Operation Catherine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Catherine was the code name for an offensive in the Baltic Sea planned by the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom in the spring of 1940 . The strategic goal here was to disrupt or prevent German maritime trade with the Soviet Union , Sweden , Finland , Estonia and Latvia . In particular, the sea transport of Swedish iron ore across the Baltic Sea to Germany should be stopped.

The driving force behind the project was the newly appointed First Lord of Admiralty Winston Churchill . Naval Admiral Lord Cork was in charge of planning . Various political events resulted in the project not being carried out.

literature

  • My Naval Life , Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of Cork & Orrery, Hutchinson & Co., London 1942.
  • History of the Second World War, Vol. 1 , BH Liddell Hart, Capricorn Books. New York 1972.
  • The Biographical Dictionary of World War II , Mark M. Boatner III, Presidio Press, Novato, CA, USA 1996 (highly recommended).
  • The Second World War, Volume One, The Gathering Storm , Winston S. Churchill, Bantam Books, New York 1961.
  • The Keyes Papers, Volume II, 1919-1938 , Paul Halpern, ed., George Allen & Unwin for the Navy Records Society, London 1980.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition, attributed quotations only.

Web links

  • World War II Magazine - The article describes Churchill's plan to turn Revenge- class battleships into what he called “armored turtles” in order to operate in the Baltic Sea in 1940.