Battle of the Bay of Biscay
| Battle of the Bay of Biscay | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Atlantic | |
| Result | British victory |
United Kingdom
Germany
Charles Clark Harold Grant6 torpedo boats
1 aircraft
1 cruiser damaged
1 destroyer sunk
2 torpedo boats sunk
1 torpedo boat damaged[1]
The Battle of the Bay of Biscay, or Operation Bernau, was a naval action that took place on 28 December 1943 during World War II as part of the Atlantic campaign. The battle took place in the Bay of Biscay between two light cruisers of the British Royal Navy, and a destroyer and a torpedo boat flotilla of the German Kriegsmarine hoping to intercept and escort a blockade runner. The battle was fought as part of the Allied Operation Stonewall, which was to intercept German blockade runners off the west coast of France. In the confused action that followed the two British cruisers HMS Enterprise and HMS Glasgow respectively sank T26, together with her sister ship T25 and the destroyer Z27.[2][3]
Background
In late December 1943 a German Kriegsmarine destroyer flotilla, reinforced by six large
The
By 04:00 the next day the 4th Flotilla was 300 nmi (350 mi; 560 km) due south of
Battle
Allied aircraft had already reported the position of the German ships about 13:00. About the same time a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor sighted and attacked both cruisers but was deterred by anti-aircraft fire. The German aircrew immediately turned north-east, reporting the position of the British cruisers more than half an hour later to Erdmenger.[6] Captain Charles Clark on Glasgow, assuming that he had been reported, turned north-east, working around the position of the German ships to intercept. The sea was becoming rougher and the wind had increased to 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h), making sailing difficult for the destroyers and torpedo boats.[9]
Glasgow sighted the destroyers at 13:32 hours at a range of 16 nmi (18 mi; 30 km). The cruisers attacked at
By 14:18 hours all of the German ships had engaged; the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla attempted several torpedo attacks but was frustrated by the heavy seas. Z32 and Z37 turned towards the cruisers, closed to 42,000 ft (12,800 m), launching six and four torpedoes respectively.[8] Glasgow to make an emergency turn to port as the track of one torpedo passed about 98 ft (30 m) from the port quarter and two more near the port side. Enterprise had separated from Glasgow and acted independently.[9] After the torpedo attack, the destroyers laid smoke and retired towards the flotilla. The German ships weer in line, Z32followed by Z24, Z37, T23, T27, T26, T22, T25, Z27 and Z25; Z32 and Z37 were off to port during their torpedo attack.[6]
The German force split and Glasgow reversed course at 14:35 hours to chase the northerly group of destroyers; Enterprise had already altered course to the west to head them off.[9] The Germans launched another torpedo attack but shortly after Z27 had fired, it received a shell hit from Enterprise in the boiler room, passing through an oil bunker which caused a huge fire. Clouds of steam gushed from the forward funnel as its speed fell off.[5] After being hit Z27 fired a salvo of four torpedoes but all missed.[6]
Glasgow concentrated on T25, which received hits near the
The cruisers reversed course, soon catching T26. Enterprise was ordered to sink it and Glasgow turned north again to search for damaged vessels, particularly T25. Glasgow soon came across Z27, drifting and silent. Closing to point-blank range, Glasgow hit the destroyer's magazines. A large explosion killed Erdmenger, his staff and the captain.[9] Enterprise finished off T26 with a torpedo and then attacked T25, whose bridge and upper deck and aft superstructure were wrecked. Enterprise closed to 9,800 ft (3,000 m), firing guns and firing a torpedo; T25 was abandoned soon after, burning and sinking.[5]
The cruisers converged and seeing no sign of the German squadron and having sunk three ships for only minor damage, headed for Plymouth. The ships arrived on the evening of 29 December, low on fuel and ammunition. Glasgow had received a hit that killed two crew and wounded three; Enterprise had minor damage from shell splinters.[6] T22 and Z23 headed for Saint-Jean-de-Luz near the Spanish border. The rest of the German ships returned to the Gironde.[5]
Aftermath
Analysis
Morale in the Kriegsmarine was depressed further with the news that the battleship Scharnhorst had been sunk at the Battle of the North Cape.[9] Osorno was the last blockade-runner to reach port, its cargo of rubber meeting German needs until November 1944.[10] Three blockade-runners were sunk between 3 and 5 January 1944 by Allied patrols in the South Atlantic.[11] The Germans abandoned surface blockade-running and turned to submarines, whose voyages became known as Yanagi missions.[12]
Casualties
Of the 672 men on the three sunken ships, 93 were rescued from Z27, 100 from T25, 85 men being lost and 90 from T26, three of the crew being lost.
