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Northern Patrol
The Northern Patrol, also known as Cruiser Force B and the Northern Patrol Force, was a naval force of the Royal Navy during the world wars. The Northern Patrol was part of the British "distant" Blockade of Germany (1914–1919). Its main task was to prevent trade to and from Germany by checking merchant ships and their cargoes. It was also to stop German warships, raiders and other German naval ships from leaving the North Sea for the Atlantic Ocean or entering the North Sea from the Atlantic, to protect Shetland against invasion and to gather intelligence from intercepted neutral ships. The Northern Patrol operated under the command of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. At first, Edgar-class cruisers were used but these were not built for the seas around Scotland in winter and were replaced by civilian ships pressed into service as Armed Merchant Cruisers.
In the Second World War the Northern Patrol was commanded by the Home Fleet and participated in the Blockade of Germany (1939–1945). At first the force comprised elderly C-class cruisers and Danae-class cruisers of 4,000 and 5,000 long tons (4,100 and 5,100 t), built during the First World War. In June 1939 the Admiralty called up reservists for the cruisers and the Northern Patrol was re-established on 6 September 1939. As requisitioned Armed Merchant Cruisers became available, they replaced the cruisers, usually being crewed by their peacetime complements as reservists or on T.124 agreements. On 21 July 1940, the Admiralty extended the Northern Patrol southwards to form the Western Patrol. In November 1940 the Admiralty terminated the Northern Patrol except for the Denmark Strait and reinforce the Western Patrol.
For much of the nineteenth century, the Admiralty and much of the navy took it that the main aim was to engage and defeat an opposing fleet. In 1908 war orders to the Channel Fleet were that
The principal object is to bring the main German fleet to decisive action and all other operations are subsidiary to this end.
— 1 July 1908
Success in this object would guarantee command of the English Channel and the North Sea, secure British trade and territory and allow the Expeditionary Force to reach France. The Admiralty expected that the German fleet would sally forth, soon after the declaration of war to contest British command of the sea. An alternative to decisive battle was the close blockade of opposing ports as occurred during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). Swift-sailing frigates cruised off French ports, backed by bigger ships out to sea. The blockading ships were almost immune to attack and with no need to return to port to refuel. The advent of steam power required more frequent returns to port for coal and after 1900, the risks to blockading ships multiplied with the advent of mines, torpedoes, submarines and long-range coastal artillery. By 1912, airships and aircraft could uncover the position of the bigger ships off shore and direct submarines and destroyers towards them. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the Japanese fleet, conducting the last close blockade, at Port Arthur, suffered many losses from mines.
The Navy policy for blockade evolved; in 1908 the commander of the Channel Fleet ordered that the big ships would move to positions beyond the range at which German destroyers could not reach if sailing at nightfall with orders to return the next morning, reckoned to be 170 nmi (310 km; 200 mi). British ships in the Heligoland Bight should try to cut off German ships sailing from the Elbe or Jade or report the sailing of the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte). The Admiralty had a change of heart in 1911 but by 1912 the war orders stipulated that a close blockade was superseded by an observational blockade formed by cruisers and destroyers, ranged from the Norwegian south-west coast, to half-way between Germany and England, level with Newcastle, then south to Texel with the Battle Fleet cruising to the west of the line.
Plans from 1905 to capture a German North Sea island as a forward base were also abandoned after the Germans fortified Heligoland and the Frisian Islands. The Grand Fleet war plans of June 1914 scrapped the observational blockade for the Grand Fleet to be based in Scotland except for the Channel Fleet which would remain on the south coast. The bases of the Grand Fleet were to block the northern exists of the North Sea and the Channel Fleet to seal the channel. The northerly line would stretch from the Scottish coast and northern islands to Norway, with the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow in Orkney, un-armoured cruisers (later named the Northern Patrol) patrolling a line from Shetland to the Norwegian coast. The German navy was ignorant of the new policy and expected to find plenty of opportunities to whittle away the numerical superiority of the British.
