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Eight
lectures - 2013
1939/40?
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‘Rawalpindi’ Sinking and Cyclone formation The first
sea engagement of naval surface vessels in the North Atlantic occurred in late
November 1939. This naval encounter was immediately followed by a rapid
decrease in air pressure by more than 50 mb in 48 hours. Can a 15 minutes’
shelling of 600-pound shells produce sufficient ‘butterfly-effect’ to turn a modest
low air pressure into a violent cyclone? Weather was
fair on Thursday the 23rd November 1939, Southeast of Iceland, about 200 miles
west of the Faroe Island. The big and modern German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sailed in a flotilla of six naval vessels, when they
saw HM Armed Merchant Cruiser Rawalpindi
at some distance.
The
sea was smooth in the late afternoon over a distance of about 7,500 metres,
clear enough for the enemies to shell each other, when a tremendous explosion
broke the merchant cruiser in two. A shell from one of Scharnhorst’s 11-inch
guns had hit the Rawalpindi’s forward magazine. The Royal Navy ordered
all of their Home Fleet (ca. 20 big naval vessels) to sail to the scene of
action to hunt the German flotilla. But a squall arose and the German ships
escaped in stormy weather. The
16,697-ton Rawalpindi was no match for the 38,900-ton battleships each.
The German battleship Scharnhorst fired the first salvo over a distance
of 10,000 yards (NYT, 28 November 1939), but when the enemy loomed large Rawalpindi
sought protection by dropping smoke floats into the sea and in her defence,
replied with all her four starboard six-inch (100-pound) guns. (NYT, op.cit.).
That was by far too little against the 11-inch (600-pound) shells German
battleships could launch from their six guns in minute intervals. The battle
was over at about 16-30 hours GMT. Germans took 28 survivors on board, from a
total of only 39, and departed immediately before the first British cruiser (HMS
Newcastle) arrived at the scene. “However, the other eleven crew members
who had also escaped from the blazing ship were rescued by another British
naval vessel. Those eleven who landed at Glasgow told the story of the battle.
The Rawalpindi
burnt until eight o’clock Thursday night, they said, when she capsized on starboard
side with all remaining crew(238 men). The cruiser attempted to follow German
ships but weather was on the German side. Heavy rain and nightfall served as a
shielding curtain between German raiders and the British warship”. (NYT, 28
November, 1939). Probably rain may have come down due to the shoot out and the
squall that arose could have come from the Atlantic water that was ‘stirred’
and ‘turned’ at the scenes of action. The N-Atlantic south-west of Iceland
is very cold and very deep. In autumn only the most upper sea surface has store
a bit heat during the summer season (Figure 4) Actually,
within 24 hours of this occurrence, a low pressure (975 mb) appeared south of
Iceland. In the early morning hours of 25 November 1939, the air pressure over
Iceland fell by more than 8 mb in three hours. The cyclone moved to the Orkney
Islands and was down to 945 mb on 26 November. This was a weather development
not everyone would have predicted. But in the late autumn the Northern Atlantic
is extremely sensitive and the weather depends on conditions of the sea surface. Link to book
Chapter (2_21): Cyclones and shells – War at
sea events http://www.2030climate.com/a2005/02_21-Dateien/02_21.html |
Archiv Material in English New
Book 2012 ============= Previous
Essays Atlantic SST, 1998 Pacific SST, 1997 Pacon, ITLOS, 1997 Peace to Ocean, 1996Peace to Ocean, 1994 LOS, 1994LOS, 1993Climate, GKSS, 1992Nature, Letter, 1992 PDF
WORD
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