NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008 45
The cruellest sea
Birth of a formidable foe
SAY the words ‘Red’ and ‘Fleet’
and to most people they will
conjure images of Victors, Akulas,
and Kilos.
But before the Cold War there
was another Soviet fleet – and a
not insubstantial one, as shown
by an illustrated history from
Vladimir Yakubov and Richard
Worth, Raising the Red Banner:
The Pictorial History of Stalin’s
Fleet (Spellmount, £20, ISBN
978-1-86227-450-1).
The Soviets inherited a
The butcher’s
sizeable, if run-down, fleet from
the Imperialist Navy – not least
several dreadnoughts which were
bill of Vimy
promptly given suitable Bolshevik
names.
And they might have inherited
IN APRIL 1917, the Western
much more had the Revolution
not stopped a substantial Tsarist pages – is devoted to a submarine
Front was ablaze.
building programm in its tracks. force whose size was more than
The Royal Naval Division
Instead, the Red Fleet dabbled twice that of its two nearest rivals.
stormed German lines outside
with the battleship (six more were The authors have dug out some
Arras; the French attacked along
in various stages of completion fascinating and, for the most part,
the Chemin des Dames, an
when the Germans invaded in unpublished images which leave
imposing ridge beyond Reims,
1941). the reader in no doubt that the
intending to deliver the German
In fairness, the big ships did Soviet Union possessed a potent
Army a fatal blow; and in the
not have a great war: they were Navy long before it was viewed as
skies, the Royal Naval Air Service
mostly bottled up in the Baltic the West’s principal opponent.
was locked in mortal combat with
and Black Seas when war began Perhaps most intriguing are
its German foe.
– and suffered accordingly under Stalin’s ‘prize Navy’ – the ships he
There were few reasons for the
the German bombs. captured or was donated, such as
Allies to cheer in ‘Bloody April’:
The Germans also bottled up battleship HMS Royal Sovereign
Britain’s diversionary attack
READERS who, like me,
most of the not insignificant Soviet (loaned to Russia between 1944
at Arras failed to draw German
● Men of the US Coast Guard cutter Spencer watch a depth charge
have appreciated the
sink U175, April 1943 Picture: WO Jack/US National Archives 26-G-1517
submarine fleet (the Baltic force, and 1949 as Arkhangelsk) and a
reserves from the Chemin des
for example, managed barely half clutch of Italian and German ships
Dames so the French offensive
previous sterling products
a dozen attacks and no sinkings of acquired/seized as war booty.
failed miserably; the French
of Rob Gardner’s previous
enemy vessels over an 18-month Some of those vessels would
Army mutinied; and the RFC
publishing efforts at
The Grove
period between 1942 and 1944). help form the nucleus of the
suffered horrendous casualties.
Conway and Chatham will
Review
But as the Red Army sowed the Russians’ early Cold War fleet.
The one bright spot, however,
seeds for the future Cold War by Not among them, however,
was the capture of high ground to
be pleased to hear that he swallowing up Eastern Europe in was the Graf Zeppelin, the Nazis
the north of Arras which offered
is now operating under a
late 1944 and early 1945, so Soviet almost-finished aircraft carrier.
a commanding view of Artois.
third imprint.
submarines showed what they It was scuttled in Stettin at the
The capture of Vimy Ridge mixed up – as I know to my cost
The fi rst products I have
could achieve when unleashed – war’s end and subsequently raised
was a decisive success – and one – but on page 45 there is an
received from the new publisher
most famously with the torpedoing by the Russians... who surrounded
which has become a defining extended caption trying to identify
– Seaforth Publishing, a subsidiary
of the Wilhelm Gustloff, Goya and its fate with mystery for decades to
moment in Canada’s national a boat with U1 on its conning
of the well-known Pen and Sword
Steuben during the evacuation of unbalance the West.
identity, for her men were at the tower as a German submarine.
Books – are two handsome, well-
Germany’s Baltic shores. She was, in fact, sunk by the
forefront of the onslaught. It is clearly a British built U-
illustrated volumes that lend
The heart of this book – some 60 Soviets shortly after the war’s end.
Little space has been afforded class boat, probably in Norwegian
to the defenders of Vimy... until
themselves to joint treatment,
service. Then, rather strangely
now.
writes Prof Eric Grove of the
on page 165, a caption referring
In his unceasing efforts to give
University of Salford.
to Mk 24 homing torpedo is
a voice to the men ‘on the other
They overlap in a major way but
used for a well known picture of
side of the hill’, Jack Sheldon
remain complementary justifying
an Avenger being loaded with a
has turned his attention to The
their publication side-by-side.
standard anti-ship weapon.
German Army on Vimy Ridge
The fi rst is Anti-Submarine
Such small problems
1914-1917 (Pen & Sword, £25,
Warfare: An Illustrated History
demonstrate that the book must sheer inability to produce large
ISBN 978-1844-156801).
(£25, ISBN 97-1-84415-703-7)
be treated with a certain amount turbine powered warships. Use of
Few people are better
by a generalist writer and journalist
of care but it has its good points commercial facilities necessitated
qualified to offer an insight into
David Owen.
too. short ships and reciprocating
‘Fritz’ than the author whose
Mr Owen may be a professional
The diagrams of ASW tactics, engines for mass production.
trawl of the archives, regimental
writer – which is demonstrated
very ably drawn by the author, are He argues that the failure
histories and countless first-hand
in his easy and accessible style
most useful and make the book to develop an ahead-throwing
accounts has already shed light
– but he is not a professional naval
almost worth buying for them weapon, a problem related to
where it is dark on the Somme
historian and I am afraid it shows.
alone. British ASW exercises being
and at Passchendaele.
Firstly the book wanders away
Many interested readers could carried out in shallow water, “was
His Vimy Ridge work continues
from its subject by taking too much
get a lot out of this volume but it the greatest failure of the pre-war
in the same outstanding vein.
time with a not-too-well-informed
must be treated with caution and Admiralty” (although it must be
Foe or not, it is hard not to
history of the submarine.
could have been so much better. added it was not alone in that
feel sympathy for the German
A book on anti-submarine
David K Brown’s work is a omission). Wartime developments
defenders – who have left us
warfare (ASW) should be just that
contrast in many ways. in equipment were, however
with some vivid, and incredibly
– on ASW not submarines.
A former senior member of the “timely and correct.”
haunting, first-hand accounts.
Such an effort might have
Corps of Naval Contructors and its Brown also has some interesting
All survivors of the Easter
been justifi ed if the author was
offi cial historian, Brown’s prolifi c explanations for the success of
battle of 1917 attest to a strangely
summarising new work but he is
work is known for its professional Walker’s Escort Group.
mesmeric “thunderous hail of
not. He ignores the important last
authority. As well as its leader’s own
iron”.
contribution to submarine history
This is once more demonstrated qualities it tended to be given
Feldwebel (Sergeant) Paul
by Richard Compton-Hall on
in Atlantic Escorts: Ships, priority in being sent to U-
Radschun’s regiment stood firm
early submarines.
Weapons and Tactics in World boat concentrations. It also was
until “the last waves of the British
Compton-Hall demonstrated
War 2 (£19.99 ISBN-978-1- allocated the best personnel.
burnt out and the dreadful storm
pretty conclusively that the Turtle
84415-702-0). The author implies that this
Dark(y) waters
of steel ebbed away”, but at a
which is supposed to have attacked
He provides a thorough and rather undermines arguments for
cost of nearly 900 men.
HMS Eagle in 1776 was a fi gment
generally very well informed the superiority of the Black Swan
“It had not yielded. It had
of American rebel propaganda.
analytical survey from the sloop (which equipped Walker’s
AFTER all these tales of war, how paperback of 80 cartoons.
defended its appointed place to
This led me to inspect the
superannuated veterans of World force) over other types; they cost
refreshing to fi nd something light- This collection will probably
the last drop of blood; worthy of
bibliography and this demonstrated War 1 to the frigates of the late over half as much again as a River-
hearted. largely appeal to sailors from the
its fathers; worthy of the heroic
there were other glaring lacunae in war period, both of domestic and class frigate and used more skilled
Derek ‘Darky’ Crowter’s 50s through to the 70s – not least
spirit of its beloved commander,”
the author’s research. transatlantic build. labour for little ASW performance
distinctive cartoons regularly as some of the, admittedly gentle,
he recalled.
