434 • The Atlantic 



In mid-April British naval units staged a raid on Narvik, sinking all 

 the enemy ships in that harbor and occupying the town until the sec- 

 ond week in June. 



In the meantime an Anglo-French expedition in southern Norway 

 was less successful, having to withdraw in the early part of May. 

 These were gallant efforts but doomed to failure because they were 

 hastily improvised and therefore poorly supported whereas the com- 

 bined German attacks by land and sea were based on plans devel- 

 oped months, probably even years, before they were executed. 



About the time the naval units were being withdrawn from Narvik, 

 naval and all other resources of the British were being taxed to the 

 utmost to evacuate the British, French, Belgian and Polish forces 

 marooned on the beaches at Dunkerque. Between May 28 and June 4 

 215,000 British and 120,000 French were returned to England. Naval 

 vessels protected this operation and assisted in it. However, the navy 

 did not have available either the numbers of ships or the types of 

 ships required for such a transport operation. The size of the ships 

 that could be used were strictly limited because of the lack of port 

 facilities; a great number of small ships and boats were required. 

 Transportation was improvised and every kind of craft that could 

 keep afloat and be propelled across the Channel by any means whatso- 

 ever was pressed into service. 



The collapse and capitulation of France created some serious ques- 

 tions about the integrity of the Atlantic defenses not only in London 

 but also in Washington. For whatever it might be worth, the United 

 States obtained from Marshal Petain, the nominal ruler of all that 

 was left of France, a promise that the French Navy would never be 

 surrendered to the Germans. Nor was the loss of the French Navy 

 the only problem that worried America. At this time it was generally 

 known that the German High Command was developing plans for 

 the invasion of the British Isles. Twenty-five divisions were involved 

 in these plans. The success of the Blitzkrieg in Poland, Belgium, 

 France raised the possibility that Britain would be invaded if not 

 conquered. In this case what would happen to the British Navy? In 

 what proportions might it be captured, sunk, surrendered or saved 

 by flight.? 



Faced with such possibilities the country suddenly awoke to the 

 need and advantage that resided in an adequate navy and on July 20, 

 1940, Congress passed a bill calling for a two-ocean navy. 



So far as the French fleet was concerned, a partial answer was 

 given in July when the British Navy staged an attack on the port of 



