Lfd. Nr.: 1490
| Seegebiet: | Westraum |
| Datum / Zeit: | 04./05.07.1944 00u00 |
| Zugehörige Angriffe : | Angriff 1 |
| Ort des Gefechts: | N Le Havre / BF 3667 l.o. |
| Verbandsführer (S.O.): | LtCdr. C.A. Law (RCN) |
| Angreifer: | PF Trollope mit 29th MTB 459 462 464 ; 55th MTB 632 650 |
| Gefechtsbericht A: | 29th (Law) mit 2 Dog Boats [55th] stößt auf 9 S-/R-Boote, von denen die Short Boats 3 beschädigen [1] -- 9 E/R boats were detected off Cap de la Heve and attacked at 0100/5 by two M.T.Bs. M.T.B.632 got two torpedo hits. Two R-boats considered sunk and third damaged by gunfire [2] -> Off Trouville MTBs 459, 462, and 464 were on their usual protective patrol about the assault anchorage. Shortly after midnight, radar indicated the approach of enemy craft from Le Havre. A few minutes of stalking followed; then ‘starshell’ revealed a line of nine E-boats two thousand yards away, making for the anchorage. As the Canadians opened fire, the German craft broke off into the dark, one of them trailing after the other, heavily hit and ablaze. The rest were overtaken in about half an hour, and the boats of the 29th ripped in through a smoke screen to damage a second craft. Pursuit was complicated by the appearance of a German dive bomber, whose efforts inconvenienced the Canadians, but failed to encourage the disorganized E-boats to make a stand. When the chase was finally abandoned at the entrance to Le Havre, one E-boat, lost in smoke, was considered sunk, and two others had been badly damaged. This was the longest-fought coastal forces action in history. It appeared that another unit of E-boats had come down from Fecamp, and run straight into the E-boats with which the 29th had just disengaged. A terrific all-German battle ensued, and the air was filled with massive quantities of green and yellow tracer going back and forth. The E-boats were fighting each other! Of the some 17 German E-boats in the area, three were sunk, with a possible total of four in all. After these actions, the 462 starboard engine broke down. While limping away to the control frigate they were dive-bombed by a Heinkel [3]. |
| erkannte Gegner: | 5 R- und 4 S-Boote |
| alliierte Erfolge: | keine |
| alliierte Verluste: | MTB 632 beschädigt [?] |
| tatsächliche Gegner: | 6 Boote der 2. S-Flottille |
| Gefechtsbericht B: | 04/23u35 läuft 2. S-Fltl mit 6 Booten von Le Havre aus und hat zwischen 00u00 und 01u00 laufend Gefechte mit MGBs nah an der Küste nördlich von Le Havre [4] |
| Ausgewertete Quellen: | 1) Home Waters, page 140 ; 2) Admirality War Diary, 5.7.1944, page 89 (Scan 89) ; 3) https://naval-museum.mb.ca/mtbs/29th-mtb-flotilla/brief-history-part-2-march-to-june-1944/ ; 4) KTB SKL, 05.07.44, S.110 ; 5) KTB 2.S-Fltl. 04./05.07.44 ; |
| Letzte Änderung: | 20.11.2024 |