Operation Cerebus

[Stan.J]

In 1942 The German Capital Ships, Prinz Eugene, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were at the port of Brest. Hitler decided he wanted them back in Norwegian waters so that they could attack the convoys on their way to russia.So Operation Cerebus was born. The night of Nov.11th. was the time originally set for departure, however owing to a false air raid alarm, the departure was put back two hours.
Because of this the Submarine Sealion which had been operating outside the Harbour had withdrawn, Also the aircraft on patrol in the area had developed a Radar breakdown and had to return to base for repair.(Such is the way of life)
By midnight the three heavy ships and their escort of six destroyers were passing Ushant undetected and were approaching the narrows. with additional escort of ten Torpedo boats and M.T.G.Boats before they were seen by a Spitfire on a fighter sweep. When he got back to base just after 11.00 he made his report.
Following this, various air attacks were made by Beauforts. During the afternoon 242 bombers were despatched- only 39 made contact and attacked the Squadron. All attacks were unsucessful, fifteen aircraft were
lost.
There now occured an episode, both futile and forlorn,it must be conceded. Six lumbering Swordfish aircraft led by Lieutenant Commander E.Esmonde with an escort of ten Spitfires flew at a lumbering 80knots toward the enemy, they were set upon by escorting ME109s.those that survived were met by an impenetrable wall of gunfire. Two, at least, including Esmondes aircraft, dropped their torpedoes, but all were shot down.
For this, Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Five of the old Destroyers from Harwich, led by H.M.S.Campbell raced into the enemy screen. H.M.S.Worcester was badly hit, set on fire and came to a halt with 46 casualties. The other four got through to launch their torpedoes but all were avoided by the German ships.
Such were the various attempts to stop the breakthrough.
The Scharnhorst however during the remainder of the run managed to hit two mines. Though they did quite some damage, she managed to struggle to reach her destination.

Cerebus though successful, did not however, achieve what Hitler wanted. That was to attack the convoys. They were all practically useless during the remainder of the war being holed up in the Baltic waters.

It shows however that small events which occur, such as a false air raid alarm, a breakdown of radar equipment in an aircraft can lead to a plan being successful or a failure. I wonder what the outcome would have been if either of those had not happened.?

[herakles]

A very interesting tale, ruined as you say by bad luck.

I can't help but reflect though, that thorough planning takes these possibilities into account.

80 m/h? Oh dear. They never had a chance.

[The Sailor]

I see you made it to Chief Stan. Good new post. I will work on some pics to add to it. Maybe Bob will too.

At Lee-on-Solent, Lieutenant Commander Esmonde (posthumous VC) and No. 825 torpedo bomber reconnaissance swordfish squadron was stationed prior to their heroic deeds to try and sink German capital ships in the English Channel. Esmonde and his squadron flew to Manston in Kent immediately before he led the ill fated Swordfish attack against the German Fleet consisting of the Gneisnau, Prinz Eugen, and Scharnhorst which were attempting a breakout in the Channel on 1 February 1942, dashing to return to Germany. All six Fleet Air Arm aircraft were lost in the attack and few crews survived. Esmonde was to receive the posthumous VC, only one of two VCs won by the Fleet Air Arm in World War Two. A tribute to Esmonde can still be seen today at the Roman Catholic church at Lee.

[Batstiger]

Here are some of the Scharnhorst, pic 7 is of the Scharnhorst taken from the Gneisenau and pic 8 is of the Gneisenau taken through the Scharnhorst's scuttle.

[astraltrader]

As Bob has come up with some Scharnhorst pictures I thought I would fill in with a couple of the Prinz Eugen followed by 3 of the Gneisenau and finally my Swordfish photo from another thread...

[Draconis]

Some interesting pictures of Scharnhorst and the famous Channel Dash for you attached.

[John Brown]

Draconis

Welcome to the site and some good posts.

Not wanting to be picky but I think your first picture actually shows Gneisenau rather than Scharnhorst. An easy way to tell them apart is by the position of the mainmast. Gneisenau's was mounted immediately behind her funnel whereas Scharnhorst's was much farther back towards her stern.

The attached pictures illustrate the difference. A small point but worth getting it right for the sake of future students.


Regards....john

[Draconis]

Nice catch John and you aren't picky at all.;)
You're totally right.

[John Brown]

Terry

Just to show there is no favouritism, I have noticed an error in your last post too. The first picture is not of the Eugen and is not even a 'Hipper' class cruiser. (only one forward gun turret to begin with).

I'm not sure what ship it is yet but I expect one of the others will let us know :-)


Regards...John

[Stan.J]

John, I wonder if Terrys first pic. is of the Lutzow (Ex-Deutchland)? Funnel does look a little different to my eyes however???

[John Brown]

Stan

I can understand your thinking but the deck line is not right for a Deutschland class. Also are there two rear turrets. I thought at first it might be a K Class cruiser such as Karlsruhe but they had two funnels. Unless anybody knows of any reconsructions that may have left one or two with a single funnel?

Or!!!! is there a second funnel tucked behind that bridge tower????

