Operation Terminal
NASA aerial view of Algiers, in the left area of the image the north pier on which the Battery de l'Amiraute was located in 1942.
| date | November 8, 1942 |
|---|---|
| place | Algiers , Algeria |
| output | Tactical victory of the Vichy troops , but strategic Allied success. |
| consequences | The destruction of the port facilities in Algiers as well as possible self-sinking of Vichy-loyal ships in the port could be prevented despite the later surrender of the Allied commandos, so that the port remained as an important reloading point. |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Lieutenant Colonel Edwin T. Swenson ( United States Army ) |
Général de Corps d'Armée Louis M. Koeltz |
| Troop strength | |
| 2 destroyers 662 US soldiers 80 British seamen and soldiers (landing forces only) 400 Resistance fighters (in the city) |
7,000 soldiers 3 coastal batteries (with 12 guns) ~ 40 tanks and armored cars Harbor watch boats (4?) |
| losses | |
|
1 destroyer sunk |
1 harbor guard boat sunk |
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French Morocco: Operation Blackstone - Operation Brushwood - Operation Goalpost
Algeria: Operation Reservist - Operation Terminal
The operation terminal was carried out by British and US forces on 8 November 1942 in command company at the time Vichy-French controlled port Algiers during the Second World War . Operation Terminal was a part of Operation Torch , the invasion of French North Africa by the Anglo-American allies , and took place almost at the same time as the main landing itself began. The aim of the operation was to prevent the Vichy-French ships lying in the port of Algiers from possibly sinking themselves. In addition, the French troops in the city were to be prevented from making important port facilities, including oil depots, unusable for the Allies by blowing up. Although the surprise hoped for by the British and American sides did not succeed and the landing troops suffered considerable losses, the main goal of preventing the destruction of the port facilities could ultimately be achieved, which is why the operation can be viewed as a strategic success, even if the landed units after several Hours were forced to surrender and thus suffered a tactical defeat.
Allied forces
The British-American landing force consisted of the two British destroyers HMS Malcolm and HMS Broke as well as 662 Army Rangers of the 3rd Battalion of the 135th Regiment of the 34th US Infantry Division (Major General CW Ryder ). Furthermore, 74 members of the Royal Navy and six British Army officers were on board the two destroyers (in addition to the actual crews) . While the US troops were primarily supposed to secure the port area, the British seamen and soldiers should have boarded the Vichy-French ships if necessary and prevented them from sinking. The US troops were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edwin T. Swenson. The commander of the entire landing party was Captain Henry L. St. J. Fancourt of the Royal Navy, who was on board the Broke .
In addition, there were around 400 members of the Resistance in Algiers , some of them under the leadership of Free French officers, including Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie, who were supposed to shut down the command centers of the Vichy troops in Algiers and interrupt the chains of command before the arrival of the Allied forces. This survey was based on a secret agreement regarding support for the Allied landing by the Resistance, which had taken place on October 23, 1942 in Cherchell between representatives of the French resistance and the American General Mark W. Clark .
The Vichy French Armed Forces
Algiers itself was defended by ten coastal batteries, although only three of these could directly reach the port area and its apron (these batteries are also included in the information block), including the battery of the Arcade with four 9 cm anti-aircraft cannons , which are located directly to the southeast the port entrance. The guns, housed in brick shelters, stood on a 130 m high range of hills and could fire at the port entrance from just 400 m away. Another defense battery (Batterie de l'Amiraute, also known as the Batterie Jetée du Nord depending on the source) equipped with four outdated 12 cm guns and standing near the northern pier , was able to bombard the port area from the north.
The heaviest cannons, four 19.4 cm guns from the Batterie du Lazaret, were located 15 kilometers east of the port, near Cape Matifou, with the cannons housed in concrete shelters. All batteries were equipped with range finders, some with infrared detectors and spotlights. In addition, the battery grounds were surrounded by a large number of smaller bunkers and shelters.
The exact strength of the Vichy troops is not completely certain, although an estimated 7,000 soldiers were standing in the vicinity of Algiers and in the city itself. How many of these ultimately intervened in the fighting and were involved in direct combat is difficult to determine, but it was probably no more than 1,500 men. The Vichy forces also had around 40 older tanks and armored reconnaissance vehicles. Commander of the 19th military district (Algeria) and thus also commander of the coastal defense of the XIX. Army corps was Général de Corps d'Armée Louis M. Koeltz . He was under Alphonse Juin , the commander in chief of the Vichy-French armed forces in French North Africa . On November 7, 1942, Admiral François Darlan also arrived in Algiers to visit his son, who was in a clinic and who was seriously ill with polio . He was completely surprised by the Allied landing the following day.
Course of the operation
In the late evening of November 7, 1942, the American rangers and the British troops switched from the British light cruiser HMS Sheffield, which was off the coast and which belonged to the Allied main force off Algiers ( Eastern Task Force ), to the two destroyers Broke and Malcolm . Both ships then ran towards the port of Algiers at around 1:40 a.m.
