Battle of Ist
| Battle off Ist | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAdriatic Campaign of World War IIandBattle of the Mediterranean | |||||||
 Free French destroyerLe Terrible | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Free France |
 Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Pierre Lancelot |
 Jürgen Von Kleist | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 destroyers |
2 torpedo boats 2 corvettes 3 minesweepers 1 freighter | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
150 killed and wounded 1 corvette sunk 1 freighter sunk 2 torpedo boats damaged[1] | ||||||
  Ist The Island of Ist in the Adriatic Sea | |||||||
TheBattle of Istwas a naval engagement inAdriatic Sea,between the islands ofŠkardaandMolat,off the island ofIst,on 29 February 1944. The engagement was fought between twoFree French Naval Forcesdestroyers and aKriegsmarineforce of twocorvettes,twotorpedo boatsand threeminesweepers.The Germanflotillahad been deployed to escort a freighter. In the ensuing engagement the French managed to destroy the German freighter and a corvette in return for no loss before withdrawing.[2]
Background[edit]
In 1944 for operations in the Adriatic Sea, theRoyal Navyformed the24th Destroyer FlotillaatBariwhich consisted of ten ships, including three French destroyers,Le Fantasque,Le TerribleandLe Malin.The French under Captain Pierre Lancelot would operate in the northern part of the Adriatic, while the British would do the same but further south. The speed of the French destroyers, being the fastest in the world at the time, allowed them to react swiftly both on intelligence and to strike at targets.[1]
Action[edit]
On 29 February the French departedManfredoniafifty miles North of Bari and headed up the Adriatic. At the same time a German convoy had departed fromPolaconsisting of a strong escort: the torpedo boatsTA36andTA37(the formerItalianAriete-classStella PolareandGladio); the submarine chasersUJ201andUJ205,(the former ItalianGabbiano-class corvettesEgeriaandColubrina); and three smallminesweepers.They were escorting the 6,311-gross register ton(GRT) freighterKapitan Diederichsen.[3]The German escorts had only been recently commissioned and were only on their second operation. The two were heading towards each other in the dark of the night with very little moonlight.[4]
At 21:35 hoursLe Terrible'sradarsoon picked up targets further north and sailed towards them. When it was known that the targets were confirmed as non-allied, the French opened fire at roughly 9,000 yards just west of Ist Island, surprising the Germans.Le Malinopened fire on the largest of the targets which was the freighter and soon scored a hit. The Germans attempted to lay asmoke screen,but the destroyers with their speed soon closed in using their radar.Le Terriblescored more hits on the freighter whileLe Malintargeted the closest of the escorts.[1]At 4,500 yards (4,100 m)Le Terriblefired asalvooftorpedoes;the first salvo missed but the first device of the second salvo hit the freighter amidships which then caused her to burn fiercely and she soon drifted helplessly.[3]
Meanwhile,UJ201was soon struck byLe Malin's well-directed 90-pound (41 kg) shells; now having found the range, the German corvette was hit six more times and was soon a burning wreck.Le Malinwas close enough to launch a salvo of torpedoes; one hit and was enough to detonate the ship'smagazinecausing a tremendous explosion lighting up the sky. She sank immediately and all hands went with her.[4]BothLe TerribleandLe Malinthen took on the rest of the German escorts;TA36suffered near misses and was soon hit right on the end of the bow suffering light damage.TA37however was hit in the engine room and burst into flames which caused her speed to drop rapidly.[1]
Lancelot was about to finish off the German ship, but on seeing low fast-movingsilhouettesof potentialE-boatshe decided to withdraw.[1]They were in fact the motor minesweepers coming in to help with the crew of the stricken freighter and search for survivors of the destroyedUJ201.Lancelot headed south back to port.[4]
Aftermath[edit]
TheKapitan Diederichsenremained afloat but only for some time, an attempt to tow failed and the survivors were taken off by the German escorts. The heavily damagedTA37was towed successfully and made it to Pola.[3]
The French force remained in the Adriatic for half of the year bombardingZante,and on 19 March sank twoSiebel ferriesSF273andSF274on their way toPylosand crippling another two. In August they took part in Operation Dragoon, theSouthern Invasion of France.[1]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^abcdefO'Hara, pp. 242–243
- ^Greene, Jack, O'Hara, Vincent P (2012). Spencer C. Tucker (ed.).World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia.Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 7, 282.ISBN978-1-59884-457-3.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^abcAuphan & Mordal, amiral, Paul & Jacques (1959).The French Navy in World War II.United States Naval Institute. p. 297.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^abcMcNab, p. 168
Bibliography[edit]
- McNab, Chris (2009).Order of Battle: German Kriegsmarine in WWII.Amber Books.ISBN9781906626198.
- Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015).French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956.Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-84832-198-4.
- O'Hara, Vincent P.(2009).Struggle for the Middle Sea.Anova Books.ISBN9781844861026.