At last I have a little time to reply, so here we go…
What that the ships picking up the troops at Dunkirk we slow moving and in naval terms operating a tight space while doing that?
Are you serious? (in case you are try pretty much any book or article you like on the Dunkirk evacuation)
a quote [Relating to 29th May]
"The Luftwaffe’s most impressive series of attacks put out of action seven of the 10 British ships which were tied up alongside Dunkirk’s mole that afternoon."
So do you think that ships tied up at the mole or slowing manoeuvring in a queue off shore to get into a shallow harbour, might be easier target than usual?
Personally, I think the 1st June was the worst day for air attacks at least. On 29th there were 27 RN Destroyers and a Cruiser involved in operation Dynamo with 9 sunk or damaged by air attack (to a greater or lesser degree). On 1st June there were 19 Destroyers and a Cruiser involved in Dynamo with 11 sunk or damaged by air attack (3 sunk, 6 requiring repairs and 3 able to continue). After all flying conditions were not good enough for large scale air attacks until the afternoon on 29th and there was limited flying due to weather on all but the 27th May and 1st June and only on 1st June were instructions given to concentrate on shipping rather than a mix of shipping and land-based targets.
So, looking more specifically at 1st June.
In the air –
RAF Fighter Command provided patrols from 04:45 through to 20:00. Typically the patrols lasted for 1.5 – 2 hours and consisted of 4 squadrons. In total the RAF flew approximately 240 sorties from Britain plus several inland patrols by Squadrons stationed in France. The Luftwaffe flew approx. 350 Ju87 sorties, 200 level bomber sorties all with fighter escort.
Fighter Command lost 20 aircraft in combat (including 3 from Squadrons stationed in France) with 1 further aircraft crash landing in England and 4 damaged. In total the pilots claimed 50 German aircraft destroyed (including one on the ground at Ostend), 29 probably destroyed and 10 damaged.
The Luftwaffe lost 10 aircraft in combat (plus another 3 from ground fire) with 1 further aircraft crashing on its return to base and 6 damaged (plus another 3 from ground fire). In total the pilots claimed to have destroyed 19 aircraft.
At sea –
As mentioned the RN had 1 Light Cruiser and 19 Destroyers involved in Operation Dynamo on 1st June plus maybe 10 other significant warships (gunboats, fleet minesweepers, basically 70-80m in length, 4” or better armament), in addition there were a small number of French warships. Of these 30 or more ships 6 were sunk by air attack, at least 7 were damaged to the point where they could no longer continue on operation Dynamo. Other ships sunk by air attack on the 1st included 3 French minesweepers, a Belgian tug, a British tug, a Yacht (67m steam yacht) and the steamer Scotia (3454grt).
Of the 6 ships sunk only only two were stationary when first attacked.
If you assume that all of the 13 war ships were attacked by Ju87 and the Ju87s did nothing but attack these 13 ships that means it took 27 Ju87 sorties to sink or significantly damage a warship. That would mean that the other ships listed were exclusively sunk by the 200 level bombers with a strike rate of 1 sunk per 28.5 sorties. These assumptions are not very realistic though because it ignores any other ships that were mission killed or any of the smaller boats sunk by air attack.
HMS Basilisk-I don't have much on her but she was sunk somewhere near the port.**
MN Bourrasque-Same as Basilisk.
MN Foudroyant-Same as above but her wreck location is right off Dunkirk, unlikely she was able to maneuver freely in open water.**
HMS Grafton-Torpedoed by a U-Boat while rescuing survivors from Wakeful, if she wasn't stopped she was barely moving.
HMS Grenade-Caught in Dunkirk Harbor by bombers and sunk.
HMS Havant-Sunk while picking up survivors from disable Ivanhoe.**
HMS Keith-Minimal info, but her wreck is again right off Dunkirk.**
HMS Wakeful-Torpedoed by an E-Boat while loading at Dunkirk.
So we've got:
4 DD's sunk right off Dunkirk, not going to go digging for logs or anything but I think it's safe to assume they weren't in open water at high speed?
2 DD's sunk in Dunkirk by various causes.
2 DD's sunk while picking up survivors.
As the 4 listed destroyers highlighted above were sunk on the 1st I can provide further details.
HMS Basilisk was embarking troops at La Panne (10-15km from Dunkirk) when first attacked and was immobilised. It was taken under tow but was attacked again, sank in shallow waters and finally scuttled. So yes Basilisk was most likely stationary though procedure was to keep as mobile as possible unless a rescue boat was on final approach or resting alongside the Destroyer.
HMS Havant was sunk approximately 5km outside of the Dunkirk breakwater and was running at over 20 knots and able to make evasive manoeuvres. The brief description below mentions a bomb dropped 50 yards before the ship which exploded as the Havant passed over it proving Havant was moving at a considerable speed at the time of the attack.
“When leaving the harbour at 0800 hours there was a heavy air attack and the destroyer HMS Ivanhoe was hit amidships. At 0840 hours she went alongside her and helped remove her troops. She then proceeded down the channel at the entrance to Dunkirk under heavy dive-bombing attacks all of the way. At the end of the channel HMS Havant was hit by two bombs in the engine room and a third bomb dropped approximately 50 yards (46 metres) ahead of her that exploded as she passed over it.”
HMS Keith was in the vicinity of La Panne when first attacked damaging her helm and leaving her circling out of control. A second attack occurred and scored a direct hit down the No. 2 Funnel. One of the crew describes it as follows:-
'The skipper was flinging the ship around at full speed, about 35 knots [40 m.p.h.] and of course I had to swing my gun right round to follow the bastard down, because you've got to hit them right on the nose when they are coming towards you. And before I knew it I'd shot all our bloody wireless aerials away. Leaving poor old Commander Wake-Walker out of contact with Dover. I got a bollocking from the First Lieutenant but I said, 'Well, you know, sir, it's a choice of whether you want the wireless aerials restrung or a thousand pound bomb on the bridge.'
'I just suddenly saw this Stuka appearing over the bridge – it seemed to be almost touching it – and this great big bloody yellow bomb fell from its clamps. It was a thousand pounder… We were moving to starboard [to the right] and he dropped it down the port
side. It didn't land on us but it blew a part of the port side in…'
French Destroyer Foudroyant was on its way to the Dunkirk area and still 3 or so miles from the mole moving at full speed when attacked, she received several direct hits and near misses which caused the ship to break up and sink.
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Speaking of details have I missed the post where you explained where those exercises you brought up were conducted? I mean if you are going to demand others give you chapter and verse then its only fair you reciprocate.
Unfortunately as its now approaching 1:30 I’ve not had time to go through my notes, just that there were trials through July and several exercises in August… none in bad weather and none with a silt sea bed. Several different ramp designs were trialled from different types of vessels. Further details to follow.
