Operation Rheinübung

Operation Rheinübung ("Exercise Rhine") was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship and heavy cruiser on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation to block Allied shipping to the United Kingdom culminated with the sinking of ''Bismarck''.

Background

During both World Wars, the island of Britain was dependent upon huge numbers of merchant ships to bring in food and essential raw materials, and protecting this lifeline was one of the highest priorities for British forces. If this lifeline could be severed, the British Empire in Europe would have to either sue for peace; negotiate an armistice; or abandon the British Isles as a base of operations to blockade the sea approaches to Western Europe; giving Germany in effect, complete mastery of Western Europe, with no tactical base in Europe to oppose that control.

Germany's naval leadership (under Admiral Erich Johann Albert Raeder) at the time firmly believed that defeat by blockade was achievable. However, they also believed that the primary method to achieve this objective was to use traditional commerce raiding tactics, founded upon surface combatants (cruisers, battle-cruisers, fast battleships) that were only ''supported'' by submarines. Regardless of the method or manner, Raeder convinced the High Command ( OKW) and Hitler that if this lifeline were severed, Britain should be defeated, regardless of any other factors.

Operation Rheinübung was the latest in a series of raids on Allied shipping carried out by surface units of the '' Kriegsmarine''. It was preceded by Operation Berlin, a highly successful sortie by and which ended in March 1941.

By May 1941, the ''Kriegsmarine'' battleships ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' were at Brest, on the western coast of France, posing a serious threat to the Atlantic convoys, and were heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force. The original plan was to have both ships involved in the operation, but ''Scharnhorst'' was undergoing heavy repairs to her engines, and ''Gneisenau'' had just suffered a damaging torpedo hit days before which put her out of action for 6 months. This left just two new warships available to the Germans: the battleship ''Bismarck'' and the heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' (while the ''Kriegsmarine'' had three serviceable light cruisers, none had the endurance necessary for a long Atlantic operation), both initially stationed in the Baltic Sea.

The aim of the operation was for ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's orders to Admiral Günther Lütjens were that "the objective of the ''Bismarck'' is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving her combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow ''Prinz Eugen'' to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk".

To support and provide facilities for the capital ships to refuel and rearm, German Naval Command (OKM) established a network of tankers and supply ships in the ''Rheinübung'' operational area. Seven tankers and two supply ships were sent as far afield as Labrador in the west and the Cape Verde Islands in the south.

Lütjens had requested that Raeder delay ''Rheinübung'' long enough either for ''Scharnhorst'' to complete repairs to her engines and be made combat-worthy and to rendezvous at sea with ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' or for ''Bismarck''s sister ship to accompany them. Raeder had refused, as ''Scharnhorst'' would not be ready until early July. The crew of the newly completed ''Tirpitz'' was not yet fully trained, and over Lütjens's protests Raeder ordered ''Rheinübung'' to go ahead. Raeder's principal reason for going ahead was his knowledge of the upcoming Operation Barbarossa, where the ''Kriegsmarine'' was going to play only a small, supporting role, and his desire to score a major success with a battleship before ''Barbarossa'' that might impress upon Hitler the need not to cut the budget for capital ships.

To meet the threat from German surface ships, the British had stationed at Scapa Flow the new battleships and as well as the battlecruiser and the newly commissioned aircraft carrier . Elsewhere, Force H at Gibraltar could muster the battlecruiser and the aircraft carrier ; at sea in the Atlantic on various duties were the battleships , and and the battlecruiser . Cruisers and air patrols provided the fleet's "eyes". At sea, or due to sail shortly, were 11 convoys, including a troop convoy.

OKM did not take into account the Royal Navy's determination to destroy the German surface fleet. To make sure that ''Bismarck'' was sunk, the Royal Navy would ruthlessly strip other theatres of action. This would include denuding valuable convoys of their escorts. The British would ultimately deploy six battleships, three battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, 16 cruisers, 33 destroyers and eight submarines, along with patrol aircraft. It would become the largest naval force assigned to a single operation up to that point in the war.

