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Exercise Mainbrace

{{Short description|NATO military exercise}}

{{operational plan

| name = Exercise Mainbrace

| partof = the Cold War (1947–1953)

| image = 300px

| caption = NATO Northern Flank

| scope =

| type = NATO combined naval training exercises

| location = North Atlantic Ocean, GIUK Gap, Norwegian Sea, Barents Sea, North Sea, Jutland Peninsula, and Baltic Sea

| coordinates =

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| planned =

| planned_by = SACLANT & SACEUR

| objective = Deployment of NATO anti-submarine warfare forces, aircraft carrier strike forces, and supply convoys

| target =

| date = September 14–25, 1952

| time =

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| executed_by = Admiral Sir Patrick Brind, RN (CINCNORTH)

| outcome = Exercise successfully executed

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}}

Exercise Mainbrace was the first large-scale naval exercise undertaken by the newly established Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT), one of the two principal military commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was part of a series of NATO exercises jointly commanded by Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic Admiral Lynde D. McCormick, USN, and Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Matthew B. Ridgeway, U.S. Army, during the fall of 1952.

Naval activities in the North Atlantic, 1946–1951

File:USS Midway (CVB-41) during Operation Frostbite, March 1946.jpg

The strategic importance of control of Norway and the adjacent Norwegian and Barents seas was recognized by Anglo-American naval planners as early as the First World War. The invasion and the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II confirmed the importance of the region, as Germany established bases for submarine and air operations against Allied convoys bound for the Soviet seaport of Murmansk.Allard. "Strategic Views of the US Navy and NATO on the Northern Flank, 1917-1991"

After the Second World War, several former allied navies executed a number of individual and multinational exercises, including:

  • Operation Frostbite (pictured), a 1946 naval exercise involving U.S. Navy Task Group 21.11 led by the aircraft carrier {{USS|Midway|CVB-41}} that operated in the Davis Straits between Labrador and Greenland;[http://cv41.org/cv41.html Midway History and Events: Shake Down and Operation Frostbite]
  • Exercise Verity, a 1949 combined naval exercise involving the British, French, and Dutch navies which carried out naval bombardment, convoy escort, minesweeping, and Motor Torpedo Boat attack evolutions;"SACLANT: Guardian of the Atlantic" All Hands, October 1952
  • Exercise Activity, a 1950 Dutch-led naval exercise to refine combined communications and tactical procedures; and
  • Exercise Progress, a 1951 French-led combined naval operation with Belgian, French, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and British naval units that participating in antisubmarine warfare operations, air defense maneuvers, minesweeping operations, and convoy exercises.

Operational history

Initial planning for Exercise Mainbrace was initiated by General Dwight D. Eisenhower prior to his resignation as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) to run for the President of the United States.Thompson. Lessons Not Learned, p. 15 - 16 The exercise itself was commanded jointly by SACLANT Admiral Lynde D. McCormick, USN, and SACEUR General Matthew B. Ridgeway, U.S. Army, with the immediate theater commander being Admiral Sir Patrick Brind, RN, who was in Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe.Time, September 22, 1952Time, September 29, 1952[http://www.nato.int/cv/ace-k-p.pdf NATO Military Command Roster]"NATO Ships Enter Baltic Sea" - Sydney Morning Herald, p. 2"The NATO Exercises, Part 1" Flight (September 26, 1952) p. 402-404.

Mainbrace was conducted over twelve days between September 14–25, 1952, and involved nine navies: United States Navy, the British Royal Navy, French Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Norwegian Navy, Portuguese Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy, and Belgian Naval Force operating in the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea, the North Sea near the Jutland Peninsula, and the Baltic Sea. Its objective was to convince Denmark and Norway that those nations could be defended against attack from the Soviet Union. The exercise featured simulated carrier air strikes against "enemy" formation attacking NATO's northern flank near Bodø, Norway, naval air attacks against aggressors near the Kiel Canal, anti-submarine and anti-ship operations, and U.S. marines landing in Denmark."HMS Vanguard: A short history of Britain's last battleship", p. 18"USS QUINCY CA-71", p. 34

