. However, anti-ship aircraft had a fairly short range, which meant they had to rely on aircraft carriers to transport them towards the enemy, therefore making aircraft carriers one of the most crucial aspects of the war at sea.
 * From the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, where due to the use of aircraft carriers, the opposing naval fleets never came into sight of each other, the aircraft carrier became the dominant warship of the war in the Pacific


 * ==** Anti-submarine warfare techniques **==
 * By 1943, anti-submarine warfare had become quite sophisticated
 * U-boats were highly effective at night, when they could not be seen - 2.6 million tons of allied merchant shipping was lost to U-Boats in 1940
 * Sonar (also referred to as ASDIC) was fitted onto frigates by 1943, and this took away the ‘invisibility’ the U-Boats had, even at night
 * Frigates (as well as corvettes) were small ships but were fast and deadly due to being armed with depth charges
 * However, this system did have some initial setbacks: the combination of the fact that frigates initially dropped depth charges from the back of the ship, and the fact that as a frigate passed over the position of the U-boat, the sonar signal was lost and the U-boat essentially disappeared meant that a talented U-boat captain could successfully survive an encounter with a frigate
 * To combat this, the frigate would send out a spread of depth charges in the area where the U-boat was believed to be.
 * Two later developments known as the ‘Hedgehog’ and ‘Squid’ solved the problem altogether. The ‘Hedgehog’ fired 24 small depth charges from the front of the ship that were designed to explode at different depths and times and essentially compromise the U-Boat’s position. The ‘Squid’ then fired three larger depth charges, again from the front of the ship, that could crack the U-boat.
 * ==** Radar **==
 * The domination of naval warfare by aircraft meant that it was essential for surface naval fleets to have some way to detect the approach of aircraft while they were still far away from the fleet, which led to the development of radar technology by the Allies
 * Radar differed from sonar in the sense that sonar relied on sending out sound waves underwater that bounce off objects, while radar relies on sending out radio waves through the air
 * This gave naval fleets a significant advantage because they could detect the approach of planes from great distances, even at night.

=Key naval events of the Second World War=


 * ==** The Battle of the River Plate **==
 * The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War and the only episode of the war to take place in South America.
 * The German battleship Admiral Graf Spee had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September 1939.
 * One of the “hunting groups” sent by the British Admiralty to search for Graf Spee, comprising three Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Exeter, Ajax and Achilles found and engaged them off the coast of Uruguay in South America.
 * In the battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire; Ajax and Achilles suffered moderate damage.
 * The damage to Graf Spee, although not extensive, was critical; her fuel system was crippled. Ajax and Achilles shadowed the German ship until she entered the port of Montevideo, the capital city of neutral Uruguay, to make urgent repairs.
 * After Graf Spee's captain Hans Langsdorff was told that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours, he scuttled his damaged ship rather than face the overwhelmingly superior force that the British had led him to believe was awaiting his departure
 * A splendid Timewatch episode on the battle can be found at: []


 * ==** Operation Cerberus **==
 * The Channel Dash (codenamed Operation Cerberus) was a major naval engagement during which an entire German Kriegsmarine squadron ran a British blockade and successfully sailed from Brest to their home base in Germany via the English Channel.
 * 11 February 1942: the Kriegsmarine's ships left Brest and escaped detection for more than 12 hours; approaching the Straits of Dover without discovery.
 * As the German ships passed through the straits and on into the North Sea, British armed forces intercepted them, and attacks were made by the Royal Air Force, the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Artillery.
 * The attacks and bombardment were unsuccessful, and by 13 February all the Kriegsmarine's ships had completed their transit.
 * The operation is widely considered one of the most humiliating British naval failures of the Second World War.


