Operation Chariot
July-September 1941
Admiral Kimmel arrives in London in early July and begins talks with the British Admiralty. After a couple of weeks of evaluating British actions to date, reviewing German dispositions and those of the British, and dealing with important administrative matters, he brings in Admiral Pye when he arrives with the US battle fleet. The most pressing surface threats the British face are the battleship Tirpitz and a pair of pocket battleships and a cruiser in the Baltic that can potentially move to Norway and threaten the convoys to the Soviet Union, and the 3 German heavy ships currently at Brest.
The Germans in the Baltic are out of reach except for air attack, and the British RAF does not seem to be interested, as (in his view) is wasting time trying to bomb German cities. The ships in Brest however are within reach. Intelligence reports that 65% of the Luftwaffe is facing the Russians, including the bulk of their bomber force. Another 20% is deployed in the Mediterranean and Balkans, with 10% (mostly fighters plus the training establishment) is in Germany. That leaves only about 5% of the Luftwaffe in France, and according to intelligence, that amounts to 150 long range bombers and recce aircraft supporting the Uboat arm, another 150 fighters spread across France and the Low Countries, and only around 30 or so Stuka divebombers and a similar number of He111 torpedo bombers. Intelligence also shows that the heaviest guns defending Brest or St Nazaire (site of the Normandie dock) are 280 or 220 mm guns, which reach out to around 20,000 yards. The most serious threat on the coast of France are minefields and the Royal Navy has a large number of vessels available to deal with those.
Admiral Kimmel is well aware that there is a serious threat of war in the Pacific, and he knows that once a war starts, there is a high likelihood his fleet and indeed some of the carriers belonging to Nimitz will be transferred to fight the Japanese. There is a narrow window of opportunity available. He is determined to seize it. A plan is sent to Admiral Stark and Admiral Pound requesting assets from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and US Atlantic Fleet in mid September. That plan is that presented to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Although viewed as risky, and Roosevelt is nervous about those risks, Winston Churchill is enthusiastic. Roosevelt signs off on it at the end of the month and preparations soon begin.
September 1941
British RAF aircraft begin frequent photo reconnaissance missions over the German held French ports, while RAF bombers and fighters begin hitting German airfields throughout France, even conducting night attacks using Bomber Command which is temporarily pulled from missions to German for this purpose. The Luftwaffe fights back as well as ever, and losses are heavy on both sides, but numerous German bases are severely battered and losses to Luftwaffe ground personnel and infrastructure begin to mount. Periodic missions by Bomber Command into Germany also occur to prevent the Luftwaffe from shifting forces from the homeland, while the pace of fighting in the Mediterranean, North Africa and Russia prevent reinforcements from that quarter. By the end of the month, Operation Indra has managed to whittle down the Luftwaffe in France by 50% in terms of operational and serviceable aircraft and the bombers in particular have been pulled back out of fighter range of England.
Meanwhile, the Americans and British have formed W and Y forces, consisting of two groups of carriers and their escorts. Two American (Wasp and Yorktown) and two British (Ark Royal and Victorious) are the heart of the two groups (each consisting of a British and American carrier) along with the needed cruisers and destroyers to escort them, and are exercising together east of Bermuda well away from trade routes and likely Uboats. Meanwhile the Americans have formed their battleships into two task groups, and the British add in the Ramillies, Resolution (fresh out of refit in the United States), and Revenge, giving the Anglo Americans a total of 10 battleships plus escorting destroyers to form X and Z forces. Combined Operations proposes a commando raid to support Operation Chariot but Kimmel feels it adds too much complexity to an already risky operation and persuades Admiral Pound to veto it. In addition to the 4 main forces to be involved, the Home Fleet also prepares to provide support should the Germans sortie into the North Sea or make a run for the Atlantic, while Force H cancels a proposed run to Malta in October to provide back up if the there is a run toward the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic.
The objective is simple in spite of the complexity of the many pieces. The Allies will wreck the German naval bases at St Nazaire and Brest, and eliminate as many German warships as possible while they are in harbor or attempting to escape. The British Royal Air Force and Anglo American carriers will provide air cover while also attacking those same bases. Although the massive submarine pens will likely survive, the base infrastructure that supports them will be destroyed or massively damaged and thus reduce the effectiveness of the German UBoat offensive to a measurable degree. If complete success is achieved, then the Kriegsmarine will lose half of its heavy surface warships and the ability to support them from France, providing substantially less flexibility (and threat) from them, and at the same time freeing up numerous Allied heavy ships for other missions. In the worst case, the Allies might lose one or more battleships and fail to achieve this mission. However it strikes Churchill as exactly the daring plan that Nelson and Fisher would admire and push for, and he persuades Roosevelt that it is worth the risk.
The stage is set for the first Anglo American offensive of World War II.