Battle of Dover Strait

Battle of Dover Strait

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Dover Strait
partof=World War One


caption=
date=20 April-21 1917
place=in the Dover Strait
territory=
result=British victory
combatant1=United Kingdom
combatant2=German Empire
commander1=Edward Evans
commander2=Bernd von Arnim
strength1=2 destroyers
strength2=12 torpedo boats
casualties1= 2 destroyers damaged
casualties2=2 torpedo boats sunk

The Battle of Dover Strait was a naval battle of World War I, fought in the Dover Strait on the night of 20 April 1917, which carried on into early 21 April. [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishDestroyers.htm British Destroyers of World War I] ]

Background

On 20 April 1917 two groups of destroyers of the Kaiserliche Marine raided the Dover Strait to bombard Allied positions on shore and to engage warships patrolling the Dover Barrage — [Liddle 149.] the field of floating mines that prevented German ships from getting into the English Channel. Six destroyers bombarded Calais and another six bombarded Dover just before midnight.

Battle

Two flotilla leaders of the Royal Navy, HMS "Broke" (Commander Edward Evans) and HMS "Swift", were on patrol near Dover and engaged the German ships early on 21 April 1917 near the Goodwin Sands. [Baldwin 115.] In a confusing action, "Swift" torpedoed "G85". "Broke" rammed "G42", and the two ships became locked together. For a while there was close-quarters fighting between the crews, as the German sailors tried to board the British ship [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishDestroyers.htm British Destroyers of World War I] ] , before "Broke" got free and "G42" sank. [Chatterton 189.]

Aftermath

HMS "Swift" was slightly damaged, but the "Broke" was heavily damaged and had to be towed back to port. [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishDestroyers.htm British Destroyers of World War I] ] The other ten German destroyers made it back to port without loss.

Notes

Bibliography

*Baldwin, H. W. "World War I: An Outline History". New York: Harper and Row, 1962.
*Chatterton, E. K. "The Auxiliary Patrol". London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1923.
*Liddle, Peter H. "The Sailor's War, 1914-1918". New York: Stirling, 1985.


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