There was no mention of the Of particular interest advantage.
featured in these pages – and humour is of that era (fearsome
The English-speaking focus is
two vital books that have appeared considering its source is his fi nal This is true but the Black Swans
elsewhere – in the 60s and 70s. mothers-in-law, buxom barmaids
invariably on those fateful April in the last few years George chapter – Evaluation: How Good proved to be excellent colonial
Derek, who today lives in and the like).
days. But there were ferocious Franklin’s Britain’s Anti-Submarine Were They? gunboats post-war with their
Southsea, served in both the RN But there are some constant
battles for the ridge, largely Capability1919-1939 and Malcolm He is interesting in his critique powerful 4in armament.
and RM... which promptly gave themes here too... the rivalry
between Gaul and Teuton, in Llewellyn-Jones, The Royal Navy of Franklin’s defence of the In an interesting conclusion, the
him plenty of source material between RN and RM, the love of
1915. and Anti-Submarine Warfare 1917- Admiralty in the inter-war period, author considers what would have
for Jack ‘n’ Royal (Serendipity, the odd pint and plenty of poking
And while the warriors fought 1949. arguing that although there were been the impact of the fast battery
£12.95, ISBN 978-1-84394- fun at overbearing officers and
to the death above, an army of The former would have indeed convoy exercises “there submarines.
283-2), a colourful, large format top brass.
tunnellers and counter-tunnellers informed the analysis of pre- were not many and the lessons He believes that “they would
burrowed beneath Vimy, war techniques in several useful learnt do not seem to have reached have been formidable opponents
determined to blow a gap in the ways. The latter would have the top.” but would not have had it all
enemy lines – or to bring their demonstrated to Mr Owen that It is to be regretted therefore their own way.” Again, one regrets
adversary’s tunnel (or ‘gallery’) he should not have entitled his last that there is no trace of Brown the lack of engagement with
crashing down. There was no chapter on the campaign against having consulted Llewellyn-Jones’ Llewellyn-Jones.
more horrible a fate on the the U-boats ‘Air Power Invincible’: more recent book, with which he Books like the latter’s, however,
Western Front. the contribution of aircraft to might also have taken issue. tend to cost the earth (£70-
One German engineer tried to U-boat losses diminished late in David follows the usual line 80 pounds no less) given their
rescue a comrade trapped by a the war at the Germans stayed rather condemning the deployment publisher’s mistaken policy of
British charge which had already underwater more. of fl eet carriers on ASW patrols in only pointing them at the purely
killed a second miner. It would also have guided him 1939. Llewellyn-Jones offers an ‘academic’ market.
“We could hear the moans and to give even greater stress to the interesting justifi cation. Most interested readers have
groans of this unfortunate man, revolution required in ASW not by On the whole, however, the to rely on more popularly-priced
trapped by his legs which were the nuclear submarine but by the author explains and justifi es volumes such as those reviewed
gripped tight by the collapsed fast battery-driven boats evolved British escort policy. here.
chalk walls,” he recalled. by the Germans in World War 2 He argues that the main Both are worthy enough,
The unfortunate man was and copied by all the major powers constraints on escort building attractively produced and good
rescued – his legs had to be after 1945. were the building of other types value, but it is such a pity that so
amputated, but that did not save Sadly there are also one or two of ship, for which the needs much of the latest key research
him; he died shortly afterwards. simple howlers. seemed more pressing (and were was not exploited, preventing it
Such was war on Vimy Ridge. It is all too easy to get pictures pressing enough) as well as the reaching the wider audience.
045_NN_May.indd 1 21/4/08 10:30:48
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