Battle of Dover Strait (1917)

Second Battle of Dover Strait
Part of the First World War
Drawing of HMS Broke ramming SMS G42.
Date 20–21 April 1917 Location Dover Strait 51°01′N1°29′E / 51.017°N 1.483°E / 51.017; 1.483 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Edward Evans	Theophil Gautier
Strength
Destroyer leader Broke Destroyer leader Swift	6 torpedo boats
Casualties and losses
Broke heavily damaged Swift lightly damaged 22 killed	2 torpedo boats sunk 71 killed
class=notpageimage| Location of battle

The Second Battle of Dover Strait was a naval battle of the First World War, fought in the Dover Strait in April 1917 and is not the Battle of Dover Strait of 1916. Two Royal Navy destroyers defeated a superior force of German Kaiserliche Marine torpedo boats. ^[1] Two German torpedo boats were sunk; the British suffered damage to both destroyers.

Background

On 20 April 1917, two groups of torpedo boats of the German Navy raided the Dover Strait to bombard Allied positions on shore and to engage warships patrolling the Dover Barrage—the field of floating mines that prevented German ships from getting into the English Channel. ^[2] Six torpedo boats bombarded Calais and another six bombarded Dover just before midnight.

Battle

Two flotilla leaders of the Royal Navy — HMS Broke and Swift — were on patrol near Dover and engaged six of the German ships early on 21 April near the Goodwin Sands. ^[3] In a confusing action, Swift torpedoed SMS G85. Broke rammed SMS 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, before Broke got free and G42 sank. ^{[1] [4]}

Aftermath

Swift was slightly damaged, but Broke was heavily damaged and had to be towed back to port. ^[1]

Notes

1. "British Destroyers of World War 1". www.naval-history.net. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
2. Liddle 149.
3. Baldwin 115.
4. Chatterton 189.

Bibliography

• Baldwin, H. W. (1962). World War I: An Outline History. New York: Harper and Row. OCLC   468558099.
• Chatterton, E. K. (1923). The Auxiliary Patrol. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. OCLC   14232571.
• Liddle, Peter H. (1985). The Sailor's War, 1914–1918. New York: Stirling. ISBN   978-0-71-371397-8.