John

[astraltrader]

On reflection - it doesn`t look like the Prinz Eugen - although there are strong similarities - not sure how that one slipped in! It certainly is not the Karlsruhe or the Lutzow. Anyhow to make up for it here are 3 more that definitely are the PE the last one being just before she was expended during the 1946 Bikini Atoll tests...

[AlZictorini]

Terry

I think your mystery picture is of either the Leipzig or the Nurnberg. They were light 15cm-armed cruisers. They were similar to the German K class cruisers but the give away was the single funnel and the aft guns were on the centre line. Their shortfall was too light armour protection and not enough range; this kept them out of front line service.

[John Brown]

That looks more like it.

Well done Alz!!


Regards....John

[Batstiger]

A few more pictures of the Prinz Eugen. I have omitted No 4 as it has already been displayed awaiting it's fate with the A bomb.

[astraltrader]

Terry

I think your mystery picture is of either the Leipzig or the Nurnberg. They were light 15cm-armed cruisers. They were similar to the German K class cruisers but the give away was the single funnel and the aft guns were on the centre line. Their shortfall was too light armour protection and not enough range; this kept them out of front line service.

Cheers Alz - That pointed me in the right direction. It is definitely the Nurnberg and not the Leipzig. When I checked I also had the same photo that I posted as the PE under Nurnberg - must have got my wires crossed! There are subtle differences in the Bridge layout between the Nurnberg and the Leipzig.

[Stan.J]

Whatever the ships were, they were good looking ships. I feel that they were streamline and powerful looking.

[AlZictorini]

I concur with you Stan, Germany did produce some good looking warships – I never did like the look of our Nelson & Rodney for instance.:D

[astraltrader]

The problem with the Nelson and the Rodders were that in effect they were incompleted warships. They were built under the constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 which meant that the design was limited to 35,000 tons and therefore had to show certain compromises. To accommodate the 16 inch (406 mm) main guns in three turrets - all of the turrets were placed forward and the vessel's speed was reduced and maximum armour was limited to vital areas. The ships as originally intended would have come out at around 50,000 Tons but would have looked less lop-sided, would have been more powerful and better armoured.
In the Navy they were often referred to as the Cherry Tree ships as they had been pruned by the Washington Treaty. Even with the design limitations forced on the designers by the treaty, the Rodney and Nelson were regarded on completion as the most powerful battleships afloat.

[herakles]

Ah! The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Sounds like another pipe dream of Woodrow Wilson. Or am I doing him an injustice? Should I be being critical of another American isolationist?

How completely inappropriate this treaty was.

[astraltrader]

Absolutely spot on Herk. Couldn`t agree more. Strangely enough it also caused a big problem in our relationship with the Japanese. Before the 1922 Treaty they were of course allies of ours - they rendered us a fair bit of co-operation and assistance during the first World War. Anyway as they did not get the same level of permissable tonnage and ship-building quotas as the US and ourselves they suffered a loss of face which to a large degree they blamed on us for agreeing to the Treaty. Things were never the same again!

[herakles]

This is a significant point. The Japs were allies in WW1. Much against the wishes of Australia.

There is a good argument to say that we contributed to the Japanese entering WW2. That we denied them raw materials. That we expressed such disgust at what they did in China etc.

But it is worth knowing that the once famous Australian PM, Robert Menzies - once Warden of the Cinque Ports by the way - earned himself the nick name "Pig Iron Bob" for his determined efforts to sell pig iron to the Japs in the 1930's.

[astraltrader]

I agree that we helped to deny the Japanese raw materials but that was mainly down to your second point about their occupation of Manchuria.
To be fair many countries felt utter revulsion at the way they treated the Chinese...

[herakles]

A good point Terry.

Just as we later expressed our disgust at the way they treated our POW's.

And the countless women they pressed into service as sex objects.

[The Sailor]

Photographic evidence of the treatment of Australian POWs.
Sorry if this photo is a shock to anyone. It is meant to be so everyone remembers.

We will never forget.

[astraltrader]

Absolutely Herk. As much as I admire the Japanese and what they have achieved peacefully since 1945 - I do feel they should have more publicly, from the Emporer down, apologised for the atrocities committed in his name during the 25 years before...

[herakles]

Absolutely Terry. But I'm not aware of any public apology made by them. And it concerns me that Japanese school textbooks now appear to ignore most if not all aspects of that country's war involvement.

[astraltrader]

Sadly true, my friend. Ironically enough their attitude of leaving it out of the text-books, parallels the way our education system does the same to the Empire...

[herakles]

Oh dear! Does that happen? Are they now ashamed of the Empire? The greatest ever?

I suppose this is so as not to offend Muslims. That seems to be the flavour of the month.

[John Brown]

Astraltraders point about other countries opinion of Japans brutality in China is well founded. It seems that even the Germans, who were allied to Japan by the tri partite Act, expressed their concerns to the Japanese government.

John

[Batstiger]

The Deutschland/Lutzow, not sinking but doing Incliation trials.

[NASAAN101]

Guys,
That little Lutzow! she was a cool ship! so was both of her bothers!
Nikki