عنوان

Holding the line:

TLets493885

Holding the line:

[Thesis]

Levy, James

The Royal Navy's Home Fleet in the second World War

University of Wales Swansea

2001

Ph.D.

University of Wales Swansea

2001

This dissertation is a strategic and operational history of the Royal Navy's HomeFleet in the Second World War. Its primary focus is on the mission of the Home Fleetunder Allied strategy: to protect the UK; to prevent the deployment of German Navysurface ships into the Atlantic; to enforce a blockade of Germany; after 1941, to fightthrough the convoys to north Russian ports. These themes are explicated against thebackdrop of a shifting set of strategic priorities and the needs of other theatres. They areplaced in the context of the ships available, the building program of the 1930s, and theAnns Control diplomacy that dictated the shape of both.Significant attention is given to the actions of the Home Fleet's fourCommanders-in-Chief: Sir Charles Forbes, Sir John Tovey, Lord Fraser of North Cape,and Sir Henry Moore. Their interaction with the top political and military leadership inBritain, most crucially with Winston Churchill and Dudley Pound, is discussed, and theirindividual tenures in command evaluated. Certain minor commanders are also discussedand their performance critiqued.The dissertation highlights such tactical operations as the First and Second Battlesof Narvik, the loss of the carrier Glorious, the Bismarck chase, and the battles of theBarents Sea and North Cape. Attention is given to the Arctic convoys to the SovietUnion, and their place in the overall Allied war effort. The above is based on a thoroughreview of Admiralty records and other primary sources plus readings in the secondaryliterature.

Levy, James

University of Wales Swansea

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y