were theMark
IX and were referred to as 18in torpedoes, which was the
diameter of the warhead and body. These were smaller than
those launched by our submarines, theMark VIII, which had
a 21in diameter, at 40 knots were faster and had a far greater
range of 7,000 yards. More important, the warheads were
very different. The airborne 18in carried a warhead of 250lb
of explosive, compared to 750lb in the bigger Mark VIII.
Some modern warships had thick enough armour, or specially
constructed bulges in their hulls designed to limit the effect of
a hit by a torpedo, and our small warhead would not
necessarily cause enough damage to sink one of these ships.
At best, as I was to be told during my training at Abbotsinch,
all we could hope to do was damage a ship sufficiently to slow
it down, or get enough hits in at the same time to cripple it.
An unreliable warhead was merely adding to our problems.
5
Hard Lessons
I shouldn't give the impression that flying a Swordfish against
enemy fighters or anti-aircraft guns was a piece of cake. It was
remarkable that the planes that tried to hit Strasbourg or
attacked Dunkerque were able to make it back to the safety
of the Ark 's flight deck in one piece. It took a very cool head
and some fantastic flying skill to avoid two modern fighters in
the way that Sub-Lieutenant Pearson had done over Mers-el-Kébir.
The outcome wasn't always guaranteed: if you got into
a fight you could easily end up dead. George Dawson of 810
Squadron told me about the horrible mess that he got into
when the Ark was sent down toDakar, in French West Africa.
This happened in the middle of September 1940, when I was
just starting my training at Abbotsinch.
General de Gaulle, who led the Free French in Britain,
believed, for whatever reason, that the troops in the French
colony might come over to his side if he presented himself and
made a personal appeal to their loyalty to France. The plan
was that he would go down there in a small force of British
warships and Ark Royal, with around 6,000 Royal Marines
and Free French troops, to make a public proclamation and
negotiate with the French governor. As with Oran, the
negotiations would be backed up with the threat of taking the
port by force if they came to nought.Dakar was an important
port on the west coast of Africa, and if German submarines
started operating out of it they would cause a lot of damage
to our convoys sailing round the Cape of Good Hope to India
or the Red Sea. Another reason why it was worth taking
Dakar, so it was rumoured, was because a lot of gold from the
central banks of Poland and Belgium had been shipped there
for safekeeping when Germany first invaded France. There
were stories that up to £60 million in gold bullion was stashed
away there.
So Ark Royal sailed down to West Africa with two battleships,
HMS Barham and Resolution, with an escort of five
cruisers and ten destroyers. They arrived in Freetown, in
Sierra Leone, on 16 September, and then a few days later
sailed for Dakar. Whatever the attitude of the Vichy forces to
General de Gaulle might have been, it was unlikely that they
would welcome a visit from the Royal Navy after our actions
in Oran. Their fleet in Dakar had been reinforced by a
modern battleship, Richelieu, which had sailed from Brest
dockyard to avoid being captured by the Germans, and two
other cruisers that slipped past Gibraltar from Mers-el-Kébir.
The first attempt at persuading the French forces in Dakar
to leave Vichy and join De Gaulle didn't go well. Ark Royal had embarked two French aircraft at Gibraltar and when they
took off and landed at Dakar airfield, their pilots and
passengers, all Free French officers, were straightaway
arrested and jailed. Then two ships' boats that attempted
to enter the harbour with De Gaulle's representatives were
fired upon and several of their passengers wounded. This
marked the start of a general French offensive. They knew of
course what had happened at Mers-el-Kébir, and it
IX and were referred to as 18in torpedoes, which was the
diameter of the warhead and body. These were smaller than
those launched by our submarines, theMark VIII, which had
a 21in diameter, at 40 knots were faster and had a far greater
range of 7,000 yards. More important, the warheads were
very different. The airborne 18in carried a warhead of 250lb
of explosive, compared to 750lb in the bigger Mark VIII.
Some modern warships had thick enough armour, or specially
constructed bulges in their hulls designed to limit the effect of
a hit by a torpedo, and our small warhead would not
necessarily cause enough damage to sink one of these ships.
At best, as I was to be told during my training at Abbotsinch,
all we could hope to do was damage a ship sufficiently to slow
it down, or get enough hits in at the same time to cripple it.
An unreliable warhead was merely adding to our problems.
5
Hard Lessons
I shouldn't give the impression that flying a Swordfish against
enemy fighters or anti-aircraft guns was a piece of cake. It was
remarkable that the planes that tried to hit Strasbourg or
attacked Dunkerque were able to make it back to the safety
of the Ark 's flight deck in one piece. It took a very cool head
and some fantastic flying skill to avoid two modern fighters in
the way that Sub-Lieutenant Pearson had done over Mers-el-Kébir.
The outcome wasn't always guaranteed: if you got into
a fight you could easily end up dead. George Dawson of 810
Squadron told me about the horrible mess that he got into
when the Ark was sent down toDakar, in French West Africa.
This happened in the middle of September 1940, when I was
just starting my training at Abbotsinch.
General de Gaulle, who led the Free French in Britain,
believed, for whatever reason, that the troops in the French
colony might come over to his side if he presented himself and
made a personal appeal to their loyalty to France. The plan
was that he would go down there in a small force of British
warships and Ark Royal, with around 6,000 Royal Marines
and Free French troops, to make a public proclamation and
negotiate with the French governor. As with Oran, the
negotiations would be backed up with the threat of taking the
port by force if they came to nought.Dakar was an important
port on the west coast of Africa, and if German submarines
started operating out of it they would cause a lot of damage
to our convoys sailing round the Cape of Good Hope to India
or the Red Sea. Another reason why it was worth taking
Dakar, so it was rumoured, was because a lot of gold from the
central banks of Poland and Belgium had been shipped there
for safekeeping when Germany first invaded France. There
were stories that up to £60 million in gold bullion was stashed
away there.
So Ark Royal sailed down to West Africa with two battleships,
HMS Barham and Resolution, with an escort of five
cruisers and ten destroyers. They arrived in Freetown, in
Sierra Leone, on 16 September, and then a few days later
sailed for Dakar. Whatever the attitude of the Vichy forces to
General de Gaulle might have been, it was unlikely that they
would welcome a visit from the Royal Navy after our actions
in Oran. Their fleet in Dakar had been reinforced by a
modern battleship, Richelieu, which had sailed from Brest
dockyard to avoid being captured by the Germans, and two
other cruisers that slipped past Gibraltar from Mers-el-Kébir.
The first attempt at persuading the French forces in Dakar
to leave Vichy and join De Gaulle didn't go well. Ark Royal had embarked two French aircraft at Gibraltar and when they
took off and landed at Dakar airfield, their pilots and
passengers, all Free French officers, were straightaway
arrested and jailed. Then two ships' boats that attempted
to enter the harbour with De Gaulle's representatives were
fired upon and several of their passengers wounded. This
marked the start of a general French offensive. They knew of
course what had happened at Mers-el-Kébir, and it
Similar Books
