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Blockade runner

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For the book by Jules Verne, seeThe Blockade Runners.
Blockade runnerSSBanshee,1863

Ablockade runneris amerchant vesselused for evading a navalblockadeof aportorstrait.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 havingmodus operandisimilar to that ofsmugglers,blockade-runners are often operated by state's navies as part of the regular fleet, and states having operated them include theConfederate States of Americaduring theAmerican Civil War,and Germany during theWorld Wars.

In history[edit]

Ancient Greece, Peloponnesian War[edit]

There were numerous blockades and attempts at blockade running during thePeloponnesian War.With his fleet blockaded,Leon of Salamisdispatched blockade runners to seek reinforcements from Athens.

Ancient Rome, Punic Wars[edit]

During thePunic Wars,theCarthaginian Empireattempted to evadeRoman navyblockades of its ports and strongholds. At one point, blockade runners brought in the only food reaching the city ofCarthage.[1][2]

Middle age[edit]

During the 14th century, while QueenMargaret I of Denmark's forces were besiegingStockholm,the blockade runners who came to be known as theVictual Brotherhoodengaged in war at sea and shipped provisions to keep the city supplied.

American Revolutionary War[edit]

Blockade runners in the American Revolution eluded the British naval blockades in order to supply resources to the army.French naval aidwas vital.

American Civil War[edit]

Main article:Blockade runners of the American Civil War
A Confederate blockade runner at anchor atSt. George's,Bermuda

During theAmerican Civil War,blockade running became a major enterprise for theConfederacydue to theUnion blockadeas part of theAnaconda Planto cut off the Confederacy's overseas trade. Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles of coastline along the Confederacy were patrolled by roughly 500Union Navyships.[citation needed]

TheUnited Kingdomplayed a major role in Confederate blockade running. British merchants had conducted significant amounts of trade with the South prior to the war, and were suffering from theLancashire Cotton Famine.TheBritish Empirealso controlled many of the neutral ports in the Caribbean, most notablythe BahamasandBermuda.In concert with Confederate interests, British investors ordered the construction of 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 theCSS Advancethat completed more than 20 successful runs through the Union blockade before being captured.[3]

These vessels brought badly needed supplies, especially firearms, andConfederate mail.The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over the Confederate states, though historians have estimated the supplies brought by blockade runners to the Confederacy lengthened the duration of the war by up to two years.[4][5]By the end of the American Civil War, Union warships had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355.[6][7]

Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)[edit]

Greek blockade runners supplied the Christians during theCretan revolt (1866–1869).Names of the ships include:Arkadion(named after theArkadi Monastery,sunk by the Ottoman sloop-of-warIzzedinin August 1867);[8]Hydra;Panhellenion;andEnosis(Unification), which was detained in Syros byHobart Pashain December 1868, just about the time the rebellion collapsed.

Prohibition era[edit]

See also:Prohibition in the United StatesandRum-running

World War I[edit]

See also:Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)

During World War I theCentral Powers,most notably Germany, were blockaded by theEntente Powers.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 calledmerchant submarines,DeutschlandandBremen,which reached the then neutral United States.[9]

TheMariesuccessfully ran the British North Sea blockade and docked, heavily damaged, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now calledJakarta) on May 13, 1916.[10]

In 1917 Germany tried unsuccessfully to supply their forces in Africa by sendingZeppelin LZ104.

World War II[edit]

Axis blockade runners[edit]

See also:Blockade Runner Badge

On the outbreak of war, the Royal Navy imposed anaval blockade of Germany.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 inOperation Frankton.From 1943, however, improved Allied air superiority 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.[11]

A number of Italian ships, interned in Spain after Italy entered the war in June 1940, crossed theBay of BiscaytoBordeauxand some of them, such asFidelitasandEugenio C,dashed through theEnglish Channelbound for Germany and Norway.[12][13]

To transfer technology to Imperial Japan, on 25 March 1945 Nazi Germany dispatched a submarine,U-234,to sail to Japan. Germany surrendered before the ship could arrive in Japan. The Japanese submarineI-8completed a similar mission.

The German shipRamseswas in China when the war started. On Nov. 23, 1942, she attempted to sail from Batavia (nowJakarta), to Bordeaux with a cargo of rubber. The hope was that maintaining a sharp 24-hour lookout they could evade the Allied blockade.[14]HMASAdelaide(1918)caught and sank her.

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 ItalianSavoia-Marchetti SM.75Marsupiale,whichflew in July 1942,according to various sources, either fromZaporozhyetoBaotouor fromRhodesIsland toRangoon.[11]Later, GermanJunkers Ju 290-A aircraft prepared for (or, according to some sources, completed)similar flights.[11]

Allied blockade runners[edit]

During World War II, trade between Sweden (which remained neutral throughout the war) and Britain was severely curtailed by the German blockade of theSkagerrakstraits between Norway and the northern tip of Denmark. In order to import vitalmaterielfrom Sweden, such asball bearingsfor the British aircraft industry, fiveMotor Gun Boats,such as theGay 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 inOperation Rubblebut later attempts failed.

Modern era[edit]

In modern times, tracking equipment such as radar, sonar, and reconnaissance satellites make evading a total blockade by a world power nearly impossible.[citation needed]Drug smugglers and groups like theTamil Tigersare 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 usedsemi-submersibles(narco-submarines) in their smuggling operations.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Kern, Paul Bentley:Ancient siege warfare (p. 294)
  2. ^"Hamilcar Barca - Livius".livius.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-22.Retrieved2020-03-26.
  3. ^Wyllie, 2007p.22
  4. ^David Keys (24 June 2014)."Historians reveal secrets of UK gun-running which lengthened the American civil war by two years".The Independent.
  5. ^Paul Hendren (April 1933)."The Confederate Blockade Runners".United States Naval Institute.
  6. ^Scharf, 1894pp.479-480
  7. ^"Confederate blockade mail".Richard Frajola, philatelist and historian. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2011.Retrieved17 November2010.
  8. ^Morning Post,London. 5 September 1867 citing Official Ottoman report of the incident.
  9. ^"German U-boat WWI Blockade Runners « War and Game".3 March 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2008.
  10. ^"SURVIVED BRITISH SHELLS.; German Blockade Runner, Almost a Sieve, Sailed from Africa to Java".The New York Times.5 November 1916 – via NYTimes.
  11. ^abcHarvey, A. D. (1992),Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793–1945,Continuum, pp. 581–582,ISBN1852850787
  12. ^Notarangelo, Rolando (1977).Navi mercantili perdute(in Italian). Roma: Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare. p. 185.
  13. ^Notarangelo (1977), p. 176
  14. ^"Ahoy - Mac's Web Log - Blockade Runner Ramses".ahoy.tk-jk.net.

Bibliography[edit]

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