Zeebrugge Raid

Zeebrugge Raid Part of the First World War Wrecks of British cruisers after the Zeebrugge Raid, April 1918. Date 23 April 1918 Location Zeebrugge, Belgium 51°21′28.66″N 3°11′50.64″E Result Indecisive Belligerents United Kingdom German Empire Commanders and leaders Roger Keyes Unknown Strength 75 ships 1,700 men unknown Casualties and losses 227 dead 356 wounded 8 dead 16 wounded

The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The port was used by the German Navy as a base for their U-boats and light shipping, which was a serious threat to Allied shipping, especially in the English Channel.

Background

A raid on Zeebrugge was first proposed in 1917 by Sir John Jellicoe, but was not authorised until Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes created a plan for a blocking operation which would make it difficult for German ships and submarines to leave the port. The raid was formally approved by the British Admiralty in February 1918 and launched two months later consisting of 75 volunteer ships and 200 soldiers.

Preparation

Graphic depiction of the raid from Popular Science Magazine July 1918

The cruisers involved in the blockade—including HMS Vindictive—were equipped in Chatham, an operation which involved over 2,000 workers for the special fitting out, and stripping out (in the case of the ships to be sunk) of all unnecessary equipment including their masts. Iris, Daffodil and the submarines were fitted out in Portsmouth. The fleet made its rendezvous at Swin Deep about 8 mi (7.0 nmi; 13 km) south of Clacton. Almost none of the participants were aware of their target.

The first opportunity for the raid was early April 1918, and on 2 April, a first attempt was initiated and Zeebrugge was subjected to an initial air raid by 65 Squadron from Dunkirk. The success of the raid depended upon smoke screens to avoid a massacre of the British Fleet, but as the wind direction was unfavourable, the attack was called off. By this time, Zeebrugge was visible to the fleet, and the fleet to the Germans in Zeebrugge. Seventy-seven ships of all sizes—some with their lights already switched off—had to make a sharp turn to the west and return to their bases.

The raid

Entrance of the Zeebrugge during the First World War, with the leading lights and the two lighthouses (currently out of use).

The raid began with a diversionary attack against the mile-long Zeebrugge mole. The attack was led by the old cruiser, Vindictive, with two Mersey ferries, Daffodil and Iris II. The three ships were accompanied by two old submarines, which were filled with explosives to blow up the viaduct connecting the mole to the shore. Vindictive was to land a force of 200 Royal Marines at the entrance to the Bruges Canal. However, at the time of the landing the winds changed and the planned smoke-screen to cover the ship proved ineffective. The marines, whose objective was to destroy German gun positions, immediately came under heavy fire and suffered heavy casualties. Vindictive—spotted by German gun positions—was forced to land in the wrong location, resulting in the loss of the marines' heavy gun support. Eventually, the submarine HMS C3—commanded by Lt. R. D. Sandford—destroyed the viaduct as planned, by explosion. Sandford was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.

The plan to sink three old cruisers to block the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge did not go as planned. The failure of the attack on the Zeebrugge mole resulted in heavy German fire on the three blocking ships, HMS Thetis, Intrepid and Iphigenia, which were filled with concrete. Thetis did not make it to the canal entrance, after it had hit an obstruction and was scuttled prematurely. The two other ships were sunk at the narrowest point of the canal.

The submarines C1—under Lieut. A.C Newbold — and C3 — under Lieut. R.D. Sandford — were old, each with a volunteer crew of one other officer and four ratings. They each had five tons of amatol packed into their fore-ends and were to be driven into the viaduct and then blown up to prevent reinforcement of the German garrison on the mole. The crews were to abandon their submarines shortly before the collision with the viaduct, leaving the submarines to steer themselves automatically, but during the passage from Dover, C1 parted with her tow and consequently arrived too late to take part in the operation.

