Heroes of the Atlantic

Heroes of the Atlantic is a 1941 15-minute Canadian short documentary film, part of the "Canada Carries On" series of wartime films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), produced for the Office of Public Information. The film documented the work of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Merchant Marine during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. "Heroes of the Atlantic" was directed by J.D. Davidson and produced by Stanley Hawes.
Synopsis.
In 1941, the Atlantic Ocean has become a strategic "highway" and lifeline from the New World to Great Britain. The numerous ships that ply the Atlantic sea lanes during wartime head for English ports where they unload their precious cargo of troops, munitions, food and supplies.
Canadian seamen play a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic where the Merchant Marine works closely with the Royal Canadian Navy and other military forces. As the convoys steam out from ports along the Canadian eastern seaboard, Canadian Army coastal guns are trained out to sea, navy minesweepers clear the shipping channels and the Royal Canadian Air Force Supermarine Stranraer coastal patrol flying boats keep watch.
Ashore, sailors of every nationality have gathered to serve in both civilian and military roles. As cargo arrives from farms and factories in Canada, it has to be constantly loaded and sent off to English destination, a task that requires dock and loadmasters, cargo handlers and manual labourers. In naval training schools, young recruits are being prepared for action in the North Atlantic, learning about weapons, equipment and tactics that will keep the convoys safe on their perilous journeys.
Before heading out in their dangerous "caravan of the seas", seamen seek out entertainment and diversions. When convoys are formed up, a meeting of merchant and naval captains sets out the strategic plans that will thwart the roaming Nazi submarine (U-boat) "wolf packs".
The unsung heroes of the Atlantic keep up a relentless schedule of shipping that will ultimately mean the difference in the war.
Production.
"Heroes of the Atlantic" was created as a morale-boosting propaganda film, part of the wartime "Canada Carries On" series. The film was produced with financial backing from the Wartime Information Board and made in cooperation with the Director of Public Information, Herbert Lash. The format of "Heroes of the Atlantic" was as a compilation documentary with additional footage at sea and onshore in Halifax, Nova Scotia by director and cinematographer J.D. Davidson with assistant Donald Fraser. Sound technicians W.H. Lane and C.J. Quick were also involved in the on-location shooting. The earlier NFB documentary "Atlantic Patrol" (1940) had a similar theme and focus.
The narrator of "Heroes of the Atlantic" was Lorne Greene, known for his work on both radio broadcasts as a news announcer at "CBC" as well as narrating many of the "Canada Carries On" series. His sonorous recitation led to his nickname, "The Voice of Canada", and to some observers, the "voice-of-God". When reading grim battle statistics or as in "Atlantic Patrol", narrating a particularly serious topic such as Canadian seaman at war, he was "The Voice of Doom".
Reception.
"Heroes of the Atlantic" was produced in 35 mm for the theatrical market and was shown in theatres in Canada and overseas. Each film was shown over a six-month period as part of the shorts or newsreel segments in approximately 800 theatres across Canada.
The NFB had an arrangement with Famous Players theatres to ensure that Canadians from coast-to-coast could see the documentary series, with further distribution by Columbia Pictures. After the six-month theatrical tour ended, individual films were made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries, churches and factories, extending the life of these films for another year or two. They were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.


843d Bombardment Squadron


Robert W. Young

Robert W. Young (May 18, 1912 – February 20, 2007), professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of New Mexico, was an American linguist known for his work on the Navajo language. From the late 1930s, Young cooperated with the Navajo William Morgan, publishing a "practical orthography" in 1937.
From the 1940s through the 1950s, they published three major works, including "The Navajo Language" (1943), a compiled dictionary. That year Young and Morgan served as editors and began publication of "Ádahooníłígíí," the first newspaper written in Navajo and the second Native American-language newspaper in the United States, after the "Cherokee Phoenix" of 1828–1834. Its publication contributed to standardization of Navajo orthography.
The men continued their work of analysis and documentation of Navajo; in 1980, 1987 they published "The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary," representing "a huge increase in descriptive coverage" of the language. The 1987 edition included new appendices and grammar sections. It established itself as the major reference grammar of the Navajo language. Young, Morgan and Sally Midgette also produced the "Analytical Lexicon of Navajo" (1992), which re-organizes the lexicon by root, one of the principle elements in verbs and nouns of Athabaskan languages.
Early life and education.
Robert Young was born in 1912 in Chicago, Illinois. He became interested in Native American languages, learning both the Spanish language and Nahuatl, an indigenous language, from Mexican immigrant railroad workers. After earning a liberal arts degree from the University of Illinois in 1935, he moved to New Mexico for Native American studies.
He enrolled in graduate school in anthropology at the University of New Mexico and began his study of Navajo. While working at the Southwestern Range and Sheepbreeding Laboratory in Fort Wingate, New Mexico, he became acquainted with William Morgan, a Navajo fellow worker and native of the city. Together in 1937 they published a practical orthography of Navajo.
Career.
In the early 1940s Young joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where he worked in the Southwest at the Navajo Agency in Window Rock, Arizona. Morgan also joined the BIA, and the two worked together for decades on the Navajo language, making it the most documented indigenous language in the United States.
As a linguist, Young worked primarily on programs related to analyzing and expanding documentation of the Navajo language, encouraging its written use, and education in the language. He collaborated with Navajo scholar William Morgan on all his major projects. From the 1940s through the 1950s, they produced a variety of reading materials in Navajo, and three "important works on lexicon and grammar." The first was a dictionary, "The Navajo Language" (1943), organized by root, as one of the principal elements in the verbs of the Athabaskan languages.
In 1943 Young and Morgan became editors of the first Navajo-language newspaper, "Ádahooníłígíí", published by the Navajo Agency. It was the second newspaper to be published in a Native American language, after the "Cherokee Phoenix", which was founded in 1828 and published through 1834 (it was revived intermittently and began regular publication again in the late 20th century, including online). The newspaper "Ádahooníłígíí" was published through the late 1950s.
Their work was interrupted by World War II. Young served a stint in the Marine Corps and during this period, he worked on the Navajo Code Talker project. They developed a code based on the Navajo language for high-level communications. Navajo-speaking soldiers were recruited for such communications of intelligence, and no enemy was ever able to break this code.
Returning to the BIA, Young continued to work with Morgan and other Navajo. They published "The Function and Significance of Certain Navajo Particles" (1948) and "A Vocabulary of Colloquial Navajo" (1951), which was an English to Navajo dictionary. They also published "Navajo Historical Selections" (1954), Phoenix: Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Upon his retirement from the BIA in 1971, Young became an adjunct professor of Linguistics at the University of New Mexico. He continued his work with Morgan, until Morgan's death. In 1980 and 1987, they published "The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary" ("TNL"), representing "a huge increase in descriptive coverage" of the language.
The 1987 edition of "TNL" is the primary reference grammar of Navajo. Young, Morgan and Sally Midgette also produced the "Analytical Lexicon of Navajo" (1992), organizes the lexicon by roots and stems, one of the primary elements in the verbs of the language.
Legacy and honors.
In July 1996, Robert Young and William Morgan were honored in the Navajo Nation Council Chambers for their work on the Navajo language. The two were presented with Pendleton blankets embroidered with the seal of the Navajo Nation by members of the Navajo Language Academy, including Paul Platero, Ellavina Perkins, Alyse Neundorf, and MaryAnn Willie. The Academy was founded that year and formally incorporated in 1999, to train teachers in scientific study of the Navajo language. In January 2006, the Linguistic Society of America honored Robert Young, then 93, at their Annual Meeting, presenting him with the Kenneth Hale Award, stating: ""The Navajo Language" is remarkable for its structure and the robustness of its documentation. It’s two key parts, a grammar with appendices and a dictionary, interrelated by an ingenious system of cross-referencing. Because Navajo is a polysynthetic language with a rich verbal morphology, a fully inflected word is a complex entity. In accordance with the wishes of native speakers, the dictionary entries are fully inflected form; each word is capable of being inflected in a number of different ways, determined by use and by principles that are not entirely understood. Their system links the dictionary entries to the conjugation and paradigm patterns that that particular word may appear in, thus reflecting a native speaker’s knowledge and providing a map of morpheme distribution and co-occurrence restrictions. The dictionary thus stands as an implemented model of a polysynthetic lexicon, while at the same time providing robust documentation of the language. In addition to this, each and every entry contains examples of the inflected word, as it is used, in full utterances, effectively presenting an etymology of a given word, as well as documentation of the Navajo language as it was spoken in the mid-twentieth century."
The University of New Mexico Department of Linguistics established a scholarship in Young's honor, available for students who study Native American languages.
Death.
Young died on February 20, 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


