The Gathering Storm: The Second World War (106 page)

Ships Out of Action During the Whole Period

G
ERMAN
F
LEET
A
VAILABLE ON
J
UNE
30, 1940

A
LLIED
N
AVAL
L
OSSES
IN THE
N
ORWEFIAN
C
AMPAIGN

Ships Sunk

Ships Damaged
(
excluding minor damage
)

S
EPTEMBER
, 1939

To avoid confusion, German submarines are always to be described officially as U-boats in all official papers and communiqués.

1. This is an excellent paper and the principles are approved. However, in the first phase (say, September) when losses may be high, it is important that you show that we are killing U-boats. The policy of silence will come down later. The daily bulletin prepared by Captain Macnamara should, when possible, for the first week be shown to the First Lord, but should not be delayed if he is not available. It is of the highest importance that the Admiralty bulletin should maintain its reputation for truthfulness, and the tone should not be forced. The bulletin of today is exactly the right tone.

2. When Parliament is sitting, if there is anything worth telling, bad or good, the First Lord or Parliamentary Secretary will be disposed to make a statement to the House in answer to friendly private-notice questions.

These statements should be concerted with the Parliamentary Secretary, who advises the First Lord on Parliamentary business. Sensational or important episodes will require special attention of the First Lord or First Sea Lord.

3. Lord Stanhope, as Leader of the House of Lords, should always be made acquainted with the substance of any statement to be made in the House of Commons upon the course of the naval war.

Moreover, the First Lord wishes that his Private Secretary should keep Lord Stanhope informed during these early weeks upon matters in which his Lordship may have been interested. He should not be cut off from the course of events at the Admiralty with which he has been so intimately concerned.

What is the position on the west coast of Ireland? Are there any signs of succouring U-boats in Irish creeks or inlets? It would seem that money should be spent to secure a trustworthy body of Irish agents to keep most vigilant watch. Has this been done? Please report.

Kindly give me report on progress of Dover barrage, and repeat weekly.

1. What are we doing about bringing out old merchant ships to replace tonnage losses? How many are there, and where? Kindly supply lists, with tonnage. Arrangements would have to be made to dock and clean all bottoms, otherwise speed will be grievously cut down.

2. I should be glad to receive proposals for acquiring neutral tonnage to the utmost extent.

1. It is much too soon to approve additional construction of new cruisers, which cannot be finished for at least two years, even under war conditions. The matter can be considered during the next three months. Now that we are free from all Treaty restrictions, if any cruisers are built they should be of a new type, and capable of dominating the five German 8-inch cruisers now under construction.

2. Ask the D.N.C. at his convenience to give me a legend of a 14,000- or 15,000-ton cruiser carrying 9.2 guns with good armour against 8-inch projectiles, wide radius of action, and superior speed to any existing
Deutschland
or German 8-inch-gun cruisers. It would be necessary before building such vessels to carry the United States with us.

3. The rest of the programme is approved, as it all bears on U-boat hunting and ought to be ready within the year.

4. I shall be very glad to discuss the general questions of policy involved with the Board.

It seems most necessary to drill the civil population in completely putting out their private lights, and the course hitherto followed has conduced to this. But surely the great installations of lights controlled from two or three centres are in a different category.

While enforcing the household black-outs, why not let the controllable lighting burn until an air-warning is received? Then when the hooters sound, the whole of these widespread systems of lighting would go out at once together. This would reinforce the air-raid warning, and when the all-clear was sounded, they would all go up together, telling everyone. Immense inconvenience would be removed, and the depressing effect of needless darkness; and as there are at least ten minutes to spare, there would be plenty of time to make the black-out complete.

Unless you have any objection, I should like to circulate this to our colleagues.

Dates of Completion for Naval Construction: Tabular Statement Prepared by Controller

In peace-time, vessels are built to keep up the strength of the Navy from year to year amid political difficulties. In war-time, a definite tactical object must inspire all construction. If we take the Navies, actual and potential, of Germany and Italy, we can see clearly the exact vessels we have to cope with. Let me therefore have the comparable flotillas of each of these Powers, actual and prospective, up to 1941, so far as they are known.
Having regard to the U-boat menace, which must be expected to renew itself on a much larger scale toward the end of
1940, the type of destroyer to be constructed must aim at numbers and celerity of construction rather than size and power. It ought to be possible to design destroyers which can be completed in under a year, in which case fifty at least should be begun forthwith. I am well aware of the need of a proportion of flotilla-leaders and large destroyers capable of ocean service, but the arrival in our Fleets of fifty destroyers of the medium emergency type I am contemplating would liberate all larger vessels for ocean work and for combat.

Let me have the entire picture of our existing destroyer fleet, apart from the additions shown on this paper. Until I have acquainted myself with the destroyer power, I will not try to understand the escort vessels, etc.

The following ideas might be considered before our meeting at 9.30 Tuesday, September 12:

1. Suspend for a year all work on battleships that cannot come into action before the end of 1941. This decision to be reviewed every six months. Concentrate upon
King George V, Prince of Wales,
and
Duke of York,
and also upon
Jellicoe
if it can be pulled forward into 1941; otherwise suspend.

2. All aircraft carriers should proceed according to accelerated programme.

3. Concentrate on the
Didos
which can be delivered before the end of 1941. By strong administrative action it should be possible to bring all the present programme within the sacred limit, to wit, ten ships. No new
Didos
till this problem has been solved.

4.
Fijis.
Please, No! This policy of scattering over the seas weak cruisers which can neither fight nor flee the German 8-inch 10,000-ton cruisers – of which they will quite soon have five – should be abandoned. The idea of two
Fijis
fighting an 8-inch-gun cruiser will never come off.
¹
All experience shows that a cluster of weak ships will not fight one strong one. (
Vide
the escape of the
Goeben
across the mouth of the Adriatic, August, 1914.)