''Bismarck'' sails

The heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' sailed at about 21:00 on 18 May 1941 from Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland), followed at 2:00 a.m., 19 May, by ''Bismarck''. Both ships proceeded under escort, separately and rendezvoused off Cape Arkona on Rügen Island in the western Baltic, where the destroyers Z23 and Z16 ''Friedrich Eckoldt'' joined them. They then proceeded through the Danish Islands into the Kattegat. Entering the Kattegat on 20 May ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' sailed north toward the Skagerrak, the strait between Jutland and Southern Norway, where they were sighted by the Swedish aircraft-carrying cruiser on around 1:00 p.m. ''Gotland'' forwarded the sighting in a routine report. Earlier, around noon, a flight of Swedish aircraft also detected the German vessels and likewise reported their sighting.

On 21 May the Admiralty was alerted by sources in the Swedish government that two large German warships had been seen in the Kattegat. The ships entered the North Sea and took a brief refuge in a Grimstadfjord near Bergen, Norway on 21 May where ''Prinz Eugen'' was topped off with fuel, making a break for the Atlantic shipping lanes on 22 May. By this time, ''Hood'' and ''Prince of Wales'', with escorting destroyers, were en route to the Denmark Strait, where two cruisers, and were already patrolling. The cruisers and had been sent to guard the waters south-east of Iceland.

Once the departure of the German ships was discovered, Admiral Sir John Tovey, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Fleet, sailed with ''King George V'', ''Victorious'' and their escorts to support those already at sea. ''Repulse'' joined soon afterwards.

On the evening of 23 May, ''Suffolk'' sighted ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' in the Denmark Strait, close to the Greenland coast. ''Suffolk'' immediately sought cover in a fog bank and The Admiralty was alerted. ''Bismarck'' opened fire on ''Norfolk'' at a range of six miles but ''Norfolk'' escaped into fog. ''Norfolk'' and ''Suffolk'', outgunned, shadowed the German ships using radar. No hits were scored but the concussion of the main guns firing at ''Norfolk'' had knocked out ''Bismarcks radar causing Lütjens to re-position ''Prinz Eugen'' ahead of ''Bismarck''. After the German ships were sighted, British naval groups were redirected to either intercept Lütjens' force or to cover a troop convoy.

Battle of the Denmark Strait

''Hood'' and ''Prince of Wales'' made contact with the German force early on the morning of 24 May, and the action started at 5:52 a.m., with the combatants about apart. Gunners on both British ships initially mistook ''Prinz Eugen'' that was now in the lead for ''Bismarck'' and opened fire on her. Both German ships were firing at ''Hood''. ''Hood'' suffered an early hit from ''Prinz Eugen'' which started a rapidly spreading fire amidships.

Then, at about 6 a.m., one or more of ''Hoods magazines exploded, probably as the result of a direct hit by a shell from ''Bismarck''. The massive explosion broke the great battlecruiser's back, and she sank within minutes. All but three of her 1,417-man crew died, including Rear Admiral Lancelot Holland, commanding officer of the squadron.

''Prince of Wales'' continued the action, but suffered multiple hits with and shells, and experienced repeated mechanical failures with her main armament. Her commanding officer, Captain Leach, was wounded when one of ''Bismarck'''s shells struck ''Prince of Wales bridge. Leach broke off the action, and the British battleship retreated under cover of a smokescreen.

''Bismarck'' had been hit only two (or perhaps three) times but Admiral Lütjens overruled ''Bismarck''s Captain Ernst Lindemann who wanted to pursue the damaged ''Prince of Wales'' and finish her off. All of the hits on ''Bismarck'' had been inflicted by ''Prince of Wales'' guns. One of the hits had penetrated the German battleship's hull near the bow, rupturing some of her fuel tanks, causing her to leak oil continuously and at a serious rate. This was to be a critical factor as the pursuit continued, forcing ''Bismarck'' to make for Brest instead of escaping into the great expanse of the Atlantic. The resulting oil slick also helped the British cruisers to shadow her.