C1 and C3 Submarine Crews

Submarine C3

• Lieutenant R. D. Sandford, R.N. Wounded
• Lieutenant J. Howell Price, D.S.C., R.N.R. Coxswain
• Petty-Officer W. Harner, O.N. 228795 Wounded
• E.R.A. A. G. Roxburgh, O.N. 272242
• Leading Seaman W.G. Mayer, On.N. 22196
• Stoker 1., H. C. Bindall, O.N. K5343 Wounded

Submarine C1

• Lieutenant A.C. Newbold, R.N.
• Lieutenant S.A. Bayford, D.S.C., R.N.R.
• Petty-Officer H. G. Jones, L.T.O., O.N. 17 994
• Petty Officer G. T. Newman, O.N. 213236 Coxswain
• E.R.A. W. H. R. Coward, O.N. 1495
• Stoker Petty-Officer F. J. Smith, O.N. 299134

Aftermath

The blockships were not in the correct position when sunk and only managed to block the canal for a few days. The Germans removed two piers in the western bank of the canal, near the blockships, and created a channel through the silt near the blockships' sterns. They were thus able to move submarines past the blockships at high tide.

The Zeebrugge Raid was promoted by Allied propaganda as a key British victory and resulted in the awarding of eight Victoria Crosses. Of the 1,700 men involved in the operation, 300 men were wounded while more than 200 were killed. Among those killed was Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock, the man who devised and commanded the operation of the smoke screen.

Some of the casualties were buried in England, either because they died of their wounds en route or because their comrades had recovered their bodies with the intention of repatriating their remains. Two are buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent. At least nine are buried in Dover's St. James's cemetery.

On April 23, 1964, some of the 46 survivors of the raid, along with the families, the mayor of Deal, and a large Royal Marines Honour Guard, held a service of commemoration for their fallen comrades at the Royal Marines Barracks in Deal, and a tree was planted near the officers' quarters in remembrance. The event gained major press coverage and was reported in The Deal, Walmer and Sandwich Mercury newspaper, dated 23 April 1964, and April 30, and a message to the veterans from a by-now very ill Winston Churchill was read to those assembled.

There are two memorials to the Zeebrugge Raid in Dover. the first is the Zeebrugge Bell, which was given to Dover by the King of the Belgians in 1918, and is to be found with a memorial plaque in Dover's Town Hall. the second is the Zeebrugge memorial in St James's Cemetery. A regular memorial service is held there.

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  HMS Intrepid and Iphigenia sunk as blockships at the entrance to the canal.

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  SS Brussels, torpedoed several times during the raid by the British and scuttled by the Germans in October 1918.

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  Dedication Text of Zeebrugge Cross of Sacrifice in Dover.

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  Zeebrugge Memorial and Graves from St James Cemetery in Dover.

See also

• St. Nazaire Raid - a similar operation of the Second World War

Reference list

• Carpenter, Captain A. F. B. (1922). The Blocking of Zeebrugge. London: Herbert Jenkins, Ltd.. 
• Karau, Mark D. (2003). "Wielding the Dagger": The MarineKorps Flandern and the German War Effort, 1914-1918. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-313-32475-1. 
• Kendall, Paul (2009). The Zeebrugge Raid 1918: 'The Finest feat of Arms'. Brimscombe Port: Spellmount. ISBN 976-0-7524-5332-3. 
• Pitt, Barrie (1958). Zeebrugge: Eleven VCs Before Breakfast. London: Cassell. 
• Prince, Stephen (2010); The Blocking of Zeebrugge – Operation Z-O 1918; Osprey Raid Series #7, Osprey Publishing; ISBN 9781846034534

Other sources

The Deal, Walmer and Sandwich Mercury newspaper, dated 23 April 1964, and 30 April 1964.

External links

• "23 April 1918 - Zeebrugge Raid". The Western Front Association. http://www.westernfront.co.uk/thegreatwar/articles/timeline/zeebrugge.htm. Retrieved August 15, 2006. 
• "Battles: The Raid on Zeebrugge, 1918". FirstWorldWar.net. http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/zeebrugge.htm. Retrieved August 15, 2006. 
• "Making History: The Zeebrugge Raid". BBC.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/beyond/factsheets/makhist/makhist7_prog12c.shtml. Retrieved August 15, 2006. 
• "Albert McKenzie VC - The Raid on Zeebrugge". Colin McKenzie. http://www.mckenzie.uk.com/zeebrugge/index.html. Retrieved February 28, 2010. 
• British Pathe footage of Events surrounding the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918
• British Pathe footage of mass burial of casualties from the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. This was held in St James's Cemetery, and the mass burial shown (24 coffins, nine identified, 15 unidentified) had a Cross of Sacrifice located above it.