228-698: 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Operation Vigorous (known in Italy as Battaglia di mezzo giugno 1942 , "the Battle of mid-June 1942") was a British operation during the Second World War , to escort supply Convoy MW 11 from the eastern Mediterranean to Malta , which took place from 11 to 16 June 1942. Vigorous was part of Operation Julius, a simultaneous operation with Operation Harpoon from Gibraltar and supporting operations. Sub-convoy MW 11c sailed from Port Said (Egypt) on 11 June, to tempt
456-659: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on
684-578: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to
912-494: A certain apprehension about the meaning of troop movements in southern Italy. The absence of evidence from signals intelligence and air reconnaissance led to a conclusion that an invasion was not imminent but the need to protect the source of information meant that this was not disclosed by the British. That preparations were being made was revealed on 7 February through the decryption of Luftwaffe Enigma messages but by 23 March
1140-453: A change to the C 38m machine in early March made little difference to the British for lack of means. After the British broke C 38m again, 26 Axis supply journeys had been made by May, only nine being spotted by air reconnaissance. On 14 April, five Malta aircraft were shot down and the submarine HMS Upholder was lost. On 10 March, the cruiser HMS Naiad was sunk by a U-boat and on 10 May, three of four destroyers were sunk by
1368-582: A crew of 60. In terms of gunnery, speed, and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high-seas capabilities, Destructor was an important precursor to the TBD. The first classes of ships to bear the formal designation TBD were the Daring class of two ships and Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy. Early torpedo gunboat designs lacked the range and speed to keep up with
1596-525: A defense against torpedo boats , and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by
1824-465: A destroyer and a corvette were damaged. British aircraft and submarines sank the cruiser Trento and damaged Littorio ; anti-aircraft gunners on the escorts and merchant ships shot down 21 of about 220 attacking aircraft. Two destroyers were sunk during Operation Harpoon, a cruiser, three destroyers and a minesweeper were damaged, an Italian destroyer was slightly damaged, the RAF lost five aircraft,
2052-644: A destroyer was the German U-19 , rammed by HMS Badger on 29 October 1914. While U-19 was only damaged, the next month, HMS Garry successfully sank U-18 . The first depth-charge sinking was on 4 December 1916, when UC-19 was sunk by HMS Llewellyn . The submarine threat meant that many destroyers spent their time on antisubmarine patrol. Once Germany adopted unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, destroyers were called on to escort merchant convoys . US Navy destroyers were among
2280-524: A difference of nearly 340%. Moreover, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on the surface-combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation. At the start of the 21st century, destroyers are the global standard for surface-combatant ships, with only two nations (the United States and Russia ) officially operating
2508-530: A doubt magnificent fighting vessels... but unable to stand bad weather". During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy TBD Akatsuki described "being in command of a destroyer for a long period, especially in wartime... is not very good for the health". Stating that he had originally been strong and healthy, he continued, "life on a destroyer in winter, with bad food, no comforts, would sap
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#17327810930812736-532: A few long-range Kittyhawks and Beaufighters. The eight merchantmen were in four columns around the rescue ships, with the cruisers about 1,200 yd (1,100 m) out, the Hunt class destroyers 1 nmi (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) beyond and the fleet destroyers on anti-submarine patrol 2,500 yd (2,300 m) outside the Hunts. The formation was effective against torpedo-bombers but risked attack by dive-bombers in
2964-535: A further three similar classes were produced around 1930. The Le Fantasque class of 1935 carried five 138 millimetres (5.4 in) guns and nine torpedo tubes, but could achieve speeds of 45 knots (83 km/h), which remains the record speed for a steamship and for any destroyer. The Italians' own destroyers were almost as swift; most Italian designs of the 1930s were rated at over 38 knots (70 km/h), while carrying torpedoes and either four or six 120 mm guns. Germany started to build destroyers again during
3192-446: A maximum speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h), which made her one of the faster ships in the world in 1888. She was armed with one 90 mm (3.5 in) Spanish-designed Hontoria breech-loading gun, four 57 mm (2.2 in) ( 6-pounder ) Nordenfelt guns, two 37 mm (1.5 in) (3-pdr) Hotchkiss cannons and two 15-inch (38 cm) Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. The ship carried three torpedoes per tube. She carried
3420-414: A position to intercept but British signals were taking about four hours to arrive; some boats surfaced to listen to signals traffic and use the information. HMS Porpoise sailed north at 3:35 p.m. was bombed at 7:35 p.m., losing the chance to attack and HMS P222 to the west was also forced to dive at 8:00 p.m. Another reconnaissance aircraft from Malta found the fleet at 10:55 p.m. and
3648-524: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of
3876-726: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as
4104-572: A previously disabled destroyer, which had been taken in tow by an escort destroyer; the crippled ship was left adrift, and eventually torpedoed and sunk by an aircraft. The damaged merchant ships were scuttled or abandoned by their escorts. The rest of the convoy sailed into a minefield, a destroyer hit a mine and sank, the two surviving merchantmen and the remaining escorts reaching Malta that night. The 11:51 a.m. order from Harwood to turn for Malta reached Vian at 1:45 p.m. but Axis bombers had attacked from 11:50 a.m. when 20 Ju 87s attacked. Most of
4332-528: A reciprocal course. At Gazala, the Eighth Army began to withdraw, after it had been defeated in the fighting from 11 to 13 June, leaving a garrison inside Tobruk; both sides sent aircraft to Vigorous, which gave a respite to the armies. Operation Harpoon came into range of the 20 Italian bombers and 50 torpedo-bombers based in Sardinia. Fighter-bombers attacked first then bombers and torpedo-bombers at
4560-475: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of
4788-574: A shallow dive, near-missed Arethusa and Centurion and badly damaged Nestor . The SM 79s attacked after one had been shot down by two Beaufighters and three more were shot down by ships' gunners, along with two bombers. German bombers in Libya flew 193 sorties against Vigorous from 14 to 15 June which gave some respite to the Eighth Army as it retreated towards the Egyptian frontier but left RAF landing grounds around Gambut vulnerable to attack. As
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#17327810930815016-774: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,
5244-633: A single hit. In most cases torpedo and/or dual-purpose gun armament was reduced to accommodate new anti-air and anti-submarine weapons. By this time the destroyers had become large, multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right. As a result, casualties on destroyers were among the highest. In the US Navy, particularly in World War II, destroyers became known as tin cans due to their light armor compared to battleships and cruisers. The need for large numbers of antisubmarine ships led to
5472-408: A skeleton, and my bones are full of rheumatism ." In 1898, the US Navy officially classified USS Porter , a 175-foot (53 m) long all steel vessel displacing 165 tons, as a torpedo boat, but her commander, LT. John C. Fremont, described her as "...a compact mass of machinery not meant to keep the sea nor to live in... as five-sevenths of the ship are taken up by machinery and fuel, whilst
5700-489: A small sabotage party was to land on Crete to attack Axis aircraft on the ground. Vigorous was planned as a joint Royal Navy–RAF operation, to be conducted from the headquarters of 201 Naval Co-operation Group by Admiral Henry Harwood and Air Marshal Arthur Tedder , with Rear Admiral Philip Vian in command of the convoy and escorts (Force A). On 22 March 1942, in Operation MG 1 protecting Conway MW 10 to Malta,
5928-630: A sufficient number of aircraft capable of defeating the Italian battle fleet. The only success in Operation Julius was the arrival of two of the Harpoon ships at Malta; on land, Tobruk surrendered a few days after Convoy MW 11 returned to port and by late June, the Eighth Army had retreated to El Alamein. The cruiser Hermione , destroyers Airedale , Hasty and Nestor and two merchant ships were sunk during Operation Vigorous; three cruisers,
6156-440: A surface action, a view echoed by Greene and Massignani in 2003. By the time that the Italian battleships had been ordered back, the convoy and escorts lacked the ammunition to continue and seven long-range Beaufighters had been lost, depriving Vigorous of air cover while beyond the reach of short-range fighters. Communications had been inadequate, with some signals taking too long to arrive but Playfair wrote that without airfields in
6384-404: A turtleback (i.e. rounded) forecastle that was characteristic of early British TBDs. HMS Daring and HMS Decoy were both built by Thornycroft , displaced 260 tons (287.8 tons full load), and were 185 feet in length. They were armed with one 12-pounder gun and three 6-pounder guns, with one fixed 18-in torpedo tube in the bow plus two more torpedo tubes on a revolving mount abaft
6612-531: A two-front war, as it had in World War I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as
6840-547: Is retained in its name in other languages, including French ( contre-torpilleur ), Italian ( cacciatorpediniere ), Portuguese ( contratorpedeiro ), Czech ( torpédoborec ), Greek ( antitorpiliko , αντιτορπιλικό ), Dutch ( torpedobootjager ) and, up until the Second World War, Polish ( kontrtorpedowiec , now obsolete). Once destroyers became more than just catchers guarding an anchorage, they were recognized to be also ideal to take over
7068-586: The Luftwaffe . In February and March, Axis losses were 9 per cent of supplies, those sent in April less than one per cent and May losses were 7 per cent. The Axis was able to reinforce North Africa sufficient for Rommel to try to attack before the British. In late April, the British Chiefs of Staff ruled that there would be no convoy to Malta in May, because the Italian fleet could be expected to sail and
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7296-470: The Durandal -class torpilleur d'escadre . The United States commissioned its first TBD, USS Bainbridge , Destroyer No. 1, in 1902, and by 1906, 16 destroyers were in service with the US Navy. Torpedo boat destroyer designs continued to evolve around the turn of the 20th century in several key ways. The first was the introduction of the steam turbine . The spectacular unauthorized demonstration of
7524-526: The 650 aircraft originally intended, because aircraft were detained in Russia by the Soviet winter offensive and on 26 April, Enigma revealed that Fliegerkorps II was being withdrawn. By 2 May, a Luftwaffe bomber group and a fighter group had been withdrawn with more to follow, which explained the lull. Hitler was lukewarm about the operation, in case the Italian navy left down German airborne forces but
7752-604: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had
7980-568: The Arleigh Burke class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided-missile cruisers. The Chinese Type 055 destroyer has been described as a cruiser in some US Navy reports due to its size and armament. Many NATO navies, such as the French , Spanish , Dutch , Danish , and German , use the term " frigate " for their destroyers, which leads to some confusion. The emergence and development of
8208-476: The Battle of Jutland , which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships. Jutland also concluded with a messy night action between the German High Seas Fleet and part of the British destroyer screen. The threat evolved by World War I with the development of the submarine , or U-boat . The submarine had
8436-664: The C-class anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry . The Eastern Fleet sent the 6-inch Town-class cruiser cruisers HMS Newcastle , HMS Birmingham and HMS Arethusa of the 4th Cruiser Squadron. The operation was to have 26 destroyers, ten from the Eastern Fleet, four corvettes, two minesweepers to clear the Malta approaches, four Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) and two rescue ships. The former battleship HMS Centurion , which had been disarmed between
8664-543: The First World War . Before World War II , destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically, a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, destroyers grew in size. The American Allen M. Sumner -class destroyers had a displacement of 2,200 tons, while the Arleigh Burke class has a displacement of up to 9,600 tons,
8892-581: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into
9120-737: The Grasshopper class, the Sharpshooter class , the Alarm class , and the Dryad class – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Chilean Navy ordered the construction of two Almirante Lynch class torpedo gunboats from the British shipyard Laird Brothers, which specialized in the construction of this type of vessel. The novelty is that one of these Almirante Lynch -class torpedo boats managed to sink
9348-710: The Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It
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9576-640: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to
9804-731: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against
10032-589: The Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of
10260-690: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as
10488-610: The Russian Front and if the crisis in the Indian Ocean had abated, sufficient for ships to escort a fast convoy from Alexandria. Operation Hercules ( Operazione C3 ) was an Axis plan to invade Malta and during 1942, reinforcement of the Luftwaffe in Sicily and the bombing campaign against the island led to speculation that it was the prelude to invasion. Gleanings from prisoners of war and diplomatic sources led to
10716-534: The Second Battle of Sirte between the Italian fleet and the British escorts had been fought. The British escorts had held off the Italian fleet for 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours but in the longer days of June, it was doubted that the feat could be repeated. If a larger Italian force attacked the convoy, Vian was to protect the convoy with smoke and the escorts were to repulse the attackers with torpedoes and try to inflict early casualties using gunfire against two of
10944-537: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that
11172-543: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact
11400-709: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed
11628-658: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with
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#173278109308111856-466: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded
12084-506: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which
12312-426: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and
12540-416: The 10th Submarine Flotilla had been sunk, two were damaged in harbour and on 26 April the flotilla was ordered out because of mining by small fast craft, which were undetectable by radar and inaudible during the bombing; the surviving minesweepers were too reduced in numbers to clear the approaches. Three reconnaissance aircraft remained and only 22 bomber sorties were flown, eleven more by FAA aircraft during
12768-419: The 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by
12996-522: The 1930s as part of Hitler's rearmament program. The Germans were also fond of large destroyers, but while the initial Type 1934 displaced over 3,000 tons, their armament was equal to smaller vessels. This changed from the Type 1936 onwards, which mounted heavy 150 millimetres (5.9 in) guns. German destroyers also used innovative high-pressure steam machinery; while this should have helped their efficiency, it more often resulted in mechanical problems. Once German and Japanese rearmament became clear,
13224-424: The 7th Cruiser Division ( it:Ammiraglio di divisione [Vice-Admiral] Alberto Da Zara ) with Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia in Palermo and the destroyers Ascari , Alfredo Oriani , Lanzerotto Malocello , Premuda and Vivaldi in Cagliari waited for Harpoon, along with MAS-boats and a large number of aircraft to operate in the western basin of the Mediterranean. The main Italian battlefleet
13452-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent
13680-410: The Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and the European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in
13908-489: The Axis by the US Military Attaché in Egypt, Colonel Bonner Fellers , who reported to Washington, D.C. in "Black"-coded wireless messages; it was later discovered that the Black Code had been broken by the Servizio Informazioni Militare (Italian military intelligence). The convoy and escorts sailed through "Bomb Alley" between Crete and Cyrenaica under attack from Axis bombers , dive-bombers , torpedo-bombers , E-boats and submarines and were then threatened by
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#173278109308114136-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack
14364-553: The B-24s turned away, five 39 Squadron Beauforts from Bir Amud arrived at low level, having set off at 6:25 a.m. to synchronise their attack with the B-24s, minus their Beaufighter escort, which had been diverted to the ground battle. Bf 109s and MC 202s based near Gazala intercepted the 12 Beauforts, shot down two and damaged five, which turned back (one failing to return). Near the Italian battlefleet, two more Beauforts were damaged by long-range anti-aircraft fire at about 9:40 a.m. but by turning broadside to bring more guns to bear,
14592-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27 May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,
