Rainbow project failed rainbow project

There has never been a battle that made Hitler fly into a rage like Operation Rainbow. It is a shame that German pocket battleships and cruisers were defeated by allied light ships. Since then, Nazi leaders have lost their last confidence in surface ships. At one time, they ordered the dismantling of all large surface ships and handed over the dismantled heavy guns to the army. In order to quell Hitler's anger, the experienced commander-in-chief of the navy, erich raeder, had to resign.

1942, World War II entered the most decisive moment. Axis lost in a series of important battles, and the allies began to counterattack. In the life-threatening North Atlantic transportation line, the weather is the most headache. In winter, there are often storms on the airline, and the temperature is below 0℃. In the Arctic Circle, not only the nights are long, but also ghostly icebergs appear. In order to sail to Murmansk, the northwest port of the Soviet Union, the allied transport fleet had to deal with not only bad weather, but also the attack of Nazi navy and air force like maggots attached to bones.

12 15, the evil wind roared in Evie Bay in the north of England, and the turbid waves soared. God is angry. However, in the fog, the first escort fleet numbered JW sent by the Allied Forces to the Soviet Union was preparing to set sail. This escort fleet, code-named JW5 1A, consists of 15 cargo ships and 1 oil tankers, with a cargo load of over 654.38+million tons. It is escorted by 7 destroyers, 2 small frigates, 1 minesweepers and 2 trawlers, with long-range cover provided by General john tovey's British fleet. I don't know whether the luck of the allies or the bad weather played a role. In short, the 4000-kilometer journey across the North Atlantic was not discovered by the Germans. On February 25th, 65438, the fleet arrived in Murmansk. Encouraged by this victory, Allied Command continued its efforts. On February 22, 65438, seven days after the former set out, another escort fleet was dispatched, which was the famous JW5 1B fleet. It consists of 14 cargo ship, with 7 destroyers, 1 minesweeper, 2 small frigates and 2 trawlers as escorts, and light cruisers "Sheffield" and "Jamaican", destroyers "Actis" and "Anslau" for close protection. In addition, the Royal Navy's battleship Anson, the cruiser Cumberland and three destroyers served as long-distance cover. In order to ensure this operation, the Allies even used the German submarine U-570 captured earlier as a flank reconnaissance.

At first, the fleet sailed very smoothly, but after passing through Cora Bay, trouble came. On February 24th, 65438, the fleet was discovered by a German reconnaissance plane, which indicated that a fierce battle was inevitable, but the commander of the escort fleet, Major General Robert Vincent sherbrooke, rejected the request and ordered the fleet to move on. In Iceland, the Sheffield and Jamaica failed to refuel as planned due to heavy fog. The destroyer "Bulldog" was damaged by an accidental collision and had to return. However, the fleet arrived in Valunga Bay on February 25th, 65438. The crew enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas dinner. 12 On February 29th, the three cargo ships left behind returned to the team. Sherbrooke decided to set sail immediately, but in the darkness of the Arctic Circle, a destroyer, a trawler and two cargo ships broke away from the fleet. 65438+On the night of February 30th, JW5 1B entered Norwegian waters.