Battle of Sedgemoor

The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England, resulting in a victory for the English army.
It was the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion and followed a series of skirmishes around south-west England between the rebel forces of the Duke of Monmouth, and the Royal Army still loyal to James II. Victory went to the Government and about 500 prisoners fell into their hands. Monmouth escaped from the battlefield but was captured, taken to London and executed nine days later. Many of Monmouth's supporters were tried during the Bloody Assizes. Many were transported abroad, while others were executed by drawing and quartering.
Background.
It was the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion, by which the rebel James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, attempted to seize the English throne from his uncle James II of England. James II had succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother Charles II on 2 February 1685; James Scott was Charles' illegitimate son.
After Monmouth landed from the Dutch Republic at Lyme Regis in Dorset, there had been a series of marches and skirmishes throughout Dorset and Somerset. Eventually Monmouth's poorly equipped army was pushed back to the Somerset Levels, becoming hemmed in at Bridgwater on 3 July. He ordered his troops to fortify the town. The force was made up of around 3,500, mostly nonconformist, artisans and farm workers armed with farm tools (such as pitchforks).
The royalist troops, led by Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham, and Colonel John Churchill, were camped behind the Bussex Rhine at Westonzoyland. The infantry forces included 500 men of the 1st Regiment of Foot (the Royal Scots), known as Dumbarton's Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas; two battalions of the 1st or King's Royal Regiment of Guards (Grenadier Guards), respectively led by Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton and Major Eaton; 600 men of the Second Regiment of Guards (later the Coldstream Guards) under Lieutenant-Colonel Sackville; five companies of the Queen Dowager's or the Tangier Regiment (later 2nd Foot), known as "Kirke's Lambs"; and five companies of the Queen Consort's Regiment (Kings Own Royal Regiment), also known as Trelawny's Regiment, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Churchill, Colonel John Churchill's younger brother. The Horse and Foot, the Royal Train of Artillery was camped along the road to Bridgwater. The Royal Cavalry, with seven troops of 420 men of the Earl of Oxford's, the Kings Regiment of Horse (Blues and Royals), led by Colonel Sir Francis Compton; the King's Own Royal Dragoons; and three troops of the King's Horse Guards (Lifeguards) made up the army.
The battle.
The Duke eventually led his untrained and ill-equipped troops out of Bridgwater at around 10:00 pm to undertake a night-time attack on the King's army. They were guided by Richard Godfrey, the servant of a local farmer, along the old Bristol road towards Bawdrip. With their limited cavalry in the vanguard, they turned south along Bradney Lane and Marsh Lane, and came to the open moor with its deep and dangerous rhynes.
There was a delay while the rhyne was crossed and the first men across startled a royalist patrol. A shot was fired and a horseman from the patrol galloped off to report to Feversham. Lord Grey of Warke led the rebel cavalry forward and they were engaged by the King's Regiment of Horse which alerted the rest of the royalist forces. The superior training of the regular army and their horses enabled them to rout the rebel forces by outflanking them.
Aftermath.
Monmouth escaped from the battlefield with Grey and they headed for the south coast disguised as peasants. They were captured near Ringwood, Hampshire. Monmouth was taken to the Tower of London, where he was, after several blows of the axe, beheaded.
A letter written by the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1787 provides more detail as to Monmouth's capture:
After the battle, about 500 of Monmouth's troops were captured and imprisoned in St Mary's Parish Church in Westonzoyland, while others were hunted and shot in the ditches where they were hiding. More were hanged from gibbets erected along the roadside. The royalist troops were rewarded, with Feversham being made a Knight of the Garter, Churchill promoted to Major-General and Henry Shires of the artillery receiving a Knighthood. Other soldiers, particularly those that had been wounded, received allowances ranging from £5 to £80. Some of the wounded were among the first to be treated at the newly opened Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The king sent Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys to round up the Duke's supporters throughout the south-west and try them in the Bloody Assizes at Taunton Castle and elsewhere. About 1,300 people were found guilty, many being transported abroad, while some were executed by drawing and quartering. Daniel Defoe, who would later write the novel "Robinson Crusoe", had taken part in the uprising and battle. He was heavily fined by Jeffreys, losing much of his land and wealth. Two brothers Benjamin Hewling, a commander of a troop of horse, and William Hewling, lieutenant of foot, were among those condemned to death. Benjamin Hewling was hanged rather than drawn and quartered following a payment of £1000 by his sister.
James II was overthrown in a "coup d'état" three years later, in the Glorious Revolution.
Last battle on English soil.
The Battle of Sedgemoor is often referred to as the last battle fought on English soil, but this depends on the definition of 'battle', for which there are different interpretations. Other contenders for the title of last English battle include: the Battle of Preston in Lancashire, which was fought on 14 November 1715, during the First Jacobite Rebellion; the Second Jacobite Rebellion's Clifton Moor Skirmish, near Penrith, Cumberland, on 18 December 1745. The Battle of Culloden fought on Drumossie Moor to the north east of Inverness on 16 April 1746 was the last pitched battle fought on British soil.
Cultural references.
The Battle of Sedgemoor is depicted in detail at the climax of the plot in Arthur Conan Doyle's historical adventure novel "Micah Clarke". The Battle also appears in Blackmore's "Lorna Doone", where the hero arrives on the battlefield as the battle is finishing, and is then escorted home by the King's soldiers to safety. Likewise, "The Royal Changeling" (1998) by John Whitbourn describes the rebellion, with some fantasy elements added. The Battle of Sedgemoor both opens and concludes the novel. A collection of poems ("Sedgemoor"), exploring the battle and consequences of the rebellion, was written by poet and academic Malcolm Povey and published by Smokestack Books in 2006. The poems move between 1685 and the present day, as a narrative technique. Povey's book received widespread praise, especially for its originality: "Not many poets try something as different and ambitious as this. It deserves to be widely read." The battle is commemorated in Val Wake's poem "Dead Willows Mourn". Val Wake, the Australian born journalist and author, lived in Westonzoyland from 1973 to 1979. Events surrounding the battle occupy the first few chapters of Rafael Sabatini's novel "Captain Blood". The battle is also included/mentioned in the beginning of the 1935 movie "Captain Blood".
The Sealed Knot re-enactment society have re-enacted important parts of the rebellion's campaign, on the 300th anniversary in 1985, and again in 2005. For the first re-enactment, the folk trio Strawhead produced an album of various songs from the time and written especially, entitled 'Sedgemoor'. The Battle of Sedgemoor was also a central plot in the 1972 HTV series "Pretenders", which was broadcast in 13 half-hour episodes. A mural depicting the battle can be found on display at Sedgemoor motorway services on the North carriageway of the M5.