References
- ^ O'Hara 2004, pp. 280–282.
- ^ Blair 2012, p. 454.
- ^ Nesbit 2008, p. 126.
- ^ a b Chesneau 1997, p. 238.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tucker 2011, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b c d e f g O'Hara 2004, pp. 277–279.
- ^ Saunders 1975, p. 71.
- ^ a b Stubner 2012, pp. 191–192.
- ^ a b c d e f g Whitley 1983, pp. 193–199.
- ^ Müller 2003, p. 581.
- ^ Lambert 1986, p. 98.
- ^ Oldfield 2013, p. 158.
- ^ O'Hara 2004, pp. 277–279; Brown 1995, p. 103.
- ^ Waters 1956, p. 355.
Bibliography
- Blair, Clay (2012). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–45. Vol. II. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0-297-86622-0.
- Brown, David (1995) [1990]. Warship Losses of World War Two (2nd rev. ed.). London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1-85409-278-6.
- Chesneau, Roger (1997). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- Kroener, Bernhard R.; Müller, Rolf-Dieter; Umbreit, Hans (2003) [1999]. Organization and Mobilization of the German Sphere of Power: Part 2 Wartime administration, economy and manpower resources1942–1944/5. Germany and the Second World War. Vol. V. Translated by Cook-Radmore, Derry; Osers, Ewald; Smerin, Barry; Wilson, Barbara (Eng. trans. Clarendon Press, Oxford ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche-Verlags-Anstalt GMBH for Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History) Potsdam, Germany. ISBN 0-19-820873-1.
- Müller, Rolf-Dieter. "Part II Albert Speer and Armaments Policy in Total War. III Basic Conditions of Wartime Production, and Civilian Factors. 4. Organization and Exploitation of 'Fortress Europe'. (c) The Decline in Wartime Foreign Trade (xiii) Japan". In Kroener, Müller & Umbreit (2003).
- Lambert, Andrew (1986). Warship. Vol. X. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-449-7.
- Nesbit, Roy Conyers (2008). Ultra Versus U-Boats: Enigma Decrypts in the National Archives. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84415-874-4.
- O'Hara, Vincent P. (2004). The German Fleet at War, 1939–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-651-8.
- Oldfield, Paul (2013). Cockleshell Raid. Battleground: French Coast. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-78159-255-7.
- ISBN 978-0-11-771594-3– via Hyperwar Foundation.
- Tucker, Spencer (2011). World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. Vol. I. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-457-3.
- Stubner, Helmut (2012). Das Kampfflugzeug Heinkel 177 Greif und seine Weiterentwicklung [The Heinkel 177 Greif Bomber Aircraft and its Further Development] (in German). Eurodoc. ISBN 978-3-9522365-0-5.
- Waters, Sydney (1956). "Chapter 23: The New Zealand Cruisers". The Royal New Zealand Navy. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945 (online scan ed.). Wellington, NZ: Historical Publications Branch. pp. 353–355. OCLC 846919837– via New Zealand Electronic Text Collection.
- Whitley, M. J. (1983). Destroyer!: German Destroyers in World War II. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 978-0-85368-258-5.
Further reading
- McBride, K. D. (1996). "Es and Super-Es". Warship International. XXXIII (3): 257–278. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Whitley, M. J. (1991). German Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-302-8.
External links