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.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Battle of Dover — Several naval engagements that occurred somewhere in the vicinity of Dover, England, are known as the Battle of Dover: *The Battle of Dover, 24 August 1217, in the First Barons War. *The Battle of Goodwin Sands, 29 May 1652, in the First Anglo… …   Wikipedia

  • Strait of Dover — Map showing the location of the Strait of Dover. Vie …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of New Orleans — For the battle at New Orleans during the American Civil War, see Capture of New Orleans. For other uses, see Battle of New Orleans (disambiguation). Battle of New Orleans Part of the War of 1812 …   Wikipedia

  • Dover Beach — For other uses, see Dover Beach (disambiguation). Dover Beach is a short lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold.[1] It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems, but surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805) — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Cape Finisterre partof=the Napoleonic Wars caption= date=22 July 1805 place=Off Cape Finisterre casus= territory= result=British victory combatant1= combatant2= commander1=Robert Calder… …   Wikipedia

  • Night action at the Battle of Jutland — Main article: Battle of Jutland Battle of Jutland Part of World War I The Battle of Jutland, 1916 …   Wikipedia

  • Four Days Battle — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Four Days Battle partof=the Second Anglo Dutch War caption= The Four Days Fight, 1 ndash;4 June 1666 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. 1666. date=1 June ndash;4 June, 1666 place=near North Foreland,… …   Wikipedia

  • Varne Bank — The Varne Bank is a five and three quarter mile long sand bank in the Dover Straits, lying nine miles southwest of Dover in Kent, England. [cite book last=Chandler first=John coauthors=et al title=The new seaman s guide and coaster s companion,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of military engagements of World War I — See also a chronological list of WW1 battles.This is a List of military engagements of World War I which encompasses land, naval, and air engagements as well as campaigns, operations, defensive lines and sieges. Campaigns generally refer to… …   Wikipedia

  • Goodwin Sands — The Goodwin Sands are a 10 mile long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east of Deal in Kent, England. More than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked upon them and as a result, they are marked by numerous lightships and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”