=Force composition=

File:HMS Vanguard - Operation Mainbrace 1952 - I03681.jpg

Eighty thousand men, over 200 ships, and 1,000 aircraft participated in Mainbrace. The New York Times{{'}} military reporter Hanson W. Baldwin described this NATO naval force as being the "largest and most powerful fleet that has cruised in the North Sea since World War I."{{cite journal |last=Baldwin |first=Hanson |date=September 28, 1952 |title=Navies Meet the Test in Operation Mainbrace |journal=The New York Times |pages=E7 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/09/28/archives/navies-meet-the-test-in-operation-mainbrace-important-role-in.html }}"The Bridge in Troubled Times: The Cold War and the Navies of Europe", p. 318

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
+Naval Forces - Operation Mainbrace, 1952{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}
NATO member

! align="center" | Aircraft carriers

! align="center" | Battleships

! align="center" | Cruisers

! align="center" | Escorts

! align="center" | MCM

! align="center" | Submarines

! align="center" | Torpedo boat squadrons

! align="center" | Motor ships/Naval trawlers

! align="center" | Total

United States

| 6

| 1

| 3

| 40

| —

| 9

| —

| —

| 59

UK

| 3

| 1

| 2

| 31

| —

| 17

| 4

| 8 + Trawlers

| 66

Canada

| 1

| —

| 1

| 5

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 7

France

| —

| —

| —

| 7

| 11

| —

| —

| 2

| 20

Denmark

| —

| —

| —

| 3

| 2

| 2

| —

| —

| 7

Norway

| —

| —

| —

| 2

| 16

| 2

| 3

| 3

| 26

Portugal

| —

| —

| —

| 3

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 3

Netherlands

| —

| —

| —

| 5

| —

| 3

| —

| 5

| 13

Belgium

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 2

| —

| —

| —

| 2

TOTALS:

| 10

| 2

| 6

| 96

| 31

| 33

| 7

| 18

| 203

;Blue Fleet Fast Carrier Task Force

{{USS|Franklin D. Roosevelt|CV-42|6}} with Carrier Air Group 17 (CVG-17):[http://gonavy.jp/CVG-CVG17f.html Carrier Air Group Seventeen]

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  • Fleet Composite Squadron 12 (VC-12) Detachment 42
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 33 (VC-33) Detachment 42
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 62 (VC-62) Detachment 42
  • Utility Helicopter Squadron 2 (HU-2) Detachment 41

{{USS|Midway|CV-41|6}} with Carrier Air Group 6 (CVG-6):[http://www.gonavy.jp/CVG-CVG6f.html Carrier Air Group Six]

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  • Fleet Composite Squadron 8 (VC-8)
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 12 (VC-12) Detachment 41
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 33 (VC-33) Detachment 41
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 62 (VC-62) Detachment 41
  • Utility Helicopter Squadron 2 (HU-2) Detachment 41

{{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}} and Carrier Air Group 1 (CVG-1):[http://gonavy.jp/CVG-CVG1f.html Carrier Air Group One]

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| width="50%" valign="top"|

  • Fleet Composite Squadron 62 (VC-62) Detachment 18
  • Fleet Composite Squadron 12 (VC-12) Detachment 18
  • Utility Helicopter Squadron 2 (HU-2) Detachment 18

{{HMS|Eagle|R05|6}}:{{cite web|url=http://www.btinternet.com/~a.c.walton/navy/rn-cv3.html |title=Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers Part 3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225093921/http://www.btinternet.com/~a.c.walton/navy/rn-cv3.html |archive-date=February 25, 2009 }}

width="100%">
colspan=2|
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| width="29%" valign="top"|

{{HMS|Illustrious|R87|6}}:[http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?QF0=SubThemeTag&QI0=SocietyAndTraditions&TN=uncat&RF=ThemedResults&DF=ThemedDetailed&NP=1&MR=1000&AC=QBE_QUERY Audio # 564735: OPERATION MAINBRACE - ContextDescription dated 9/1952] - Imperial War Museum Collection (U.K.)