The Battle of the River Plate (film)

The Battle of the River Plate (a.k.a. Pursuit of the Graf Spee in the United States) is a 1956 British war film in Technicolor and VistaVision by the writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film stars John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, and Peter Finch. It was distributed worldwide by Rank Film Distributors Ltd.
The film's storyline concerns the Battle of the River Plate, an early World War II naval battle in 1939 between a Royal Navy force of three cruisers and the German pocket battleship .
Plot.
In the early months of the Second World War, Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" sends out merchant raiders to attack Allied shipping. The Royal Navy responds with hunting groups whose mission is to stop them. The group that finds the heavily armed pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" near South America is outgunned since "Admiral Graf Spee" is equipped with long-range guns, and the British heavy cruiser has much lighter guns, and the light cruisers and have guns. However, they go straight into the attack.
The British are led by Commodore Harwood (Anthony Quayle), with Captain Woodhouse (Ian Hunter) commanding flagship "Ajax", Captain Bell (John Gregson) "Exeter" and Captain Parry (Jack Gwillim) "Achilles". The British use their superior numbers to split her fire by attacking from different directions, but "Admiral Graf Spee", under Captain Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch), inflicts much damage on her foes. "Exeter" is particularly hard hit and is forced to retire from the battle.
"Admiral Graf Spee" sustains some damage and takes refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay, for repairs. According to international law, the ship may remain in a neutral harbour only long enough to repair for seaworthiness, not to refit for battle. The British initially demand for the Uruguayan authorities to send "Admiral Graf Spee" out to sea within 24 hours, as the law dictates, but they change strategy and ask for an extension so that reinforcements can arrive for an impending second battle. In fact, they are too far away, but local media spread reports that more British warships have arrived, including battleships and aircraft carriers; in fact, only three cruisers ("Exeter" having been replaced by ) are waiting in station. Taken in by the ruse, Langsdorff takes his ship out with a skeleton crew aboard. As the onlookers watch from shore, she heads down the River Plate for the open sea, bursts into flames with a series of explosions and is scuttled. That is a relief to the Royal Navy fleet, which was expecting casualties, and it reports, 'Many a life has been saved today'. Now on board a merchant ship, Langsdorff is complimented for his humane decision by Captain Dove.
Production.
"The Battle of the River Plate" had its genesis in an invitation to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger to attend a film festival in Argentina in 1954. They decided they could not afford to take the time from their schedules unless it was a working holiday, and used the trip to research the defeat of . They came across the "hook" for their story when one of the surviving British naval officers gave Pressburger a copy of Captain Patrick Dove's book "I Was A Prisoner on the Graf Spee", which became the basis of the human story of the film.
Principal photography began on 13 December 1955, the sixteenth anniversary of the battle. The HMS "Ajax" and River Plate Association reportedly sent a message to the producers: "Hope your shooting will be as successful as ours". Location shooting for the arrival and departure of "Admiral Graf Spee" took place at the port of Montevideo, using thousands of locals as extras. However, the scenes showing "Admiral Graf Spee" sailing from Montevideo were shot in the Grand Harbour at Valletta in Malta, and the launch taking McCall out to HMS "Ajax" was filmed in Gozo harbour on Malta's northern island.
Two songs written by composer Brian Easdale were used in the film, "Dolores' Song" and "Rio de la Plata". Both were acted by April Olrich as "Dolores", with singing voice dubbed by Muriel Smith.
Ships used.
Most of the action of the battle and prior to it takes place on real ships at sea. The producers had the advantage of having elements of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy available for their use, and USS "Salem" to play the part of "Admiral Graf Spee", although she had a different number of main turrets. The producers did make use of a model of "Salem" (with details only on the side being shot) in a -deep tank at Pinewood Studios for scenes depicting hits during the battle, and also for the blowing-up of "Admiral Graf Spee", which was assembled from multiple takes from different angles.
In an early scene, it is claimed that "Admiral Graf Spee" is being disguised by the ship's carpenters – using features such as a false funnel – as an American cruiser, a trick typical of commerce raiders. The US Navy would not allow any Nazi insignia to be displayed on "Salem" so the wartime German flag being hoisted and flown was filmed on a British ship. This is also the explanation as to why the crew of "Admiral Graf Spee" are seen wearing US Navy pattern helmets rather than German "Coal Scuttles" – whilst the filmmakers wanted to achieve an accurate impression and use German helmets they were refused permission. This aspect is sometimes described as a "goof" on the part of the filmmakers, but was in fact a circumstance beyond their control. Mention is made of "Graf Spee"s sister ships, "Admiral Scheer" and "Deutschland". "Admiral Scheer" capsized after an air raid in 1945 and the remains of the wreck buried under a new harbour. "Deutschland" was renamed "Lutzow" in 1940 and sunk as a target in 1947.
