Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Wolfram von Richthofen Alfred Saalwächter
Units involved
11 Group, 10 Group Fighter Command
Luftflotten 2 and 3
Casualties and losses
RAF: 115 fighters destroyed 42 fighters damaged 71 pilots killed in action 19 pilots wounded in action 4 pilots missing in action Royal Navy: 35 merchant ships sunk (including neutrals) 7 fishing vessels several naval vessels 4 destroyers at least 176 sailors killed ~300 casualties
Luftwaffe: 80 fighters destroyed 36 fighters damaged 22 Dive bombers destroyed 22 dive bombers damaged 100 medium bombers destroyed 33 medium bombers damaged 13 naval aircraft destroyed 1 naval aircraft damaged 201 airmen killed 75 airmen wounded 277 missing 16 airmen prisoner of war Kriegsmarine: c. 4
v
t
e
Western Front of World War II
Phoney War
River Forth
Saar
The Heligoland Bight
Wikinger
Luxembourg
Schuster Line
The Netherlands
Maastricht
Mill
The Hague
Rotterdam
Zeeland
The Grebbeberg
Afsluitdijk
Rotterdam Blitz
Belgium
Fort Eben-Emael
Hannut
David
Gembloux
La Lys
Ypres–Comines Canal
France
Sedan
Montcornet
Saumur
Arras
Boulogne
Calais
Dunkirk
Dynamo
Abbeville
Lille
Paula
1st Alps
Haddock Force
Britain
Kanalkampf
Adlertag
The Hardest Day
Battle of Britain Day
Sea Lion
1941–1943
Cerberus
Donnerkeil
Baedeker Blitz
Commando Raids
St Nazaire Raid
Dieppe Raid
1944–1945
Baby Blitz
Overlord
Chastity
Dragoon
Siegfried Line
Netherlands
Market Garden
Hürtgen Forest
Aachen
Queen
Scheldt
Bulge
Nordwind
2nd Alps
Colmar Pocket
Atlantic Pockets
Germany
Blackcock
Veritable
Grenade
Blockbuster
Lumberjack
Remagen
Cologne
Gisela
Undertone
Plunder
Varsity
Paderborn
Ruhr
TF Baum
Frankfurt
Würzburg
Kassel
Heilbronn
Nuremberg
Hamburg
Strategic campaigns
The Blitz
Defence of the Reich
Strategic Bombing Campaign
Raids on the Atlantic Wall
Battle of Atlantic
The Kanalkampf (Channel Battle) was the German term for air operations by the Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force (RAF) over the English Channel in July 1940, beginning the Battle of Britain during the Second World War. By 25 June, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Britain had rejected peace overtures and on 16 July, Adolf Hitler issued Directive 16 to the Wehrmacht (German armed forces), ordering preparations for an invasion of Britain, under the codename Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion).[1]
The Germans needed air superiority over southern England for the invasion; the Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF and protect the cross-channel invasion from the Royal Navy. To commence the destruction of RAF Fighter Command, the Luftwaffe attacked convoys in the Channel. Historians differ somewhat about the dates of the Battle of Britain and British histories usually treat 10 July as the beginning. British and German writers and historians acknowledge that air battles were fought over the Channel between the Battle of France and Britain; systematic German attacks against British coastal targets and convoys began on 4 July. During the Kanalkampf, the Luftwaffe received modest support from shore artillery and the Schnellboote (S-boats, E-Boats to the British) of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine).
Fighter Command could not guarantee the defence of the convoys; the Germans sank several British and neutral ships and shot down a considerable number of British fighters. The Royal Navy was forced to suspend the sailing of large convoys in Channel waters and close it to ocean-going vessels until more protection could be arranged, which took several weeks. On 1 August, Hitler issued Directive 17, extending Luftwaffe operations to the British mainland and RAF-related targets. On 13 August (Adlertag, Eagle Day) the main air offensive against the RAF began. The Kanalkampf had drawn out Fighter Command as intended and convoy attacks continued for several more days. Both sides had suffered losses but the Luftwaffe had failed to defeat on Fighter Command; the Luftwaffe had yet to gain air superiority for Operation Sea Lion.
The historian Williamson Murray (1983) regarded the Channel battles as inconclusive; Peter Smith (2007) wrote that the battles could be described as a German victory of sorts.[2] In 2000, Stephen Bungay wrote that in early August the Channel was German by day but that fact did not threaten Fighter Command. Bungay wrote that the Luftwaffe had to advance well beyond the Channel to win an aerial campaign and that Hugo Sperrle, the commander of Luftflotte 3, was already alarmed at German losses. Albert Kesselring, the Luftflotte 2 commander, could ill-afford losses at the rate suffered in July 1940 either.[3]
The Kanalkampf (Channel Battle) was the German term for air operations by the Luftwaffe against the Royal Air Force (RAF) over the English Channel in July...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
from the Royal Air Force. The Luftwaffe bombing offensive during the Kanalkampf phase of the battle targeted naval convoys and bases in order to lure...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Italian invasion of France: June 1940 Battle of Britain: July–October 1940 Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Battle of Graveney Marsh...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Britain began in early July 1940 with attacks on shipping and ports in the Kanalkampf, which forced RAF Fighter Command into defensive action. In addition,...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
sorties. From 4 July, daylight Kanalkampf ("the Channel battles") against shipping. 17 July – 12 August: daylight Kanalkampf attacks on shipping intensify...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
Calais Dunkirk Dynamo Abbeville Lille Paula 1st Alps Haddock Force Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag The Hardest Day Battle of Britain Day Sea Lion 1941–1943 Cerberus...
CW7, a designation for convoy routes in the English Channel during the Kanalkampf of WWII This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title...
simply have been destroyed in dogfights. The first phase of the battle—the Kanalkampf (Channel Battles) was marginally successful. Operation Eagle and the 18...
unnecessary loss of life amongst the civilian population. — Hermann Göring The Kanalkampf of attacks on shipping and fighter skirmishes over the English Channel...