 * ==** The sinking of the Bismarck **==
 * Bismarck was the first ‘Bismarck’ class battleship.. She was widely considered the flag bearer of the Kriegsmarine.
 * Bismarck's fuel tanks had been damaged in the less important battle of Denmark strait and her intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair.
 * The action began after Bismarck, which had eluded the British forces pursuing her, was sighted by a patrolling British aircraft on the afternoon of 26 May.
 * It consisted of four main phases
 * 1) The first phase consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which disabled Bismarck's steering gear and thus jammed her rudders
 * 2) The second phase was the shadowing and harassment of Bismarck during the night by British destroyers, with no serious damage to any ship.
 * 3) The third phase was an attack by the British battleships King George V and Rodney, supported by cruisers, on the morning of the 27th. After about 100 minutes of fighting Bismarck was sunk by the combined effects of shellfire, torpedo hits and deliberate scuttling.
 * 4) In the final phase the withdrawing British ships were attacked by aircraft of the Luftwaffe, resulting in the loss of a British destroyer.
 * An interesting (and factually accurate!) song was written by Johnny Horton in 1960 called “Sink the Bismarck!” It can be found at []


 * ==** The Battle of Coral Sea **==
 * In World War II the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first aircraft carrier battle fought between the United States and Australia against Japan.
 * The battle lasted from 4 May to 8 May 1942. During that time none of the ships saw each other of fired any of their guns at each other. All the fighting was done by aircraft from the carriers. It is the largest naval battle fought near Australia.
 * It was important because it was the first major defeat for Japan, and it stopped the Japanese from invading Port Moresby, the capital city of New Guinea. Many people regarded it as the battle that saved Australia.


 * ==** The Battle of Midway **==
 * The Battle of Midway was between the United States and the Empire of Japan.
 * It took place from June 4, 1942 to June 7, 1942.
 * During the battle, the United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll (near Hawaii) and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser.
 * The battle was a clear victory for the Americans, and usually considered the most important naval battle of World War II.
 * The battle weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy for the rest of the war, mostly because Japan lost more than 200 pilots.
 * After the clear victory, the Japanese forces retired. Japan's loss of four out of their six carriers, plus many number of their best air pilots, stopped the expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific, and the Americans slowly began to advance towards Japan.


 * ==** The Battle of the Philippine Sea **==
 * The Battle of the Philippine Sea was an important naval battle of the Second World War between by the navies of the United States and Japan.
 * This battle took place on June 19 and June 20 1944 near the Mariana Islands.
 * The battle was a great defeat for the Japanese Navy, which lost three aircraft carriers and some 600 aircraft in two days of combat. This happened because the Japanese airplanes were getting old and their pilots had little training, compared to the more modern and better trained American forces.
 * After the battle, the Japanese Navy was almost completely destroyed. This victory for Allied forces opened the door for the invasion of Iwo Jima; a decisive attack by the Americans which led to the eventual defeat Japan.

=Differences in Navy from WW1 to WW2=
 * Navy was used mainly in the Pacific theatre during WW2, though there was some use in Europe, namely D-Day and the U- boat blockades/ Germany blockade
 * Five main functions of Navy- troop transport, supply protection (convoy), air-force transport, bombardment and ship to ship combat.
 * Navy was most important part of the pacific theatre, as they utilized a “island hopping” campaign, moving across the pacific taking each island on the way.
 * In Europe they had more of a sieging role, sinking supply ships and restricting movement of goods. This was part of the Atlantic Campaign, incidentally the longest campaign of the war from 1939-1945
 * There was not that much difference in naval warfare in Europe, in both was they fought over the control of the sea, trade routes and supply lines.
 * Mass race for the power of the dreadnought in WW1, whereas in WW2 the aircraft carrier was most important ship
 * Air power much more important in WW2, so the use of aircraft carrier allowed deployment off seas not just land, so more important.

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=__Let's get quizzical!__=

Q. Why were aircraft carriers so vital to military operations in the pacific theater? A. Because of the importance of aircraft to naval warfare.

Q.How did the allies combat German U-Boats. A. Sonar and depth charges.

Q. Why was the battle of the coral sea so important? A. Reasons twofold: 1.battle that saved Australia. 2. Completely fought by airplanes. Enemies never made lines of sight.

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