Light aircraft carriers

  • {{USS|Wright|CVL-49|6}}
  • {{HMS|Theseus|R64|6}}
  • {{HMCS|Magnificent|CVL 21|6}}

Escort aircraft carriers

  • {{USS|Mindoro|CVE-120|6}}
  • {{USS|Salerno Bay|CVE-110|6}}

Battleships

  • {{USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|6}}
  • {{HMS|Vanguard|23|6}}

Cruisers

  • {{USS|Quincy|CA-71|6}}
  • {{USS|Columbus|CA-74|6}}
  • {{USS|Des Moines|CA-134|6}}
  • {{HMS|Swiftsure|08|6}}
  • {{HMCS|Quebec|C66|6}}

Amphibious force flagship

  • {{USS|Mount Olympus|AGC-8|6}}
  • {{USS|Tidewater|AD-31|6}}

=Gallery=

File:USS Midway (CVB-41) steaming off the Firth of Clyde in September 1952.jpg|USS Midway

File:HMS Eagle (R05) after her commissioning 1951.jpg|HMS Eagle

File:HMS Vanguard (Battleship, 1946-1960)1.jpg|HMS Vanguard

File:Vice Admiral Lynde D. McCormick (USN) boards USS Columbus (CA-74) on 20 September 1952 (80-G-447768).jpg|Admiral McCormick

File:RN MTBs underway during Operation Mainbrace 1952.jpg|British MTBs underway

Other NATO military exercises - fall 1952

Exercise Mainbrace was part of a series of NATO exercise jointly commanded by Admiral McCormick and General Ridgeway during the Fall of 1952 involving 300,000 military personnel engaged in maneuvers from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean Sea.

Two exercises were conducted by NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe during the Fall of 1952. Ancient Wall was a series of military maneuvers involving ground small unit tactical training, land-based tactical air support, and carrier-based air support.{{cite journal |date= September 26, 1952 |title= The NATO Exercises, Part 1 |journal= Flight |pages= 402–404 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1952/1952%20-%202822.html }} Longstep was a ten-day naval exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea during November 1952 involving over 170 warships and 700 aircraft under the overall command of Admiral Carney. The objective of the Allied ("Blue") forces was to dislodge enemy ("Green") invasion forces from their occupying positions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Blue naval forces were centered around the U.S. Sixth Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral John H. Cassady, USN, and its two aircraft carriers, the {{USS|Franklin D. Roosevelt|CV-42|2}} and {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|2}}. Green forces included submarines and land-based aircraft. The exercise concluded with an amphibious landing at Lebidos Bay south of İzmir, involving 3000 French, Italian, and Greek troops, including the Battalion Landing Team 3/2, under the overall command of General Robert E. Hogaboom, USMC.{{cite web|title=A Big Step Forward: Operation Longstep |url=http://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah195301.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041120201907/http://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah195301.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2004-11-20 |format=PDF |work=All Hands |publisher=BUPERS - U.S. Navy |date=January 1953 |access-date=2010-08-01 }}{{cite web | title= Official Biography - General Robert E. Hogaboom, USMC | url= https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=1112&PERSON_TYPE=General | work= Manpower & Reserve Affairs | publisher= United States Marine Corps | year= 2010 | access-date= 2010-08-01 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070820223737/https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/GOSA/Biographies/rptBiography.asp?PERSON_ID=1112&PERSON_TYPE=General | archive-date= 2007-08-20 }}

Aftermath

The Soviet Union characterized Mainbrace, Holdfast, and other NATO military exercises as "war-like acts" by NATO, with particular reference to the participation of Norway and Denmark, while the USSR was preparing for its own military maneuvers in the Soviet Zone.

The exercise would also be referenced in Project Blue Book after two RAF Shackleton crews flying out of RAF Topcliffe (UK) saw a fast-moving silver disc near the air base, travelling at 15,000-feet, with ground personnel at nearby RAF Dishforth also spotting a similarly-described disc seemingly following an RAF Meteor jet fighter, as it manouvered during aerobatics, on September 19th. The sightings were reported at the time in many UK newspapers, often as front-page lead articles. A fortnight later NATO stated Danish aircrew had seen a silver disc over the North Sea on the same day as the RAF encounters.