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Northern Patrol
The Northern Patrol, also known as Cruiser Force B and the Northern Patrol Force, was a naval force of the Royal Navy during the world wars. The Northern Patrol was part of the British "distant" Blockade of Germany (1914–1919). Its main task was to prevent trade to and from Germany by checking merchant ships and their cargoes. It was also to stop German warships, raiders and other German naval ships from leaving the North Sea for the Atlantic Ocean or entering the North Sea from the Atlantic, to protect Shetland against invasion and to gather intelligence from intercepted neutral ships. The Northern Patrol operated under the command of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. At first, Edgar-class cruisers were used but these were not built for the seas around Scotland in winter and were replaced by civilian ships pressed into service as Armed Merchant Cruisers.
In the Second World War the Northern Patrol was commanded by the Home Fleet and participated in the Blockade of Germany (1939–1945). At first the force comprised elderly C-class cruisers and Danae-class cruisers of 4,000 and 5,000 long tons (4,100 and 5,100 t), built during the First World War. In June 1939 the Admiralty called up reservists for the cruisers and the Northern Patrol was re-established on 6 September 1939. As requisitioned Armed Merchant Cruisers became available, they replaced the cruisers, usually being crewed by their peacetime complements as reservists or on T.124 agreements. On 21 July 1940, the Admiralty extended the Northern Patrol southwards to form the Western Patrol. In November 1940 the Admiralty terminated the Northern Patrol except for the Denmark Strait and reinforce the Western Patrol.
For much of the nineteenth century, the Admiralty and much of the navy took it that the main aim was to engage and defeat an opposing fleet. In 1908 war orders to the Channel Fleet were that
The principal object is to bring the main German fleet to decisive action and all other operations are subsidiary to this end.
— 1 July 1908
Success in this object would guarantee command of the English Channel and the North Sea, secure British trade and territory and allow the Expeditionary Force to reach France. The Admiralty expected that the German fleet would sally forth, soon after the declaration of war to contest British command of the sea. An alternative to decisive battle was the close blockade of opposing ports as occurred during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). Swift-sailing frigates cruised off French ports, backed by bigger ships out to sea. The blockading ships were almost immune to attack and with no need to return to port to refuel. The advent of steam power required more frequent returns to port for coal and after 1900, the risks to blockading ships multiplied with the advent of mines, torpedoes, submarines and long-range coastal artillery. By 1912, airships and aircraft could uncover the position of the bigger ships off shore and direct submarines and destroyers towards them. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the Japanese fleet, conducting the last close blockade, at Port Arthur, suffered many losses from mines.
The Navy policy for blockade evolved; in 1908 the commander of the Channel Fleet ordered that the big ships would move to positions beyond the range at which German destroyers could not reach if sailing at nightfall with orders to return the next morning, reckoned to be 170 nmi (310 km; 200 mi). British ships in the Heligoland Bight should try to cut off German ships sailing from the Elbe or Jade or report the sailing of the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte). The Admiralty had a change of heart in 1911 but by 1912 the war orders stipulated that a close blockade was superseded by an observational blockade formed by cruisers and destroyers, ranged from the Norwegian south-west coast, to half-way between Germany and England, level with Newcastle, then south to Texel with the Battle Fleet cruising to the west of the line.
Plans from 1905 to capture a German North Sea island as a forward base were also abandoned after the Germans fortified Heligoland and the Frisian Islands. The Grand Fleet war plans of June 1914 scrapped the observational blockade for the Grand Fleet to be based in Scotland except for the Channel Fleet which would remain on the south coast. The bases of the Grand Fleet were to block the northern exists of the North Sea and the Channel Fleet to seal the channel. The northerly line would stretch from the Scottish coast and northern islands to Norway, with the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow in Orkney, un-armoured cruisers (later named the Northern Patrol) patrolling a line from Shetland to the Norwegian coast. The German navy was ignorant of the new policy and expected to find plenty of opportunities to whittle away the numerical superiority of the British.