Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches - History

History

Admiral Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, who had been Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, also took over responsibility for the Western Approaches from the start of World War II.

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 Combined Operations headquarters at Plymouth was increasingly awkward and the decision was taken to move the Combined Operations headquarters to Liverpool. On 7 February 1941, the headquarters was established at Derby House, Liverpool. The headquarters of Royal Air Force’s No.15 Group Coastal Command moved to Liverpool at the same time. On 17 February 1941 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.

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. The museum is known as the Western Approaches - Liverpool War Museum.