Force H was a British naval formation during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was formed in 1940, to replace French naval power in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

removed by the French

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The force occupied an odd place within the naval

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

. Normal British practice was to have naval stations and fleets around the world, whose commanders reported to the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed ...

via a

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

. Force H was based at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

but there was already a flag officer at the base, Flag Officer Commanding, North Atlantic. The commanding officer of Force H did not report to this Flag Officer but directly to the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet

Sir Dudley Pound Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound, (29 August 1877 – 21 October 1943) was a British senior officer of the Royal Navy. He served in the First World War as a battleship commander, taking part in the Battle of Jutland ...

Operation Catapult

One of the first operations that Force H took part in was connected with the reason for its formation. French naval power still existed in the

, and the British Government viewed it as a threat to British interests. It was feared that the Vichy government of

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...

would hand the ships over to Germany, despite a vow that that would never happen. Such an incidence would almost certainly decisively tip the balance against Britain in the Mediterranean. Consequently, Force H was ordered to execute

Operation Catapult Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. The most powerful of the remaining French forces was in port at Mers-el-Kébir in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It consisted of the French battleships and , two older battleships, along with escorting vessels. Force H steamed to off the Algerian coast, and an envoy was sent to the French commander. Various terms were offered, including internment of the fleet in a neutral country, joining the British forces, or

scuttling Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

the fleet at its berths. However, the commander of the French forces reported only the scuttling option to his superiors. He was thus ordered to fight. The reasons for the omission have been debated by many. It is often thought that the anti-British bias of the French commander was to blame. The result of the action was that the remains of the French fleet escaped to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, a French base on the Mediterranean coast of metropolitan France. They did so at heavy cost. The French battleship blew up under British gunfire, killing over 1,000 French sailors. The battleship was also badly damaged; ''Strasbourg'' and ''Dunkerque'' were also hit, although ''Strasbourg'' escaped with four destroyers.

Convoy operations

After this unpleasant operation, Force H settled down to its more normal operations. These involved general naval tasks in the western basin of the Mediterranean. Prominent amongst these tasks was fighting

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s through to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The early convoys came through with relatively light losses. That changed in 1941, when the Germans sent the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

''s X. ''Fliegerkorps'' to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

; its bombers took a high toll of both warships and merchantmen. Also, from 1942 the improved combat efficiency of the

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

(and especially of its

SM.79 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 ''Sparviero'' (Italian for sparrowhawk) was a three-engined Italian medium bomber developed and manufactured by aviation company Savoia-Marchetti. It may be the best-known Italian aeroplane of the Second World War. Th ...

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

s) and of the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

's submarines posed a far greater threat to these convoys than the 1940 Italian opposition. In November 1940, screening convoys to Malta, Force H made an important contribution to Operation MB8, and the resulting success of Operation Judgement, the attack on Taranto harbour.Stephen, Martin. ''Sea Battles in Close-up: World War 2'' (Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan, 1988), pp. 37–8.

"Sink the ''Bismarck''!"

The most famous incident involving Force H in 1941 did not occur in the Mediterranean, but in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The German battleship had sailed in company with the heavy cruiser to attack commercial shipping. She went far to the north of the UK, passing southwest through the

Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait () or Greenland Strait ( , 'Greenland Sound') is an oceanic strait between Greenland to its northwest and Iceland to its southeast. The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies northeast of the strait. Geography The strait connect ...

between

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. There, she was intercepted by a British force made up of the battleship and the battlecruiser . The engagement was a disaster for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

; ''Prince of Wales'' was damaged and ''Hood'' suffered a magazine explosion, breaking the ship in half before she sunk. Only three out of 1,418 crew aboard were recovered. Every Royal Navy unit available was then given the task of destroying ''Bismarck''.

Force H set sail from Gibraltar to intercept ''Bismarck'' with the aircraft carrier , the battlecruiser and the light cruiser . Despite the loss of ''Hood'', ''Bismarck'' did not come out of the Denmark Strait engagement completely unscathed. A shell from ''Prince of Wales'' had ruptured the ship's fuel tanks, causing her to lose oil. The commerce raiding cruise was thus cut short, and the ship headed for the port of

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in occupied France. ''Bismarck'' was temporarily lost to the Royal Navy after she evaded the radar of the shadowing cruisers and . She was found again, but the only way of stopping her was if something slowed the ship down. To try to do this, ''Ark Royal'' launched a strike with her

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also used ...

torpedo bombers. However, the aircrews were wrongly informed of the location of ''Sheffield'' and attacked her instead, mistaking her for ''Bismarck''. The torpedoes that the Swordfish had dropped carried a new type of magnetic detonator which proved too unreliable. A second strike was flown carrying the older, and more reliable, contact detonator. ''Bismarck'' was found and a torpedo jammed her steering gear. Unable to evade the British ships closing in, the German battleship was scuttled following incapacitating battle damage dealt by a force including and .

Britain at rock bottom

The end of 1941 saw the nadir of British naval fortunes in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Fleet lost the services of HMS ''Illustrious'' to bomb damage, HMS ''Barham'' was sunk off

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

by , and its two remaining battleships were put out of action by an Italian raid on Alexandria. Force H in its turn suffered as well: ''Ark Royal'' was sunk by in November 1941. It was only the lack of action by the Italians that prevented a complete disaster for British fortunes. The most urgent task during the first part of the year was supplying Malta. The island had been under heavy attack for many months and supply convoys had to be escorted by many ships and aircraft to stand any chance of getting through. Malta was kept from starving but it was very close. Operation Pedestal, the most escorted convoy in the Second World War, took place in August and delivered enough supplies to keep Malta going.