The pursuit

''Norfolk'' and ''Suffolk'' and the damaged ''Prince of Wales'' continued to shadow the Germans, reporting their position to draw British forces to the scene. In response, it was decided that the undamaged ''Prinz Eugen'' would detach to continue raiding, while ''Bismarck'' drew off the pursuit. In conjunction with this, Admiral Dönitz committed the U-boat arm to support ''Bismarck'' with all available U-boats in the Atlantic. He organised two patrol lines to trap the Home Fleet should ''Bismarck'' lead her pursuers to them. One line of 7 boats was arrayed in mid-Atlantic while another, of 8 boats, was stationed west of the Bay of Biscay. At 6:40 p.m. on 24 May, ''Bismarck'' turned on her pursuers and briefly opened fire to cover the escape of ''Prinz Eugen''. The German cruiser slipped away undamaged.

At 10 p.m., ''Victorious'' was away and launched an air attack with nine Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, which were guided in by ''Norfolk''. In poor weather, and against heavy fire, they attacked and made a single torpedo hit under the bridge. However, up against strong belt armour and anti-torpedo bulges, it failed to cause substantial damage. The attacking aircraft were all safely recovered by ''Victorious'', despite poor weather, darkness, aircrew inexperience and the failure of the carrier's homing beacon.

At 3 a.m. on 25 May, the British shadowers lost contact with ''Bismarck''. At first, it was thought that she would return to the North Sea, and ships were directed accordingly. Then Lütjens, believing that he was still being shadowed by the British, broke radio silence by sending a long radio message to headquarters in Germany. This allowed the British to triangulate ''Bismarcks approximate position and send aircraft to hunt for the German battleship. By the time that it was realised that Lütjens was heading for Brest, ''Bismarck'' had broken the naval cordon and gained a lead. By 11 p.m., Lütjens was well to the east of Tovey's force and had managed to evade ''Rodney''. ''Bismarck'' was short of fuel due to the damaging hit inflicted by ''Prince of Wales'' which had caused Lütjens to reduce speed to conserve fuel but ''Bismarck'' still had enough speed to outrun the heavy units of the Home Fleet and reach the safety of France. From the south, however, Somerville's Force H with the carrier ''Ark Royal'', the battlecruiser ''Renown'', and the light cruiser HMS ''Sheffield'' were approaching to intercept.

The British ships were also beginning to run low on fuel, and the escape of ''Bismarck'' seemed more and more certain. However, at 10:30 a.m. on 26 May, a PBY Catalina flying-boat, based at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, found ''Bismarck''. She was from Brest and not within range of '' Luftwaffe'' air cover.

This contact was taken over by two Swordfish from ''Ark Royal''. This carrier now launched an airstrike, but her aircrew were unaware of ''Sheffields proximity to ''Bismarck'', mistook the British cruiser for the German battleship and therefore immediately attacked her. Their torpedoes had been fitted with influence detonators, and several of them exploded prematurely. Others missed their target, and the attacking aircraft then received a warning from ''Ark Royal'' that ''Sheffield'' was in the vicinity, whereupon the Swordfish finally recognised the cruiser and broke off the attack.

''Ark Royal'' now launched, in almost impossibly bad weather conditions for air operations, and from a distance of less than 40 miles upwind of ''Bismarck'', a second strike consisting of 15 Swordfish. These were carrying torpedoes equipped with the standard and reliable contact detonators. The attack resulted in two or three hits on the German ship, one of which inflicted critical damage on her steering. A jammed rudder now meant she could now only sail ''away'' from her intended destination of Brest. At midnight, Lütjens signalled his headquarters: "Ship unmanoeuvrable. We shall fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer."

''Bismarck''s end

The battleships ''Rodney'' and ''King George V'' waited for daylight on 27 May before attacking. At 8:47 a.m., they opened fire, quickly hitting ''Bismarck''. Her gunners achieved near misses on ''Rodney'', but the British ships had silenced Bismarck's main guns within an hour. Despite close-range shelling by ''Rodney'', a list to port, and widespread fires, ''Bismarck'' did not sink.

According to Ballard's underwater surveys in recent years the British guns achieved only four penetrations of ''Bismarck''s armour, two through the upper armour belt on the starboard side from ''King George V'' and two on the port side from ''Rodney''. These four hits occurred at about 10:00 a.m., at close range, causing heavy casualties among the sheltering crew.