Orientation difficulties in front of the port
As a result of orientation difficulties during the night, both ships did not find the relatively narrow entrance to the port between the three main piers immediately and had to make three attempts to find the port entrance by around 3.50 a.m. However, after the flanking Allied main landings on both sides of Algiers had taken place at the same time and thus alarmed the Vichy-French armed forces, a moment of surprise could no longer be achieved. At around 4:06 a.m., the French batteries opened fire on the two destroyers, which were also caught by searchlights. The Malcolm received at least eight hits from guns from the Arcade's battery in a short period of time and caught fire. There were ten dead and 27 wounded on board. The damaged destroyer then turned to the open sea and requested support from the main Allied forces.
The destroyer Broke , however, finally found the entrance to the harbor on the fourth attempt and ran into it at high speed, whereby a small harbor watch boat, armed with machine guns, was rammed and sunk. The troops on board the Broke , a total of about 280 men (and thus less than half of the Allied commandos), were disembarked from 5.20 a.m. in the southern part of the port.
Resistance uprising
In the meantime, around 400 members of the Resistance in Algiers had attacked command and key posts (switchboards, radio stations) in the night, from around 1:00 a.m., and were able to temporarily detain Alphonse Juin and François Darlan in their private homes. However, since the underground fighters were soon surrounded by superior units of the Vichy-loyal forces, including police and military units, the impact of the uprising was limited. However, the confusion meant that coordinated orders could not be given to the individual units for the time being, which - in combination with the American rangers who landed in the port - meant that any plans to destroy the port facilities were not implemented.
After the command structures of the Vichy forces were partially restored after about six hours and the uprising of the Resistance had been largely neutralized, the Vichy units concentrated again on the American troops in the port area from around 8:30 a.m.
Fight in the harbor
The destroyer Broke , which was still in port, was heavily fired from around 8:30 a.m. by the battery de l'Amiraute and a howitzer in the city and suffered at least five hits by 9:20 a.m. In addition, nearby impacts damaged the ship. In the face of heavy enemy fire, Captain Fancourt ordered the retreat and let the ship's siren howl to signal the rangers in the harbor to return to the ship. Colonel Swenson, however, ordered his soldiers to remain in their safety positions, as he assessed the risks on land as less than on the ship under fire. In addition, he believed that he could hold his positions in the port until the arrival of the main Allied forces. As a result, Captain Fancourt ran out with the already badly damaged Broke without having taken the bulk of the US soldiers back on board. Only about 50 rangers who had not received Swenson's order to remain had boarded the destroyer.
Shortly after leaving the port, engine damage occurred on the burning Broke and the destroyer had to be towed by the British destroyer escort HMS Zetland , which had been engaged in coastal bombardments near Cape Matifou. During the towing, however, the Broke collided with the Zetland and sank a short time later. The crew, who suffered a total of nine dead and 18 wounded during the operation, could be picked up by the destroyer escort.
Surrender of the landing forces
In the meantime, the situation of the American rangers in the port had deteriorated significantly, on the one hand the Americans gradually ran out of ammunition and on the other hand the first Vichy-French tanks and armored cars appeared near the port at around 11.30 a.m. In addition, the port area was surrounded by up to 1,500 Vichy-French soldiers and police officers. Since Colonel Swenson also had no indications that the main Allied forces would be approaching immediately, he decided to surrender around 12.30 p.m. in order not to sacrifice his 230 rangers in a senseless battle.
Only a few hours later, while the US troops were still being disarmed and taken to prisoner collection points, Alphonse Juin , the commander in chief of the Vichy French armed forces in French North Africa , declared the surrender of the garrison of Algiers, also because the city was now encircled by Allied troops had been. Since Admiral Darlan refused to order the surrender of all Vichy units for two days, the captured rangers remained in French captivity for two days and were only released after Darlan (under American pressure) ceased all fire on November 10, 1942 French North Africa was ready to arrange.
losses
The Allied forces suffered heavy losses during Operation Terminal, the destroyer Broke was lost and the second destroyer used in the operation was seriously damaged. A total of 43 sailors and soldiers were killed and another 78 were wounded. The losses of the Resistance are unclear, but around 15 to 20 people were killed and wounded.
The number of victims on the Vichy-French side is also not certain, but was estimated at around 30 dead and 60 wounded. A smaller harbor guard vehicle was also lost.
Effects
Although the landed Allied troops ultimately suffered a tactical defeat and were forced to surrender, the operation can be seen as a strategic success, as the port facilities fell largely unscathed into Allied hands. Due to the temporary chaos in the chain of command of the Vichy troops, caused by the uprising of the Resistance, as well as the occupation of the port by the American rangers, no coordinated destruction measures could be taken and the Vichy troops were tied up in the city itself, what facilitated the advance of the Allied troops advancing on both sides of Algiers.
Both the port of Algiers and Oran later became important transshipment points for Allied supplies , especially during the fighting for Tunisia .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://iff.fortiff.be/index.php?page=l155
- ^ A b George F. Howe: North West Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West . Center of Military History, US Army, Library of Congress, 1991, p. 230.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-11.htm
- ↑ a b Howe: North West Africa , p. 244.
- ↑ http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-01Shakes-Broke.htm
literature
- George F. Howe: North West Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West . Center of Military History, US Army, Library of Congress, 1991.