Adapted Extract from ‘HMS Rodney’

Adapted book extract from ‘HMS Rodney’

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The story of Royal Navy battleships during the fight for Normandy in the summer of 1944 did not end on D-Day itself. For, until the troops were able to breakout decisively and advance beyond range of the big guns their services would be required. And they could, on occasion, prove decisive.

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Just ask the commander of an elite, battle-hardened Waffen SS formation blooded in action against the Russians of the Eastern Front and switched to Normandy, only to be hammered by HMS Rodney’s 16-inch shells.

General Paul Hausser, commander of the II SS Panzer Corps, was forced at the end of June to tell his higher commanders a ‘murderous fire from naval guns’ together with concentrated fire of British Army artillery had ‘destroyed the bulk of our attacking force in its assembly area.’ He continued: ‘The few tanks that did manage to go forward were easily stopped by the British anti-tank guns.

Hausser and the other German commanders were unaware Britain’s top secret code-breaking centre had provided key information. Bletchley Park’s deep and repeated penetration of wireless and signals traffic handed the Allies a decisive edge.

Yet, even without decrypting the wireless transmissions and signals, via something called the Traffic Analysis method Allied commanders were able to identify both their origin and which units they were from. Decrypts, combined with Traffic Analysis, explain why the Allies often knew the exact intentions of German commanders. They were able to strike with naval gunfire and artillery while tanks and panzer grenadiers were gathering for an attack.

Carpet-bombing by the Allied air forces often inflicted destruction on empty woods and fields. More responsive naval guns and Army artillery could be directed with far greater precision against tank hides and bunkers.

Nevertheless, the psychological impact of aerial bombing combined with the guns of the Navy and Army inflicted Hell on earth upon the enemy. Some German troops were literally driven insane and even resorted to shooting themselves, rather than endure further bombardment. In one episode where Bletchley’s code-breakers played a vital role, some 50 out of 127 German tanks massing for an attack were wiped out.

The 16-inch guns of HMS Rodney unleash hell against German troops and tanks in Normandy. Photo: Morris Collection.

The UK’s official naval historian, Captain Stephen Roskill, writing in 1960, chose to highlight HMS Rodney’s remarkable fire mission against German troops and tanks on 30 June 1944. At the time of writing, Roskill was not able to do more than hint at the remarkable advantages the Allies enjoyed, for Bletchley’s work was still being kept under wraps. ‘… the Rodney astonished the Germans by planting her 16-inch shells squarely on tanks which were massing for a counter-attack 17 miles inland from the “Gold” beaches,’ Roskill explained. ‘Again and again did such ships earn the warm appreciation of the soldiers, and the frequent lamentations of the German army commanders also testify to the effectiveness of the naval gunfire.’

HMS Rodney’s men were immensely pleased to hear their ship’s bombardments shattered enemy morale. One German soldier allegedly said as he surrendered: ‘We’ll fight you. We’ll fight your tanks, but those naval guns are too much.’

The Germans were not as incapable of hitting back against the ships, as some might imagine due to the state of their withered air and naval forces. German efforts at sea and in the air post-D-Day have perhaps been under represented in various accounts of the campaign. HMS Rodneywas a prime target and in the early hours of 6 July, she was informed that human torpedoes and midget submarines were trying to infiltrate Allied anchorages off the beachhead. The warning prompted her to raise steam with all speed. The battleship’s Midshipman Tony Robinson wrote in his journal that the ship was at ‘panic stations’. There had already been several false alarms: ‘Someone saw bubbles appearing from the ship’s side. Suspicious of a limpet mine being placed on the hull, the alarm was sounded and a small charge dropped over the side. Investigation proved that someone had left a pump from a bathroom sump running, and after clearing the water it was pumping air out!’

An illustration showing a German ‘Neger’ V3 human torpedo of the kind that was used to try and sink HMS Rodney off Normandy. Image: Dennis Andrews.

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Unlike the British variant, which used a detachable warhead, the German V3 ‘Neger’ human torpedo was in fact composed of two torpedoes, one slung under the other. The pilot rode the top torpedo, firing the one underneath when he felt it was properly lined up on target.

HMS Rodneywas such a prize because not only would removing the British battleship relieve pressure on German divisions slowly being ground into the dust, it would also hand the Nazis a much-needed propaganda victory.

As a counter-measure, small boats were sent out to circle the ship, their crews tasked with dropping explosive charges at regular intervals to deter frogmen and human torpedo operators. Motor Launches (ML) joined in, also dropping charges.

A Polish Navy ML captured a V3 and its pilot. According to Midshipman Roger Morris, under interrogation the German frogman ‘confessed that there were 50 of them operating from… a small town just beyond our eastern flank.’ Morris reported in his Midshipman’s journal: ‘At 19.00 approximately we [Rodney] opened fire… the target being numerous factory buildings believed to be those used for operating the enemy torpedoes. Sixteen rounds were fired and repeated hits were scored, this being followed by another shoot at 19.15, only four rounds being fired, as the target was observed to have been destroyed…’

Some of Rodney’s sailors received an opportunity to go ashore and gain a closer look at the battlefield. One excursion, at the invitation of the Guards Armoured Brigade, saw Rodney’s men boarding trucks to head for Tilly. It was notorious for heavy fighting, with severe casualties on both sides. The Germans lost the village and re-took it several times before the British seized and held it for good.

Even so, as Midshipman Robinson reported, it was still a dangerous place to even be near: ‘We were stopped about a mile outside by an M.P. [Military Policeman] He told us that the Germans were shelling the road and village and no traffic was allowed down it. At this stage we were about a mile from the front line – we passed a notice saying, “Achtung – Jerry – Dust brings shells! Be Careful”. So we had to turn around.’

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The next stop was Bayeux and on the way, during a picnic lunch by the side of the road, Midshipman Robinson and others from Rodney picked poppies to take back to the ship. They intended pressing them as mementos of their battlefield tour. Before the trucks hit the road again, one of the senior ratings even managed to harvest a good crop of strawberries.

The Cross of Calvary at Hill 112, a scene of bitter fighting between the British and troops of the Waffen SS in the summer of 1944. The cross remains pockmarked with bullet holes. HMS Rodney’s guns more than once fired in support of the British forces locked in combat with the Germans on Hill 112.
Photo: Iain Ballantyne.

While they were away Rodney bombarded a crossroads north of Caen, near Hill 112, laying down forty-nine 16-inch shells, hoping to persuade the Germans it was not worth holding. Later, there was a second fire mission, against enemy troops and tanks. Like air power, Naval Gunfire Support, and Rodney’s guns in particular, formed the great equalizer

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