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Abstract
This article examines the British naval aid given to Portugal during the First World War, in the Atlantic, mainly between the years of 1916 and 1918, when Portugal was a belligerent country, fighting alongside England and France. That aid was important as Portugal was poorly prepared to face the new naval threat of submarines and mines. The small size of the Portuguese navy meant that it was also difficult to assume the defence of the Portuguese mainland ports or the strategically important area between the Portuguese mainland and the islands of the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde. British aid was also crucial when it came to transport the Portuguese army to Brest, from where it proceeded to the Flanders fields to support the British army. Using mainly primary Portuguese and English sources, this article sheds new light on the British war effort with its old ally.
Notes
1 Portuguese Navy Central Library, Historical Archive (hereafter PNCL–HA), box 1358, ‘Relatório da Comissão de Aprovisionamento do Transporte de Tropas, 20 Apr. 1920’.
2 ‘Memorandum of the arrangements for the employment of Portuguese forces in the British zone of operations in France’, doc. no. 517, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, II, 72–5.
3 Telo, Erros, 229–63.
4 Telo, Homens, 255, 280–1.
5 Telo, Erros and Um enquadramento global.
6 Silva, ‘A Marinha e a “Paz Armada”’, 397–8.
7 The National Archives of England and Wales (hereafter TNA) ADM 137, 1203, letter of 8 Mar. 1916 with a three-page report.
8 TNA ADM 137, 1203. He was also the Portuguese delegate to the Commission Internationale de Ravitaillement.
9 TNA ADM 137, 1203, ‘Proposed naval mission to Portugal to organize local anti-submarine measures’.
10 He was promoted to vice-admiral during his stay in Portugal.
11 W. E. Bleck was a director of the Anglo-Portuguese Motor and Machinery Co. Ltd, resident in Lisbon, before joining the Royal Field Artillery. Directory of Directors, 1914. He was later made Chevalier of the Portuguese Republic. London Gazette, 24 Oct. 1919.
12 They were originally to sail aboard the Amazon.
13 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis final report 22 Sep. 1916.
14 Inso, A Marinha Portuguesa, 46.
15 TNA ADM 137, 1203, Visit to Admiralty of Portuguese Naval Officers, 27 Mar. 1916.
16 Inso, A Marinha Portuguesa, 48.
17 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 24 Apr. 1916.
18 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis final report 22 Sep. 1916.
19 One on 27 Apr., three on 28 Apr., one on 29 Apr., one on 30 May and a last one on 3 Jun.
20 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis reports 12 May and from 2 Jun. 1916.
21 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis report 8 Sep. 1916.
22 For example, PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 271, 5 Feb. 1917.
23 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis final report 22 Sep. 1916.
24 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis final report 22 Sep. 1916.
25 PNCL–HA, box 1378, note no. 4005, 20 Sep. 1916.
26 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis reports 12 May and from 2 Jun. 1916.
27 Especially as their explosive charges and detonators did not arrive in Lisbon until July. TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 12 Jul. 1916.
28 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis reports 12 May and from 2 Jun. 1916.
29 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 13 Jun. 1916.
30 TNA 137 1203, Naval mission to Portugal.
31 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis reports 2 Jun. and from 26 Jun. 1916
32 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 12 Jul. 1916.
33 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis report 8 Sep. 1916.
34 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis reports 12 May and 2 Jun. 1916.
35 TNA 137 1203, Translation of a letter from Rear-Admiral de Salis to (Portuguese) Major General da Armada, sent on 23 Jun.
36 TNA 137 1203, Translation of a letter received from (Portuguese) Major General da Armada dated 23 Jun.
37 TNA 137 1203, Report from 22 Jul. 1916.
38 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis final report 22 Sep. 1916.
39 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 2 Jun. 1916.
40 TNA 137 1203, Rear-Admiral Salis report 23 Jun. 1916.
41 TNA 137 1203, Vice-Admiral Salis report 2 Oct. 1916.
42 Prize letter, doc. no. 519, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 1914–1918, 76.
43 TNA FO 372–1159, Portuguese decorations for British naval officers.
44 ‘Memorandum’, doc. no. 517, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 73.
45 Doc. no. 528, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 89–90.
46 PNCL–HA, box 1358, ‘Relatório’.
47 PNCL–HA, box 1358, 6–IV–6–1, ‘Report of a meeting held aboard the cruiser NRP Vasco da Gama, on the 16th of January 1917’.
48 All these delays led to some troops to stay on board the transports for 11 days, 8 of which anchored in the river Tagus. Olavo, Na Grande Guerra, 37.
49 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 49, 16 Feb. 1917.
50 Doc. no. 567, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 146–7.
51 Doc. no. 566, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 146.
52 Doc. no. 569, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 148.
53 Doc. No. 571, Portugal na Primeira Guerra Mundial, 149–50.
54 TNA FO 371–3031, ‘The history of the movement of the Portuguese division from Lisbon to France’, 25 Mar. 1917.
55 PNCL–HA, box 1358, ‘Relatório’.
56 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 238, 8 Aug.1917.
57 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 158, 15 May 1917.
58 Freitas, As minhas recordações, 33–4.
59 PNCL–HA, box 1358, ‘Relatório’.
60 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 122, 11 Apr. 1917.
61 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note w/n, 19 May 1917.
62 Portuguese army personnel manned those shore defences and communications were not always easy. PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–7–1, w/n, 15 Apr. 1917 and note no. 618, 17 Apr. 1917.
63 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–1, w/n, 28 Jul. 1917.
64 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 216, 17 Jul. 1917.
65 PNCL–HA, folder 320, 6–IV–6–2, note no. 155, 10 May 1917.
66 PNCL–HA, box 1358, ‘Relatório’.
67 Inso, A Marinha, 63–4. Telo says it only occurred in January. Telo, Homens, 253.
68 Telo, Homens, 254.
69 Lisbon daily newspaper A Capital, 10 Dec. 1918.
70 Inso, A Marinha, 51–2.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Augusto Salgado
Augusto Salgado MA PhD (Lisbon University) is a captain in the Portuguese navy, and is currently the history professor at the Portuguese Naval Academy (Escola Naval). His research interests are the Portuguese navy from the sixteenth century onward, First World War naval history and underwater cultural heritage. He is currently co-co-ordinator of Project U-35, which aims to locate and research the ships wrecked by the German submarine off the south coast of Portugal in 1917.