Operation Stonewall

Operation Stonewall was an Allied naval and air operation in the Second World War from 26 to 27 December 1943, to intercept blockade-runners sailing to German-occupied France through the Bay of Biscay. Operations Barrier and Freecar, by the Allied navies and the Brazilian Air Force, had taken place in the south- and mid-Atlantic. The ships were tracked by OP-20-G (US Navy) and British (Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park) code-breakers, which decrypted Japanese machine cyphers and German Enigma machine transmissions to U-boats (Shark cypher) and blockade-runners (Sunfish cypher).

At the west end of the Bay of Biscay, Royal Navy and Allied ships, with Coastal Command aircraft of Operation Stonewall hunted the blockade-runners, assisted by convoy Escort Groups and support groups diverted from nearby convoys. Osorno and Alsterufer were the first two blockade-runners of the late 1943 – early 1944 season. Osorno evaded interception and was escorted into the estuary of the Gironde by German destroyers and torpedo boats (small destroyers).

On 27 December, Alsterufer was spotted by a fighter from an American escort carrier, then attacked by Australian, British and Canadian, Coastal Command, Sunderland flying boats but suffered little damage. At 4:07 p.m. Liberator GR Mk V "H" of 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron made a low-altitude attack on Alsterufer with rockets and bombs, setting the ship on fire. Alsterufer sank the next day and 74 survivors were rescued 48 hours later by Canadian corvettes.

The German destroyers and torpedo boats that had escorted Osorno to port sailed to rendezvous with Alsterufer, the Germans being unaware of the bombing of the ship. Using Enigma decrypts of their positions, the German ships were bombed by US Liberators and then intercepted by the cruisers and of Operation Stonewall. In the Battle of the Bay of Biscay one of the destroyers and two torpedo boats were sunk in battle during a severe storm. Sailings of blockade-runners from France were cancelled and three runners from Japan were sunk by the US Navy in the south Atlantic in January 1944.

Background

Allied blockade of Germany

From the start of the war on 3 September 1939, the Allies proclaimed a blockade of Germany to prevent the import of goods. Germany had no rubber, oil, tin and tungsten. Until Operation Barbarossa the German invasion of the Soviet Union, it evaded the blockade via the Trans-Siberian Railway. After the supply route was closed at the start of Barbarossa and after the Japanese entry into the war, German and Italian ships were stranded in Japan and Japanese-occupied Singapore. The ships were used as blockade-runners, sailing to ports in occupied France after mid-1940, when Germany had taken control of the European coast from Norway to the French–Spanish border. From April 1941 to May 1942, 32 ships tried to reach France and 14 succeeded.Template:Sfn In 1941 and 1942, German and Italian ships brought in Template:Cvt of commodities and exported Template:Cvt to Japan.Template:Sfn From August 1942 to April 1943 fifteen ships tried to run the blockade and four got through.Template:Sfn

Blockade-running

File:CapeHopeOverview.png

Map of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa

After sailing from Japan, through the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, blockade-runners kept radio silence and passed rearranging points at planned times. When a ship was due, U-boats and aircraft were barred from attacking merchant ships in a Template:Cvt lane in the mid-Atlantic, to the north-east from a line level with the Canary Islands, east of the Azores and then east to Bordeaux. Escorts were laid on through the Bay of Biscay and the ships received occasional support further out from U-boats. After the cargo has been discharged, the ship was re-fitted for the next journey.Template:Sfn

More accommodation was built for crew and passengers, decks were reinforced, guns and ammunition stores were installed. A minimum of four scuttling charges of up to Template:Cvt were placed in the bottom of the hull and armed when the ship sailed with 7–9-minute fuzes; the crew kept their belongings ready in case they abandoned the ship. The vessel went into dry dock to have the hull cleaned to increase its speed and the ship underwent sea trials, sometimes incorporating the delivery of goods to Bassens or to another Biscay port. When ready to sail, the ship waited in the Gironde for an escort of minesweepers. Early in the war, the sailing schedule was little different from a peacetime commercial service.Template:Sfn

1943–1944 season

U-boats were used to transport small amounts of commodities in 1943 while bigger transport submarines were built but by winter German industry would need several shiploads of rubber and other cargoes. Despite the risks several ships would have to be despatched from Japan. There were five motor vessels in Japan and it was thought that if they left at fairly frequent intervals, the Allies might be distracted by the hunt for one and let another slip through their blockades. The ships would be on their own on the voyage but the run through the Bay of Biscay could be assisted by surface ships and aircraft. The five ships would carry Template:Cvt of rubber and other goods and sail at intervals that would allow the Biscay escort forces to meet one about Template:Cvt out from Bordeaux, escort it to port and then sail to meet the next one. The best time for the attempts to run the blockade would be midwinter 1943–1944.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

(Template:GRT, code-name , Paul Hellmann) of the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) with Template:Cvt of rubber, Template:Cvt of tin and Template:Cvt of tungsten, sailed from Kobe on 2 October, disguised as the British ship Prome, rounding the Cape of Good Hope on 15 November.Template:Sfnm Osorno was followed by the refrigerated cargo ship (reefer) (2,729 GRT, code-name , Piatek) of the Robert M. Sloman Jr. line of Hamburg, carrying Template:Cvt of tungsten, a year's worth of consumption in the German war economy.Template:Sfn sailed third on 4 October 1943 from Yokohama; and departed later in the month. Allied spies reported the arrival of the first three ships at Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), raising the alarm.Template:Sfn

Ultra

File:Locator map of Azores in EU.svg

Locator map of the Azores

The defeat of the German U-boat offensive in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943 was followed by the last attempt by the Germans to pass blockade-runners through the Bay of Biscay to and from the Japanese empire. From May 1943 decrypts of Japanese diplomatic wireless traffic revealed to the Allies that the losses of the 1942–1943 season had not deterred the Axis from making another attempt in the autumn. Seven merchant ships were to sail from Europe carrying Template:Cvt of exports and that the Germans were building special U-boats to import Template:Cvt of goods from Japan in 1943. In July and August, photographic reconnaissance and agent reports from the French Atlantic ports that sailings for the far East were being prepared and by 6 September it was clear that seven ships were close to sailing.Template:Sfn

On 4 October, after the blockade-runner Kulmerland had been hit by Allied bombers, a signal from the Japanese Ambassador in Berlin showed the Allies that the export programme had been cut to Template:Cvt because of the bombing.Template:Sfn On 18 July the British and Portuguese reached a basing agreement for the Azores, which came into force on 8 October and which had the potential to deter the Axis from trying to run the blockade.Template:Sfn On 23 October, the Germans introduced new W/T methods for signalling between U-boats and blockade-runners in the Bay of Biscay and in early November Dresden, thought to be a blockade-runner, struck a mine. The British thought that five ships were preparing to leave the Bay and that four ships were preparing to return from the Far East. Later in November, another decrypt from the Japanese Ambassador revealed that the German export programme had been reduced again, to Template:Cvt. US Navy patrols in the South Atlantic were increased.Template:Sfn

Prelude

Allied intelligence

File:Bay of Biscay map.png

Map of the Bay of Biscay

The Ministry of Economic Warfare in London knew that the winter would be the best time for blockade-runners and photographic reconnaissance revealed that the number of German warships in the French Biscay ports had been increased. Enigma decrypts and agent reports from the Far East alerted the Allies.Template:Sfn Evidence that the new round of departures from the Far East had begun was found in an Ultra decrypt of 16 November, prohibiting U-boat attacks west of a line in the south Atlantic.Template:Sfn

The Naval and air commanders were told that a northbound blockade-runner and possibly another eight were approaching, including Osorno and Alsterufer.Template:Sfn Little was revealed by OP-20-G, the US Navy (USN) code-breaking organisation, until 26 November, that on the day before the U-boat restrictions ("") in the south Atlantic had been imposed further north on 1 December.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn On 26 November the Italian ship Pietro Orseolo sailed from Bordeaux to Concarneau on the south Brittany coast and was attacked by aircraft from Coastal Command on 1 December to no effect.Template:Sfn

Operation Barrier

Operation Barrier began with Task Force 41 (TF.41) comprising five task groups, of a cruiser and a destroyer each, three of which were permanently at sea and USN aircraft patrols from Natal in Brazil, with Brazilian Air Force patrols from Recife (at war with Germany and Italy since 22 August 1942) and flights by USN patrol bombers from Ascension Island on 1 December.Template:Sfn More information was received by the Allies on 5 December that the restrictions were in force north of the equator from the next day.Template:Sfn Osorno was spotted on 8 December by Liberator B-8 of VPB-107 from Ascension but TG.41.4 (the cruiser and the destroyer ) were chasing another contact which turned out to be a Greek independent, then began a hunt for a U-boat and Osorno escaped.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The Admiralty signalled the importance given to preventing the arrival of blockade-runners on 12 December and the Royal Navy light cruiser left on patrol from the Azores.Template:Sfn Searches to the north-west found nothing but Osorno had been sighted by Template:GS whose report was decrypted by OP-20-G on 13 December.Template:Sfn

Operation Freecar

Freecar began soon after Barrier with and both armed merchant cruisers, the French cruiser and the Italian cruisers Abruzzi and d'Aosta. Barrier and Freecar were suspended, letting Alsterufer pass unseen.Template:Sfn On 18 December, a Sunfish message sent on 13 December to Osorno and Asterufer was decrypted and on 22 December a decrypt of the U-boat Shark cypher showed that the U-boat restrictions were in force west of the Bay of Biscay.Template:Sfn

Operation Stonewall

Plymouth Command

Coastal Command prepared Halifax and Liberator bombers to attack the blockade-runners as they crossed the Bay of Biscay. The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) light cruiser HMNZS Gambia, recently refitted, arrived at Plymouth from Scotland on 5 December 1943. Gambia was to join Glasgow and Enterprise under the command of the Commander-in-Chief Plymouth (Admiral Ralph Leatham) for operations against blockade runners.Template:Sfn U-boats were sailing in distant waters which required more signals from Admiral Karl Dönitz (, BdU, Commander, U-boats) about blockade-runners. The Shark cypher for U-boats was often being decrypted quickly by the Government Code and Cypher School which then broke the Sunfish Enigma key used by the blockade-runners.Template:Sfn

Osorno

Convoy codesTemplate:Sfn

Code	Route
CU	Curaçao/New York to UK (tankers)
GUS	Port Said to US Slow
HX	Halifax to UK
KMF	UK to Mediterranean Fast
KMS	UK to Mediterranean Slow
MKS	Mediterranean to UK Slow
ON	Outward North (UK to US)
OS	Outbound South (UK to Freetown)
SC	Sydney/Halifax/New York to UK
SL	Freetown to UK
UGS	US to Port Said/Gibraltar

After Osorno managed to pass the Natal–Freetown narrows, Leatham began Operation Stonewall. Gambia and Glasgow sailed from Plymouth to Horta in the Azores taking turns to patrol, fuelling from a tanker at Horta. Osorno turned eastwards at the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. From 16 to 17 December, Osorno () crossed the US to Gibraltar convoy route undetected.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On 18 December Osorno passed itself off as the British Landsman en route from Cape Town to Liverpool to a Sunderland flying-boat that investigated it. During the night a British destroyer passed close by and warned Osorno that a U-boat was in the vicinity before beginning a depth-charge attack on the suspected submarine; Osorno managed to steal away.Template:Sfn

Coastal Command attacked the outbound Pietro Orseolo on 18 December, with six Torbeau torpedo-bombers of 254 Squadron and six Beaufighters of 248 Squadron for Flak suppression, escorted by eight Typhoon fighters, hitting it amidships twice with torpedoes; the ship exploded and sank off Lorient the next morning.Template:Sfn On 19 December Osorno passed through the US–UK route near Convoy ON 215, following a day behind Convoy HX 270 and a day in front of Convoy SC 149.Template:Sfn From 21 to 22 December, Osorno turned east for the Bay of Biscay and crossed the paths of Convoy KMF 27 and Convoy MKS 33/SL 142, which was accompanied by Escort Group B4 and a support group based on . The Germans were as ignorant of the position of Osorno as the Allies and Wolfpack Borkum was formed from the southernmost boats of Wolfpack Coronel to attack Convoy MKS 33/SL 142 to cover the return of Orsorno.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

