Atlantic Linchpin: The Azores in Two World Wars

By Guy Warner

On a map the Azores appear as nine tiny specks in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but their location was to prove strategically vital in two world wars. The Atlantic became a crucial battleground twice within the space of 25 years, as the US ‘arsenal of democracy’ sent firstly stores, arms, and equipment, followed by many thousands of troops to fight in Europe. In both desperate and closely fought struggles at sea, Germany sought to stem the flow and thereby win the war by cutting this vital lifeline using a new weapon – the ocean-going submarine. In the First World War, the Azores became a mid-Atlantic refueling location, a base for US and Portuguese naval vessels and – in a hugely innovative contribution to the anti-submarine war – for the patrol seaplanes and flying boats of the US Marine Corps. Portugal was neutral during the Second World War but when Winston Churchill invoked a treaty dating from 1373, permission was given in 1943 for an RAF Coastal Command base to be very rapidly established at Lagens. From there convoys could be protected and U-boats could be harried and sunk, so closing the notorious mid-Atlantic gap. Later, it also became an important staging post for US aircraft, as it had been in the previous conflict. The significance of the Azores has been overlooked in most military histories, but this extensively researched and copiously illustrated book from historian Guy Warner provides a detailed but balanced appraisal. The author has had access to archives and photographic collections in the UK, USA, Portugal, and the Azores, consulting with local historians to produce a book that sheds much new light on a hitherto under-appreciated facet of twentieth-century history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Dec 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781399010917

Guy Warner

Ireland

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

by Commander David Hobbs OBE, RN (ret’d)

Guy Warner has combined a long-standing interest in the Azores with extensive research into the operation of US and British military aircraft from the islands in two world wars and the impact that outside events had on their population. The result is a book that gives readers a fascinating insight into aspects of both wars that combine detailed accounts of how US Marine Corps aircraft were operated from 1917 onwards with descriptions of the interaction between the aviators and the local population using local newspapers as a rich source of information. The influenza pandemic in 1918 is also described, illustrating how people from very different nations and backgrounds worked together in a common cause for the general good.

Portugal had joined the Allies as a belligerent in 1916 but, despite being Great Britain’s oldest ally, it remained neutral in the Second World War because Britain did not appeal to it for help. Despite its neutrality, however, Portugal maintained a benevolent attitude towards the Allied cause and aircraft of RAF Coastal Command were allowed to operate from the islands. They flew long-range sorties to cover convoys in the mid-Atlantic area where air support was desperately needed and, as the number of transatlantic aircraft flights grew in both number and importance, the Azores became an important refuelling base for American aircraft in transit, a role that continued after 1945. This is also a story of ships, among them the escort carrier HMS Fencer which protected the task force that ferried the first RAF personnel to operate the airfield at Lagens from October 1943 and the former Cunard liner Franconia that carried them. The relationship between the Portuguese, British and US authorities during the conflict was not always straightforward and Guy’s careful descriptions show how it was made to work by the various individuals who were principally concerned.

I know of no other historian who has described the role played by the Azores in twentieth-century conflict, the significant part they played as a base for anti-submarine patrol aircraft or even their strategic importance as part of the Atlantic ‘Air Bridge’ so effectively. Guy Warner is to be congratulated for bringing to life an aspect of wartime operations that has, at last, received the degree of attention it deserves.

David Hobbs

Alnwick

October 2020

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

When I was at primary school in the 1960s, I often used to browse through my father’s copy of The Sheldon Book of Verse. I liked the poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson for its imagery and historical themes. I was particularly attracted to ‘The Revenge A Ballad of the Fleet’, which began,

‘At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,

And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away;

Spanish ships of war at sea! We have sighted fifty-three!’

Sir Richard Greville and the Revenge: ‘He had only a hundred seamen to work the ship and to fight, And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniard came in sight, With his huge sea-castles heaving upon the weather bow.’ (Author’s collection)

I determined then and there that I would visit Flores one day, though it was not until 2004 that, with my wife, Lynda, I made the first of several visits to these nine diverse and unspoiled islands. On the walls of the lobby of our hotel in Horta (the Fayal Hotel) were a series of enlarged old photographs. I was immediately intrigued by these as they featured flying boats in the harbour and in particular the wonderful and iconic Boeing 314.

One result was a book Under the Goshawk’s Wings – a History of Aviation in the Azores, first published in 2008 and re-issued in a revised and expanded second edition in 2017. Another was the forging of many friendships with the hospitable people of the Azores and yet a third was developing an interest in Azorean history and its relationship to the Atlantic Ocean.

Grenville had taken on the Spanish fleet off Flores in 1591 in order to save the rest of the small English squadron under Lord Thomas Howard, and died valiantly against enormous odds. Azoreans were resistant to Spain, which was the ruling power from the late sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century. The harbours on the major islands had assumed a vital role in replenishing ships on their way to and from the New World, Africa and the Orient on voyages of discovery, conquest and trade.

In the 1890s the first of several submarine cable stations was established on Faial, making the town of Horta into one of the major telegraphic communications relay centres of the world. In the twentieth century control of the islands and of the surrounding seas was coveted by the opposing powers during both World Wars due to its pivotal position between the Old and New Worlds.

The Cable Station in Horta in 1939, which since the 1890s had developed as a major transoceanic telegraphic communications relay centre. (Museu Horta)

There are three distinct island groups spread over 400 miles (643km) of ocean. To the west are the tiny communities of Flores and Corvo. In the centre are grouped Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terceira, while to the east are the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria. Flores is 1100 miles (1770km) from Newfoundland and 2236 miles (3600km) from the East Coast of the United States of America, while from Santa Maria it is 869 miles (1400km) to Cabo da Roca in Portugal, the most westerly point of the European mainland.

This book will examine the role of the Azores on the side of the Allies in those two conflicts.

Guy Warner,

Carrickfergus

November 2020

PART 1: THE AZORES IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Introduction

In 2015 I was delighted to be invited to the beautiful island of Santa Maria to take part in an international conference arranged by the Santa Maria Airport Historical Society, LPAZ. While I was there I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Carlos Guilherme Riley, the Head of the Department of History at the University of the Azores. He asked me if I would like to research and write the story of the Allied aviation effort in the Azores in the Second World War. The Azorean Institute of Culture very generously sponsored my research visit to the RAF Museum at Hendon and the UK National Archive at Kew. My extended article was subsequently published in Atlântida Vol LXI 2016.

The genesis of this new account of the Azores’ part in the first world conflict of the twentieth century stemmed from a conversation with António Sousa Monteiro of LPAZ. He asked me if I would like to produce a second, revised edition of Under the Goshawk’s Wings, my history of Aviation in the Azores, translated by Paulo Alexandre da Silveira Noia Pereira and published in the Azores in November 2017. While I was carrying out research for this book, I uncovered more information that I could use about the naval and military aviation activities in the Azores in the First World War. I mentioned this to Carlos and he invited me to give a paper at a conference in the Azores on that conflict held at the University of the Azores in November 2017:

‘COLÓQUIO INTERNACIONAL A GRANDE GUERRA E AS FRONTEIRAS DO ATLÂNTICO. As Ilhas no centenário do I conflito mundial/INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE THE GREAT WAR AND THE ATLANTIC BORDERS. The Islands at the centenary of the first world conflict’

This paper has now been considerably expanded. The events I describe are, I believe, of seminal importance not only in Azorean history but also in US military/naval history.

Inter alia these are:

(a) the first ever flight made in the Azores on 16 February 1918 by the USMC and the construction from scratch of an airbase;

(b) the fact that the 1st Aviation Company USMC was the first formed US aviation unit to become operational in the Great War;

(c) the Curtiss R-6, with which the Company was equipped, was the first US-built aircraft to perform an operational mission in the Great War;

(d) the visit made to São Miguel by Assistant Secretary of the US Navy Franklin D Roosevelt in July 1918;

(e) the humanitarian relief given by the USN and USMC in Ponta Delgada during the influenza epidemic of 1918;

(f) the gallant fight against the odds of NRP Augusto de Castilho , defending the SS São Miguel from attack by U-139 ;

(g) the pride felt by Azoreans in the contribution being made by Portugal in general and the Azores in particular to the global struggle.

The geographical situation of the Azores made it of strategic interest to both sides in two World Wars. The remote and peaceful islands were drawn into the conflict and made a valuable contribution to winning the war against the U-boats of the Imperial German Navy and, a quarter of a century later, of the Kriegsmarine. At the very least it is worth considering what would have happened if the Germans had invaded the Azores in 1916 or 1917 and established a base there. My own feeling is that it would have been a much harsher regime than the partnership established with the Allies and also that a German naval base in the mid-Atlantic would have been a considerable thorn in the side of the US Navy and the Royal Navy.

In conclusion I would particularly like to thank Bruna Valério for her excellent and invaluable work as a researcher and translator. She has delved deeply into the museum and newspaper archives in Ponta Delgada and, as a result, I have been able to incorporate much contemporary Azorean description, comment and opinion into the text, which show the effect of these events on the people of the Azores.

Setting the Scene

When the First World War broke out in 1914 Portugal at first remained neutral. However, clashes soon broke out in the Portuguese colonies in Africa – southern Angola and northern Mozambique – which bordered the German colonies of South-West and East Africa respectively. In 1916, due to the damaging losses of merchant ships, Britain requested that the Portuguese Government should seize all German merchant ships in Portuguese harbours. The request was approved, and some seventy were interned on 23 February 1916. The result was that Germany declared war on Portugal on 9 March 1916.