It was remarkable that two of the original ships, HMNZS "Achilles" and HMS "Cumberland" were available for filming fifteen years after the events depicted. "Cumberland" was a disarmed trial ship without her 8-inch gun turrets at this time and was refitted with lattice masts, but she is very recognisable as the last of the three-funnelled heavy cruisers to remain in service. (In the final scenes, "Jamaica" represented "Cumberland" as one of the British trio waiting off Montevideo). This use of real warships was in line with an Admiralty policy of co-operation with film-makers, which saw the corvettes HMS "Coreopsis" and reactivated in 1952 for the film version of "The Cruel Sea"; the cruiser and the minelayer used in the 1953 film "Sailor of the King", and the destroyer and frigate used in the 1955 film "".
"Achilles" had been sold to the newly formed Indian Navy in 1948, becoming INS "Delhi". The flagship HMS "Ajax" was actually her sister ship, and would have looked identical to "Achilles", while the original HMS "Exeter" was a two-funnelled half-sister of "Cumberland". HMS "Sheffield" and HMS "Jamaica", which played "Ajax" and "Exeter", had higher superstructures and more guns, which were mounted in triple turrets. Though different from the ships they represented, both these light cruisers had played a major part in the wartime campaign against the large German surface raiders which began at the Battle of the River Plate, including in 1941, in 1942, in 1943, and in 1944.
Historical details.
The use of real ships allows the film to pay particular attention to detail even though "Admiral Graf Spee" was portrayed by the American heavy cruiser USS "Salem" which is visually distinct from the German Pocket Battleship. This includes the warning bells ringing before each salvo, the scorching on the gun barrels after the battle, and the accurate depiction of naval procedures. The film depicts "Admiral Graf Spee" and "Altmark" using the complex procedure of alongside refuelling; actually the Germans used the slower but safer method of astern refuelling, but the alongside method is much more dramatic for film purposes, and by 1955 was standard procedure for the British ships involved (see list above). Similarly, although the scene when Harwood meets with his captains on board "Ajax" is fictional, it was created for the movie in order to explain the tactical situation to the audience. The battle is seen from the perspective of the British ships, and that of the prisoners captured from nine merchantmen and held in "Admiral Graf Spee".
The film devotes nearly twenty minutes to the battle, which actually lasted a little more than an hour before becoming a chase into Montevideo. The initial minutes from the spotting of "Admiral Graf Spee" at 0614, to her opening fire at 0618, and the British ships returning fire from 0620 are depicted in real time. In reality German gunfire did not "straddle" "Exeter" until 0623, after three salvoes, and her main armament fire was not "split" between the British ships until 0630, although these events are shown happening immediately. "Exeter"s bridge and forward turrets were knocked out at 0630, but at this point the film begins to telescope the sequence of events.
Commodore Harwood is shown wearing the shoulder tabs and sleeve rings of a rear admiral from the start, although he was only promoted to this rank after the battle. This is historically correct, as 'Commodores of the first class' wore those insignia at the time. "Exeter"s chaplain is also correctly depicted wearing a civilian dark suit and clerical collar; it was not until later in the war that naval chaplains adopted military uniform as a security measure.
"The Battle of the River Plate" only hints at one aspect of the story: the death of Captain Hans Langsdorff after he scuttled his ship. In the film Langsdorff is shown as subdued and depressed afterwards. In reality he was taken ashore to the Naval Hotel in Buenos Aires, where he wrote letters to his family and superiors. He then lay atop "Admiral Graf Spee"s battle ensign and shot himself, forestalling allegations that he had avoided further battle action through cowardice; another motivation was his desire, as "Admiral Graf Spee"s captain, to symbolically go down with his ship. He was talked out of this by his officers, who convinced him that his leadership was still needed in seeking amnesty for his crew. Once their fate was decided, Langsdorff took his own life.
Hans Langsdorff was buried in the German section of the La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was honoured by both sides in the battle for his honourable conduct.
Prior to the destruction of the "Graf Spee", the German crew were seen rowing away from the ship whereas in reality they were taken off by an Argentinan tugboat. Also not shown is the use of certain captured merchant vessels as prizes, sailed by crews from "Graf Spee" to carry captured sailors, which were later sunk. In addition a Norwegian merchant ship reported the Graf Spee heading for South America before being spotted by lookouts but this is omitted. Furthermore the British Government secretly arranged for French and British merchant ships to leave Montevideo harbour every 24 hours to delay "Graf Spee"'s departure. Also omitted is "Graf Spee" attempting to force a merchant ship to stop while she herself was being pursued by the British cruisers.
Release and reception.
When "The Battle of the River Plate" was completed and screened for executives at the Rank Organisation, it was received so well that it was decided to hold the release of the film for a year, so that it could be chosen as part of the next year's Royal Film Performance (in 1956), since 1955's film had already been selected. The royal premiere was held at the Odeon Leicester Square on 29 October 1956 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.
Box office.
The film performed very well at the box office, being the fourth most popular film in Britain in 1957, after "High Society", "Doctor at Large" and "The Admirable Crichton".
Honours.
"The Battle of the River Plate" was nominated for three BAFTA Awards in 1957, for "Best British Film", "Best British Screenplay" and "Best Film From Any Source".
Book.
In 1956 Powell published "Graf Spee" with Hodder and Stoughton, a.k.a. "Death in the Atlantic" (Rinehart, US), retelling the story of the film in more detail. In 1976, a second edition was released by White Lion Publishers with the amended title, "The Last Voyage of the Graf Spee".