German signals to establish Wolfpack Borkum were decrypted by the Allies and TG.21.15, comprising the escort carrier with the destroyers, , , and detached from Convoy GUS 24 to hunt the U-boats. TG.21.14, with the escort carrier and the destroyers , and joined the hunt and Wolfpack Borkum was assisted by five FW 200 Kondor bombers flying by day, a BV 222 flying boat flying on the night of 20/21 December and more aircraft during the next day but no ships were sunk.Template:Sfn German aircraft reported the escort carrier groups three times on 22 and 23 December.Template:Sfn Gambia and Glasgow were behind Osorno.Template:Sfn On 23 December, a F4F fighter from Card sighted a ship about Template:Cvt south-west of Ushant; Osorno failed to give the right answer to the challenge, despite flying the Red Ensign. The destroyers of TG.21.14 were too short of fuel and could not leave Card when U-boats were known to be close. Card had to close its flight-deck after accidents then the Task Group was distracted by the attacks of Wolfpack Borkum which had the benefit of aircraft flying from land bases.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn During the evening of 24 December, Convoy OS 62/KMS 36 from the north with Escort Group B1 and the support group of the escort carrier ran into Wolfpack Borkum. Template:GS sank with a T5 torpedo.Template:Sfn

File:Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command CH21577.jpg

Coastal Command Sunderland Mk III flying boat of 10 Squadron RAAF

At noon on 24 December, the (8th Destroyer Flotilla, Captain Erdmenger) Z 27, Z 23, Z 24, Z 32, Z 37 and ZH 1 were sent to escort Osorno The (4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Franz Kohlauf) with T 22, T 23, T 24, T 25, T 26 and T 27 also took part in , departing from the Biscay ports to rendezvous with Osorno and escort it to port. From dawn on 25 December, Sunderland flying boats from 201 Squadron RAF, 422 Squadron RCAF and 461 Squadron RAAF were in contact with Osorno and one was claimed shot down by Osorno after it came too close and appeared to crash into the sea. At noon on a cloudy day, when about Template:Cvt west of the French coast, the lookouts on Osorno spotted destroyers with characteristic German funnel caps.Template:Sfn

An hour later, Osorno was encircled by eleven destroyers and torpedo boats. The ships had an array of 207 guns from 20 mm to 150 mm and 76 torpedoes; long-range Ju 88 fighters sent by flew overhead.Template:Sfn Despite the air cover, Halifax GR.Mk.II bombers, including eight from 502 Squadron attacked from 4:20 to 7:15 p.m., "Q" claiming a hit one a ship. As night fell, 58 Mosquitos and Torbeau torpedo-bombers of 19 Group Coastal Command failed to find the German ships. Osorno reached the swept channel of the Gironde estuary, then ran into the wreck of 21 and had to be beached at Le Verdon-sur-Mer at the entrance to the estuary.Template:Sfnm Bomber Command sent five Stirling mine-layers on the night of 29/30 December and the waters around the ship were mined to obstruct the unloading of its cargo of rubber but the Germans got most of it ashore.Template:Sfn

Alsterufer

File:Battle of the Bay of Biscay 28 December 1943 map.png

Map showing the location of Alsterufer when it was sunk and of the Battle of the Bay of Biscay

Alsterufer passed the South Atlantic narrows undetected and crossed the US–Gibraltar route on 20 December, not far from TG.21.16, which included the carrier and four destroyers. Alsterufer was behind the westbound Convoy GUS 23 and near the eastbound Convoy UGS 27. By 23 December Alsterufer was distant from Convoy CU 9 to the east, TG.21.16 to the south-east and Convoy SC 149 to the north.Template:Sfn The 8th destroyer Flotilla (8. ) and the 4th Torpedo boat Flotilla (4. ), less ZH 1, which had engine-trouble, sailed into the Bay of Biscay again on (Operation Beam) on 26 December to meet Alsterufer and escort it into the Gironde.Template:Sfnm Alsterufer was spotted at 10:15 a.m. on 27 December about Template:Cvt north-west of Cape Finisterre and kept Sunderland "T" of 201 Squadron at a distance with anti-aircraft fire. The Sunderland circled the ship for 2 1/2 hours, being joined by "Q" from 422 Squadron RCAF and "U", also from 201 Squadron. When "T" had to turn for home it attacked but missed, Alsterufer making Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn

Piatek was concerned about discipline amongst the crew, because they had hoped to make port before Christmas and he had refused to allow them to sample any of the 6,000 bottles of beer on board to avoid the rigours of the Bay of Biscay crossing "with a tipsy crew". During the morning, Alsterufer was attacked by Sunderland "Q" of 422 Squadron RCAF and "U" of 201 Squadron flown by Leslie Baveystock who wrote later,

File:Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945. HU93030.jpg

Alsterufer under attack by a Czechoslovak-crewed RAF Liberator

By the time we had spotted the ship we were down to 200 feet with our quarry dead ahead in what should have been an ideal position. If I released our bombs we just couldn't miss, but their forward speed, being the same as that of our aircraft, would have resulted in explosions directly under us, with the consequent dire damage to ourselves. This I could not risk.Template:Sfn

the gunners strafed Alsterufer and the Sunderland climbed to Template:Cvt, bombing and depth-charging by radar, to little effect. Baveystock "cursed the stupid Armaments Office for not giving us delay fuses on our bombs, as he should have done".Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Fliegerführer Atlantik promised aircraft but Marinegruppe West could offer no ships until the next morning.Template:Sfn The light cruiser to the east of Alsterufer and Glasgow Template:Cvt to the west, were ordered to make their best speed to a point Template:Cvt north-west of Cape Finisterre.Template:Sfnm At 4:07 p.m. Liberator GR Mk V "H" of 311 (Czech) Squadron, sighted Alsterufer.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The Liberator made a diving attack through the anti-aircraft fire of Alsterufer and fired its eight wing-mounted, semi-armour piercing (SAP60) rocket projectiles. Five of the rockets hit the ship above the waterline and a Template:Cvt bomb and a Template:Cvt bomb hitting the ship aft of the funnel, killing two sailors and setting the ship on fire.Template:Sfn Alsterufer had opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and parachute-and-cable rockets, hitting the Liberator's starboard outer engine but the aircraft returned to base at RAF Beaulieu in England. Four hours later, two Liberators of 86 Squadron finished off the ship. Alsterufer sank on the afternoon of 28 December. Four lifeboats with 74 survivors were picked up two days later by four Canadian corvettes.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn

Battle of the Bay of Biscay

File:KerlogueT25T26.jpg

A view from Z27 of T25 and T26 being shelled drawn by Hans Helmut Karsch, a German sailor, during his internment at the Curragh Camp. (National Maritime Museum of Ireland)

Gambia departed from Faial Island in the Azores on 27 December, its Captain, William Powlett, being made commander of Force 3, the ships already at sea, the light cruiser and the fast minelayer from Gibraltar and the Free French large destroyers, Le Fantasque and Le Malin from the Azores.Template:SfnmThe Allied cruiser captains were told that about a dozen German destroyers could be on the way to rendezvous with the blockade runner.Template:Sfnm Naval Group West did not find out about the loss of Alsterufer until morning on 28 December and cancelled , ordering the ships to return. The flotilla was spotted by a US Liberator of VPB-105 and attacked by fifteen more Liberators from that squadron and VPB-103, which enabled Glasgow and Enterprise to intercept them at noon.Template:Sfn

