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Operation ''Rheinübung'' ("Rhine Exercise") was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship ''Bismarck'' and heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation to block Allied shipping to England culminated with the sinking of ''Bismarck''. ==Background== During both World Wars, the island of Britain was dependent upon huge numbers of merchant ships to bring in food and essential raw materials, and protecting this lifeline was one of the highest priorities for British forces. If this lifeline could be severed, the British Empire in Europe would have to either sue for peace; for an armistice; or abandon the British Isles as a base of operations to blockade the sea approaches to Western Europe; giving Germany in effect, complete mastery of Western Europe, with no tactical base in Europe, to oppose that control. Germany’s naval leadership (under Admiral Erich Johann Albert Raeder) at the time firmly believed that defeat by blockade was achievable. However, they also believed that the primary method to achieve this objective was to use traditional commerce raiding tactics, founded upon surface combatants (cruisers, battle-cruisers, fast battle ships) that were only ''supported by'', submarines. Regardless of the method or manner, Raeder convinced the High Command (OKW) and Hitler that if this lifeline were severed, Britain would be defeated, regardless of any other factors. Operation ''Rheinubung'' was the latest in a series of raids on Allied shipping carried out by surface units of the ''Kriegsmarine''. It was preceded by Operation ''Berlin'', a highly successful sortie by ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' which ended in March 1941. By May 1941, the ''Kriegsmarine'' battleships ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' were at Brest, on the western coast of France, posing a serious threat to the Atlantic convoys, and were heavily bombed by the RAF. The original plan was to have both ships involved in the operation, but ''Scharnhorst'' was undergoing heavy repairs to her engines, and ''Gneisenau'' had just suffered a damaging torpedo hit days before which put her out of action for 6 months. This left just two new warships available to the Germans: the battleship ''Bismarck'' and the heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' (while the ''Kriegsmarine'' had three serviceable light cruisers, none had the endurance necessary for a long Atlantic operation), both initially stationed in the Baltic Sea. The aim of the operation was for ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's orders to Admiral Günther Lütjens were that "the objective of the ''Bismarck'' is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving her combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow ''Prinz Eugen'' to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk."〔Boyne, 53-54.〕 To support and provide facilities for the capital ships to refuel and rearm, German Naval Command (OKM) established a network of tankers and supply ships in the ''Rheinubung'' operational area. Seven tankers and two supply ships were sent as far afield as Labrador in the west and the Cape Verde islands in the south. Lütjens had requested that Raeder delay ''Rheinübung'' long enough either for ''Scharnhorst'' to complete repairs to her engines and be made combat worthy and to rendezvous at sea with ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' or for ''Bismarck''s sister ship ''Tirpitz'' to accompany them. Raeder had refused, as ''Scharnhorst'' would not be ready until early July. The crew of the newly completed ''Tirpitz'' was not yet fully trained, and over Lütjens's protests Raeder ordered ''Rheinübung'' to go ahead. Raeder's principal reason for going ahead with Rheinübung was his knowledge of the upcoming Operation ''Barbarossa'', where the ''Kriegsmarine'' was only going to play a small and supporting role, and his desire to score a major success with a battleship before ''Barbarossa'' that might impress upon Hitler the need not to cut the budget for capital ships.〔Murray, Williamson & Millet, Alan ''War To Be Won'', Harvard: Belknap Press, 2000 page 242.〕 To meet the threat from German surface ships, the British had stationed at Scapa Flow the new battleships (sometimes referred to as ''KGV'') and ''Prince of Wales'' (''PoW'') as well as the battlecruiser and the newly commissioned aircraft carrier . Elsewhere, Force H at Gibraltar could muster the battlecruiser and the aircraft carrier ; at sea in the Atlantic on various duties were the battleships ''Revenge'', ''Rodney'' and ''Ramillies'' and the battlecruiser ''Repulse''. Cruisers and air patrols provided the fleet's 'eyes'. At sea, or due to sail shortly, were 11 convoys, including a troop convoy. OKM did not take into account the Royal Navy's determination to destroy the German surface fleet. To make sure ''Bismarck'' was sunk, the Royal Navy would ruthlessly strip other theatres of action. This would include denuding valuable convoys of their escorts. The British would ultimately deploy six battleships, three battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, 16 cruisers, 33 destroyers and eight submarines, along with patrol aircraft. It would become the largest naval force assigned to a single operation up to that point in the war.〔Boyne, 54.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Rheinübung」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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