Operation Hailstone

Operation Hailstone (, lit. "the airstrike on Truk Island"), 17–18 February 1944, was a massive United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon conducted as part of the American offensive drive against the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) through the Central Pacific Ocean during World War II.
Prior to Operation Hailstone, the IJN had used Truk as an anchorage for its large Combined Fleet. The coral atoll surrounding Truk's islands created a safe harbor where the few points of ingress and egress had been fortified by the Japanese with shore batteries, antiaircraft guns, and airfields.
American estimates of Truk's defenses and its role as a stronghold of the Japanese Navy led newspapers and military men to call it the "Gibraltar of the Pacific", or to compare it with Pearl Harbor. Truk's location in the Caroline Islands also made it an excellent shipping hub for armaments and aircraft moving from Japan's home islands down through the South Seas Mandate and into the Japanese "Southern Resources Area".
By early 1944, Truk was increasingly unsustainable as a forward base of operations for the Japanese. To the west, American and Australian forces under General Douglas MacArthur had moved up through the Southwest Pacific, isolating or overrunning many Japanese strong points as part of Operation Cartwheel. The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army, under the command of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, had overrun the most important islands in the nearby Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands, and then built numerous air bases there.
As a result, the Japanese Navy had to relocate the Combined Fleet's forward base to the Palau Islands, and eventually to Indonesia, and the Fleet had begun clearing its major warships - carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers - out of Truk before the "Hailstone" attack struck.
Nevertheless, the "Hailstone" attack on Truk caught a good number of Japanese auxiliary ships and cargo ships in the harbor, as well as some smaller warships. Between the air attacks and surface ship attacks over the two days of Operation Hailstone, the worst blow against the Japanese was about 250 warplanes destroyed, with the concurrent irreplaceable loss of experienced pilots, and 17,000 tons of stored fuel. Also, about forty ships — two light cruisers, four destroyers, nine auxiliary ships, and about two dozen cargo vessels — were sunk.
Considerable damage was inflicted on the various island bases, including dockyards, communications centers, supply dumps, and its submarine base. Truk remained effectively isolated for the remainder of the war, cut off and surrounded by the American island hopping campaign in the Central Pacific, which also bypassed important Japanese garrisons and airfields in the Bismarck Archipelago, the Caroline Islands, the Marshalls, and the Palaus. Meanwhile, the Americans built new bases from scratch at places like the Admiralty Islands, Majuro, and Ulithi Atoll, and took over the major port at Guam.
Background.
The Japanese occupied Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, in 1914, and established Truk as a base as early as 1939. The lagoon was first built up to house the IJN's 4th Fleet, its "South Seas Force". After the outbreak of war with the United States, the 4th Fleet was put under the command of the Combined Fleet, which continued to use Truk as a forward operating base into 1944. In addition to anchorages for warships, and port facilities for shipping between the home islands and the Southern Resources Area, five airfields and a seaplane base were constructed at Truk, making it the only major Japanese airfield within flying range of the Marshall Islands.
Despite the impressions of U.S. Navy leaders and the American public concerning Truk's projected fortifications, the base was never significantly reinforced or protected against land attack. In fact, the development of Truk only began in earnest and in hurried fashion in late 1943, when the airfields were extended, shore batteries were erected, and other defensive measures taken against a U.S. invasion.
Because aircraft stationed at Truk could potentially interfere with the upcoming invasion of Eniwetok, and because Truk had recently served as a ferry point for the resupply of aircraft to Rabaul, Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force, designated TF 58, to carry out air raids against Truk. Three of TF 58's four carrier task groups (TGs) were committed to the operation. Their total strength consisted of five fleet carriers
(the ,
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and four light carriers (the
,
, and
), carrying a total of 500+ warplanes.
Supporting these aircraft carriers was a task force of seven battleships, and numerous heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.
The Japanese, meanwhile, understood the weakness of their position at Truk. The IJN had begun withdrawing fleet units from its anchorages as early as October 1943. The effective abandonment of Truk as a forward operating base accelerated during the first week of February 1944, following Japanese sightings of U.S. Marine Corps PB4Y-1 Liberator reconnaissance planes sent to reconnoiter the area.
Attack.
The three carrier task groups committed to "Hailstone" moved into position and began launching their first fighter sweep 90 minutes before daybreak on 17 February 1944. No Japanese air patrol was active at the time as the IJN's 22nd and 26th Air Flotillas were enjoying shore leave after weeks on high alert following the Liberator sightings. Similarly problematic for the Japanese, radar on Truk was not capable of detecting low-flying planes — a weakness probably known and exploited by Allied intelligence organizations. Because of these factors, U.S. carrier aircraft achieved total surprise.
Japanese pilots scrambled into their cockpits just minutes before TF 58 planes arrived over Eten, Param, Moen and Dublon islands. Though there were more than 300 Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) planes present at Truk on the first day of attacks, only about half of them were operational compared with over 500 operational aircraft among the carriers of TF 58. U.S. Navy fighter pilots in their Grumman F6F Hellcats, with the advantages of speed, altitude and surprise, achieved a one–sided victory against IJNAF pilots flying the inferior Mitsubishi A6M Zero. As many as 30 of the 80 Zeros sent up in response to the fighter sweep were shot down, compared with four Hellcats reported lost. Only token aerial resistance was encountered for the rest of the morning; almost no Japanese aircraft were present by the afternoon.
