Shortly before the Second World War broke out, the United Kingdom began to look to its naval defences. Haunted by the German U-boat campaigns against Allied shipping during the First World War, many in the British establishment (including Winston Churchill) believed that enemy attacks on merchant shipping could again be a serious danger.
Owing to German rearmament during the 1930s, updated U-boats were far more advanced than the Royal Navy’s arsenal of anti-submarine countermeasures. As a result, in July 1939 the British decided to lay a huge defensive minefield between the territorial waters of the UK and Norway. Known as the Northern Barrage it would theoretically restrict German naval access to Allied shipping lanes in the Atlantic.
The Northern Barrage was a recreation of the First World War North Sea Mine Barrage that had been primarily laid by the US Navy. During June-October 1918, the Americans (assisted by the Royal Navy) laid over 70,000 mines in an area between the Orkney Islands and Norwegian coast. Yet despite the quantity of mines and the geographical size of the minefield, only four U-boats were sunk, with a further four possibly destroyed. Hundreds of Allied minesweepers were then required to clear the area in 1919.
この記事は History of War の Issue 120 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は History of War の Issue 120 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
THE OTHER OPERATION OVERLORD D-DAY'S GHOST ARMY
Historian Taylor Downing discusses the cunning use of intrigue and deception during Operation Fortitude
D-DAY LANDING CRAFT
Over 4,000 Allied landing craft took part in the Normandy Landings with a huge range of designs created for specific roles and capabilities
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Spearheading the invasion of occupied France in 1944 were a small number of Special Forces soldiers dropped deep into enemy territory. Among them was a young Londoner, fresh from training here he reveals how he survived guerrilla warfare in France and beyond as part of the fledgling Special Air Service
JIMMIE MONTEITH
In the crucible of battle at Omaha Beach on D-Day, this officer of the famed 1st Infantry Division earned his nation’s highest honour at the cost of his life
KLEINKAMPFVERBÄNDE - GERMANY'S COUNTER-ATTACKS
As Allied forces crossed the Channel and stormed into Normandy, Hitler's navy fought back using a deadly new breed of maritime weaponry
STORMING GOLD BEACH
War veteran Ron Peet helped assault Gold Beach on D-Day Here he shares his experiences
UNDERGROUND WREN
Deep in the bowels of Fort Southwick, radio operator Marie Scott was one of the first to hear reports as Operation Overlord got underway, passing critical communications between the men on the beaches and high command
MINESWEEPER OFF NORMANDY
After helping clear the path to France, Royal Navy veteran Claude Sealey and his crewmates experienced a deadly encounter with their own countrymen
THE RECCE RIDER OF RANVILLE
After fencing behind enemy lines in Normandy, William Bill’ Gladden conducted us reconnaissance on his motorcycle
SWORD BEACH
The easternmost sector of the 6 June Normandy Landings was a mostly British affair, and Saw some of the biggest territorial gains of the first day of the Allied invasion