Mediterranean campaign was the provision of naval gunfire support–world history and facts

Mediterranean campaign was the provision of naval gunfire support

Among the many contributions that British and Allied maritime power played in supporting Allied ground operations during World War II’s Mediterranean campaign was the provision of naval gunfire support.

 On literally thousands of occasions throughout the war British and Allied warships ranging from battleships to monitors and gunboats to minor auxiliary craft, carried out bombardments or answered calls for fire in support of their army brethren. 

Firing many tens of thousands of large-calibre shells, this proved to be a significant force multiplier for the Allied ground forces as time and again this naval cannonade reduced Axis fortifications, weakened their defences, repulsed counter-attacks and debilitated the enemy’s willingness and ability to resist.

 This, in turn, saved thousands of Allied casualties and proved to be a decisive factor on numerous occasions.

While British warships occasionally travelled deep into enemy-controlled territory to deliver attacks against important logistical centres such as Genoa and Tripoli in early 1941, in most cases naval bombardments were carried out in close proximity to the related ground operations.

 Examples of this included during Operation Compass in the winter of 1940/1941 when the British directly incorporated naval gunfire into their fire support plans for the assaulting British and Commonwealth forces. 

Not only did this supporting gunfire help breach Italian defences, but in one case the monitor Terror and two gunboats added to an Italian rout by firing some 220 15-inch and 600 6-inch shells at the retreating Italian formations as they congested the coastal road.

 Another example of widespread naval gunfire support was during Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943. The weight of these efforts was demonstrated by the fact that British warships alone answered roughly 200 calls for fire during the course of the campaign. 

A final example of this close coordination occurred a year later when the British cruiser Dido and the American cruisers Brooklyn and Philadelphia fired 1,865 5.25-inch and 1,735 6-inch shells against inshore German positions in support of American II Corps during its advance along Italy’s western coastline during Operation Diadem, the offensive that eventually resulted in the capture of Rome.

While these are all examples of times when naval gunfire support helped facilitate victories on the battlefield, what about those occasions when fortunes on the battlefield faltered? On at least two occasions, naval gunfire support was instrumental in turning likely defeats into measured victories.

 The first of these was at Salerno in September 1943 when Allied warships expended some 23,000 shells (4-inch or greater) in support of Operation Avalanche. 

This naval gunfire was key in helping the Allies prevail during their initial landings and then was paramount in repulsing many of the subsequent counter-attacks that threatened the beachhead.

 During the latter part of this battle Allied warships were almost in continuous action as they engaged German positions and troop concentrations. Eventually, aided by this weight of fire, the Allies were able to secure their positions. 

Then five months later the Allies faced a similar, but even more dangerous, situation when the Anglo/American VI Corps was threatened with destruction at Anzio.

 At the height of the German offensive against the Anzio lodgement area, the British cruisers Orion, Mauritius, Phoebe and Penelope, the American cruiser Brooklyn, the Dutch gunboats Soemba and Flores and a number of destroyers were all present off Anzio where they conducted numerous engagements against German troop concentrations, vehicles and artillery positions.

 By the end of February 1944 Allied warships fired 8,400 6-inch shells, 7,800 5.25-inch shells and 3,500 4.7-inch shells, and the Germans later cited this heavy gunfire as a primary factor in preventing them from attaining a breakthrough.

The final point regarding the value of this Allied naval gunfire support was the fact that the Axis were never able to effectively counter it or provide similar support for their own forces. Thus, this was an immense force multiplier for the Allies that the Axis could not emulate. 

Pictured here is a view from the battleship Warspite during a fire support mission off Sicily. Coote R. G. G. (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer, Public Domain. 

For more information on this and other related topics, see Blue Water War, the Maritime Struggle in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 1940-1945.

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