Nearly out of fuel – and mindful of possible U-boat attacks – the British battleships left for home. The heavy cruiser attacked with torpedoes and made three hits. Scuttling charges were soon set off by German sailors, and at 10:40 a.m., ''Bismarck'' capsized and sank. ''Dorsetshire'' and the destroyer rescued 110 survivors. After an hour, rescue work was abruptly ended when there were reports of a U-boat presence. Another three survivors were picked up by and two by the German weather ship . Over 2,000 died, including Captain Lindemann and Admiral Lütjens.

Aftermath

After separating from ''Bismarck'', ''Prinz Eugen'' went further south into the Atlantic, intending to continue the commerce raiding mission. On 26 May, with just 160 tons of fuel left, she rendezvoused with the tanker '' Spichern'' and refuelled. On 27 May, she developed engine trouble, which worsened over the next few days. On 28 May, she received a further refueling from '' Esso Hamburg''. With her speed reduced to , it was no longer considered practicable to continue. She abandoned her commerce raiding mission without sinking any merchant ships, and made her way to Brest, arriving on 1 June where she remained under repair until the end of 1941. She later escaped from France with two other German battleships during the Channel Dash.

In the action, just two U-boats had sighted the British forces, and neither was able to attack. In the aftermath, the British ships were able to evade the patrol lines as they returned to base; there were no further U-boat contacts. The '' Luftwaffe'' also organized sorties against the Home Fleet, but none were successful until 28 May, when planes from ''Kampfgeschwader'' 77 attacked and sank the destroyer .

After ''Rheinübung'', the Royal Navy made a concerted effort to round up the network of supply ships deployed to refuel and rearm the ''Rheinübung'' ships. The first success came on 3 June, when the tanker ''Belchen'' was discovered by the cruisers and south of Greenland. On 4 June the tanker '' Gedania'' was found in mid-Atlantic by ''Marsdale'', while east the supply ship ''Gonzenheim'' was caught by the armed merchant cruiser , and aircraft from ''Victorious''. On the same day in the south Atlantic, midway between Belém and Freetown, the southernmost limit of the ''Rheinübung'' operation, the tanker ''Esso Hamburg'' was intercepted by the cruiser ; while the following day ''London'', accompanied by , sank the tanker ''Egerland''. A week later, on 12 June, the tanker ''Friederich Breme'' was sunk by the cruiser HMS ''Sheffield'' in the mid-Atlantic. On 15 June, the tanker ''Lothringen'' was sunk by the cruiser , with aircraft from . In just over two weeks, 7 of the 9 supply ships assigned to Operation Rheinübung had been accounted for, with serious consequences for future German surface operations.

Conclusion

Operation Rheinübung was a failure, and although the Germans scored a success by sinking ''"The Mighty Hood"'', this was offset with the loss of the modern battleship ''Bismarck'', which represented one-quarter of the ''Kriegsmarine''s capital ships. No merchant ships were sunk or even sighted by the German heavy surface units during the 2-week raid. Allied convoys were not seriously disrupted; most convoys sailed according to schedule, and there was no diminution of supplies to Britain. On the other hand, the Atlantic U-boat campaign was disrupted; boats in the Atlantic sank just 2 ships in the last weeks of May, compared to 29 at the beginning of the month.Blair p293 As a result of ''Bismarck''s sinking, Hitler forbade any further Atlantic sorties, and her sister ship ''Tirpitz'' was sent to Norway. The ''Kriegsmarine'' was never again able to mount a major surface operation against Allied supply routes in the North Atlantic; henceforth its only weapon was the U-boat campaign.

References

Bibliography

*

Further reading

* Robert D. Ballard: ''The Discovery of the Bismarck'' (1990). .
* Clay Blair: ''Hitler’s U-Boat War, Vol. I'' (1996). .
* Walter Boyne, ''Clash of Titans: World War II at Sea'' (New York: Simon & Schuster 1995).
* Fritz Otto Busch :''The Story of Prinz Eugen'' (1958). ISBN (none).
* Sir Winston Churchill: ''The Second World War''.
* Ludovic Kennedy: ''Pursuit – the Sinking of the Bismarck'' (1974).
* Stephen Roskill: The War at Sea 1939-1945 Vol I (1954) ISBN (none).

External links

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German battleship Bismarck