Western Approaches Command

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Western Approaches Command


caption=Commander Cross, Staff Officer Convoys, (left) discussing a special convoy movement map with Captain Lake, RN, Duty Officer in the Operations Room at Derby House, Liverpool.
dates=1939-1945
country=United Kingdom
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branch=Royal Navy
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notable_commanders=Percy Noble, Max Horton
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Western Approaches Command was a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The command was responsible for the safety of British shipping in the Western Approaches.

On the outbreak of war in September 1939, Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith was Commander-in-Chief of Western Approaches Command, based at Plymouth. Admiral Dunbar-Smith was Commander-in-Chief in Plymouth, and remained so during the early changeover period, from 7 February to 17 February 1941. [ [http://www.liverpoolwarmuseum.co.uk/history/ History of Derby House (Western Approaches Museum)] , accessed June 2008] Western Approaches Command was responsible for the defence of the main North Atlantic convoys which passed out into the North Atlantic through the south-western approaches south of Ireland.

After the fall of France in June 1940, the main North Atlantic convoy routes were diverted around the north of Ireland through the north-western approaches. By late 1940, the location of the command’s headquarters at Plymouth was increasingly awkward and the decision was taken to move the command to Liverpool. On 7 February 1941, Western Approaches Command was divided and its headquarters was moved from Plymouth to Derby House, Liverpool. The headquarters of Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command moved to Liverpool at the same time. Admiral Dunbar-Nasmith remained at Plymouth as the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. On 17 February Admiral Sir Percy Noble was appointed as the new Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Command.

Over the next two years, Admiral Noble built up the bases for the North Atlantic escort groups at Greenock on the Clyde, Londonderry and Liverpool and set up the training facilities that were the foundations for eventual victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

On 19 November 1942, Admiral Noble was replaced by Admiral Max Horton, who was Commander-in-Chief from that day until Western Approaches Command closed on 15 August 1945, after the end of the war. Horton’s leadership played a vital role in the final defeat of the U-boat menace. Horton used the increasing number of escorts that were available to the command to organize "support groups" that were used to reinforce convoys that came under attack. Unlike the regular escort groups, the support groups were not directly responsible for the safety of any particular convoy. This lack of responsibility gave them much greater tactical flexibility, allowing the support groups to detach ships to hunt submarines spotted by reconnaissance or picked up by high-frequency direction finding (HF/DF). In situations where the regular escorts would have had to return to their convoy, the support groups were able to persist in hunting a submarine for many hours until it was forced to the surface.

The reinforced central core of the command bunker at Derby House, Liverpool proved too costly to demolish, and so whilst the rest of the building has been converted to modern offices, the bunker has been restored as a museum, open to the public.

References

ee also

*Anti-submarine warfare
*U-boat
*Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)