Why did Hitler bomb industrial cities with seaports during the Blitz?

Question

I'm writing an essay on the reasons that Hitler bombed industrial cities in Britain, especially cities with industrial seaports. I'm struggling to think of or find any more reasons of why this would be significant in ensuring British surrender/defeat, all I'm coming up with is e.g. destroying British morale, so that British economy suffers etc.

Does anyone know of any other reasons why or ways to clarify on how the economy will suffer, etc? Any answers will really help. :)

Answer 1

Britain at that time imported most of her raw materials and especially food and fuel oil...so it stands to reason that it would need to come into the country by sea...so if Hitler could disrupt the Ports then these raw materials could not arrive...or their delivery would be hindered....He bombed industrial areas to stop the manufacture of war supplies, ammunition factories, aeroplane manufacturers, engine manufacturers etc....the bombing campaign was not a great success, the employment of submarines (U boats) in the North Atlantic very nearly did succeed in bringing the country to its knees, which led to the dig for victory campaign where people were encouraged to dig up their gardens to plant vegetables and vast areas of land were taken into Agriculture.

Following a bombing raid on Berlin, Hitler decided more on a terror campaign against London rather than attacking the RAF airfields...had he in fact continued bombing airfields he may well have dealt a terminal blow to the RAF which in turn could have led to the invasion of Britain,

A whole library of books on these subjects....hope the little I offered has helped.

Answer 2

Hitler bombed the seaports because he understood just a much as Churchill and Roosevelt that England is an island. As such it receives a very high percentage of what it needs to survive via cargo ship.

In reality, it was a two-pronged attack. The U-Boats worked to stop shipping on the high seas. The Luftwaffe bombed the docks and unloading facilities.

England could not have survived for long if Hitler had cut off that lifeline.

By comparison. When the Russians established the blockade around Berlin, American and British planes flew around the clock. On April 16, 1949, there was a plane landing in Berlin every minute.

And that was to keep a city going. Imagine what is required to keep England going.

Answer 3

Lend /Lease

Although the U.S. was not in the war before December 1941, they where supplying armaments and materials to Britain under the Lend/Lease agreement. Basic food stuffs from the Commonwealth where being imported to feed the country too.

This was mainly brought in by British Merchant ships to the main Atlantic ports. The U boats where deployed to cut this lifeline, but the Luftwaffe was involved in destroying the dock network. No docks means ships cannot be unloaded. No raw materials, no industry, fighters, tanks, guns, vehicles etc. No food, the country will be starved into submission.

Many ports where bombed, much of the London Blitz was caused by attacks on the London dock network and warehousing.

If you look at the amount of bombs dropped per square mile, some have reckoned that the dock network in North Liverpool/Bootle was the most heavily bombed area in the country, not London which is commonly accepted as being the most heavily hit.

Answer 4

The two main contributions to British war efforts at this time were the navy and the air force. Most of the industries supporting the navy were concentrated in the main ports so by bombing these he hoped to destroy any chance of maintaining the fleet. This would include scaring the workers away as well.

The other issue is that Britain had until the 1940's concentrated most of its industrial effort either in the Midlands or in the major ports elsewhere. So this strategy could have destroyed most of the British economy as well.

Answer 5

You will need to define "The Blitz" as there were several shifts of objectives during the German bombing campaigns over Britain.

The first set of objectives were associated with destroying the RAF to facilitate operation Sealion, the planned German invasion of Britain. Ports that might be of use to the German were deliberately *not* bombed, but since aircraft factories as well as airfields were objectives, Southampton with the Supermarine factory was a prime target.

There was little strategic, economic, bombing as the aim was for a quick tactical victory.

Following the failure of this strategy to defeat and eliminate the RAF, and in retaliation for an RAF raid on Berlin, London became a major target for mass night raids. The first "Blitz"
The docks were a strategic target, but the principle objective was a terror campaign aimed at causing the British Government to seek peace, from the level of damage both physical and to public morale.
Another issue was navigation. Flying at night, the broad Thames estuary leading to London was a superb navigation mark. Finding blacked-out cities was not a trivial problem early in the war.

Later in the war, other industrial cities and military centres came under massed attack: Bristol, Coventry, Portsmouth, Plymouth... and again London.
Ports were targeted for their navy connections and their handing of vital imports, especially oil.

But by then it wasn't really "The blitz", (blitzkreig =>"lightning war") though the term would be used of any particular raid.
"Rugby got blitzed last night."

Later on, targets weren't even especialy chosen for industrial capacity. Look up "Baedeker raids"

Answer 6

Lets see, because sea ports allowed the import of goods vital to the war effort of Britain, the Royal Navy was based at a number of the Bigger Ports attacked and stretched the resources and kept the men who should have been relaxing at their home port on action. The coast was less well defended than inner areas of the uk and the fighters had a better chance to engage the RAF on equal terms. The South Coast area had less warning of impending attack by Luftwaffe forces and raiders could come in at lower altitudes.
Also as a prelude to invasion the harbours would have to be cleared of any Royal Naval ships that could interdict or attack any barge force approaching from the Channel area.
Hope this helps

Answer 7

Obviously it was necessary for Britain to increase its imports of war supplies and food from overseas so anything which prevented that would weaken Britain.
Heavy industry which is essential for a war economy such as steel making and armaments production tends to be concentrated in large cities so these would have been prime targets.
Industrial ports were centres of shipbuilding and necessary to supply the navy with more vessels. During the whole war the navy was vital in keeping control of the seas.

Answer 8

Hi there.
Liverpool was pasted because it was the chief port of the empire - weapons and supplies from the USA, convoys of aid sent from there to Russia for the eastern front, food and troops from the rest of the Empire all came in. Destroy the ports, this stops - the ships cannot get in and are then targets at sea, stopping supply and any chance of a counter invasion being easily launched.
The morale aspect was covered by the "Baedeker" raids, where areas praised by the Baedeker european travel guides were pasted to destroy morale - Norwich lost over 20% of ALL its housing, despite being tactically irrelevant.
Good luck, Steve.

Answer 9

Industrial.... industry.

Where do the materials of war come from?
Where is it that guns, bombs tanks and airplanes are made?

Factories.

Factories are found in industrial areas.

Now, if your are flying an airplane over the Channel and want to bomb a city, would you fly inland over a lot of ground where they could plant anti-aircraft guns, or would you swoop in from the sea, attack and return to safety above the water?



g-day!

Answer 10

regarding seaports the cities he bombed liverpool,london,belfast,cardiff,glasgow were major shipbuilding areas so the more disruption he could provide the better.
cities such as coventry,birmingham and manchester were major factory bases building tanks,jeeps,guns,ammo,planes etc.

incidentally,the PC history books won't tell you this but it was the british who first targeted civilian cities.
the main thrust behind this thinking is to shatter the morale of the population and blow the nazi party support into bits.