Posted on 11/27/2009 5:21:28 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
I notice that in the Air Ministry every room is provided with candles and matches for use in emergency.
Pray take steps immediately to make similar provision in the Admiralty.
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
* Includes story of Rawalpindi
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601391127,00.html
TIME Magazine
November 27, 1939
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/nov39/f27nov39.htm
No peace prize for 1939
Monday, November 27, 1939 www.onwar.com
In Oslo... The Nobel Committee of the Norwegian parliament announces that no Nobel peace prize is to be awarded for 1939.
In Helsinki... The government of Finland denies charges of firing on Soviet territory, claiming that the artillery fire was from the Soviet side of the border. A mutual withdrawal of troops is suggested.
In Stockholm... The Swedish government protests the laying of mines within Swedish territorial waters by German forces.
In Germany... “Aryans” are given 12 months to divorce Jewish spouses.
In London... The British government orders the seizure of German exports on the high seas in reprisal for the magnetic mine campaign.
In China... Japanese forces complete the capture of Nanning, an important rail junction in the southwest.
russians call the finnish PM “a small beast..with cunning lust...”
there is one you dont hear much nowadays in international relations.
Hugo Chavez exhibited that sort of eloquent hostility when he made a veiled reference to President Bush with his "smell of sulfer" remark at the UN. Leave it to the Commies.
Sinking of the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi
Around midday on 21 November 1939 the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, escorted by the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig and the destroyers Z 11 / Bernd von Arnim, Z 12 / Erich Giese and Z 20 / Karl Galster, departed Wilhelmshaven for a raid into the North Atlantic, this was to relieve the pressure of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee operating in the South Atlantic. Late on the 21st the escorts left the battlecruisers.
Just after 1500 hours on 23 November the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi (Capt. E.C. Kennedy, (retired), RN) sighted the Scharnhorst. Rawalpindi was part of the British Northern Patrol and was stationed south-east of Iceland in the Iceland-Faroer gap. Captain Kennedy tried to outrun the German ship and reported to the Admiralty that he sighted the German pocket battleship Deutschland, still believed to be operating in the North Atlantic. Just after 1600 hours, Rawalpindi came within range of the Scharnhorst and was quickly reduced to a flaming wreck. During this engagement Scharnhorst was hit by a 6” shell from Rawalpindi causing only light damage. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau together picked up 27 survivors from Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi finally sank around 2000 hours.
The British light cruiser HMS Newcastle (Capt J. Figgins, RN), that was also part of the Northern Patrol, picked up Rawalpindi’s signal and closed the scene. She sighted the Gneisenau but the Germans managed to escape in the fog.
The Admiralty also thought the ship sighted by Rawalpindi and Newcastle was the Deutschland that was trying to return to Germany. In response to the sighting and destruction of the Rawalpindi the Admiralty took immediate action; The battleships HMS Nelson (Capt. G.J.A. Miles, RN with Admiral Forbes aboard) HMS Rodney (Capt. F.H.G. Dalrymple-Hamilton, RN) and the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire (Capt. J.M. Mansfield, DSC, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. C.S. Daniel, RN), HMS Fame (Cdr. P.N. Walter, RN), HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, RN), HMS Foresight (Lt.Cdr. G.T. Lambert, RN), HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, RN), HMS Fortune (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, RN) and HMS Fury (Cdr. G.F. Burghard, RN) departed the Clyde to patrol of Norway to cut of the way to Germany for the Deutschland.
The light cruisers HMS Southampton (Capt. F.W.H. Jeans, CVO, RN), HMS Edinburgh (Capt. F.C. Bradley, RN) and HMS Aurora (Capt. G.B. Middleton, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Afridi (Capt. G.H. Creswell, DSC, RN), HMS Gurkha (Cdr. F.R. Parham, RN), HMS Bedouin (Cdr. J.A. McCoy, RN), HMS Kingston (Lt.Cdr. P. Somerville, RN) and HMS Isis (Cdr. J.C. Clouston, RN) departed Rosyth to patrol between the Orkney and Shetland islands.
Light cruiser HMS Sheffield (Capt. E. de F. Renouf, CVO, RN) was sent from Loch Ewe to the last known position of the German ship(s).
On northern patrol, south of the Faroers were the light cruisers HMS Caledon (Capt. C.P. Clark, RN), HMS Cardiff (Capt. P.K. Enright, RN) and HMS Colombo (Capt. R.J.R. Scott, RN). These were joined by HMS Dunedin (Capt. C.E. Lambe, CVO, RN) and HMS Diomede (Capt. E.B.C. Dicken, RN).
Of the ships of the Denmark strait patrol, the heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk (Capt. J.W. Durnford, RN) and HMS Norfolk (Capt. A.G.B. Wilson, MVO, DSO, RN) were ordered to proceed to the Bill Bailey Bank (to the south-west of the Faroers).
The light cruiser HMS Glasgow (Capt. F.H. Pegram, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Maori (Cdr. G.N. Brewer, RN) and HMS Zulu (Cdr. J.S. Crawford,RN) were already at sea patrolling north-east of the Shetlands were to be joined by the destroyers HMS Inglefield (Capt. P. Todd, RN), HMS Imperial (Lt.Cdr. C.A.de W. Kitcat, RN), HMS Impulsive (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomas, RN) and HMS Imogen (Cdr. E.B.K. Stevens, RN).
Dispite the British effort to intercept the German ships, both German battlecruisers returned to Wilhelmshaven on the 27th.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3329.html
Lightly armed merchant ships such as Rawalpindi were intended to stop and search foreign merchant shipping. They had no business tangling with warships, particularly German battle cruisers. HMS Newcastle, a light cruiser with little armor protection and 6” guns, which responded to Rawalpindi’s distress call, also had no business tangling with Scharnhorst and Gneiesenau. She was lucky the Germans were bent on escape and not on fighting.
Now that I have read a couple detailed accounts of the last minutes of the Rawalpindi I have to wonder if Captain Kennedy did the right thing, or even the honorable thing, by failing to surrender to the two German battlecruisers. For the loss of over 200 men what did he gain? If they had stood down and waited for the Germans to board they could have provided a more accurate description of the enemy ships than they were able to before their radio was knocked out. The inflicted no damage whatever to Scharnhort and Gneisenau. The crew behaved nobly but it seems more like foolhardiness on the part of the Captain.
The Royal Navy had a 300 year tradition of aggressive combat in total disregard of the odds. Captain Kennedy’s acts were foolhardy by any standards, except those prevailing in the tradition of his service. What he did by taking on two battle cruisers was hailed as an outstanding example of what a Royal Navy captain should be about.
By contrast, Captain Langsdorff of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee is to this day considered less than -- well, how should we say it? -- "manly" for refusing to at least attempt fighting his way out of Montevideo harbor.
Langsdorff conducted the Battle of the River Plate quite badly. While he did concentrate fire on the one British heavy cruiser, damaging it, he allowed the Brits to close the range too closely. He then turned tail and fled to Montevideo, and finally backed down from a fight against heavy odds. He knew he hadn’t fought as he ought, and committed suicide shortly after the battle. All of what he did was contrary to the Royal Navy’s Nelson tradition.
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