Attack on Zeebrugge and Ostend

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Attack on Zeebrugge and Ostend
Wrecks of the sunken block ships in the port entrance of Zeebrugge, April 1918
Wrecks of the sunken block ships in the port entrance of Zeebrugge, April 1918
date April 22 to May 10, 1918
place English Channel
output unsuccessful as the submarine's exit routes could not be blocked
Parties to the conflict

Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom, svg United Kingdom

War Ensign of Germany (1903-1919) .svg German Empire

Commander

Roger Keyes

Ludwig von Schröder

Troop strength
75 ships, 1700 men landing troops unknown
losses

all block ships
214 dead, 383 wounded and 19 prisoners

unknown

Sea War in the North Sea 1914–1918

The attack or attack on Zeebrugge and Ostend was a commando operation of the Royal Navy against the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend in the German-occupied part of Belgium in April 1918. The aim was to neutralize both ports by sinking block ships in the sea channels of both ports Prevent the submarines from running out . Zeebrugge and Ostend were the endpoints of these sea canals that connected Bruges (the inland submarine base in Flanders ) with the North Sea .

The neutralization of the German submarine bases in occupied Belgium was one of the main goals of the Third Battle of Flanders from July 31 to November 6, 1917. The original plan, worked out by First Sea Lord John Jellicoe in 1917, provided for the occupation of both ports. After the army was unable to break through the German lines, the Royal Navy was supposed to block the exits of the sea canals with cement -filled blockships in order to avert the danger of submarines. Old protected cruisers from the 1890s, which could no longer be used in modern naval warfare, were used as block ships . The following forces were brought together for this purpose:

In the Swin estuary
In Dover
  • 16 destroyers as cover for Zeebrugge, 2 destroyers for Ostend and the monitors Erebus and Terror including 3 destroyers to fight the ranged batteries in Zeebrugge.
  • the submarines C1 and C3 for the destruction of the pier viaduct in Zeebrugge.
In Dunkirk

From the German side the torpedo boats S 53 , S 63 and V 69 of the III stationed in Flanders lay at the pier in Seebrugge . Torpedo boat flotilla or destroyer flotilla Flanders, as well as the small torpedo boats A 27 , A 30 , A 43 and A 49 of the torpedo boat flotilla Flanders.

The overall operation on the British side was headed by the Chief of Dover Patrol Admiral Roger Keyes .

A first attempt to block the sea canals failed on April 11, 1918 because of the bad weather. However, the coaster HMS CMB 33 ran aground on the German-occupied coast. The operation plans on board fell into the hands of the German side and appropriate countermeasures could be initiated. The block attempt thus met a prepared defense. On April 14, 1918, another attempt failed due to a change in the weather.

In the third attempt on the night of 23./24. April 1918 a partial success against Zeebrugge could be achieved. The submarine HMS C3 could under the steely Molen - Viaduct maneuver and destroy these by the detonation of an explosive charge in the bow. The cruisers HMS Intrepid and HMS Iphigenia under the command of Henry Noel Marryat Hardy were sunk as block ships at the designated places - however, the exit route could not be completely blocked, as both ships only partially blocked the fairway due to the current transfer . Likewise, the crucial mole battery could not be fought down by the landing corps of cruiser HMS Vindictive . During the battle for the mole battery, the torpedo boat sailor Hermann Künne from S 53 stood out on the German side, attacking the leader of the landing corps with his on-board knife, mortally wounding him and falling in the process. The destroyer HMS North Star sank in the defensive fire of the port batteries.

The attack against Ostend could again not be carried out due to the weather.

Another attempt to block Ostend failed again on April 27, 1918 due to bad weather. Due to the favorable moon phase and the tidal conditions , the action was postponed to May 9, 1918.

The following forces were used in this experiment:

The bombardment unit was sighted on the approach by the German small torpedo boats A 8 and A 11 , but they did nothing about it and did not report it.

The attempt to block failed because the HMS Vindictive ran aground in the defensive fire of the harbor batteries and got stuck prematurely and therefore had to be blown up. The destroyer Warwick , Admiral Keyes' lead boat, ran into a mine and had to be towed in.

literature

  • Antony Preston: Cruiser. (Your historical development from 1880–1990). Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-613-01322-3 .
  • Fock, Harald: Z-before! International development and war missions of destroyers and torpedo boats. Volume 1: 1914 to 1939. Koehler, Herford 1989, ISBN 3-7822-0207-4 .
  • Johan Ryheul: Marine Corps Flanders. 1914-1918. ES Mittler, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0541-X .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Hugo von Waldeyer-Hartz : The fight for Ostend and Zeebrugge. In: What we don't know about the world war. Leipzig [no. J.], pp. 227-230, here p. 230.

Web links

Commons : Raid against Zeebrugge and Ostend  - collection of images, videos and audio files