Sea Cadets and the Spanish Civil War

[Collind]

My father told me that when he was in the Sea Cadets in the mid 1930's he want on a large Royal Navy ship to Gibraltar escorting a convoy of British merchent ships. I know that some British ships were attacked by Spanish War ships, but cannot find any information on any Battleships or Cruisers escorting convoys. the ship had regular officers and raitings, the cadets were acting as some of the Leading hands and Petty officers. This I think was to make the ships presents seen a training exercise.

Thank you

David Collins

[John Odom]

The Spanish Civil war was very complicated, and the actions of foreign powers did not always agree with their publicly stated positions. I don't trust Wikipedia, but there may be something in this article that you can confirm or deny with further research from more trustworthy sources.
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War_and_Foreign_Involvement

See also my webpage: http://home.comcast.net/~jodom25
for a story my family's involvement in that war.

[Stan.J]

In regard to the Spanish civil war...The main job of the British navy was to aid the many nationalities who were fleeing from the hostile areas. In July H.M.S.London was the first rescue warship to arrive and they berthed in the harbour at Barcelona. Over a period 3000 were rescued by the London,before she was relieved by Shropshire.... Destroyers were used to ferry the refugees to Marseilles, The Destroyers worked hard for over two years with the evacuation... H.M.S.Hunter was mined off Almeria and H.M.S.Havock was narrowly missed by a torpedo by an Italian Submarine.

[Hank]

I'd not given much consideration to the naval side of the Spanish Civil War. I do hope this thread continues with more details. How were supplies transported and handled to this contest by water? Naval mines are mentioned, who planted them?

I have one fact that I would impart here of Spanish Civil War origin that decisively affected the course and outcome of the Second World War. German planning regarding the allocation of raw materials and the successful aerial bombing of Guernica in April of 1937 caused Luftwaffe chief Herman Goering to halt development of the four-engined heavy bomber on the 27th of that month. When the required long-distance mission appeared when operating in the Atlantic, over Great Britian and Russia the correct equipment was not there.

regards

[Egypt]

Here's quite a good link, providing backround information on the the role of the Royal Navy in providing humanitarian relief during the Spanish Civil War.

http://www.seayourhistory.org.uk/content/view/616/784/

PS Sea cadets would simply not have the knowledge or training to fulfill any serious role on a warship at sea and they would certainly not have been employed as leading hands or petty officers.

[Hank]

Thanks for the Sea Your History link, Egypt. Mention of a torpedo launched (by whom is not mentioned) at an Italian submarine causes me to wonder what the Italian part in this conflict was.

The Germans had (it's probably still there) a monument to their participation in Berlin not too far from the Oskar Heleneheim U-bahn station. I witnessed a reunion of some of their veterans in 1973 there. Regards

[emason]

Mention of a torpedo launched (by whom is not mentioned) at an Italian submarine causes me to wonder what the Italian part in this conflict was.


Hank, the Italian submarine was the Iride which launched a torpedo at HMS Havock. You can read about the Iride's demise here:
http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8781&highlight=iride

From Wikipaedia:
"On the night of 31 August 1937, between the Gulf of Valencia and the Baleares, she was attacked with torpedoes by an unidentified submarine. The destroyer launched depth charges on the contact area, but the breakdown of the asdic caused the loss of tracking of the offender. After WW2 it was learned that the submarine was the Italian Iride, which sustained some damage. The Italians allegedly lost two men during the incident."

As for the Italian involvement:
"The Italian government signed a secret treaty with the Spanish Nationalists. In return for military aid, the Nationalist agreed to allow Italy to establish bases in Spain if there was a war with France. Over the next three months Mussolini sent to Spain 130 aircraft, 2,500 tons of bombs, 500 cannons, 700 mortars, 12,000 machine-guns, 50 whippet tanks and 3,800 motor vehicles"

Hope this helps.

[Egypt]

The Germans had (it's probably still there) a monument to their participation in Berlin not too far from the Oskar Heleneheim U-bahn station. I witnessed a reunion of some of their veterans in 1973 there. Regards

I think that what you are actually refering to is the monument to the German members of the International Brigade located in the Volkspark (see image below).

[WGVSr]

As for the Italian involvement:
"The Italian government signed a secret treaty with the Spanish Nationalists. In return for military aid, the Nationalist agreed to allow Italy to establish bases in Spain if there was a war with France. Over the next three months Mussolini sent to Spain 130 aircraft, 2,500 tons of bombs, 500 cannons, 700 mortars, 12,000 machine-guns, 50 whippet tanks and 3,800 motor vehicles"

Hope this helps.

Il Duce would later bill Franco for 7.5B lire for the assistance given during the Sp Civil War in February 1941. Franco declined to pay and Duce eventually had to write off the debt.
Bill

[jainso31]

It takes one to know one-in this case-jumped up fascist dictators.

jainso31