Due to the lack of air cover or warning, many merchant ships were caught at anchor with only the islands' anti-aircraft guns for defense against the U.S. carrier planes. Some vessels outside the lagoon already steaming towards Japan were attacked by U.S. submarines and sunk before they could make their escape. Still others, attempting to flee via the atoll's North Pass, were bottled up by aerial attack and by Admiral Spruance's surface force, Task Group 50.9, which circumnavigated Truk, bombarding shore positions and engaging enemy ships.
Torpedo bomber and dive bomber squadrons from the carrier air groups (CAGs) were responsible for the bulk of the damage inflicted on Japanese ground facilities. Early on the first day of "Hailstone", Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber squadrons from "Enterprise"s Air Group 10 (CAG-10) and "Intrepid"s CAG-6 dropped fragmentation and incendiary bombs on runways at Eten Island as well as the seaplane base on Moen Island. Dozens of aircraft were damaged or destroyed, further blunting any possible response by the Japanese to the strikes. Subsequent joint attacks by dive bombers and Avenger torpedo bombers cratered runways and destroyed hangar facilities.
Morning strikes were also launched against shipping targets in the lagoon. Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) James D. Ramage, commanding officer of Dive Bombing Squadron 10 (VB-10), is credited with sinking the previously damaged merchant tanker "Hoyo Maru". Lieutenant James E. Bridges and his crew in one of "Intrepid"s Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6) Avengers scored a direct hit on the ammunition ship . The bomb blast set off a tremendous explosion, which immediately sank the ship and apparently engulfed the plane as well, killing all three men inside.By the second and third anti-shipping strikes of the day, carrier air group action reports listed the apparent enemy mission as "escape". Those ships able to make for open sea steamed for the North Pass exit from the lagoon while weathering repeated aerial attacks. One particular group of warships—cruiser "Katori", auxiliary cruiser "Akagi Maru", destroyers "Maikaze", "Nowaki" and minesweeper "Shonan Maru"—was given special attention by carrier bombers. Multiple air groups attacked these ships, inflicting serious damage. "Yorktown"s dive and torpedo bombing squadrons claimed two hits on "Katori" and hits on another cruiser and multiple destroyers; "Essex" bombers claimed five hits on a as well, stating that the ship was stopped dead in the water after the attack.
At this point reports reached Admiral Spruance concerning the group of warships fleeing through North Pass. Spruance was so adamant on engaging in ship-to-ship combat that his carrier commander, Admiral Mitscher, ordered his air groups to stop attacking "Katori" and her companions. The admiral put himself in tactical command of Task Group 50.9, made up of four destroyers, heavy cruisers "Minneapolis" and "New Orleans", and the new battleships and , which he personally led in a surface engagement against the previously damaged Japanese ships. The battered Japanese ships did not stand much of a chance against Task Group 50.9, though members of his staff saw Spruance's decision to engage in surface action when aircraft likely could have achieved similar results as needlessly reckless. Indeed, the Japanese destroyer "Maikaze" managed to fire torpedoes at the battleship "New Jersey" during the engagement. Fortunately for Spruance, the torpedoes missed, and the "battle" ended with predictably one–sided results. The U.S. Navy surface combatants incurred virtually no damage, and it was the only time in their careers that "Iowa" and "New Jersey" had fired their main armament at enemy ships. The IJN lost "Maikaze", "Shonan Maru", "Katori" and "Akagi Maru". Destroyer "Nowaki" was the only Japanese ship from this group to escape.
Retaliation for the day's strikes arrived late at night in the form of small groups of Japanese bombers probing the task groups' defenses. From roughly 21:00, on 17 February, to just minutes past midnight on 18 February, at least five groups of between one and three enemy planes attempted to sneak past screening ships to strike at the fleet carriers. One such plane, a Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" bomber, managed to evade night fighter planes protecting the U.S. task force and dropped its torpedo on Task Group 58.2. The torpedo struck "Intrepid" on the starboard quarter of the ship, damaging steering control and killing 11 sailors. "Intrepid" was forced to retire to the U.S. for repairs and did not return to combat until August 1944.
Aftermath.
Truk, like so many other Japanese bases, was left to itself without hope of resupply or reinforcement. Army forces which had arrived at the atoll before the U.S. attacks put increasing strain on available foodstuffs and medical supplies. Dwindling ammunition even limited the ability of shore batteries to fend off intermittent attacks by Allied forces, including experimental raids by Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and attacks by Allied carrier aircraft.
Losses at Truk were severe. Some 17,000 tons of stored fuel were destroyed by the strikes. Shipping losses totaled almost 200,000 tons including precious resources in fleet oilers. This represents almost one tenth of total Japanese shipping losses between 1 November 1943 and 30 June 1944. Moreover, the isolation of this whole area of operations by submarine and air attack began the effective severance of Japanese shipping lanes between empire waters and critical fuel supplies to the south. The ultimate effect of such a disconnect was later seen during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, when IJN forces had to sortie separately from Japan and Lingga Roads due to fuel constraints. The neutralization of Truk, and the seizure of Eniwetok, paved the way for the upcoming invasion of Saipan, which for the first time put U.S. land-based heavy bombers within range of the Japanese home islands.
Truk is renowned today as a tourist destination for divers interested in seeing the many shipwrecks left in the lagoon, many of which were sunk in Operation Hailstone.
List of ships in Truk at the time of attack.
Warships.
List derived from Jeffery's "War Graves, Munition Dumps and Pleasure Grounds" (2007)
Merchant ships.
List derived from Jeffery's "War Graves, Munition Dumps and Pleasure Grounds" (2007)