See also

Notes

{{Reflist|2}}

Sources and references

{{DANFS}}

  • {{cite journal |last=Allard |first=Dean C. |author-link=Dean C. Allard |date= January 2001|title=Strategic Views of the US Navy and NATO on the Northern Flank, 1917-1991 |journal=The Northern Mariner |volume=XI |issue=1 |pages=11–24 |url=http://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol11/nm_11_1_11to24.pdf |access-date=2009-08-05 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Fry |first=Roger |date=October 2007 |title=HMS Vanguard: A short history of Britain's last battleship |journal=Vanguard |issue=10 |pages=33 |url=http://www.rna-10-area.net/files/VanguardOct07.pdf |access-date=2009-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724042028/http://www.rna-10-area.net/files/VanguardOct07.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-24 }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Gary, USN (Ret.) |first=GMC Richard M. |date=Summer 2009 |title=USS QUINCY CA-71 |journal=U.S. Navy Cruiser Sailors Association |pages=34 |url=http://www.navycruisers.org/su09current-articles2.html |access-date=2009-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415135537/http://www.navycruisers.org/su09current-articles2.html |archive-date=2013-04-15 }}
  • {{cite web | last=L'Heureux CD, RCN (Ret'd) | first=Commander E.J. | title=Aircraft Carriers Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) | url=http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/assets/pdf/e_AircraftCarriers.PDF | publisher=Canada Aviation Museum | access-date=2009-07-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110060007/http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/assets/pdf/e_AircraftCarriers.PDF | archive-date=2011-01-10 | url-status=dead }}
  • {{cite journal |last=Till |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Till |date=April 2005 |title=Holding the Bridge in Troubled Times: The Cold War and the Navies of Europe |journal=The Journal of Strategic Studies |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=309–337 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group Ltd |issn=0140-2390 |doi=10.1080/01402390500088379 |url=http://yurizhukov.com/files/CWaS_309-337_european_navies.pdf |access-date=2009-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104141436/http://yurizhukov.com/files/CWaS_309-337_european_navies.pdf |archive-date=2009-11-04 }}
  • Sydney Morning Herald - [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19520916&id=szETAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GrADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5730,1872770 "NATO Ships Enter Baltic Sea"] - September 16, 1952
  • Time, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080105063621/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822470,00.html "Operation Mainbrace"], September 22, 1952
  • Time, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101125200940/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935734,00.html "NATO: Hedgehogs"], September 29, 1952
  • {{cite book |last= Thompson |first= Roger |title= Lessons Not Learned: The U.S. Navy's Status Quo Culture |publisher= Naval Institute Press |year= 2007 |isbn= 1-59114-865-0}}

External links

  • All Hands magazine online
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060416094836/https://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah195210.pdf October 1952]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060416062309/https://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah195211.pdf November 1952]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20041120201907/http://www.navy.mil/media/allhands/acrobat/ah195301.pdf January 1953]
  • [http://www.cv41.org/photos/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=17727 Photo Gallery - Operation Mainbrace] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106092935/http://www.cv41.org/photos/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=17727 |date=2013-11-06 }} - CV41.org
  • [http://www.nato.int/cv/ace-k-p.pdf Senior officials in the NATO military structure, from 1949 to 2001]
  • NATO the First Five Years 1949-1954:
  • [http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/chapters/7.htm Chapter 7 — The Military Structure]
  • [http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/chapters/9.htm Chapter 9 — The Increase in Strength - International Exercises]
  • [http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/appendices/1.htm Appendix 1 — Chronicle]
  • [http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/annexes/b5.htm Annex — Chapter IX-B: Soviet armed strength (as estimated in 1954)]
  • [http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=30323 "Exercise Mainbrace"] - Pathé Films online

{{NATO}}

{{Cold War}}

Category:Alleged UFO-related aviation incidents

Mainbrace

Category:1952 in military history

Category:September 1952 in Europe