The eleven ships of the flotilla had twenty-five 150 mm and twenty-four 105 mm guns against the nineteen 6-inch and thirteen 4-inch guns of the cruisers. The German flotilla tried to attack the cruisers from both flanks but the stormy seas prevented the ships from sailing at their maximum speed. Z 27 (Captain Günther Schultz, with the flotilla commander, Captain Erdmenger, aboard), T 25 and T 26 were sunk. Shortage of ammunition on Glasgow and mechanical defects in Enterprise led them to break off the action rather than pursue the other ships.Template:Sfn Z 24, T 23, T 24 and T 27 returned to Brest; Z 32, and Z 37 got to the Gironde and Z 23 with T 22, which had turned south, made port at St Jean de Luz. Sixty-four survivors were rescued by Royal Navy minesweepers, 168 by the Irish coaster, , six by Spanish destroyers and 55 by Template:GS and Template:GS. Glasgow, Enterprise and Ariadne returned to Plymouth under glider-bomb attack and Penelope, Le Fantasque and Le Malin to Gibraltar. Gambia and patrolled north of the Azores for blockade-runners until 1 January.Template:Sfnm

Aftermath

Analysis

Morale in the Kriegsmarine was depressed further with the news that the battleship Scharnhorst had been sunk on 26 December at the Battle of the North Cape.Template:Sfn Osorno was the last blockade-runner to reach port, its cargo of rubber meeting German needs until November 1944.Template:Sfn In 1984, Harry Hinsley wrote in the official history of British intelligence in the war that the defeat of the German destroyer flotilla, like the sinking of Scharnhorst, could only have happened because the Admiralty was receiving decrypts of Enigma messages almost as quickly as their German addressees. The engagement also finally made the Admiralty admit that the German Type 1936A destroyers (Narvik-class to the British) carried Template:Cvt guns.Template:Sfn

Casualties

Three men on Alsterufer were killed and 74 were rescued.Template:Sfn Of the 672 men on the three German warships, 93 were rescued from Z27, 100 from T25 and 90 from T26.Template:Sfn About 62 survivors were picked up by British minesweepers, 168 were rescued by Kerlogue a small Irish steamer and four by Spanish destroyers.Template:Sfnm In 2003, Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke wrote that there were 740 men in the three ships and that 293 men survived, 21 rescued by U-618, 34 by U-505, six by Spanish destroyers, 64 by British minesweepers and 168 by an Irish merchant ship.Template:Sfn

Subsequent operations

The last three blockade-runners, Weserland, Burgenland and Rio Grande were known to the Allied through decrypts of their sailings from the Far East. US naval forces intercepted them in the south Atlantic from 3 to 5 January 1944. After another nine days, Sunfish decrypts revealed that the Germans did not know of the interceptions and had ordered two of their blockade-runners to prepare to sail. On 21 January it was discovered that all four blockade-runners preparing for the voyage top the Far East had been ordered to stand down because of the risk of interception.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Orders of battle

US Navy

4th Fleet Air Wing

Fairwing SixteenTemplate:Sfn

Sqn	Flag	Type	No.	Notes
VP-94	Template:Naval	PBY-5A Catalina	14	Based at Natal, Brazil
VP-127	Template:Naval	PV-1 Ventura	12	Based at Natal, Brazil
VB-107	Template:Naval	PB4Y-1 Liberator	12	Based at Natal, Brazil
VB-129	Template:Naval	PV-1 Ventura	12	Based at Recife, Brazil
VP-74	Template:Naval	PBM-3 Mariner	12	Based at Bahia, Brazil
VB-130	Template:Naval	PV-1 Ventura	12	Based at Fotaleza, Brazil
VB-145	Template:Naval	PV-1 Ventura	12	Based at Natal, Brazil
VB-203	Template:Naval	PBM-3 Mariner	14	Based at Bahia, Brazil
VP-211	Template:Naval	PBM-3 Mariner	12	Based at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
VB-143	Template:Naval	PV-1 Ventura	12	Based at Recife, Brazil

Task Force 21

TF.21.

