Operation Sea Lion

Examples of Operation Sea Lion in the following topics:

• The Battle of Britain

  • In July 1940, the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth.
  • By preventing the Luftwaffe's air superiority over UK, the British forced Adolf Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a proposed amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.
  • The main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was bombed, causing nearly 4,000 deaths within the Merseyside area during the war.
  • The Blitz was only authorised when the Luftwaffe had failed to meet preconditions for a 1940 launch of Operation Sea Lion, the provisionally planned German invasion of Britain.
  • By May 1941, the threat of an invasion of Britain had ended, and Hitler's attention turned to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

• The European Theater

  • In July 1940, the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports, and shipping centers.
  • By preventing the Luftwaffe's air superiority over UK, the British forced Adolf Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a provisionally proposed amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.
  • On June 22, 1941, Germany, supported by Italy and Romania, invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
  • Operation Barbarossa was the largest military operation in human history.
  • On June 22, the Soviets launched a strategic offensive in Belarus ("Operation Bagration") that destroyed the German Army Group Center almost completely.

• MacArthur's Leapfrogging

  • Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military strategy for the Allies in the Pacific theater of World War II.
  • King, the Chief of Naval Operations, proposed a plan with similar elements but under Navy command.
  • The protracted battle for Guadalcanal—followed by the unopposed seizure of the Russell Islands (Operation Cleanslate) on February 21, 1943—resulted in Japanese attempts to reinforce the area by sea.
  • MacArthur's air forces countered in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea (March 2-5, 1943).
  • Elkton III then became Operation Cartwheel.

• Coral Sea and Midway

  • The Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway were strategic triumphs for the Allies and marked the critical point in halting Japanese expansion during World War II.
  • The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8, 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.
  • The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet.
  • Now aware of the presence of U.S. carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
  • Examine the importance of the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway Island as turning points for the Allies.

• Herbivores, Omnivores, and Carnivores

  • Wild cats, such as lions and tigers, are examples of vertebrate carnivores, as are snakes and sharks, while invertebrate carnivores include sea stars, spiders, and ladybugs .
  • Carnivores such as the (a) lion eat primarily meat.

• The Sicilian Campaign

  • Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941.
  • Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and he believed an invasion would remove Italy, and thus the influence of Axis forces in the Mediterranean Sea, opening it to Allied traffic.
  • The most famous and successful of these was Operation Mincemeat.
  • The documents purported to reveal that the Allies were planning "Operation Brimstone" and that an "Operation Husky" was an invasion of Greece.
  • Fifth Army, expecting little resistance, landed against heavy German resistance at Salerno in Operation Avalanche; in addition, British forces landed at Taranto in Operation Slapstick, which was almost unopposed.

• The North African Front

  • During Operation Compass, the Italian 10th Army was destroyed and the German Afrika Korps—commanded by Erwin Rommel, who later became known as "The Desert Fox"—was dispatched to North Africa during Operation Sonnenblume to reinforce Italian forces in order to prevent a complete Axis defeat.
  • The Italians halted to bring up supplies and Operation Compass, a British five-day raid in December 1940, led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army.
  • An attack on French North Africa was proposed instead, which would clear the Axis powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943.
  • Operation Torch started on 8 November 1942, and finished on 11 November.
  • During Operation Torch, American, Vichy French and German navy vessels fought the Naval Battle of Casablanca, ending in an American victory.

• Present-Time Extinctions

  • Another example, Steller's sea cows, became extinct in 1768.The sea cow, first discovered by Europeans in 1741, was hunted for meat and oil.
  • Adding to the extinction list, the Japanese sea lion, which inhabited a broad area around Japan and the coast of Korea, became extinct in the 1950s due to overfishing.
  • The Caribbean monk seal, found in the Caribbean Sea, was driven to extinction through hunting by 1952.

• Nimitz in the Central Pacific

  • The JCS designated Nimitz as "Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas," with operational control over all Allied units (air, land, and sea) in that area.
  • Nimitz, after consultation with Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, decided to contest the Japanese operation by sending all four of the Pacific fleet's available aircraft carriers to the Coral Sea.
  • Although the Coral Sea area was under MacArthur's command, Rear Admiral Fletcher (commanding Task Force 17) and Vice Admiral William F. 
  • Halsey (commanding Task Force 16) were directed to continue to report to Nimitz while in the Coral Sea area, not to MacArthur.
  • In addition, Nimitz also ordered the United States Army Air Forces to mine the Japanese ports and waterways by air with B-29 Superfortresses in a successful mission called Operation Starvation, which severely interrupted the Japanese logistics.

• The North Africa Campaign

  • The allied force there held out and were relieved during Operation Crusader.
  • An attack on French North Africa was proposed instead, which would clear the Axis powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943.
  • Operation Torch started on November 8, 1942, and finished on November 11.
  • During Operation Torch, American, Vichy French and German navy vessels fought the Naval Battle of Casablanca, ending in a decisive American victory.
  • Identify the effectiveness of the Western Desert Campaign, Operation Torch, and the Tunisia Campaign.