Battle of Ushant (1944)

The Battle of Ushant, also known as the Battle of Brittany, occurred on the early morning of 9 June 1944 and was an engagement between German and Allied destroyer flotillas off the coast of Brittany. The action came shortly after the initial Allied landings in Normandy. After a confused engagement during the night the Allies sank one of the German destroyers and forced another ashore, where she was wrecked.

Background

On 6 June 1944, the day of the first landings in Normandy, the remnants of the German 8th destroyer flotilla, consisting of the Type 36A and , and the (formerly the Dutch destroyer ''Gerard Callenburgh'') were ordered by ''Vizeadmiral'' Theodor Krancke to sail from the Gironde estuary to Brest. The order was intercepted by the British which detailed Canadian Bristol Beaufighters from RAF Coastal Command to attack the German ships as they sailed through the Bay of Biscay. In the ensuing raid, the destroyer ''Z32'' was slightly damaged. The German ships made port at Brest, where ''Z24'' and ''Z32'' had their anti-aircraft armament increased. They then put to sea again on 8 June in company with the Flottentorpedoboot 1939 class torpedo boat , the sole survivor of the 4th torpedo boat flotilla, bound for Cherbourg under the command of Theodor von Bechtolsheim, where they would reinforce German positions.

The Allied forces learned of the German intentions through Ultra intercepts, and detailed the 10th Destroyer Flotilla to intercept the German ships as they sailed up the English Channel. The 10th Destroyer Flotilla was at this time under the overall command of Captain Basil Jones, who had his flag aboard the . With him were , and , the Canadian ships and , and the Polish vessels and . Jones decided to split his flotilla in two; the 19th Division consisted of the ''Eskimo'', ''Javelin'', ''Piorun'' and ''Błyskawica'', the 20th Division consisted of ''Tartar'', ''Ashanti'', ''Huron'' and ''Haida''.

Engagement

The British flotilla were moving westward down the Channel when the German ships were detected by radar just after 01:00 on 9 June. Jones turned his force to meet the Germans, who were by now 30 miles east-northeast of the Ile de Batz. The two flotillas clashed intermittently thereafter, exchanging gunfire and salvoes of torpedoes. ''Tartar'' was struck several times, but was able to put out fires and restore her speed. ''ZH1'' was then engaged by both ''Tartar'' and ''Ashanti'', with ''Ashanti'' launching two torpedoes at point-blank range. One struck ''ZH1'', blowing off her bows. With the ship crippled, her captain, Klaus Barckow gave the order to abandon ship, then scuttled her with depth charges at 02:40. Barckow was among the 39 killed. Twenty-eight managed to reach France, the remaining 140 were picked up by the British.

''Haida'' and ''Huron'' had meanwhile been pursuing ''Z24'' and ''T24'' until the German ships ran into a British minefield. The Canadians attempted to detour around it, but eventually lost the Germans. ''Z24'' and ''T24'' regrouped, with the intention of returning to engage the British, but finding they were not being followed, they left the area. ''Haida'' and ''Huron'' returned to the scene and came across Bechtolsheim's ''Z32'', which had received a heavy pounding and lost contact with the rest of the Germans. There was some confusion over establishing each other's identity, but when the Canadians discovered she was a German ship they opened fire. Bechtolsheim fled at high speed, but ''Z32'', having sustained heavy damage, was driven ashore on the Ile de Batz, and then finished off by a squadron of Bristol Beaufighters the next day.

Surviving ships

Two destroyers from the battle survive as museum ships today. in Hamilton, Ontario, and ORP ''Błyskawica'' in Gdynia, Poland.

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ushant (1944)
Conflicts in 1944
Operation Neptune
Ushant
Ushant (1944)
Ushant (1944)
Ushant (1944)
Military history of the English Channel
June 1944 events
Battle
Military history of Brittany