General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: U-boat activity in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
Posted by:
Rainer
()
Date: October 17, 2016 06:29PM
Hi Ron
The Firth of Forth was not really accessible for U-boats during the Second World War as the protection of the approaches to Rosyth were very important for the Admiralty and measures were taken to bolster the defence already before the war, like the anti-submarine detection loop laid to the north and south of May Island in 1937. In September 1939 they also announced a warning about an extensive defensive minefield laid in and at the entrance to the Firth of Forth. In fact, due to a lack of suitable minelayers only one minefield was laid off Bass Rock.
I'm only aware of one U-boat that actually operated within the Firth of Forth during the Second World War: U-21 entered during the night of 4/5 November 1939 to lay nine mines around position 56°06N/02°55W. The cruiser HMS BELFAST was heavily damaged on one of them on 21 November and the British merchant ship ROYAL ARCHER was sunk on another on 24 February 1940. The damage to the brand new cruiser in an area thought safe from U-boats led to a strengthening of the defences, more minefields were laid in December 1939 and the detection loops doubled to be able to determine speed and course of crossings.
U-boats soon stopped operating in the well defended coastal waters of Britain anyway when more lucrative hunting grounds became available from the new bases in France. They only returned to these waters in late 1944 and the last attack carried out by a U-boat during the war in fact happened off May Island when U-2336 attacked the convoy EN-591 on 7 May 1945 and sank the merchants SNELAND I and AVONDALE PARK.
You can read about the detection loop on May Island on the website [indicatorloops.com] and more about the defensive minelaying here: [www.naval-history.net]
Best regards
Rainer
Crew member of uboat.net
The Firth of Forth was not really accessible for U-boats during the Second World War as the protection of the approaches to Rosyth were very important for the Admiralty and measures were taken to bolster the defence already before the war, like the anti-submarine detection loop laid to the north and south of May Island in 1937. In September 1939 they also announced a warning about an extensive defensive minefield laid in and at the entrance to the Firth of Forth. In fact, due to a lack of suitable minelayers only one minefield was laid off Bass Rock.
I'm only aware of one U-boat that actually operated within the Firth of Forth during the Second World War: U-21 entered during the night of 4/5 November 1939 to lay nine mines around position 56°06N/02°55W. The cruiser HMS BELFAST was heavily damaged on one of them on 21 November and the British merchant ship ROYAL ARCHER was sunk on another on 24 February 1940. The damage to the brand new cruiser in an area thought safe from U-boats led to a strengthening of the defences, more minefields were laid in December 1939 and the detection loops doubled to be able to determine speed and course of crossings.
U-boats soon stopped operating in the well defended coastal waters of Britain anyway when more lucrative hunting grounds became available from the new bases in France. They only returned to these waters in late 1944 and the last attack carried out by a U-boat during the war in fact happened off May Island when U-2336 attacked the convoy EN-591 on 7 May 1945 and sank the merchants SNELAND I and AVONDALE PARK.
You can read about the detection loop on May Island on the website [indicatorloops.com] and more about the defensive minelaying here: [www.naval-history.net]
Best regards
Rainer
Crew member of uboat.net
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
U-boat activity in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
|
Ron Morris | 10/15/2016 09:21AM |
|
Re: U-boat activity in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
|
Rainer | 10/17/2016 06:29PM |
|
Re: U-boat activity in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
|
Ron Morris | 10/21/2016 09:48PM |