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.14
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.14
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.14
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.14
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.15
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.15
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.15
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.15
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.16
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.16
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.16
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.16
	Template:Naval		Task Group.21.16

Task Force 41

TF.41. Surface Patrol ForceTemplate:Sfn

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.1
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.1
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.2
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.2
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.3
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.3
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.4
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.4
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.5
	Template:Naval		Task Group 41.5

Royal Navy

Royal NavyTemplate:Sfn

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Naval
	Template:Naval
	Template:Naval		Sunk by Template:GS

• Template:Naval Escort Group B1Template:Sfn
• Template:Naval Escort Group B4Template:Sfn
• Template:Naval 4 CorvettesTemplate:Sfn

Operation Stonewall (Plymouth Command)

Force 3Template:Sfn

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Naval
HMNZS Gambia	Template:Naval
	Template:Naval
	Template:Naval
	Template:Naval		Fast minelayer
	Template:Naval		Later reclassified as a light cruiser
	Template:Naval		Later reclassified as a light cruiser

Coastal Command

Coastal Command squadronsTemplate:Sfn

Sqn	Flag	Group	Type	Notes
86 Squadron	Royal Air Force	19 Group	Liberator	Very Long Range ASW
201 Squadron	Royal Air Force	15 Group	Sunderland	Flying boat ASW
248 Squadron	Royal Air Force	19 Group	Beaufighter	Heavy fighter
254 Squadron	Royal Air Force	19 Group	Torbeau	torpedo-bomber
311 (Czech) Squadron	Royal Air Force	19 Group	Liberator GR Mk V	Template:Flagicon Very Long Range ASW aircraft 'H'
422 Squadron	Royal Canadian Air Force	15 Group	Sunderland	Flying boat ASW
461 Squadron	Royal Australian Air Force	19 Group	Sunderland	Flying boat ASW
502 Squadron	Royal Air Force	19 Group	Halifax GR.Mk.II	Long range reconnaissance

• Royal Air Force Fighter Command
  • Typhoon fighter escortsTemplate:Sfn
• Royal Air Force Bomber Command
  • Stirling minelayersTemplate:Sfn

Operation Freecar

FreecarTemplate:Sfn

Ship	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Naval	Armed merchant cruiser	Converted Royal Mail Ship
	Template:Naval	Armed merchant cruiser	Converted liner
	Template:Country data Free French	Heavy cruiser
	Italy		Italian Co-belligerent Navy
	Italy		Italian Co-belligerent Navy

Operation Barrier

• Template:NavalTemplate:Sfn
• Brazilian Air Force Template:Sfn

Neutrals

• Ireland Template:Sfn
• Template:Naval 6 destroyersTemplate:Sfn

German

Blockade-runners

German blockade runnersTemplate:Sfn

Name	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
MV	1938	Nazi Germany	6,951	Scuttled Gironde Estuary
	1939	Nazi Germany	2,729	Hit by rockets, 27 December 1943, NW Cape Finisterre, scuttled 46°40'N, 19°30'W

Template:Sfnm

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type IXB submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type IXC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type IXB submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type IXC/40 submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine	Sunk
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type IXC/40 submarine
Template:GS	Template:Navy/core	Type VIIC submarine

shipsTemplate:Sfn

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
	Template:Navy/core		8th Destroyer flotilla, sunk
	Template:Navy/core		8th Destroyer flotilla
	Template:Navy/core		8th Destroyer flotilla
	Template:Navy/core		8th Destroyer flotilla
	Template:Navy/core	Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer	8th Destroyer flotilla
	Template:Navy/core		Ex-Royal Netherlands Navy, Operation Bernau only
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla (sunk)
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla (sunk)
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla
	Template:Navy/core	Type 39 torpedo boat	4th Torpedo Boat flotilla

Template:Sfn

Unit	Arm	Type	Role
II./Kampfgeschwader 40	Luftwaffe	Heinkel He 177	Anti-shipping
III./Kampfgeschwader 40	Luftwaffe	Focke-Wulf Fw 200	Anti-shipping
5./Kampfgeschwader 40	Luftwaffe	Junkers Ju 88 C-6	Anti-shipping
2./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5 Atlantik	Luftwaffe	Junkers Ju 290	Long-range reconnaissance
1.(F)./ 129	Luftwaffe	Blohm & Voss BV 222	Flying boat

References

• Translated from Die deutschen Zerstörer 1939–1945 Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn (1995). Originally published in English by Greenhill books, Lionel Leventhal (2003)
• • Template:Harvc

External links

• 70th Anniversary of the sinking of Alsterufer