Action of 15 February 1918

Action of 15 February 1918
Part of World War I
Chief Skipper A. E. Berry DSC commander of British flotilla
Date 15 February 1918 Location Strait of Dover minefield, English Channel Result German victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy	Imperial German Navy
Commanders and leaders
A. E. Berry	Oskar Heinecke
Strength
At least 13 drifters, 1 paddle minesweeper	5 Destroyers, 8 Torpedo Boats
Casualties and losses
1 Trawler sunk 7 drifters sunk 1 paddle minesweeper sunk 6 drifters damaged 3 RNR officers KIA 7 skippers KIA 12 men KIA 54 MIA 13 WIA	none

The action of 15 February 1918 was a naval engagement First World War between a Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) destroyer flotilla and vessels of the Dover Patrol. The action was fought in the Strait of Dover, English Channel.

Background

By the beginning of 1918 a deep mine barrage across the Dover Strait from Folkestone to Cape Gris Nez, on the French coast had been completed. The Germans were ignorant of its existence because U-boats that came across it were destroyed. ^[1] The minefield worked in combination with a squadron of Royal Navy trawlers who, upon sighting a submarine, would drive it into the minefield by means of gunfire and flares. Between 18 December 1917 and 9 February 1918, five German submarines had been sunk in the minefield. ^[a] The Germans thought that Royal Navy ships were sinking the submarines. The Imperial German Naval command decided to send a destroyer flotilla to attack the Royal Navy ships. ^[1]

The British had a light cruiser and three destroyers in the Downs, two destroyers on the West Barrage Patrol, four destroyers on the East Barrage Patrol and two paddle minesweepers, a monitor, a destroyer, a patrol boat, two French torpedo boats and 10 trawlers supporting the 58 drifters patrolling the deep minefield. There should have been a monitor with 12-inch or 15-inch guns but none was available and M15-class monitor HMS M26 with a 7.5-inch was used as a substitute. ^[2]

Action

British forces in the Channel sighted a submarine around 1:00 AM on 15 February 1918. As drifters attempted to force the submarine into the minefield in the usual manner, they were attacked by a force of German destroyers. The German ships appeared to use one destroyer to illuminate the target with a searchlight long enough for the other ships to get the range at which point the entire group would fire. The German destroyers enjoyed a considerable advantage in firepower over the smaller and scattered British craft and moved from one vessel to the next, destroying each in turn.

Violet May was attacked and severely damaged. Two engine-room staff, Ewing and Noble, were able to launch a boat and row to safety. When the Germans left, they rowed back and re-boarded their burning ship, treated wounded and brought the fires under control, saving their ship. When dawn broke the drifter Courage towed them to Dover. The two engineers each were awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. ^[1]

Aftermath

Ships lost

British losses, Data from Hurd (2003) unless indicated. ^[3]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMT Christina Craig	Royal Navy	naval drifter	Sunk with all hands
HMT Clover Bank II	Royal Navy	naval drifter	Sunk, one survivor
HMT Cosmos	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk, three survivors
HMT Golden Gain	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Damaged
HMT Golden Rule	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Damaged
HMT James Pond	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk, three crew lost
HMT Jeannie Murray	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk, all 14 hands lost [4]
HMS Lingfield	Royal Navy	Racecourse-class minesweeper	Set on fire by German torpedo boats [5]
ML-12	Royal Navy	motor launch	Sunk by German destroyer
HMS Newbury	Royal Navy	Racecourse-class minesweeper	Set on fire by German torpedo boats [5]
HMT Silver Queen	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk, carrying survivors of Cosmos
HMT Treasure	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Damaged
HMT Veracity	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk by German destroyer
HMT Violet May	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Damaged
HMT W. Elliott	Royal Navy	naval trawler	Sunk, Strait of Dover German destroyer

Notes

1. SM UB-56 19 December 1917, SM U-93 January 1918, SM U-109 26 January 1918, SM UB-22 19 January 1918, SM UB-38 8 February 1918

Footnotes

1. Dunn 1933 , p. 9
2. Newbolt 2009, p. 211.
3. Hurd 2003, pp. 249−250.
4. Newbolt 2009, p. 215; Dunn 2017, p. 172.
5. Karau 2014, pp. 176–178.

References

• Dunn, R. C. C. (25 March 1933). "The Dover Strait Raid". The Argus (Melbourne) . Vol. I, no. 1. Melbourne, Victoria. ISSN   1833-9719 . Retrieved 16 February 2018.
• Dunn, Steve (2017). "Ch 17, Under Pressure: Keys Takes Charge and the Massacre of the Drifters, 1918". Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914–1918. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN   978-1-84832-249-3.
• Hurd, Archibald (2003) [1929]. "Ch IX". The Merchant Navy . History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. III (pbk. facs, repr. Imperial War Museum Department of Printed Books and Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN   978-1-84-342567-0 – via Archive Foundation.
• Karau, Mark (2014). The Naval Flank of the Western Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN   978-1-84832-231-8.
• Newbolt, Henry (2009) [1931]. "Ch VI". Naval Operations . History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. V (pbk. facs, repr. Imperial War Museum Department of Printed Books and Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: Longmans, Green & Co. ISBN   978-1-84-342493-2 – via Archive Foundation.

Further reading

• Scheer, R. (1920). "Ch: 17, Our Light Craft in Action, and Advance of our Fleet to the Norwegian Coast (The Heinecke Torpedo-boat Flotilla)". Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War . London: Cassell. pp. 315–317. OCLC   495246260 – via Archive Foundation.
• Stevenson, David (2004). 1914–1918: The History of the First World War. London: Penguin. ISBN   978-0-14-190434-4.