14820-473: The British and American navies consciously focused on building destroyers that were smaller, but more numerous than those used by other nations. The British built a series of destroyers (the A class to I class ), which were about 1,400 tons standard displacement, and had four 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns and eight torpedo tubes; the American Benson class of 1938 was similar in size, but carried five 5-inch (127 mm) guns and ten torpedo tubes. Realizing
15048-421: The British try again. British aircraft shadowing the battlefleet reported the turn at 4:05 p.m. and at 16:25 p.m. Harwood ordered Vian to turn the convoy again, asking if the Hunts and other ships had fuel enough to make Malta, the cruisers and fleet destroyers to turn for Malta after dark. Convoy MW 11 was under attack when the signal arrived and after waiting for two hours for a reply, Harwood ordered that only
15276-443: The Cyrenaican bulge, it had been defeated at Gazala while Operation Julius was on and lost the landing grounds to the east. The disaster at Gazala had led to the military forces on Malta trying to save Egypt rather than vice versa. Convoy MW 11 had been a "disappointing operation" and turned back because the British and US air attacks on the Italian battlefleet had failed to inflict the damage hoped. Force A could not hope to defeat it in
15504-407: The FAA seven and claimed 22 Axis aircraft. During July, the submarines HMS Parthian and Clyde delivered aviation fuel, ammunition and other stores; another 59 Spitfires were flown off Eagle during sorties on 15 and 21 July. Welshman made its third trip and arrived on 16 July; at the end of the month the 10th Submarine Flotilla returned and the minesweepers with Harpoon had reduced
15732-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed
15960-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6 October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of
16188-445: The Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to
16416-469: The Italian battlefleet to sail early, use up fuel and be exposed to submarine and air attack. Convoy MW 11a and Convoy MW 11b sailed next day from Haifa , Port Said and Alexandria ; one ship was sent back because of defects. Italian and German ( Axis ) aircraft attacked Convoy MW 11c on 12 June and a damaged ship was diverted to Tobruk , just east of Gazala. The merchant ships and escorts rendezvoused on 13 June. The British plans were revealed unwittingly to
16644-438: The Italian battlefleet was passing through the area of the 10th Submarine Flotilla, after the plan to form a line north of the track of the convoy had been overtaken by events after the Italian battleships sailed and the convoy turned back. HMS Umbra (Lieutenant S. L. C. Maydon) picked up the Italian ships on hydrophone and steered towards the fleet as the torpedo-bombers dropped illumination flares. Maydon found that Umbra
16872-423: The Italian fleet (Admiral Angelo Iachino ) with two battleships, two heavy and two light cruisers and 12 destroyers had sailed from Taranto and would reach the convoy by 7:00 a.m. Vian requested permission to turn back as it would be impossible for the escorts to protect the merchantmen for another long summer day and Harwood ordered Vigorous to continue towards Malta until 2:00 a.m. on 15 June, then turn onto
17100-453: The Italian fleet and gave a strength report of four cruisers with four destroyers, preceding two battleships and four destroyers, which reached Harwood at 10:30 p.m. A Photographic Reconnaissance (PR) flight over Taranto had verified the departure of the ships at 8:00 p.m. and another sighting reached Harwood that at 2:24 a.m. the fleet was making 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) southwards. At 11:15 p.m. Harwood signalled Vian that
17328-677: The Italian fleet. Twelve Beauforts of 39 Squadron were based at Bir Amud in Egypt near the Libyan border, five B-24 Liberator bombers of 160 Squadron and about 24 aircraft of the Halverson Detachment United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) at RAF Fayid , were also made available. Short-range fighters based in Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica and Malta, were to provide air cover at first and as
17556-570: The Italian ships presented bigger targets, the Beaufort crews claiming a hit on a battleship and the US crews above reporting hits on a cruiser and a destroyer, although all torpedoes missed; the Beauforts turned for Malta and landed at Luqa, the damaged leader crash-landing. The combined HQ at Alexandria received reports only after long delays and during the night, Harwood became more apprehensive that
17784-554: The Italian ships. The success of the convoy would depend on the Italian fleet being damaged by air and submarine attack before it could close on the ships, rather than on surface action because the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were still out of action. Bringing the battleship HMS Warspite and several aircraft carriers from the Eastern Fleet to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet
18012-552: The Italians as dawn broke and the first three Beauforts attacked Trento at 6:10 a.m., achieving one torpedo hit, as two bombers pressed on through the destroyer and cruiser screen. Trento came to a standstill after it was struck amidships at 5:15 a.m. Force W, covering Operation Harpoon, turned back during the night and the convoy proceeded with the close escorts of Force X. The Italian cruisers and seven destroyers at Palermo sailed at dusk. The British torpedo attack came when
18240-470: The Ju 87s (Stuka) dive-bombers attacked the escorts but City of Edinburgh and City of Pretoria was near-missed and slightly damaged, City of Edinburgh claiming a bomber and a probable. Ajax was attacked by five aircraft at 1:00 p.m. and six Ju 87s bombed Birmingham , one near miss putting a front turret out of action for one Stuka shot down. The convoy escorts received a reconnaissance report that
18468-563: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured
18696-467: The Operation Julius convoy eastbound from Gibraltar began on 4 June, with the departure from Scotland of five merchant ships as convoy WS19z. It had been being given out that the ships were bound for Malta via the Cape but the deception was exposed when Troilus was ordered to assume a short voyage; the naval liaison officer, five signals staff and Navy gunners on board each merchant ship also left little to
18924-730: The Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944,
19152-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged
19380-479: The Royal Navy's first Havock class of TBDs, up to the First World War with 300-foot (91 m) long destroyers displacing 1,000 tons was not unusual. Construction remained focused on putting the biggest possible engines into a small hull, though, resulting in a somewhat flimsy construction. Often, hulls were built of high-tensile steel only 1 ⁄ 8 in (3.2 mm) thick. By 1910,
19608-636: The Russian fleet in port, firing a total of 18 torpedoes, but only two Russian battleships, Tsesarevich and Retvizan , and a protected cruiser , Pallada , were seriously damaged due to the proper deployment of torpedo nets . Tsesarevich , the Russian flagship, had her nets deployed, with at least four enemy torpedoes "hung up" in them, and other warships were similarly saved from further damage by their nets. While capital-ship engagements were scarce in World War I, destroyer units engaged almost continually in raiding and patrol actions. The first shot of
19836-509: The SM 79s departed, Vian signalled to Harwood that Force A and Convoy MW 11 had less than 1 ⁄ 3 of their ammunition left and at 8:53 p.m., Harwood ordered Operation Vigorous to be abandoned and the ships to return to Alexandria. The Italian battlefleet continued away from the convoy, lost the British shadowing aircraft at 4:40 p.m. and the relief aircraft was intercepted by German fighters. The 1st and 10th Submarine flotillas tried to reach
20064-602: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to
20292-592: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed
20520-756: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued
20748-601: The Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered the political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and
20976-554: The Spanish Navy chose the design submitted by the shipyard of James and George Thomson of Clydebank . Destructor ( Destroyer in Spanish) was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887. Some authors considered her as the first destroyer ever built. She displaced 348 tons, and was the first warship equipped with twin triple-expansion engines generating 3,784 ihp (2,822 kW), for
21204-519: The USN with the Paulding class of 1909. In spite of all this variety, destroyers adopted a largely similar pattern. The hull was long and narrow, with a relatively shallow draft. The bow was either raised in a forecastle or covered under a turtleback; underneath this were the crew spaces, extending 1 ⁄ 4 to 1 ⁄ 3 the way along the hull. Aft of the crew spaces was as much engine space as
21432-581: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced
21660-542: The United Kingdom attacked on 3 July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in
21888-461: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14 June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which
22116-713: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in
22344-534: The Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , the US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago ,
