THE ROYAL NAVY AND NAZI GERMANY, 1933-39
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. The Royal Navy and Nazi Germany, 1933-39 A Study in Appeasement and the Origins of the Second World War Joseph A. Maiolo Lecturer in Modern History University of Leicester M ~ in association with ~ ~ KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
First published in Great Britain 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-40444-5 DOI 10.1057/9780230374492 ISBN 978-0-230-37449-2 (ebook) First published in the United States of America 1998 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maiolo, Joseph A. The Royal Navy and Nazi Gennany, I 933-39 : a study in appeasement and the origins of the Second World War I Joseph A. Maiolo. p. em.- (Studies in military and strategic history) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. 1. Great Britain-Foreign relations-germany. 2. Great Britain -Foreign relations-1936-1945. 3. Great Britain-Foreign relations-1910-1936. 4. Great Britain-History, Naval-20th century. 5. Germany-Foreign relations--great Britain. 6. Great Britain. Royal Navy-History. 7. World War, 1939-1945--Causes. I. Title. II. Series DA47.2.M19 1998 327.41043-DC21 98-12708 CIP Joseph A. Maiolo 1998 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 3 2 1 00 99 98
Contents List of Tables List of Figures Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 1 The Naval Staff and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 1935 11 2 Anglo-German Naval Relations, June 1935 to July 1937 38 3 Naval Staff Perceptions of German Naval Strategy, 1934-39 63 4 Admiralty Technical Intelligence and the German Navy, 1936-39 87 5 The Naval Staff, British Strategy, and the German Menace, 1934-38 111 6 The Naval Staff and Defence and Foreign Policy, 1937-38 133 7 The End of Appeasement and the Bid to Transform Admiralty Strategy, 1938-39 159 Conclusion 186 Notes 195 Select Bibliography 236 Index 248 vi vii viii x v
Youth, Crime and Police Work Maggy Lee Lecturer Department of Sociology University of Essex
List of Tables 1.1 Comparison of capital ship size and unit cost 14 1.2 German Naval Command, tonnage calculated from 50 and 33.3 per cent ratios compared with British and French naval strength, 16 June 1934 24 2.1 Comparison of 35 per cent fleet, NIDIIIC forecasts of German expansion, and actual strength by September 1939 59 3.1 German Naval Command, Z Plan, provisional timetable, January 1939 74 5.1 British Naval Staff estimated comparative naval strength at 1 January 1938 116 6.1 The DRC and new standard fleets compared 135 6.2 A comparison of the Naval Staffs projected DRC and new standard fleet building rates, May 1938 135 Vll
List of Figures 1.1 Plans Division, comparative forecast of available capital ships, May 1935 34 7.1 Admiralty, forecast of comparative capital ship strengths, June 1939 183 Vlll
Preface and Acknowledgements For ease of presentation, I have adopted the following conventions. Instead of distinguishing between various grades of senior rank, all Flag Officers are referred to as 'Admiral'. For German naval ranks. the appropriate British equivalent has been adopted. Similarly, throughout the text, to avoid confusion, I have used the terms German Naval Command, German navy and C-in-C [German) Navy, rather than the original German terminology. Employing the original titles would have meant regularly differentiating between those in use before and after 1 June 1935: namely, Marineleitung and Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine, and Chef der Marineleitung and Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine. There are a number of institutions and people I would like to pay tribute to for their assistance during my doctoral studies and in the preparation of this book. The following organisations helped to fund my education and research: the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals of the United Kingdom, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Royal Historical Society. I wish to thank Rear Admiral J. R. Hill, RN, the current editor of The Naval Review, for his assistance in identifying the authors of essays in that invaluable publication. Mr T. R. V. Phillips kindly supplied me with relevant documents from the papers of his grandfather, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips. I also wish to thank Professor Thomas Troubridge for permission to consult and cite the privately held diaries of his father, Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge. For permission to consult and cite the Neville Chamberlain and Lord A von Papers I thank the Rare Book Librarian, the University of Birmingham, and Lady Avon. I acknowledge the Trustees of Churchill College Archives, Cambridge, for permission to consult their holdings. Crown copyright material in the Public Record Office appears by permission of the Controller of HM Stationery Office. I am indebted to the archivists and support staff of the Public Record Office, Churchill College Archives, the Cambridge University Library, the IX
X Preface and Acknowledgements Admiralty Library, the British Library, the National Maritime Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Birmingham University Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the British Library of Political and Economic Science. For assistance in locating official documents and private papers, I am indebted to Mr R. W. A. Suddaby, Keeper of the Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, and to Mr I. D. Goode, Deputy Departmental Records Officer, Ministry of Defence. I owe a great deal to friends and colleagues too numerous to list indi vi d ually. I especially wish to thank my tutors at the University of Toronto, Professor Sidney Aster and Professor Wesley W ark. Thanks are also due to Dr Michael Doran, Dr Anthony Best and Professor John Ferris for comments and advice on draft chapters. Professor Richard Overy and Professor George Peden, my PhD Examiners, were likewise very generous with their observations, encouragement and assistance. I wish to thank Ms Annabelle Buckley, the Senior Commissioning Editor at Macmillan, Dr Michael Dockrill, the Series Editor, and Ms Anne Rafique for editorial assistance. My profoundest gratitude and admiration go to my thesis supervisors, Professor Donald Cameron Watt and Dr David Stevenson. Finally, I owe an incalculable debt to the support and patience of my family, and to Sally Merriman. I dedicate this book to her and to my grandparents.
List of Abbreviations ACNS ADM AIR ASW ATB CAB CB CCC C-in-C CID CNS cos CP DBFP DCM DCNS DCOS DGFP DNC DNI DPP DRC FO FPC,FP IFC IIC lnkavos JIC JPC,JP MIR mtg NCM NID NMM OIC OPC Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff Admiralty Royal Air Force Documents Anti-Submarine Warfare Advisory Committee on Trade Questions in Time of War Cabinet Confidential Book (Admiralty) Churchill College Cambridge Commander-in-Chief Committee of Imperial Defence Chief of the Naval Staff Chiefs of Staff Cabinet Papers Documents on British Foreign Policy Disarmament Committee Ministerial Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff Deputy Chiefs of Staff Documents on German Foreign Policy Director of Naval Construction Director of Naval Intelligence Defence Plans (Policy) Sub-Committee Defence Requirements Committee Foreign Office Foreign Policy Committee (Cabinet) Industrial Intelligence in Foreign Countries Sub-Committee Industrial Intelligence Centre lngenieurskantoor voor Scheepbouw Joint Intelligence Committee Joint Planning Committee Monthly [Naval] Intelligence Report meeting Naval Conference (Ministerial) Committee Naval Intelligence Division National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Operational Intelligence Centre (Admiralty) Offensive Planning Cell XI
XII PD PM PREM PRO RAF SAC SIS T TINA List of Abbreviations Plans Division Prime Ministe.r Prime Minister's Office, Records Public Record Office, London Royal Air Force Strategic Appreciation Committee Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Treasury Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects