![SS Banshee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/SS_Banshee.jpg)
A blockade runner is a
merchant vessel
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...
used for evading a naval
blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
of a
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
or
strait
A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...
. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usually transport cargo, for example bringing food or arms to a blockaded city. They have also carried mail in an attempt to communicate with the outside world.
Blockade runners are often the fastest ships available, and come lightly armed and armored. Their operations are quite risky since blockading fleets would not hesitate to fire on them. However, the potential profits (economically or militarily) from a successful blockade run are tremendous, so blockade-runners typically had excellent crews. Although having ''
modus operandi
A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...
'' similar to that of
smugglers
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
, blockade-runners are often operated by state's navies as part of the regular fleet, and states having operated them include the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, and Germany during the
World Wars
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
.
In history
Ancient Greece, Peloponnesian War
There were numerous blockades and attempts at blockade running during the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
.
*With his fleet blockaded,
Leon of Salamis
Leon of Salamis (; grc-gre, Λέων) was a historical figure, mentioned in Plato's '' Apology'', Xenophon's '' Hellenica'' and Andocides' ''On the Mysteries'' (1.94). This Leon may also be the renowned Athenian general Leon of the Peloponnesia ...
dispatched blockade runners to seek reinforcements from Athens.
Ancient Rome, Punic Wars
During the
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and i ...
, the
Carthaginian Empire
Carthage () was a settlement in modern Tunisia that later became a city-state and then an empire. Founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, Carthage reached its height in the fourth century BC as one of the largest metropolises in t ...
attempted to evade
Roman navy
The naval forces of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman state ( la, Classis, lit=fleet) were instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans re ...
blockades of its ports and strongholds. At one point, blockade runners brought in the only food reaching the city of
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
.
Middle age
During the 14th century, while Queen
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I ( da, Margrete Valdemarsdatter; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was ruler of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian k ...
's forces were besieging
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, the blockade runners who came to be known as the
Victual Brotherhood engaged in war at sea and shipped provisions to keep the city supplied.
American Revolutionary War
Blockade runners in the American Revolution eluded the British naval blockades in order to supply resources to the army.
French naval aid was vital.
American Civil War
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/St._George%27s_Harbour_circa_1864.jpg)
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, blockade running became a major enterprise for the
Confederacy due to the
Union's Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan is the name applied to a strategy outlined by the Union Army for suppressing the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. Proposed by Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized a Union blockade of ...
, which sought to cut off all the Confederacy's overseas trade. Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles of coastline along the Confederate States were patrolled by some 500 ships that were commissioned by the Union government.
Great Britain played a major role on the blockade running business. Britons had investments in the south, and were suffering from the
Lancashire Cotton Famine
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...
. Great Britain also controlled many of the neutral ports in the Caribbean, and in the Bahamas and
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, e ...
. To protect their interests British investors had engineered steamships that were longer, narrower and considerably faster than most of the conventional steamers guarding the American coastline, thus enabling them to outmaneuver and outrun blockaders. Among the more notable was the
CSS Advance
USS ''Advance'', the second United States Navy ship to be so named, was later known as USS ''Frolic'', and was originally the blockade runner ''Advance'' captured by the Union Navy during the latter part of the American Civil War. She was pur ...
that completed more than 20 successful runs through the
Union blockade
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
before being captured.
These vessels brought badly needed supplies, especially firearms, and
Confederate mail. The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over the Confederate states. By the end of the Civil War the
Union Navy
), (official)
, colors = Blue and gold
, colors_label = Colors
, march =
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment_label ...
had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355 vessels.
Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)
Greek blockade runners supplied the Christians during the
Cretan revolt (1866–1869) Cretan Revolt may refer to one of the following uprisings in Crete:
Under Venetian rule
* Cretan Revolt (1212) of the Hagiostephanites family
* Cretan Revolt (1217) of the Skordiles and Melissenos families
* Cretan Revolt (1222) of the Melissenos f ...
. Names of the ships include: ''Arkadion'' (named after the
Arkadi Monastery
The Arkadi Monastery (in Greek: / Μονή Αρκαδίου) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery, situated on a fertile plateau 23 km (14 mi) to the southeast of Rethymnon on the island of Crete in Greece.
The current catholicon (church ...
, sunk by the Ottoman sloop-of-war ''Izzedin'' in August 1867); ''Hydra''; ''Panhellenion''; and ''Enosis'' (Unification), which was detained in Syros by
Hobart Pasha
Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden (1 April 182219 June 1886) was an English-born Ottoman admiral (hence widely known as Hobart Pasha).
Biography
Hobart-Hampden was born at Walton-on the-Wolds in Leicestershire, the third son of the 6th ...
in December 1868, just about the time the rebellion collapsed.
Prohibition era
World War I
During World War I the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
, most notably Germany, were blockaded by the
Entente Powers
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
. In particular the North Sea blockade made it nearly impossible for surface ships to leave Germany for the then neutral United States and other locations.
The blockade was run with cargo submarines, also called
merchant submarine
A merchant submarine is a type of submarine intended for trade, and being without armaments, it is not considered a warship like most other types of submarines. The intended use would be blockade running, or to dive under Arctic ice.
Strictly ...
s, ''
Deutschland
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
'' and ''
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
'', which reached the then neutral United States.
The ''Marie'' successfully ran the British North Sea blockade and docked, heavily damaged, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now called
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
) on May 13, 1916.
In 1917 Germany tried unsuccessfully to supply their forces in Africa by sending
Zeppelin LZ104
Zeppelin LZ 104 (construction number, designated L 59 by the German Imperial Navy) and nicknamed ''Das Afrika-Schiff'' ("The Africa Ship"), was a World War I German dirigible. It is famous for having attempted a long-distance resupply missi ...
.
World War II
Axis blockade runners
On the outbreak of war, the Royal Navy imposed a
naval blockade of Germany
The Blockade of Germany, or the Blockade of Europe, occurred from 1914 to 1919. The prolonged naval blockade was conducted by the Allies during and after World War I in an effort to restrict the maritime supply of goods to the Central Powers, w ...
. However, the fall of France provided the German occupying forces with access to the French Atlantic coast, and between 1940 and 1942, many blockade running trips succeeded in delivering cargoes of critical war supplies - especially crude rubber - through the port of Bordeaux; a trade that increased with the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941. Allied attempts to disrupt these operations initially had only a limited effect; as in
Operation Frankton
Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during the Second World War. The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines known as the Royal Marines Boom Patrol ...
. From 1943, however, improved Allied air supremacy over the Bay of Biscay rendered blockade running by surface ships effectively impossible. By some counts, during the war Germans sent 32 (surface) blockade runners to Japan, only 16 of them reaching their destination. Later in the war, most of the trade between Germany and Japan was by cargo submarine.
A number of Italian units, interned in Spain after Italy entered in the war in June 1940, run from the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
to
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, and some of them, such as ''
Fidelitas'' and ''Eugenio C','' dashed through the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
bound for Germany and Norway.
In an attempt to transfer technology to Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany dispatched a submarine, ''
U-234'', to sail to Japan. Germany surrendered before the ship could arrive in Japan. The Japanese submarine ''
I-8'' completed a similar mission.
On Nov. 23, 1942, the German ship ''Ramses'' attempted unsuccessfully to sail from Batavia (now called
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
), the ship being in the Pacific when the war started, to Bordeaux with a cargo of rubber. The hope was that maintaining a sharp 24-hour lookout they would be able to evade the Allied blockade.
A small number of planes succeeded in flying between the Axis-controlled Europe and the Japanese-controlled parts of Asia. The first known flight was by an Italian
Savoia-Marchetti SM.75
The Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 ''Marsupiale'' (Italian: marsupial) was an Italian passenger and military transport aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. It was a low-wing, trimotor monoplane of mixed metal and wood construction with a retractable tailwhe ...
''Marsupiale'', which
flew in July 1942, according to various sources, either from
Zaporozhye
Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...
to
Baotou
Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...
or from
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
Island to
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
.
[ Later, German ]Junkers Ju 290
The Junkers Ju 290 was a large German, four-engine long-range transport, heavy bomber and maritime patrol aircraft used by the Luftwaffe late in World War II that had been developed from an earlier airliner.
Design and development
The Junkers ...
-A aircraft prepared for (or, according to some sources, completed) similar flights.[
]
Allied blockade runners
During World War II, trade between Sweden (which remained neutral throughout the war) and Britain was severely curtailed by the German blockade of the Skagerrak
The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea.
The ...
straits between Norway and the northern tip of Denmark. In order to import vital ''materiel'' from Sweden, such as ball bearings
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
for the British aircraft industry, five Motor Gun Boat
The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...
s, such as the ''Gay Viking'', were converted into blockade runners, using winter darkness and high speed to penetrate the German maritime blockade. Larger Norwegian ships succeeded in escaping through the blockade to Britain in Operation Rubble
Operation Rubble in January 1941, was a British blockade running operation during the Second World War, in which five Norwegian merchant ships escaped from neutral Sweden to Britain through a Nazi German blockade of the Skagerrak, carrying valuab ...
but later attempts failed.
Modern era
In modern times, tracking equipment such as radar, sonar, and reconnaissance satellites make evading a total blockade by a world power nearly impossible. Drug smugglers and groups like the Tamil Tigers
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
are able to run blockades due to the partial nature of the blockade, or because the navy imposing the blockade is weak and under-equipped. Reminiscent of earlier German attempts, drug smugglers have used semi-submersible
Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as:
*Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport
*Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface
*Se ...
s (narco-submarine
A narco-submarine (also called a drug sub or narco sub) is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled typically semi-submersible (sometimes fully- submersible) vessel built for smugglers.
Newer submarines are 'nearly-fully' submersible to be ...
) in their smuggling operations.
See also
* Blockade runners of the American Civil War
The blockade runners of the American Civil War were seagoing steam ships that were used to get through the Union blockade that extended some along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines and the lower Mississippi River. The Confederate stat ...
* Blockade mail
* Captured ships of the Civil War
*Airbridge (logistics)
An airbridge is the route and means of delivering material from one place to another by an airlift.
An airbridge is the means by which an airhead is kept supplied by flying over enemy held territory. An airlift over an airbridge can also be used ...
, the route and means of delivering material by an airlift
An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft.
Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...
, sometimes across blockades
* CSS ''Lark''
*Merchant submarine
A merchant submarine is a type of submarine intended for trade, and being without armaments, it is not considered a warship like most other types of submarines. The intended use would be blockade running, or to dive under Arctic ice.
Strictly ...
, first invented for blockade running in World War I
*Type 4 Ka-Tsu
The was a Japanese amphibious landing craft of World War II. The first prototype was completed in late 1943 and trials were conducted off Kure in March 1944.
History
Japan's combat experience in the Solomon Islands in 1942 which revealed the d ...
*Union blockade
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
*Smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
*Hobart Pasha
Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden (1 April 182219 June 1886) was an English-born Ottoman admiral (hence widely known as Hobart Pasha).
Biography
Hobart-Hampden was born at Walton-on the-Wolds in Leicestershire, the third son of the 6th ...
* Swedish overseas trade during World War II
*Tantive IV
The ''Tantive IV'' Alderaan Diplomatic Envoy (also referred to by its model as the CR90 Corellian corvette or simply as the Rebel Blockade Runner) is a fictional spaceship in the ''Star Wars'' film series. Designed by the Corellian Engineering ...
, fictional spaceship in the ''Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' film series, referred to as a blockade runner
Bibliography
* ''Coker, P. C., III. Charleston's Maritime Heritage, 1670-1865: An Illustrated History''. Charleston, S.C.: Coker-Craft, 1987. 314 pp.
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References
{{Reflist, 2
Blockades
Privateering