22572-528: The Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by
22800-606: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with
23028-424: The absence of British fighters. The Germans attacked from 10,000 ft (3,000 m) from the rear or sides in groups of 10–12 aircraft, breaking up into twos and threes to bomb. At 5:30 p.m. about 20 aircraft attacked Bulkoil and Bhutan from the flank and near-missed Bulkoil and Potaro which took on water. Bhutan was hit three times and sank at 6:05 p.m.; 153 crew and passengers were picked up by
23256-567: The aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of the Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and
23484-528: The afternoon of 11 June, in Operation Rembrandt, each towing an MTB. Escorted by Coventry and eight Hunt-class destroyers, Convoy MW 11c was to simulate the Malta convoy and steam about as far as the Tobruk meridian and turn back to rendezvous with the remainder. It was hoped that the decoy operation would lure out the Italian fleet, which would be exposed to attack and run short of fuel before
23712-489: The afternoon, the weather deteriorated and the MTBs on tow were cast off to return to Alexandria but MTB 259 was damaged and sunk, the rest made port the next day. During the night a five-man raiding party was landed by submarine on Crete and damaged or destroyed about 20 aircraft of Lehrgeschwader 1 at Maleme airfield. The activity of raiding parties was reported to Washington by Bonner Fellers; three SBS parties had landed
23940-485: The aircraft-carrier HMS Furious enabled a maximum effort to be made against Axis ships. Italian convoys had to be routed further away from the island, lengthening the journey and increasing the time during which air and naval attacks could be mounted. The Siege of Malta was broken by the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November) and Operation Torch (8–16 November) in the western Mediterranean, which enabled land-based aircraft to escort merchant ships to
24168-444: The battlefleet was still making south, 150 nmi (170 mi; 280 km) from the convoy and at 9:40 a.m., Harwood ordered the ships to reverse course again. It was only at 11:15 a.m. that Harwood and Tedder discovered that aircraft from Malta had engaged the Italian battlefleet and received the exaggerated claims of torpedo hits, including those on the battleships. Harwood signalled that Convoy MW 11 should turn for Malta again,
24396-483: The battleships were closer and the convoy continued east, the signal granting discretion arriving at 2:20 p.m. At 3:20 p.m., 36 Axis aircraft returned and again concentrated on warships. HMS Airedale on the starboard quarter was attacked by twelve Stukas (from StG 3 ) was disabled and HMS Aldenham was ordered to sink the ship rather than linger in Bomb Alley. The other 24 Stukas attacked
24624-640: The beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and the two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include
24852-430: The bow, towed by Javelin and escorted by Eridge and Beaufort . At 1:27 a.m. U-205 ( Korvettenkapitän Franz-Georg Reschke) got through the anti-submarine cordon around Convoy MW 11 and torpedoed Hermione , which heeled over and sank, 88 men being killed and with about 400 survivors. Two air attacks were made on Nestor and its escorts and at 4:30 a.m. the tow parted for the second time; with dawn due and
25080-472: The bread ration was cut to 10.5 oz (300 g) per day, enough to last until late July; pasta rations had already been stopped and there had been a poor winter potato harvest. Three destroyers , three submarines, three minesweepers , five tugs , a water carrier and a floating crane were sunk in port and more ships damaged. The island continued to function as a staging post but the Axis bombing campaign neutralised Malta as an offensive base. Two boats of
25308-461: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding
25536-560: The capture of Tobruk in mid-June made it appear that the invasion was unnecessary. Hitler and Mussolini agreed to Panzerarmee Afrika pursuing the British into Egypt for the rest of June and into July, which meant cancelling Hercules. After the success of Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941), the Eighth Army advanced 500 mi (800 km) west to El Agheila in Libya, capturing airfields and landing grounds useful for air cover for Malta convoys. The British misjudged
25764-449: The class gave the guns high-angle turrets for antiaircraft warfare, and the 24-inch (61 cm), oxygen-fueled Long Lance Type 93 torpedo . The later Hatsuharu class of 1931 further improved the torpedo armament by storing its reload torpedoes close at hand in the superstructure, allowing reloading within 15 minutes. Most other nations replied with similar larger ships. The US Porter class adopted twin 5-inch (127 mm) guns, and
25992-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it
26220-406: The construction of HMS Swift in 1884, later redesignated TB 81. This was a large (137 ton) torpedo boat with four 47 mm quick-firing guns and three torpedo tubes. At 23.75 knots (43.99 km/h; 27.33 mph), while still not fast enough to engage enemy torpedo boats reliably, the ship at least had the armament to deal with them. Another forerunner of the torpedo-boat destroyer (TBD)
26448-605: The convoy moved out of range, protection would be taken over by Curtiss Kittyhawks of 250 Squadron equipped with long-range fuel tanks, Bristol Beaufighters from 252 Squadron and 272 Squadron and Beaufighter night fighters from 227 Squadron . Air cover from Cyrenaica could not overlap with coverage from Malta leaving a gap but Wellingtons of 205 Group and the light bombers of the Desert Air Force would attack Axis airfields in North Africa. The coastal 201 Group would provide reconnaissance and anti-submarine sorties and
26676-424: The convoy to proceed. Vigorous had been an "imperial balls-up" and the retreat to Alexandria an Axis victory, showing that Britain had lost control of the central Mediterranean. On 16 June, Harwood reported that We are outnumbered both in surface ships and Air Force and very gallant endeavour of all concerned cannot make up for...the deficiency. In a later report, Harwood blamed the RAF for its inability to provide
26904-688: The convoy would need battleship and aircraft carrier cover, which was not available. An operation to fly Spitfires to Malta succeeded and anti-aircraft ammunition was to be supplied by fast minelayer, with which Malta would have to hold on until mid-June, when the situation in the Western Desert might be clearer. Should Martuba or Benghazi in Cyrenaica be captured by the Eighth Army, a westbound convoy from Alexandria might survive without cover from battleships and aircraft carriers. It would also be known if Luftwaffe aircraft had been diverted to
27132-420: The convoy would soon sail back into Bomb Alley and ordered another turn at 7:00 a.m. Vian was then ordered to avoid the Italians until aircraft had attacked around 10:30 a.m. If the attack failed, Vian was to get the convoy to Malta and if the Italian ships intercepted, the merchant ships were to be abandoned to their fate, the escorts escaping in any direction. At 8:30 a.m., reconnaissance reports showed that
27360-481: The convoy, two cruisers and four destroyers on the port and starboard quarters and a destroyer at each corner of the formation 5 nmi (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) out. The flare-dropping deterred the E-boats from coming too close but the convoy and escort crews were very tired and much of the anti-aircraft ammunition of the convoy and escorts had been expended. At 6:45 p.m. a Malta Baltimore crew had caught sight of
27588-526: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of
27816-478: The defending fighters, the British resorted to the expedient of running supplies through the blockade by submarine. No more convoys were attempted from the eastern Mediterranean until the Eighth Army conquered Libya. More Spitfires were delivered to Malta during July and increasing losses forced the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica to reduce the tempo of operations. A limited return to offensive operations
28044-491: The destroyer screen, only to be frustrated by the cruisers zig-zagging and passing overhead. HMS Uproar (Lieutenant J. B. de B. Kershaw) briefly sighted the battlefleet but was too far away to attack. HMS Thrasher , HMS Taku and HMS Thorn (Lieutenant-Commander R. G. Norfolk) received the sighting report and surfaced to overhaul the ships but only Thorn at 7:00 a.m. caught sight of them out of range. Umbra , Uproar and Ultimatum turned towards
28272-418: The destroyer was related to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s. A navy now had the potential to destroy a superior enemy battle fleet using steam launches to fire torpedoes. Cheap, fast boats armed with torpedoes called torpedo boats were built and became a threat to large capital ships near enemy coasts. The first seagoing vessel designed to launch the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo
28500-463: The directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet , convoy , or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were originally conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as
28728-402: The distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including
28956-712: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied
29184-622: The end of the 1890s, torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the TBDs, which were much faster. The first example of this was HMS Rattlesnake , designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885, and commissioned in response to the Russian War scare . The gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats . Exactly 200 feet (61 m) long and 23 feet (7.0 m) in beam, she displaced 550 tons. Built of steel, Rattlesnake
29412-493: The escorts to abandon the freighters if challenged and then at 12:45 p.m. delegated freedom of action to Vian. At dawn, the ships of Operation Harpoon were intercepted by an Italian cruiser force and the five British fleet destroyers boldly attacked as the smaller destroyers remained with the convoy and eventually the Italian ships broke off the attack at 10:00 a.m. Air attacks on the convoy had continued, two ships were damaged and one sunk. The Italian cruisers reappeared, fired on
29640-484: The evening for Palermo, ready to stop a fast ship from dashing to Malta. Dust storms in Libya grounded day bombers until the evening and most of the aircraft based in Libya that flew operated over Vigorous. The convoy escorts reorganised, the four corvettes, two minesweepers and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla with nine destroyers being joined by 17 fleet destroyers of the 2nd, 7th, 12th, 14th and 22nd flotillas. Aagtekirk , Erica and Primula developed engine-trouble, Erica
29868-439: The evening, Convoy MW 11c was attacked from Crete by 15 Ju 88 bombers of I Kampfgeschwader 54 and City of Calcutta was damaged by a near-miss. The ship stopped and took on a list but got under way at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) to be ordered at 11:00 p.m. to divert to Tobruk with its towed MTB, escorted by Exmoor and Croome . During the short night, Convoy MW 11c turned back to rendezvous off Alexandria with
30096-608: The first American units to be dispatched upon the American entry to the war, and a squadron of Japanese destroyers even joined Allied patrols in the Mediterranean. Patrol duty was far from safe; of the 67 British destroyers lost in the war, collisions accounted for 18, while 12 were wrecked. At the end of the war, the state-of-the-art was represented by the British W class . The trend during World War I had been towards larger destroyers with heavier armaments. A number of opportunities to fire at capital ships had been missed during
30324-438: The first seven months of 1942, of the 30 ships that sailed, ten were sunk, ten were turned back damaged, three were sunk on arrival and seven delivered their supplies. In 2003, Richard Woodman wrote that the 14 June order from Harwood, for the convoy to continue west before turning back, showed indecision and a lack of strategic sense, risking valuable merchant ships in the hope that British submarine and air attacks might enable
30552-575: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until
30780-401: The five 38 Squadron Wellington torpedo-bombers attacked at 0:30 a.m. The attack was thwarted by smoke screens and the evasive manoeuvres of the fleet, except for a torpedo hit on Littorio which caused superficial damage. Another Axis air attack had no effect and during the night the convoy zig-zagged eastwards at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph), with Nestor falling behind, down at
31008-554: The fleet against attacks by torpedo boats. The ship was significantly larger than torpedo boats of the period, displacing some 2,266 t (2,230 long tons), with an armament of 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon . The first vessel designed for the explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the torpedo gunboat . Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. By
31236-720: The fleet they were supposed to protect. In 1892, the Third Sea Lord , Rear Admiral John "Jacky" Fisher ordered the development of a new type of ships equipped with the then-novel water-tube boilers and quick-firing small-calibre guns. Six ships to the specifications circulated by the admiralty were ordered initially, comprising three different designs each produced by a different shipbuilder: HMS Daring and HMS Decoy from John I. Thornycroft & Company , HMS Havock and HMS Hornet from Yarrows , and HMS Ferret and HMS Lynx from Laird, Son & Company . These ships all featured
31464-864: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing
31692-435: The four fastest merchantmen, Arethusa and two destroyers should make a dash for Malta. The convoy and escorts had been attacked again from 5:20–7:20 p.m. by Ju 87s dive-bombing and Ju 88s bombing from 16,000 ft (4,900 m) as ten SM 79s attacked with torpedoes. Three ships received near misses but radar directed anti-aircraft fire in the growing darkness made the attackers cautious. At 6:00 p.m., Ju 88s attacked in
31920-613: The good source), alerted the Regia Marina that convoys were about to be run from Alexandria and Gibraltar to Malta. Supermarina the navy high command, planned a counter-operation against both convoys and nine submarines were sent to patrol off the Algerian coast, five between Lampedusa and Malta and five east of Malta in the Ionian Sea. Two Italian MAS-boats and six E-boats lay in ambush between Crete and Cyrenaica and
32148-414: The greater number of British fighters at Malta justified a return to intercepting raids further out to sea, which had great success. Operation Pedestal (13–15 August) was another British operation to carry supplies to Malta . Despite many losses, enough supplies were delivered by the British for the population and military forces on Malta to resist, although it had ceased to be an offensive base. Pedestal
32376-493: The greatest firepower of all destroyers in the world throughout the first half of the 1920s. This was largely because, between their commissioning in 1920 and 1926, they retained the armament that they had while serving in the Italian Navy as scout cruisers ( esploratori ). When initially ordered by Romania in 1913, the Romanian specifications envisioned three 120 mm guns, a caliber which would eventually be adopted as
32604-425: The heavier cruisers , with no battleships or true battlecruisers remaining. Modern guided-missile destroyers are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, and are capable of carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles . At 510 feet (160 m) long, a displacement of 9,200 tons, and with an armament of more than 90 missiles, guided-missile destroyers such as
32832-539: The imagination. With the cruisers HMS Kenya , HMS Liverpool and ten destroyers, the convoy passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on the night of 11/12 June and became convoy GM4, to be joined by an oil tanker and its escorts. Force H consisted of a battleship, two aircraft carriers, three cruisers and eight destroyers. The close escort was provided by an anti-aircraft cruiser, nine destroyers, six Motor Gun Boats (MGB) and small craft. HMS Welshman
33060-438: The immobilised Trento and at 10:06 a.m. Umbra hit Trento with two torpedoes, the ship sinking an hour later. The battlefleet continued south in two groups and eight US and one British B-24 bomber attacked at 9:00 a.m. from 14,000 ft (4,300 m) and accurately bombed, hitting Littorio with a 500 lb (230 kg)-bomb with little effect. As
33288-411: The introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized antisubmarine warships called corvettes and frigates by the Royal Navy and destroyer escorts by the USN. A similar programme was belatedly started by the Japanese (see Matsu -class destroyer). These ships had the size and displacement of the original TBDs from which the contemporary destroyer had evolved. Some conventional destroyers completed in
33516-525: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of
33744-537: The ironclad Blanco Encalada with a self-propelled torpedoes in the Battle of Caldera Bay in 1891, thus surpassing its main function of hunting torpedo boats. Fernando Villaamil , second officer of the Ministry of the Navy of Spain , designed his own torpedo gunboat to combat the threat from the torpedo boat. He asked several British shipyards to submit proposals capable of fulfilling these specifications. In 1885,
33972-552: The island. Second World War Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring
34200-668: The late 1940s and 1950s were built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons, such as the squid mortar . Examples include the British Daring -class , US Forrest Sherman -class , and the Soviet Kotlin -class destroyers. Some World War II–vintage ships were modernized for antisubmarine warfare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include
34428-487: The long summer day to follow, the captain of the Australian destroyer Nestor decided that the risk to the other destroyers was too great and had Nestor sunk at 7:00 a.m. The other destroyers caught up with the convoy during the afternoon. City of Calcutta sailed from Tobruk with Tetcott and Primula and more attempts by U-boats to attack Convoy MW 11 failed, the convoy reaching Alexandria that evening. Centurion
34656-542: The main convoy sailed. During the night five of the freighters for Operation Harpoon rendezvoused with the tanker Kentucky off Gibraltar; by morning GM4 was making 12–13 kn (22–24 km/h; 14–15 mph) to the east. Convoy MW-11a of Ajax , City of Edinburgh , City of Pretoria , City of Lincoln and Elizabeth Bakke sailed from Haifa and Port Said on 12 June, escorted by the 7th Destroyer Flotilla of Napier , Norman , Nizam , Inconstant and Hotspur , with fleet minesweepers Boston and Seaham . Elizabeth Bakke
34884-399: The merchant ships with no result and Centurion , which survived and shot down a bomber. The Italian ships were close to contact but Supermarina ordered Iachino to turn away when only 110 nmi (130 mi; 200 km) from the convoy if the British had not been engaged by 4:00 p.m. At 3:15 a.m. the battlefleet turned north-west, towards Navarino (Pylos) ready to advance should
35112-514: The mine danger in the Malta approaches. Early in July Axis bombers had dropped another 700 long tons (710 t) of bombs, mainly on airfields, destroyed 17 aircraft on the ground and damaged many others. The fighters flew about 1,000 sorties and lost 36 Spitfires out of 135, the Axis forces losing 65 aircraft. Losses forced the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica to increase the number of fighter sorties per bomber and then to resort to hit and run attacks by fighter-bombers. Later in July,
35340-429: The month and by the start of June, only two Fairey Albacores and two Fairey Swordfish were left. From December 1941, Luftwaffe bombing neutralised Malta, British decrypts of Italian C 38m cipher messages showed more sailings and fewer losses and on 23 February 1942, an Italian "battleship convoy" reached Tripoli. By the end of February, 11 ships had crossed without escort and an intelligence blackout caused by
35568-637: The month, Axis aircraft flew more than 9,500 sorties against 388 British, all but 30 being fighter sorties. The British had lost 50 aircraft, 20 shot down in combat against 37 Axis losses during the dropping of 6,700 long tons (6,800 t) of bombs, three times the March figure, 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) on the docks, 2,600 long tons (2,600 t) on airfields. The bombing demolished or damaged 11,450 buildings, 300 civilians were killed and 350 seriously wounded; good shelters existed but some casualties were caused by delayed-action bombs. Rations of meat, fats and sugar were cut further and on 5 May,
35796-496: The need for heavier gun armament, the British built the Tribal class of 1936 (sometimes called Afridi after one of two lead ships). These ships displaced 1,850 tons and were armed with eight 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in four twin turrets and four torpedo tubes. These were followed by the J-class and L-class destroyers, with six 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns in twin turrets and eight torpedo tubes. Antisubmarine sensors included sonar (or ASDIC), although training in their use
36024-440: The night, to interfere with Axis air operations against the convoy. At the Gazala position in Libya, the British tanks had been defeated in the fighting from 11 to 13 June and the Eighth Army was ordered to retreat the next day. Operation Harpoon continued and more aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica were transferred to Sardinia but lost contact with the convoy. Two Italian cruisers and three destroyers departed Cagliari during
36252-445: The offensive force. Transit flights through Malta except for Beaufort torpedo bombers was suspended, only close range air attacks on easy targets were to be permitted and fuel for the fighters was to be carried to Malta by submarine. In 1962, the British naval official historian Stephen Roskill called the Axis success undeniable. Malta had not been supplied and the British had lost a cruiser, three destroyers and two merchantmen against
36480-432: The offensive role of torpedo boats themselves, so they were also fitted with torpedo tubes in addition to their antitorpedo-boat guns. At that time, and even into World War I, the only function of destroyers was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks and to make such attacks on the battleships of the enemy. The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future. An important development came with
36708-436: The outer screen. The torpedo missed but the attack on the submarine was cancelled, when torpedo boats were seen to the north-west. British fighters were ordered to engage but were bounced by Bf 109s escorting the E-boats. The worst of the bombing stopped once dark fell and desultory bombing and flare dropping resumed like the night before. The escort force moved into night formation, the fleet destroyers moving into line ahead of
36936-427: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at
37164-414: The possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking the end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for
37392-565: The potential to hide from gunfire and close underwater to fire torpedoes. Early-war destroyers had the speed and armament to intercept submarines before they submerged, either by gunfire or by ramming. Destroyers also had a shallow enough draft that they were difficult to hit with torpedoes. The desire to attack submarines under water led to rapid destroyer evolution during the war. They were quickly equipped with strengthened bows for ramming, and depth charges and hydrophones for identifying submarine targets. The first submarine casualty credited to
37620-500: The powers of the strongest men in the long run. A destroyer is always more uncomfortable than the others, and rain, snow, and sea-water combine to make them damp; in fact, in bad weather, there is not a dry spot where one can rest for a moment." The Japanese destroyer-commander finished with, "Yesterday, I looked at myself in a mirror for a long time; I was disagreeably surprised to see my face thin, full of wrinkles, and as old as though I were 50. My clothes (uniform) cover nothing but
37848-407: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,
38076-476: The remaining two-sevenths, fore and aft, are the crew's quarters; officers forward and the men placed aft. And even in those spaces are placed anchor engines, steering engines, steam pipes, etc. rendering them unbearably hot in tropical regions." The TBD's first major use in combat came during the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian fleet anchored in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War on 8 February 1904. Three destroyer divisions attacked
38304-424: The rescue ships and a destroyer but 16 men were lost. After the rescue Antwerp and Malines were directed to Tobruk where the serious cases were transferred to a hospital ship and then they sailed for Alexandria, Tobruk being under artillery bombardment by Axis guns and arrived at 9:15 p.m. next day. Two hours after Bhutan sank, the periscope of U-77 was seen as the German submarine attacked Pakenham in
38532-452: The rest of Convoy MW 11 the next day and the Hunts put in to refuel. Operation Harpoon was undisturbed because Supermarina suspected that it was a decoy. The three convoy elements met off Mersa Matruh during the afternoon and made for Malta as the 7th Destroyer Flotilla put into Alexandria to refuel, the rest of the destroyers sailing on and the rest leaving Alexandria with the main force, seven cruisers and their destroyer screen. During
38760-408: The rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming the permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In
38988-470: The sailing of an Italian battlefleet from Taranto . The British relied on aircraft and submarines to repel the Italian fleet in the absence of battleships and aircraft carriers but only one heavy cruiser was sunk. When the Italian battleships were within 150 nmi (170 mi; 280 km) the British convoy and escorts were ordered to turn back and wait for the Italians to suffer losses from torpedo-bombers, bombers and submarines but little more damage
39216-445: The same day as the Afrika Korps broke out and by 14 June, forced the British to retreat towards Tobruk. The Axis then forces pursued the British into Egypt and the Desert Air Force lost the Libyan landing grounds from which to cover Malta convoys. Two weeks before the convoys, the carrier HMS Eagle began operations to deliver 63 Spitfires to Malta, which increased the number to 95 serviceable fighters. Air operations for
39444-407: The same time which sank a merchant ship and damaged a cruiser. As the convoy came within range of Sicily, ten Luftwaffe Ju 88s joined in but the early attacks were defeated, seven British and 17 Axis aircraft being lost. The turn order was given at 1:45 a.m., a hazardous manoeuvre for a large group of ships out of position, full of tired crews and menaced by Axis torpedo-boats and U-boats. As
39672-461: The scare died down and more bombing was expected. By 31 March the progress of the Axis bombing campaign led to a prediction that the attempt would be made in April but this was soon discounted because although the bombing offensive increased from 750 long tons (760 t) in February, to 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) in March, 5,500 long tons (5,600 t) in April, Enigma decodes showed that there were still 425 Luftwaffe aircraft in Sicily, not
39900-427: The ship ran aground and burned out. The rest of the convoy was covered by Hurricanes and Kittyhawks diverted from the Battle of Gazala, which protected the convoy from a big force of bombers. During the afternoon Lehrgeschwader 1 was more circumspect until the convoy was beyond the cover of the short-range British fighters, then from 4:30 a.m., about 60–70 bombers made seven attacks in five hours, opposed by
40128-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in
40356-418: The sinking of Trento and minor damage to Littorio . No attempt was made to run another convoy from Alexandria until the Eighth Army had conquered Libya. Roskill wrote that with hindsight, the course of events on land made naval operations in the central Mediterranean inherently dangerous and during the operation, the withdrawal of the Eighth Army lost one of the airfields being used for air cover. Harwood
40584-543: The speed of Axis reinforcement and expected to attack well before the Axis but Panzerarmee Afrika forestalled the Eighth Army by beginning an offensive on 21 January 1942. By 6 February, the British had been defeated, forced to retreat east of the Jebel Akhdar back to the Gazala line just west of Tobruk, where Panzerarmee had begun its retirement seven weeks earlier. At the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June), Panzerarmee Afrika attacked first again but appeared close to defeat until 11 June. Operation Julius began on
40812-432: The standard for future Italian destroyers. Armed with three 152 mm and four 76 mm guns after being completed as scout cruisers, the two warships were officially re-rated as destroyers by the Romanian Navy . The two Romanian warships were thus the destroyers with the greatest firepower in the world throughout much of the interwar period. As of 1939, when the Second World War started, their artillery, although changed,
41040-411: The steam-driven displacement (that is, not hydroplaning ) torpedo boat had become redundant as a separate type. Germany, nevertheless, continued to build such boats until the end of World War I, although these were effectively small coastal destroyers. In fact, Germany never distinguished between the two types, giving them pennant numbers in the same series and never giving names to destroyers. Ultimately,
41268-415: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,
41496-462: The subsequent Mahan class and Gridley classes (the latter of 1934) increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16, respectively. In the Mediterranean, the Italian Navy's building of very fast light cruisers of the Condottieri class prompted the French to produce exceptional destroyer designs. The French had long been keen on large destroyers, with their Chacal class of 1922 displacing over 2,000 tons and carrying 130 mm guns;
41724-411: The subsidiary Operation Vigorous were failures; only two merchant ships from Operation Harpoon, the simultaneous convoy from Gibraltar, reached Malta to deliver supplies. In the absence of air cover and the suppression of Axis air power lining the routes to Malta, the central Mediterranean had been closed to British ships. Malta could not be revived as an offensive base and to provide some aviation fuel for
41952-429: The technology of the time would allow - several boilers and engines or turbines. Above deck, one or more quick-firing guns were mounted in the bows, in front of the bridge; several more were mounted amidships and astern. Two tube mountings (later on, multiple mountings) were generally found amidships. Between 1892 and 1914, destroyers became markedly larger; initially 275 tons with a length of 165 feet (50 m) for
42180-452: The term "torpedo boat" came to be attached to a quite different vessel – the very fast-hydroplaning, motor-driven motor torpedo boat . Navies originally built TBDrs to protect against torpedo boats, but admirals soon appreciated the flexibility of the fast, multipurpose vessels that resulted. Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker laid down destroyer duties for the Royal Navy: Early destroyers were extremely cramped places to live, being "without
42408-493: The threat extended to cruising at sea. In response to this new threat, more heavily gunned picket boats called "catchers" were built, which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea. They needed significant seaworthiness and endurance to operate with the battle fleet, and as they inherently became larger, they became officially designated "torpedo-boat destroyers", and by the First World War were largely known as "destroyers" in English. The antitorpedo boat origin of this type of ship
42636-545: The threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the early-war fleet destroyers were ill-equipped for combating these new targets. They were fitted with new light antiaircraft guns, radar , and forward-launched ASW weapons, in addition to their existing dual-purpose guns , depth charges , and torpedoes. Increasing size allowed improved internal arrangement of propulsion machinery with compartmentation , so ships were less likely to be sunk by
42864-449: The turbine-powered Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Navy Review, which, significantly, was of torpedo-boat size, prompted the Royal Navy to order a prototype turbine-powered destroyer, HMS Viper of 1899. This was the first turbine warship of any kind, and achieved a remarkable 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) on sea trials. By 1910, the turbine had been widely adopted by all navies for their faster ships. The second development
43092-414: The turn was made the cruisers fell back and were attacked by the 3rd Schnellbootflottille ( Leutnant-zur-See Siegfried Wuppermann ); S 56 fired first at 3:50 a.m. and hit Newcastle with one torpedo head on, which was screened by destroyers as damage-control parties worked on the damage and Newcastle soon worked back up to 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph) The destroyer HMS Hasty
43320-486: The two convoys began on 24 May, when Vickers Wellington bombers of 104 Squadron from Malta, began bombing airfields and ports in Sicily and southern Italy. On 11 June, the Wellingtons were withdrawn to accommodate six Wellington torpedo bombers of 38 Squadron , Bristol Beaufort torpedo-bombers of 217 Squadron and Martin Baltimore reconnaissance aircraft of 69 Squadron . Aircraft from Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt also began reconnaissance flights on 11 June, searching for
43548-467: The two funnels. Later, the bow torpedo tube was removed and two more 6-pounder guns added, instead. They produced 4,200 hp from a pair of Thornycroft water-tube boilers, giving them a top speed of 27 knots, giving the range and speed to travel effectively with a battle fleet. In common with subsequent early Thornycroft boats, they had sloping sterns and double rudders. The French navy, an extensive user of torpedo boats, built its first TBD in 1899, with
43776-433: The wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for
44004-490: The war at sea was fired on 5 August 1914 by HMS Lance , one of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla , in an engagement with the German auxiliary minelayer Königin Luise . Destroyers were involved in the skirmishes that prompted the Battle of Heligoland Bight , and filled a range of roles in the Battle of Gallipoli , acting as troop transports and as fire-support vessels, as well as their fleet-screening role. Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo boats took part in
44232-401: The war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland
44460-407: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising
44688-401: The war, because destroyers had expended all their torpedoes in an initial salvo. The British V and W classes of the late war had sought to address this by mounting six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts, instead of the four or two on earlier models. The V and W classes set the standard of destroyer building well into the 1920s. Two Romanian destroyers Mărăști and Mărășești , though, had
44916-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which
45144-440: The wars and used for training, was fitted with anti-aircraft guns and pressed into service to masquerade as an operational battleship. The 1st Submarine and 10th Submarine Flotilla were to send nine boats as a moving screen parallel to the convoy as it passed between Crete and Cyrenaica (Bomb Alley). On the days before and after, the submarines were to patrol areas that the Italian fleet was likely to be found. Operation Harpoon ,
45372-482: The week previous, one to attack the aircraft but had not been able to penetrate the airfield security. After dark, Axis aircraft continuously illuminated the convoy with flares and dropped occasional bombs, then at 4:30 a.m. the Luftwaffe attacked the main escort force catching up from the east, dropping more bombs and flares until British fighters arrived after dawn. Douglas Bostons and Wellington bombers attacked Axis airfields near Derna and other places during
45600-404: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to
45828-434: The west of Cyrenaica, even quick and accurate reports would not have compensated. Six freighters in Vigorous and Harpoon had been sunk and nine forced to return to port. Two ships of Operation Harpoon reached Malta and delivered 15,000 long tons (15,000 t) of supplies, which with a decent harvest might keep the population of Malta fed until September but the depletion of aviation fuel led to fighters being give priority over
46056-483: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed
46284-419: Was ...in the unenviable position of being in the centre of a fantastic circus of wildly careering capital ships, cruisers and destroyers...of tracer-shell streaks and anti-aircraft bursts...there was not a quadrant of the compass unoccupied by enemy vessels weaving to and fro....[yet] It was essential to remain at periscope depth, for an opportunity to fire might come at any moment. Italian cruiser Trento
46512-554: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to
46740-495: Was a costly tactical defeat for the Allies, the last Axis Mediterranean victory and one of the greatest British strategic victories of the war. Only five of the 14 merchant ships in the convoy reached Grand Harbour but the arrival of SS Ohio , justified the decision to hazard so many warships. The cargo of aviation fuel in Ohio revitalised the Malta-based air offensive against Axis shipping. After Pedestal, submarines returned to Malta and Supermarine Spitfires flown from
46968-442: Was circled by the battleships, which then resumed their southward course, leaving it behind with the destroyer Antonio Pigafetta ; at 6:46 a.m. Maydon fired torpedoes at Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto , with no hits. The Italian ships had also been seen at 6:15 a.m. by HMS Ultimatum (Lieutenant P. R. H. Harrison), the heavy cruisers to the west of the battleships and at 6:22 a.m. Ultimatum attacked through
47196-426: Was considered but the danger of air attack was so great that it was rejected. The convoy and escort force was larger than the effort in March, with Force A, the Dido -class cruiser HMS Cleopatra as flagship and the cruisers HMS Dido , HMS Euryalus of the 15th Cruiser Squadron and HMS Hermione from the Eastern Fleet, provided the convoy escort with four 5.25-inch light cruisers and
47424-420: Was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and the British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East ,
47652-485: Was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed the reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and
47880-426: Was hit by S 55 at 5:25 a.m., 12 men were killed and the ship was so badly damaged that it was sunk by Hotspur . As the sun rose, Convoy MW 11 was heading east and at 3:40 a.m. four Wellington torpedo-bombers from Malta found the Italian fleet, dropped flares and attacked but the ships made smoke and only one Wellington dropped torpedoes. At the same time, nine 217 Squadron Beauforts took off from Malta, reached
48108-412: Was indifferent. Antisubmarine weapons changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in World War I, had made no progress. During the 1920s and 1930s, destroyers were often deployed to areas of diplomatic tension or humanitarian disaster. British and American destroyers were common on the Chinese coast and rivers, even supplying landing parties to protect colonial interests. By World War II,
48336-422: Was inflicted and after several more turns towards and away from Malta, the convoy and escorts returned to Alexandria on 16 June. The Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June) was being fought in Libya during Operation Julius and beginning on 14 June, the British defeat forced the Eighth Army to withdraw eastwards, losing landing grounds from which aircraft could provide air cover for Convoy MW 11. Operation Julius and
48564-596: Was made against Axis convoys to Libya and Operation Pedestal in August delivered four merchant ships and an oil tanker from Gibraltar, which further revived Malta as an offensive base, despite the loss of most of the convoy and many naval ships. Axis bombing smashed the docks, ships, aircraft and airfields by the end of April 1942 and then the bombing was switched to targets preliminary to invasion: camps, barracks, warehouses and road junctions. After 18 April, German bombing suddenly stopped and Italian bombers took over, regularly bombing with small formations of aircraft. During
48792-469: Was ordered into port from Convoy MW 11a, escorted by Zulu due to overloading and a fouled hull, which stopped the ship keeping direction or reaching the convoy speed of 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph). Convoy MW 11b sailed from Alexandria with Potaro , the tanker Bulkoil , the decommissioned battleship Centurion , carrying supplies and operating as a decoy, the rescue ships Malines and Antwerp , escorted by five destroyers and four corvettes. During
49020-403: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign
49248-657: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with
49476-441: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed
49704-497: Was reserved for the eastbound convoy from Alexandria. To camouflage preparations, the eleven merchantmen were loaded at Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Haifa and Beirut, rendezvousing at Port Said and Haifa. Secrecy led to a lack of practice for the military passengers who made up damage control and fire-fighting parties and some defects in the ships' guns went unnoticed. The Port Said ships Aagtekirk , Bhutan , City of Calcutta and Rembrandt of Convoy MW 11c, sailed 36 hours early in
49932-442: Was right that the bomber and torpedo-bomber force was too small and had not compensated for the lack of battleships and with Axis aircraft based along the length of the route to Malta, air power had decided the course of events. On land, the diversion of Axis bombers against the convoys had been of some benefit to the British as they conducted the "scuttle" to El Alamein. In 1941 30 of 31 merchant ships sailing for Malta arrived but in
50160-505: Was sent to Mersa Matruh and the other two to Tobruk, escorted by Tetcott . At 12:20 p.m., about 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) off Tobruk, the ships were attacked and Primula was shaken by near misses. About forty Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers bombed Tetcott and the rest attacked Aagtekirk , which was hit and caught fire as three bombers were shot down. Ships and boats were sent from Tobruk but could only pick up survivors by 2:30 p.m. and
50388-522: Was still close to cruiser standards, amounting to nine heavy naval guns (five of 120 mm and four of 76 mm). In addition, they retained their two twin 457 mm torpedo tubes and two machine guns, plus the capacity to carry up to 50 mines. The next major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class or "special type", designed in 1923 and delivered in 1928. The design was initially noted for its powerful armament of six 5-inch (127 mm) guns and three triple torpedo mounts. The second batch of
50616-470: Was the 33-ton HMS Lightning in 1876. She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, fast enough to evade enemy picket boats. At first, the threat of a torpedo-boat attack to a battle fleet was considered to exist only when at anchor, but as faster and longer-range torpedo boats and torpedoes were developed,
50844-437: Was the Japanese torpedo boat Kotaka ( Falcon ), built in 1885. Designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the Isle of Dogs, London Yarrow shipyard in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The 165-foot (50 m) long vessel was armed with four 1-pounder (37 mm) quick-firing guns and six torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots (35 km/h), and at 203 tons,
51072-450: Was the largest torpedo boat built to date. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense, and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for Kotaka , "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer". The German aviso Greif , launched in 1886, was designed as a " Torpedojäger " (torpedo hunter), intended to screen
51300-475: Was the replacement of the torpedo boat-style turtleback foredeck by a raised forecastle for the new River-class destroyers built in 1903, which provided better sea-keeping and more space below deck. The first warship to use only fuel oil propulsion was the Royal Navy's TBD HMS Spiteful , after experiments in 1904, although the obsolescence of coal as a fuel in British warships was delayed by oil's availability. Other navies also adopted oil, for instance
51528-438: Was to accompany the ships and then dash for Malta at 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph), with ammunition for the aircraft on Malta. Off the Italian coast, 13 submarines were to patrol, ready to ambush Italian ships. A shortage of oil limited Italian naval operations but the accumulation of ships at Alexandria and decrypted wireless messages from Colonel Bonner Fellers , the US Military attaché in Cairo ( die gute Quelle ,
51756-409: Was too deep in the water and waited at the Great Pass as the five remaining merchantmen entered port. Bulkoil and Ajax were escorted to Port Said by four destroyers. In 1960, Ian Playfair , the British official historian, wrote that the relationship of the "battle for supplies" with the land war reached a climax in the second half of 1942. Far from the Eighth Army capturing airfields to the west in
51984-405: Was unarmoured with the exception of a 3 ⁄ 4 -inch protective deck. She was armed with a single 4-inch/25-pounder breech-loading gun , six 3-pounder QF guns and four 14-inch (360 mm) torpedo tubes, arranged with two fixed tubes at the bow and a set of torpedo-dropping carriages on either side. Four torpedo reloads were carried. A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including
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