Naval Party (Royal Navy)

The Royal Navy maintains a number of Naval Parties worldwide to support a number of operations and training activities:
Defunct.
Defunct Naval Parties include:


Battle of the Mons pocket

The battle of the Mons pocket was an engagement fought between Allied and German forces during late August and early September 1944. It formed part of the final stages of the rapid Allied advance across France and Belgium. During the battle United States Army forces, assisted by the Belgian Resistance, encircled a large number of retreating German Army and Waffen-SS troops near the town of Mons in Belgium. The German forces were disorganised and unable to counter the Allied forces. Around 25,000 Germans were made prisoner of war.
Background.
In late July and August 1944, Allied forces broke out of the Normandy beachhead and rapidly advanced across France, liberating the country from German occupation. The overriding goal of the Allied forces at this time was to advance quickly enough to reach the Rhine river before the Germans could man and reactivate the Siegfried Line defences which ran along the border between France and Germany. On 27 August General Omar Bradley, the commander of the main US Army force in northern France the Twelfth Army Group, ordered the armies under his command to "go as far as practicable" until they out-ran their supply lines.
The German forces in France had suffered heavy losses during the fighting in Normandy, and attempted to fall back ahead of the Allied forces. Their ability to do so was limited by the rapid Allied advance, road congestion, destroyed bridges and Allied air attacks. At the start of the Allied breakout the German dictator Adolf Hitler directed that defensive positions be prepared along the Somme and Marne rivers in northern France. These positions were intended to be used to fight a delaying action. However, by the time the German forces reached the defensive positions along the Somme and Marne they were in no condition to offer serious resistance; a US Army history of the campaign described the German units at this time as "exhausted, disorganized, and demoralized ". By late August the German forces in northern France and Belgium were retreating in disarray. OB West was attempting to re-establish a coherent line along the Schelde river's estuary, the Albert Canal and the Meuse River.
Prelude.
Allied advance.
In late August Bradley decided that the First Army should temporarily prioritise cutting off the retreat of German units in northern France and Belgium over reaching the Rhine. The Army's commander, Lieutenant general Courtney Hodges, was directed on 31 August to advance to the north to cut the highway between Lille and Brussels. The Army's main objective was the town of Tournai in Belgium, which it was ordered to liberate by midnight on 2 September; this task was assigned to XIX Corps which was responsible for the northernmost element of the First Army's area of operations. XIX Corps reached the town at 10 pm on 2 September. During this advance it captured 1300 German prisoners. V Corps, which was in the center of the First Army's line, simultaneously advanced toward Landrecies and took it on 2 September; few German units were encountered.
German retreat.
In late August large numbers of German military personnel were moving through the area to the south west of Mons. They were mainly members of LVIII Panzer Corps, LXXIV Army Corps and II SS Panzer Corps. These corps included the badly battered remnants of five combat divisions, as well as smaller units and many support personnel. The Corps headquarters were out of contact with superior commands.
On 31 August the three German corps commanders decided to group their forces as a provisional army to be led by the commander of LXXIV Army Corps, General der Infanterie Erich Straube. Straube had no sources of information on the broader conditions in the area, but was able to determine from Allied radio broadcasts and other sources of information that his command was in imminent danger of being encircled. In response, he decided to withdraw his forces to an area near Mons where canals and marshy conditions would aid defensive efforts.
Battle.
The VII Corps was responsible for the eastern sector of the First Army's area of operations. It was commanded by Major General J. Lawton Collins, and included the 3rd Armoured Division, 1st Infantry Division and 9th Infantry Division.
Collins was ordered on 31 August to cease his corps' drive to the north-east, and turn north towards Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Maubeuge and Mons. The 3rd Armored Division led this advance, with the 1st Infantry Division on the corps' left and the 9th Infantry Division on the right of the line. The 4th Cavalry Group was assigned responsibility for maintaining contact with the Third Army to the south. The corps initially encountered only German outposts. The 3rd Armored Division advanced rapidly, and communications problems meant that Collins did not receive orders from Hodges on 2 September to stop short of Mons to conserve fuel supplies. At this time, Collins did not appreciate the size of the German force approaching Mons. The 3rd Armored Division liberated Mons on the morning of 3 September; at this time the 1st Infantry Division was at Avesnes and the 9th Infantry Division at Charleroi.
The VII Corps' advance, and that of First Army's other two corps, trapped the German forces under Straube. The 3rd Armored Division set up roadblocks on the road between Mons and Avesnes, and the 1st Infantry Division attacked to the north-west from Avesnes into the German forces. XIX Corps was to the west of the pocket, V Corps to its south and British forces were advancing rapidly to block the Germans' escape to the north. The German forces were badly disorganised, and lacked fuel and ammunition. Around 70,000 Germans were trapped in the pocket.
There was some fighting between American and German forces on the night of 2/3 September. As part of this combat, a tank unit of the 3rd Armoured division destroyed a mile-long column of German vehicles. American air units also attacked German forces in the Mons pocket, and inflicted heavy casualties. During 3 September large numbers of German troops surrendered to the Americans, with the 1st Infantry and 3rd Armored Divisions taking between 7,500 and 9,000 prisoners.
The 3rd Armored Division disengaged from the Mons pocket during 4 September in order to resume VII Corps advance to the east. The 1st Infantry Division continued to eliminate German positions with the assistance of Belgian Resistance fighters, and took large numbers of prisoners. This continued the next day, with the 26th Infantry Regiment taking a group of 3,000 Germans prisoner near Wasmes. The battle concluded during the evening of 5 September.
Overall, around 25,000 Germans were captured in the Mons area. German casualties included approximately 3,500 killed. The remainder of the German troops, including the staffs of the three corps headquarters, managed to break out before the encirclement was complete. The German forces also lost large quantities of equipment, including 40 armored fighting vehicles, 100 half-tracks, 120 artillery guns, 100 antitank and antiaircraft guns and almost 2000 vehicles.
The VII Corps suffered few casualties. The 3rd Armored Division lost 57 men killed, and the 1st Infantry Division had 32 killed and 93 wounded. Losses of equipment were also light, and included two tanks, a tank destroyer and 20 other vehicles.
Aftermath.
The US Army's official historian Martin Blumenson later wrote that "The head-on encounter at Mons was, from the tactical point of view, a surprise for both sides. Neither Americans nor Germans had been aware of the approach of the other, and both had stumbled into an unforeseen meeting that resulted in a short, impromptu battle." On 3 September the German High Commander in the West, Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model, decided it was impossible to hold positions in northern France and Belgium, and that his forces should withdraw to the Siegfried Line. By this time many German units were not putting up a fight when they encountered Allied forces.
The number of Germans captured in the Mons pocket was the second highest of any engagement during the 1944 campaign in the west, exceeded only by the capture of some 45,000 in the Falaise pocket during August. Had the Americans advanced more quickly or their commanders understood the size of the German forces and prioritised the engagement, many more could have been taken prisoner.
The victory at Mons opened a -wide gap in the German front line. This cleared the path for the First Army's advance to the Siegfried Line, and aided the liberation of Belgium by British forces. On 6 September Hodges hold his staff the war would be over within 10 days if the weather held. This proved too optimistic: logistical problems, difficult terrain, and the recovery of the German Army as it neared the national border slowed the Allied advance. Despite the loses at the Mons pocket, most of the German forces in Northern France and Belgium managed to reach Germany. By 10 September the German high command had managed to re-establish a continuous front line from the North Sea to Switzerland. The Allies did not manage to cross the Rhine until March 1945.
Despite the large numbers of Germans captured in the Mons pocket, the engagement received little press coverage at the time. Few historians have since covered it.


Operation Lobster

In 1940 the Germans decided to send agents and saboteurs to infiltrate Britain from Norway and northern France. This plan was given the codename Operation Lobster (). It remained in place despite the collapse of plans for Operation Sea Lion ().
Military context.
After victory in France, the Abwehr had been tasked with retrieving current, reliable data on British defences and war-making capability. Three days before the end of the German campaign in France on 25 June 1940, Abwehr II's war diary noted:
On the direction of the Head of Division (Lahousen [Generalmajor Erwin von Lahousen]) Abwehr II's work has in the main been switched over to the war with England. In addition, preparations are being made for work overseas. The only work in the east now concerns looking after the Ukrainian minority and transferring old contacts to Abwehr III. At the same time Abwehr II's work in Holland, Belgium and France is diminishing and being transferred.
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) issued planning directives asking Abwehr I/II for:
Lobster was controlled by Major Klug of Office WN 2 (Abwehr II) in Berlin. Lobster involved sending missions to Britain by a variety of means, but generally by sea.
Lobster was in the context of Operation Sea Lion which in turn involved Plan Green (). Before events in the military sphere overtook plans for the launching of Sea Lion, the Abwehr successfully inserted almost twenty agents into Britain and Ireland between the summer and early autumn of 1940.


