Barents Sea submarine campaign (1941)
| Barents Sea submarine campaign in 1941 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theArctic naval operations of World War IIof theEastern FrontofWorld War II | |||||||
 HMSTrident | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |
 Soviet Union United Kingdom | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Anti-submarine forces |
23 Soviet submarines 4 British submarines | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
1 minesweeper damaged 2 submarine chasers sunk, 1 damaged 1 tanker sunk 11 freighters sunk, 1 damaged 2 fishing vessels sunk | none | ||||||
TheBarents Sea campaignin 1941 was a submarine operation in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea during World War II. It was a combined Soviet and British campaign, with boats departing fromPolyarnyto harass German shipping along the Norwegian coast.
Background
[edit]At the beginning of war, theSoviet Navy(Voyénno-morskóy flot SSSR[VMF, Military Maritime Fleet of the USSR]) operated fifteen submarines fromPolyarnynearMurmansk,later augmented by eight vessels of theBaltic Fleet(Baltiyskiy flot). The Royal Navy attempted to attack German shipping which rounded the North Cape, bound for Petsamo but routine surface ship patrols could not be maintained andOperation EF(30 July 1941) an attack by aircraft carriers on the northern Norwegian port ofKirkenesand the north Finnish port ofLiinakhamariinPetsamowas something of a fiasco. In August 1941 theAdmiraltysentHMSTigrisandTridentto Polyarny. The submarines were to attack the German coastal traffic and by the end of September the Soviet Navy had eleven submarines operating in the same area.[1]The British boats were later relieved by theS-classsubmarinesHMSSealionandSeawolf.[2]
Actions
[edit]- On 17 August, British submarineTigristorpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant ship "Haakon Jarl" (1,482 GRT)[3]
- On 19 August, British submarineTridentdamaged the German freighter "Levante" (4,769 GRT) with gunfire[4]
- On 22 August, British submarineTridenttorpedoed and sank the German merchantman "Ostpreussen" (3,030 GRT)[3]
- On 30 August, British submarineTridenttorpedoed and sank the German merchant ships "Donau" (2,931 GRT) and "Bahia Laura" (8,561 GRT)[3]
- On 12 September, the Soviet submarineShCh-422torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant ship "Ottar Jarl" (1459 GRT)[5]
- On 13 September, British submarineTigristorpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant ship "Richard With" (905 GRT). On 25 September the Soviet submarinesK-3,S-101andS-102reached Molotovsk (nowSeverodvinsk) fromBelomorsk,having sailed from the Baltic via theWhite Sea Canaland arrived at Polyarny in October and November;L-20andL-22remained temporarily in theWhite Sea.[6]
- On 27 September, British submarineTridenttorpedoed and sank, theKriegsmarinesubmarine chaser UJ-1201 while it was in convoy[6]
- On 17 October, the Soviet submarineShCh-402torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant ship "Vesteraalen" (682 GRT).[7]
- On 3 November, British submarineTridenttorpedoed and sank the Kriegsmarine submarine chaser UJ-1213/Rau IV[8]
- On 18 November, British submarineSeawolftorpedoed and sank the Norwegian tanker "Vesco" (331 GRT)[2]
- On 3 December, theSoviet submarineK-3missed with torpedoes the German merchant ship "Altkirch" (4713 GRT): she was subjected to depth charges and damaged by escort. Forced to surface, the submarine engaged in gun battle with the submarine chasers "UJ-1403", "UJ-1416" and "UJ-1708". During the fight, "UJ-1708" was sunk and the other vessels fled allowing K-3 to return to base.[9]
- On 5 December, British submarineSeawolftorpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant ship "Island" (638 GRT).[9]
- On 9 December, Soviet submarineK-22minedRolvsøysundet(Rolvsøy Sound) and on 11 December shelled a Norwegian cutter, which escaped and sank several fishing vessels being towed off Mylingen.[9]
Minelayer submarines
[edit]
The ocean-goingSoviet K-class submarineK-1laid a minefield off the North Cape on 27 October. Between 2 and 12 November,K-1laid minefields in Mageroysund and Breisund.[10] On the first and third fields sunk respectively:[11]
- German merchant "Flottbek" (1930 GRT)
- Norwegian merchant "Kong Ring" (1994 GRT)
Soviet submarine K-23 of the oceanic K class laid minefields inSørøysundand off Hammerfest on 5 November.[12]
- These mines were responsible for damaging the German minesweeper M-22 on 21 November.[12]
Soviet submarine K-21of the ocean-going K class laid a minefield on 11 November.
- On these mines was sunk German merchant "Bessheim" (1774 GRT).[13]
Aftermath
[edit]The Soviet results achieved from the campaign were modest, despite losing no vessel, the Soviet submarine effort was hampered by the harsh Arctic climate and inexperience, in contrast with the British vessels, which gained more success. TheKriegsmarinelacked the escorts adequately to protect the coastal traffic, which was vital to German army units operating in the far north and was stopped by the British–Soviet campaign. The Germans had to send supplies through theBaltic Seaand overland throughFinland,substantially hampering German land operations in the far north.[1]The British officers instructed the Soviet submarine D-3 to follow their own tactics but despite many victories claimed, none was real.[14]
Notes
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^abRoskill 1957,p. 493.
- ^abRohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 99.
- ^abcRohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 77.
- ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005,p. 91.
- ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 83.
- ^abRohwer & Hümmelchen 2005,p. 103.
- ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 92.
- ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005,p. 110.
- ^abcRohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 100.
- ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 94.
- ^"K-1 of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the K (Katjusa) class - Allied Warships of WWII".uboat.net.Retrieved22 May2018.
- ^abRohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 96.
- ^"K-21 of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the K (Katjusa) class - Allied Warships of WWII".uboat.net.Retrieved22 May2018.
- ^Compton-Hall, Richard (2004).Submarines at War 1939–45.p. 128.
References
[edit]- Morgan, Daniel; Taylor, Bruce (2011).U-Boat Attack Logs: A Complete Record of Warship Sinkings from Original Sources 1939–1945(1st ed.). Barnsley: Seaforth.ISBN978-1-84832-118-2.
- Pearson, Clive (2017).The Second World War in 100 Facts.Stroud: Amberley.ISBN978-1-4456-5353-2.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992) [1972].Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two(2nd rev. ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-55750-105-9.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972].Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two(3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN1-86176-257-7.
- Roskill, S. W.(1957) [1954].Butler, J. R. M.(ed.).The Defensive.History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO.OCLC881709135.Retrieved9 February2021.