Battle of La Ciotat

Battle of La Ciotat
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of World War II
American sailors examining battle damage to USS Endicott after the action off La Ciotat
Date 17 August 1944 Location off La Ciotat, France, Mediterranean Sea 43°10′37″N05°36′31″E / 43.17694°N 5.60861°E / 43.17694; 5.60861 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
John D. Bulkeley	Hermann Polenz
Strength
1 destroyer 2 gunboats 17 PT boats	1 corvette 1 naval yacht
Casualties and losses
USN: 1 man wounded 1 destroyer damaged	211 captured 1 corvette sunk 1 naval yacht sunk 1 freighter sunk

The Battle of La Ciotat was a naval engagement in August 1944 during the Second World War as part of Operation Dragoon. Allied forces, engaged at the main landings in Vichy France, ordered a small flotilla of American and British warships to make a feint against the port city of La Ciotat. The Allies hoped to draw German forces away from the main landing zones at Cavalaire-sur-Mer, Saint-Tropez and Saint Raphaël. During the operation, two German warships attacked the Allied flotilla.

Prelude

Allied bombardment

On 17 August 1944, the Allied command appointed Captain John D. Bulkeley to take charge of the operation. ^[a] Bulkeley proceeded to La Ciotat with a force of one destroyer, USS Endicott, 17 PT boats and the British Insect-class gunboats HMS Scarab and Aphis. When the Allies arrived off La Ciotat at 6:20 a.m., the PT boats and gunboats were sent ahead of Endicott and sank a German merchant steamer in the harbor. The warships then bombarded targets in the port until two German ships were spotted.

Kriegsmarine

The German ships were the former Italian Gabbiano-class corvette Antilope, renamed UJ6082 and the former Egyptian armed yacht Nimet Allah. UJ6082 was armed with one 100 mm (3.9 in) gun and two torpedo tubes. Her sister ship UJ6081 had been sunk two days earlier at the Battle of Port Cros. Nimet Allah mounted only a German anti-aircraft 88 mm (3.46 in) Flak gun.

Action

In the early morning of 17 August, at about 4:30 a.m. the weather was good with a slight swell and a 1⁄3 moon. ^[2] The two British gunboats engaged the Germans with their 6-inch and 12-pounder guns but the enemy fire was so accurate that they were forced to withdraw. Endicott; due to jammed breech blocks on the other three guns, only one 5-inch gun was serviceable and opened fire on UJ6073. Endicott quickly obtained two hits from the 5-inch gun in the engine room and left UJ6073 drifting, Endicott suffering one German shell hit that caused minor flooding. ^[2]

At 6:48 a.m.UJ6082 fired two torpedoes at Endicott that took evasive action, then replied with two torpedoes. As UJ6082 evaded the torpedoes the US destroyer closed to 1,500 yd (1,400 m) and fired its machine-guns at UJ6082. The German ship returned fire until hit by a 5-inch shell near the funnel and bridge. The yacht UJ6073 had sunk at 7:09 a.m. and the crew of UJ6082 began to abandon the ship at 7:17 a.m.UJ6082 capsizing at 8:30 a.m. ^[2]

Aftermath

Casualties

The Allied ships rescued 211 German survivors. ^[3]

Subsequent operations

On the same day, American aircraft, just north of La Ciotat, dropped around 300 dummy paratroopers and explosive devices that simulated rifle fire. ^[4]

Allied order of battle

Special Operations Group ^[5]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
Western Diversionary Unit (Captain H. C. Johnson)
USS Endicott	United States Navy	Gleaves-class destroyer	Commander John D. Bulkeley
Motor Launch	Royal Navy	Fairmile Motor Launch	4 boats
MTBRon-29	United States Navy	PT boat	8 boats, Commander Stephen Daunis
Air Sea Rescue Craft	—	—	12 boats
Eastern Diversionary Unit (Lieutenant Commander Douglas Fairbanks Jr.)
HMS Aphis	Royal Navy	Insect-class gunboat
HMS Scarab	Royal Navy	Insect-class gunboat
HMS Stuart Prince	Royal Navy	Fighter Director Ship
HMS Antwerp	Royal Navy	Fighter Director Ship
Motor Launch	Royal Navy	Fairmile Motor Launch	3 boats
MTBRon-22	United States Navy	PT boat	4 boats, Lieutenant Paul T. Rennell

• 
  HMS Aphis during World War II
• 
  USS Endicott in 1944

Notes

1. John Bulkeley rose to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy, retiring from service in 1988. ^[1]

Footnotes

1. Breuer 1987, p. 220.
2. O'Hara 2009, p. 249.
3. Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005, p. 350.
4. Roskill 2004, p. 98.
5. Morison 1975, p. 338.

Bibliography

• Breuer, William (1987). Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France. Novato, CA: Presidio. ISBN   0-89141-307-3.
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). The Invasion of France and Germany 1944−1945 . History of United States naval operations in World War II. Vol. XI. Boston: Little, Brown. OCLC   873868430 – via Archive Foundation.
• O'Hara, Vincent (2009). Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   978-1-61251-408-6.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN   978-1-86176-257-3.
• Roskill, Stephen (2004) [1961]. The War at Sea; The Offensive Part II 1st June 1944 − 14th August 1945. History of the Second World War, Military Series (pbk. facs. repr. The naval and Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN   978-1-84-342806-0.
• Swarns, Rachel L. Vice Admiral John D. Bulkeley, 84, Hero of D-Day and Philippines New York Times (1996), retrieved 8/30/10

Further reading

• Konstam, Angus (2011). Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49. New Vanguard (No. 181). Oxford: Osprey. ISBN   978-1-84-908408-6.

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .