"Convoy Scort: The US Navy´s Fogotten (Purpose) Mission" Topic

"Tom Hank's most recent World War II film, Greyhound, tells the story of an escort group shepherding its convoy to safety across the Atlantic. Over several days of desperate fighting, the escorts attempt to defend merchant ships and troop transports from German U-boat attacks. This fictional story is representative of the U.S. Navy's struggle in the Atlantic during the war. While the invasion of Europe and subsequent march to Germany captured headlines, it was all made possible by the Allied navies in the Atlantic. Winston Churchill perhaps best explained its importance, writing, "The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome."

Unfortunately, the Navy appears to have forgotten the importance of its Atlantic campaign. Since 1945, the Navy has prioritized offensive maritime missions — power projection and destruction of enemy fleets — over more essential defensive maritime missions, namely convoy defense. This is a flawed strategy resulting in three deleterious effects. First, it jeopardizes wartime success by abrogating the Navy's ability to escort critical convoys. Second, it risks narrowing military options available to policymakers and increases the risks of escalation. Third, it results in a smaller fleet than might otherwise be possible, with a commensurate reduction in the ability to show the flag during peacetime. A reevaluation of the Navy's strategy is necessary, and there is no better time than the present…."
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Amicalement
Armand

I could not agree more. The USN desperately needs warships in the Corvette / FFL niches. Currently any tasking requiring a warship must be fulfilled by a Burke-class DDG which is the proverbial sledgehammer driving a tack in most scenarios. The LCS is a joke at best.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

LOL, the Navy (US) appears to have forgotten….. other NATO countries must have lost consciousness.

I'm not sure an Arleigh Burke is misplaced in a convoy : the nature of the submarine threat has changed, SSMs give the subs a stand-off capability undreamed of during WW2 : you'll be quite happy to have all these SM2s handy when the vampires start flying…
Conversely, light escorts could be less useful in the Atlantic : what ultimately won the Battle of the Atlantic in WW2 were indeed more light escorts, but even more teh capacity of the Allies to provide more and more continuous air cover to the convoys, eliminating eventually the blind spot in the middle that was the UBoast' huntingf ground. Long range planes, escort carriers were pivotal. Nowadays, POseidon, Neptune, Atlantique patrol planes have the capacity to cover vast expanses (and decrease the SSM threat). Atlantic Ocean has but 2 accesses, and a prospective war against Russia and/or China – God forbid!- would see their navies quite hampered in what is essentiallyu a Wester lake…You can count on SOSUS to all but close the northern access vie the GIUK gap to Russian subs. The Southern route would long and hazardous, with friendly bases at both ends (the Falklands, South Africa) and Chinese boats would have a hrad way going through.
Furthermore, SSNs are efficient sub killers, and would catch a lot of ennemy boats before they can cause damage. Nature of ASW has changed a lot since WW2 and iMO, this is an area where Western are not trailing at the moment.

I'm reading Volume 10 of Samuel Elliot Morison's History of US Naval Operations in WWII. That volume is on the final victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. The amount of effort made to defeat the U-Boats is truly amazing. Hundreds of ships (probably over a thousand if you include all the small patrol,craft) hundreds of aircraft and tens of thousands of men. Fighting in hostile environments year round, night and day. The strain on the hunter and the hunted is hard to imagine. I was struck by one incident when an Allied aircraft sent a message that it was attacking a U-Boat. No trace of the plane or the U-Boat was ever found. Clearly the plane sank the sub and the sub shot down the plane and there were no survivors on either side. Their story lost forever at sea.

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand