Kanalkampf

Kanalkampf
Part of the Battle of Britain
A British convoy under air attack, 14 July 1940
Date 4 July – 11 August 1940 Location Southern England and the English Channel 50°N 02°W / 50°N 2°W / 50; -2 Result See Analysis section
Belligerents
United Kingdom Foreign volunteers Naval support:  Netherlands  Norway  Canada Poland  Belgium	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Hugh Dowding Keith Park Trafford Leigh-Mallory	Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Wolfram von Richthofen Alfred Saalwächter
Units involved
11 Group, 10 Group Fighter Command	Luftflotten 2 and 3
Casualties and losses
RAF: 115 fighters destroyed 42 fighters damaged 71 pilots killed in action 19 pilots wounded in action 4 pilots missing in action Royal Navy: 35 merchant ships sunk (including neutrals) 7 fishing vessels several naval vessels 4 destroyers at least 176 sailors killed ~300 casualties	Luftwaffe: 80 fighters destroyed 36 fighters damaged 22 Dive bombers destroyed 22 dive bombers damaged 100 medium bombers destroyed 33 medium bombers damaged 13 naval aircraft destroyed 1 naval aircraft damaged 201 airmen killed 75 airmen wounded 277 missing 16 airmen prisoner of war Kriegsmarine: c. 4

The Kanalkampf (Channel Battle) was the German term for air operations by the Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force (RAF) over the English Channel in July 1940, beginning the Battle of Britain during the Second World War. By 25 June, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Britain had rejected peace overtures and on 16 July, Adolf Hitler issued Directive 16 to the Wehrmacht (German armed forces), ordering preparations for an invasion of Britain, under the codename Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion).^[1]

The Germans needed air superiority over southern England for the invasion; the Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF and protect the cross-channel invasion from the Royal Navy. To commence the destruction of RAF Fighter Command, the Luftwaffe attacked convoys in the Channel. Historians differ somewhat about the dates of the Battle of Britain and British histories usually treat 10 July as the beginning. British and German writers and historians acknowledge that air battles were fought over the Channel between the Battle of France and Britain; systematic German attacks against British coastal targets and convoys began on 4 July. During the Kanalkampf, the Luftwaffe received modest support from shore artillery and the Schnellboote (S-boats, E-Boats to the British) of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine).

Fighter Command could not guarantee the defence of the convoys; the Germans sank several British and neutral ships and shot down a considerable number of British fighters. The Royal Navy was forced to suspend the sailing of large convoys in Channel waters and close it to ocean-going vessels until more protection could be arranged, which took several weeks. On 1 August, Hitler issued Directive 17, extending Luftwaffe operations to the British mainland and RAF-related targets. On 13 August (Adlertag, Eagle Day) the main air offensive against the RAF began. The Kanalkampf had drawn out Fighter Command as intended and convoy attacks continued for several more days. Both sides had suffered losses but the Luftwaffe had failed to defeat on Fighter Command; the Luftwaffe had yet to gain air superiority for Operation Sea Lion.

The historian Williamson Murray (1983) regarded the Channel battles as inconclusive; Peter Smith (2007) wrote that the battles could be described as a German victory of sorts.^[2] In 2000, Stephen Bungay wrote that in early August the Channel was German by day but that fact did not threaten Fighter Command. Bungay wrote that the Luftwaffe had to advance well beyond the Channel to win an aerial campaign and that Hugo Sperrle, the commander of Luftflotte 3, was already alarmed at German losses. Albert Kesselring, the Luftflotte 2 commander, could ill-afford losses at the rate suffered in July 1940 either.^[3]