Amphibious assaults and the end of Force H

Force H was not actually extant for a portion of 1942. It was stripped bare in May to provide ships for the assault on

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

forces at

Diego Suarez Diego Suarez or ''Diego-Suarez'' may refer to: * Antsiranana, a city in Madagascar formerly known as Diego-Suarez * Diego Suarez (navigator) or Diogo Soares, 16th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer * Diego Suárez (soldier) (1552–1623), Sp ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

during

Operation Ironclad The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was a British campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...

. This operation succeeded, but many argue that it was a waste of British naval resources at a critical time in the war. November saw the turning point of the conflict.

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

saw British and American forces landed in Morocco and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

under the

British First Army The First Army was a formation of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. The First Army included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French units during the Second World War. F ...

. Force H was reinforced to cover these landings. The two main threats were the Italian fleet and French forces. In the end, only French forces fought, and the most significant battles took place at

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

where only American naval units supported the operations. The end of the campaign in North Africa saw an interdiction effort on a vast scale. The aim was to cut

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

completely off from Axis support. It succeeded and 250,000 men surrendered to the 18th Army Group; a number equal to those who surrendered at

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. Force H again provided heavy cover for this operation. Two further sets of landings were covered by Force H against interference from the Italian fleet.

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

in July 1943 saw the invasion and conquest of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

saw an attack on the Italian mainland at

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. Following the Allied landings on Italy itself, the Italian government surrendered. The Italian fleet mostly escaped German capture and much of it formed the

Italian Co-Belligerent Navy The Italian Co-Belligerent Navy (''Marina Cobelligerante Italiana''), or Navy of the South (''Marina del Sud'') or Royal Navy (''Regia Marina''), was the navy of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after ...

. However, two German

Fritz X Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. ''Fritz X'' was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. ''Fritz X'' was a nickname us ...

radio-controlled missiles did hit and sink the battleship , killing the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Navy (''

''),

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Carlo Bergamini. With the surrender of the Italian fleet, the need for heavy units in the Mediterranean disappeared. The battleships and aircraft carriers of Force H dispersed to the

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

and

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

s and the command was disbanded. Naval operations in the Mediterranean from now on would be conducted by lighter units.

Battles and operations of Force H

Attack on Mers-el-Kébir The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on neutral French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The atta ...

The action at Oran - 3 July 1940 * The

Battle of Calabria The Battle of Calabria, known to the Italian Navy as the Battle of Punta Stilo, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. Ships of the Italian '' Regia Marina'' were opposed by vessels of the British R ...

- 9 July 1940 * The

Battle of Taranto The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and Italian naval forces, under Admiral Inigo Campioni. The Royal Navy launched ...

- 11/12 November 1940 * The

Battle of Cape Spartivento The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War, fought between naval forces of the Royal Navy and the Italian ''Regia Marina'' on 27 ...

- 27 November 1940 * Operation Collar - November 1940 *

Operation Excess Operation Excess was a series of British supply convoys to Malta, Alexandria and Greece in January 1941. The operation encountered the first presence of ''Luftwaffe'' anti-shipping aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea. All the convoyed freighters rea ...

- January 1941 *

Operation Grog Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by a fleet consisting of , , and , screened by ten fleet destroyers including , , , , and . Events The operation was orig ...

- 9 February 1941 *

Operation Substance Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy defended by Force H was attacked by Italian submarines, aircraft, and ...

- July 1941 *

Operation Halberd Operation Halberd was a British naval operation that took place on 27 September 1941, during the Second World War. The British were attempting to deliver a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy was escorted by several battleships and an air ...

- September 1941 *

as part of Force 121 - March to May 1942 * Operation Harpoon - June 1942 * Operation Pedestal - August 1942 *

- July 1943 *

- September 1943

Major combatant ships in Force H

* ,

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

(June 1940-November 1941) * , aircraft carrier (February–August 1942) * ,

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

(June–August 1940) * , battlecruiser (August 1940-August 1941, October 1941-February 1943) * ,

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

(June–August 1940) * , battleship (June 1940-December 1941, June–October 1943) * , battleship (December 1940-March 1941) * , battleship (June–September 1941, August 1942-November 1943) * , battleship (May 1942-October 1943) * , battleship (May 1943-February 1944) * ,

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

(June–December 1940) * , cruiser (June 1940-December 1941) * , cruiser (August 1940-October 1941) * , cruiser (August 1940-September 1942) * , cruiser (August 1940-June 1941) * , cruiser (November 1940) * , cruiser (April–May 1941) * , cruiser (June 1941-March 1942) * , cruiser (January–August 1942) * , cruiser (April–November 1942) * , cruiser (October–December 1942) * , heavy cruiser (September–December 1939)

References

External links

Transcription of Force H War Diary
- 'admirals.org.uk'

- ''H.M.S. Hood'' {{Task forces of the Royal Navy, state=collapsed Gibraltar in World War II Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Royal Navy task forces 1940 establishments in the United Kingdom 1943 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations disestablished in 1943