| Excellent link 'The other Guy' I couldn't find information as comprehensive as this and far better than the answer I have available!
and by what means was it scuppered: The First Sea Lord, Admiral Dudley Pound, added conditions requiring that Russia stay out of the war and that the cooperation of Norway and Sweden be firmly established. Fearing the destruction of the raiding force, Admiral Pound also demanded the preservation of British naval superiority in the North Sea without the vessels assigned to the raid. Still another condition required that the R-class battleships would be recalled for convoy escort if German surface raiders broke out into the Atlantic.
Despite Churchill’s arguments and agitations, the conditions raised by the Admiralty pushed the operation toward abandonment. Churchill’s portrayal of this scene in The Gathering Storm glossed over this administrative resistance to his plan, but an influential quorum of top admirals considered Catherine too risky for their valuable battleships. Their subtle administrative resistance delayed the preparations for the operation and eventually forced its postponement when not enough time remained before the spring of 1940 to transform the R-class battleships into the armoured turtles.
As for the Bonus "the single casualty of Catherine was Captain V H Danckerts, Naval Staff Director of Plans, sacked almost certainly because of his trenchant criticisms of the scheme (reflected in Pounds memoranda)" p.96 Engage the Enemy More Closely, Correlli Barnett
Go on, The Other Guy your turn, we have been trying to get more people involved in this quiz
__________________
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. Herman Goering
|