needed,
the heavy cruisers Kent and York were assigned as Force K, with
four more destroyers. The battleships would stand ready at Alexandria to sortie
in the event there was any sign of heavy units operating on the other side,
though intelligence still had most of the Axis capital ships in Toulon and La
Spezia. Tovey viewed the movement of Jean Bart and Richelieu to
Toulon with some misgiving, as he knew there was yet another day of reckoning
with the French Fleet, and the question of who ruled the waters of the Eastern
Mediterranean had not yet been decided.
With only Invincible and Warspite now operational at Alexandria, the enemy still had a considerable advantage in
big ships, even if several were still mending bruises and damage sustained in
the last confrontation. For the moment, the presence of Kirov and Argos
Fire was heartening, though he did not know how long he could hope to rely
on those ships. So he took Churchill’s suggestion and decided to send for both Rodney and Nelson , leaving Somerville only the Valiant in Force H, as
there was no longer a major threat from the French at Casablanca. The plodding
battleships would be ten days steaming to Cape Town at 18 knots, and then
another twelve days to Alexandria. With time for refueling at Cape Town, they
would not arrive until the 5th of April.
* * *
The first word that
British intelligence had of “Operation Anvil” had come from wireless intercepts
from the Hindenburg, when Lütjens had used the name. Analysts thought it
might refer to Crete, as the course set by the Franco-German fleet had been
heading that direction before the recent engagement. Yet now the sudden buildup
of planes on the Italian outpost island of Rhodes gave them second thoughts.
The Italians had controlled the
Dodecanese Islands off Turkey since a treaty had ceded them the territory in
1911. Rhodes had been built up into a major aerodrome and military base, and
there were fine airfields on Karpathos, and also on Leros, along with an
excellent deep water port that prompted Mussolini to call the place “The
Corregidor of the Mediterranean.”
JU-52 transport planes had been
flocking to these islands, heavily escorted by German fighters, and landing at
Klathos in the south, and at Maritsa in the north. British Gladiators had a look at the airlift, but were quickly driven off, and with only six
operational Hurricanes on Crete, the R.A.F could not impede the
operation, which looked to be a prelude for the German invasion of their own
island. The force being moved was considerable, and there was also frenetic
activity now observed at airfields all over Greece, and in the Dodecanese
Islands at Kos.
That same night a number of fast
cruisers and destroyers had sortied from Toulon, where the Vichy French fleet
had been reinforced with the recall of ships from Casablanca. That far distant
port was still a valuable outpost on the Atlantic, but after the losses they
had sustained in the action against the British, Admiral Darlan had decided to
consolidate his naval strength at Toulon. So it was that the powerful
battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart slipped out of the harbor and
raced north to Gibraltar, too fast to be caught by Rodney and Nelson .
With HMS Glorious ordered south around the Cape of Good Hope, there was
no Fleet Air Arm to speak of with Somerville’s Force H, as his relief carrier, Ark
Royal , had not yet arrived from Home Fleet. The French took advantage and
stole a march on the British, moving the two battleships, several cruisers and
many super-destroyers to Toulon. There they made hasty preparations for the
operation now underway, a plan that was to shift the history of the war in a sudden
new direction.
So it was that the pieces were
set for the opening of the battle that would soon decide the fate of events in
the Middle East. Operation Scimitar was just about to begin, but the Germans
had not been sitting idle, at least not the Führer, and he now had grand
the heavy cruisers Kent and York were assigned as Force K, with
four more destroyers. The battleships would stand ready at Alexandria to sortie
in the event there was any sign of heavy units operating on the other side,
though intelligence still had most of the Axis capital ships in Toulon and La
Spezia. Tovey viewed the movement of Jean Bart and Richelieu to
Toulon with some misgiving, as he knew there was yet another day of reckoning
with the French Fleet, and the question of who ruled the waters of the Eastern
Mediterranean had not yet been decided.
With only Invincible and Warspite now operational at Alexandria, the enemy still had a considerable advantage in
big ships, even if several were still mending bruises and damage sustained in
the last confrontation. For the moment, the presence of Kirov and Argos
Fire was heartening, though he did not know how long he could hope to rely
on those ships. So he took Churchill’s suggestion and decided to send for both Rodney and Nelson , leaving Somerville only the Valiant in Force H, as
there was no longer a major threat from the French at Casablanca. The plodding
battleships would be ten days steaming to Cape Town at 18 knots, and then
another twelve days to Alexandria. With time for refueling at Cape Town, they
would not arrive until the 5th of April.
* * *
The first word that
British intelligence had of “Operation Anvil” had come from wireless intercepts
from the Hindenburg, when Lütjens had used the name. Analysts thought it
might refer to Crete, as the course set by the Franco-German fleet had been
heading that direction before the recent engagement. Yet now the sudden buildup
of planes on the Italian outpost island of Rhodes gave them second thoughts.
The Italians had controlled the
Dodecanese Islands off Turkey since a treaty had ceded them the territory in
1911. Rhodes had been built up into a major aerodrome and military base, and
there were fine airfields on Karpathos, and also on Leros, along with an
excellent deep water port that prompted Mussolini to call the place “The
Corregidor of the Mediterranean.”
JU-52 transport planes had been
flocking to these islands, heavily escorted by German fighters, and landing at
Klathos in the south, and at Maritsa in the north. British Gladiators had a look at the airlift, but were quickly driven off, and with only six
operational Hurricanes on Crete, the R.A.F could not impede the
operation, which looked to be a prelude for the German invasion of their own
island. The force being moved was considerable, and there was also frenetic
activity now observed at airfields all over Greece, and in the Dodecanese
Islands at Kos.
That same night a number of fast
cruisers and destroyers had sortied from Toulon, where the Vichy French fleet
had been reinforced with the recall of ships from Casablanca. That far distant
port was still a valuable outpost on the Atlantic, but after the losses they
had sustained in the action against the British, Admiral Darlan had decided to
consolidate his naval strength at Toulon. So it was that the powerful
battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart slipped out of the harbor and
raced north to Gibraltar, too fast to be caught by Rodney and Nelson .
With HMS Glorious ordered south around the Cape of Good Hope, there was
no Fleet Air Arm to speak of with Somerville’s Force H, as his relief carrier, Ark
Royal , had not yet arrived from Home Fleet. The French took advantage and
stole a march on the British, moving the two battleships, several cruisers and
many super-destroyers to Toulon. There they made hasty preparations for the
operation now underway, a plan that was to shift the history of the war in a sudden
new direction.
So it was that the pieces were
set for the opening of the battle that would soon decide the fate of events in
the Middle East. Operation Scimitar was just about to begin, but the Germans
had not been sitting idle, at least not the Führer, and he now had grand
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