James Anderson Irons

James Anderson Irons (February 21, 1857 – July 20, 1921) was a brigadier general during World War I.
Early life and education.
Irons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 1857, the son of James R. Irons and Sarah (Anderson) Irons. He attended the public schools of Philadelphia and was an 1875 graduate of Central High School.
After high school, Irons began attendance at the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1879 ranked 49th of 67.
Military career.
After graduation from West Point, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the 20th Infantry at Fort Brown, Texas. He performed frontier duty from 1879 to 1883.
He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1885. This was followed by more frontier duty until 1887.
During the Spanish–American War, he participated in the Battle of El Caney, Battle of San Juan Hill, and the Siege of Santiago.
In 1899, he sailed with his regiment to the Philippines.
From 1901 to 1902, he was inspector general of the Department of Colorado.
From 1903 to 1905, he served on the General Staff.
From 1907 to 1910, he served as the military attache to Tokyo.
From 1914 to 1917, he had a tour of duty in China. In 1917, he returned to Tokyo and was military attache to the Imperial Japanese War Mission.
He was promoted to brigadier general with the National Army on August 5, 1917. He commanded the 166th Depot Brigade at Camp Lewis, Washington.
In December 1917, he commanded the 5th Infantry Brigade, camp Greene, North Carolina.
In February and March 1918, he commanded the Third Infantry Division.
Irons retired as a colonel in 1920.
Awards.
For his service in Japan, Irons was awarded that country's Order of the Rising Sun (Third Class). After his death, Irons was officially cited twice for heroism, once for gallantry while fighting at El Caney on July 1, 1898 and once for bravery while fighting Filipino insurgents in Cainta on March 16, 1899.
In 1930, the U.S. Congress passed legislation allowing World War I general officers to retire at the highest rank they had held. This law included a provision for officers who had died since the war, and Irons' rank of brigadier general was posthumously restored.
Personal life.
Irons married Florence Farrell on June 7, 1888. Florence Farrell's sister Frances was the wife of Brigadier General George Henson Estes.
Death and legacy.
Irons died on July 20, 1921, in Sant'Agnello di Sorrento, Italy.


SS Rufus King

SS "Rufus King" was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Rufus King and was wrecked in 1942, upon Amity Bar near Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia.


Naval warfare in the Winter War

The Naval warfare in the Winter War was the naval part of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. Overall, the level of naval activity was low. However, Finland had coastal artillery batteries which took part of battles along its coast.
The navies.
Naval activity during the Winter War was low. The Baltic Sea began to freeze over by the end of December, which made the movement of warships very difficult; by mid-winter, only ice-breakers and submarines could still move. The other reason for low naval activity was the nature of Soviet Navy forces in the area. The Baltic Fleet was a provincial coastal defence force which did not have the training, logistical structure, or landing craft to undertake large-scale operations. Furthermore, the Soviet Navy was technologically inferior to the British Royal Navy and the German "Kriegsmarine". Still, the Baltic Fleet was strong; it had two battleships, one heavy cruiser, almost 20 destroyers, 50 motor torpedo boats, 52 submarines and other vessels. The Soviets used naval bases in Paldiski, Tallinn and Liepāja in Estonia and Latvia for their attacks.
The Finnish Navy was a coast defense force with two coastal defence ships, five submarines, four gunboats, seven motor torpedo boats, one minelayer and six minesweepers. The two coastal defence ships, and , were moved to the harbour in Turku where they were used to stiffen the air-defences. Their anti-aircraft guns knocked down one or two planes over the city, and the ships remained there for the rest of the war. Beside the coastal defense, the Finnish Navy also protected Åland islands and merchant vessels in the Baltic sea—only a minor part of the fleet could engage in offensive military action.
Furthermore, the Soviet aircraft bombed Finnish vessels and harbours and dropped mines to seaways. Still, the Finnish merchant ship losses were low as only 5 ships were lost to Soviet action. However, the Second World War, which had started before the Winter War, proved more costly for the Finnish merchant vessels as altogether 26 were lost due to hostile action in 1939 and 1940—in addition to the Soviet actions the main causes for the losses were naval mines in the North Sea and the German U-boat attacks.
Coastal artillery.
In addition to its navy, Finland had coastal artillery batteries defending important harbours and naval bases along its coast. Most batteries were leftovers from the Russian period, the gun being the most numerous, but Finland had modernized its old guns and installed a number of new batteries, the largest a gun battery originally intended to block the Gulf of Finland to Soviet ships with the help of batteries on the Estonian side.
The first naval battle took place near the island of Russarö, five kilometers south of Hanko. On 1 December 1939, there were fair weather conditions and visibility was excellent. The Finns spotted the and two destroyers. When the convoy was at a range of , the Finns opened fire with 234 mm coastal guns. After five minutes firing by four coastal guns, the cruiser was damaged by near misses and retreated. The destroyers remained undamaged and "Kirov" was repaired in the naval base, but it lost 17 men and about 30 wounded. The Soviets had known the locations of the Finnish coastal batteries, but had been surprised as their effective range was much longer than expected. The coastal artillery was old-fashioned, but the Finns had managed to modernize and improve it.
The Soviet destroyers and attacked the Finnish lighthouse and fort at Utö on 14 December 1939. Finnish coastal artillery opened fire and after a short fight the destroyers withdrew with the help of a smoke screen. Poor visibility and the thick smoke initially convinced the Finns that one of the destroyers had been sunk by the coastal artillery fire.
Finnish coastal forts near the Karelian Isthmus saw the most action. In addition to the support of the land troops, Soviet naval forces made repeated attacks against the forts during December 1939. Finnish forts were repeatedly shelled by the battleships ("Marat" and "Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya") as well as by Soviet destroyers.
The coastal artillery had its greatest effect upon the land war. Naval batteries near the front were in well-protected fixed positions, and with a higher rate of fire and greater accuracy than the army's field artillery, and helped steady the defence of the Karelian Isthmus in conjunction with army artillery. In March 1940, as the Soviets had broken through the front, all reserves were thrown into the fighting near Viborg. The Soviets tried to cross the ice of the Gulf of Viipuri and come up behind the city, but the Finnish coastal artillery fired their heaviest guns, breaking the ice under the Soviets and preventing a clean breakthrough.
Soviet blockade.
The Soviet Union declared blockade on the Finnish coast and guarded this blockade with naval aviation and submarines. Initially, Soviet submarines followed prize rules but as this type of operation did not yield any results the Soviet Union declared a 20 mile zone near the Finnish coast as to be an exclusion zone and warned neutral ships to stay away from it. But the submarine campaign was not particularly successful and was cut short by the harsh winter. During the Winter War the Soviet submarines sank a total of five ships,: one Estonian ("Kassari"), two German ("Reinbeck" and "Bolheim"), one Swedish ("Fenris"), and one Finnish ("Wilpas") merchant ship.
Four other Finnish freighters were lost when Soviet Air Force bombed the Finnish ports. One Finnish escort () was lost while escorting convoys in Finnish waters, when during an anti-submarine operation a depth charge thrower misfired and depth charge exploded while still onboard sinking the ship. The was the only Finish warship lost in the war. The Soviet Baltic Fleet lost submarine during the blockade. After ice formation prevented submarine operations, the Soviet blockade was based solely on aircraft patrols and the mines dropped from the aircraft.