The naval defence of the Azores was divided into three maritime sub-divisions: Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira, Horta on Faial and Ponta Delgada on São Miguel. Over the first three years their main roles were monitoring activities in the Atlantic and being as prepared as possible for a German attack. To this end the military authorities in the Azores expressed concern to the government in Lisbon on numerous occasions regarding the need to strengthen and modernise the defences. The strategic location of the islands, the capability to refuel ships at Ponta Delgada, the existence of submarine cable communication nodes at Horta,¹ and the presence of German and Austro-Hungarian internees on Terceira, were important factors in making the islands possible targets.

The long-range cruiser-type U-boat U-155, which bombarded Ponta Delgada. Note the substantial 5.9in guns mounted fore and aft. (US NHHC NH 111066)

U-Boat Activity

The resumption of unrestricted U-boat warfare by the Imperial German Navy on 1 February 1917, the entry into the war of the United States of America on 6 April 1917 and the consequent rise in the volume and importance of transatlantic convoys meant that the strategic significance of the Azores also increased. It was later stated that, ‘The necessity and desirability of an Allied naval base in the Azores Islands was evident long before the United States declared war on Germany’.²

The large German cruiser-type U-boat U-155³ was seeking prey in the waters between the Azores and Madeira. On 14 June it captured a Norwegian steamer, SS Benguela,⁴ forcing it to take the submarine in tow (thus saving fuel) until it encountered a Norwegian sailing ship, the Siraa,⁵ off Ponta Delgada. It then sank both ships, allowing the crews to take to the lifeboats.

U-155 appeared off Ponta Delgada on 4 July 1917, shelling the city in the early hours of the morning. The attack damaged several buildings and killed four civilians. The Azorean coastal battery at Mãe de Deus responded with its 4in guns. U-155 was driven off by gunfire from a visiting American collier, USS Orion.⁶ Orion was in fact delivering the first supply of coal to the facility and had arrived on 17 June.

The collier USS Orion, which by fortunate chance was berthed in Ponta Delgada on 4 July 1917. (Afonso Chaves MCM CAC 3212)

To the surprise of the German U-boat’s company, as they had not realised that the US vessel was present, Orion responded with its four 3in guns and engaged in a duel with the U-boat – which was armed with two 5.9in guns – for about 12 minutes. Neither vessel hit the other, but U-155 eventually withdrew from the action, having made, in modern military terms, a show of presence, followed by a show of force.

Lieutenant Commander John H Boesch, USNRF, in the charthouse of USS Orion. (US NHHC NH 99798)

The local newspaper Açoriano Oriental reported as follows:

On Wednesday at 4:40 am Ponta Delgada woke up to an unexpected attack from an enemy submarine that fired 50 shells. USS Orion responded with 15 shells and four from Mãe de Deus. As a result of the attack there are one dead, four injured and some damage. Some shrapnel killed a 16-year-old girl, called Tomásia Pacheco. This event caused panic among the locals, who went outside wondering what had happened. It is thought that the German submarine’s goal was to take down the battery at Mãe de Deus and destroy the coal deposits. To attack such an open and almost helpless city is a hideous, abominable and evil crime.⁷

A public subscription was established to receive donations to aid the victims.

On 14 July representatives of the local authorities went aboard Orion to give their personal thanks on behalf of the municipality. The Portuguese government later awarded Orion’s company the Order of the Tower and Sword. During July, Orion also assisted in placing a defensive chain across the harbour at Ponta Delgada.

Local Reaction

In the meantime Açoriano Oriental had commented unfavourably, ‘There is an overall sense of abandonment by the Portuguese government, leaving the island at the mercy of foreign attacks, almost as if the Azores were not a part of the same country.’⁸ Another local newspaper, A República, added,

The English steamer Coblenz⁹ was attacked and damaged by gunfire 150 miles off Santa Maria on 7th July, and a German submarine appeared near Santa Clara, Ponta Delgada, which shows that the enemy hasn’t left our waters. It would be good if the authorities had a sound signal for when an attack is near. Mãe de Deus station because of its position cannot defend the whole city.¹⁰

The Portuguese Navy’s response to the shelling of Ponta Delgada was the dispatch of three vessels, including the former Royal Yacht, NRP Cinco de Outubro. (Biblioteca Central de Marinha – Arquivo Histórico)

In the light of this publicity the Portuguese Navy responded with the stationing of three vessels at Ponta Delgada, the elderly hydrographic ship NRP Cinco de Outubro,¹¹ the gunboat NRP Beira¹² and latterly the destroyer NRP Douro¹³ on a temporary basis, to boost public confidence and to give at least a token measure of protection.

The