Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy by David A. Thomas

Author:David A. Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leo Cooper
Published: 1998-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

ORTEGAL – see BAY OF BISCAY 1805

OSTEND 1918

10 May

World War 11914–18

The Ostend element of the combined attack on Zeebrugge and Ostend on 22–23 April 1918 was, by contrast with the success of the Zeebrugge raid, a failure. This first attempt on Ostend seemed dogged with bad luck. The difficulties of navigation of the ships intended as blockships for the harbour were accentuated by the change of wind which brought the artificial smoke screen back to seaward. The consequent obscuring of the harbour made it necessary to place some dependence on a buoy which by the merest coincidence had been moved the previous day by a mile or so to the eastward. Despite the most gallant efforts by Commander A.E. Godsal (Brilliant) and Lieutenant-Commander H.N.M. Hardy (Sirius) the blocking attempt “had not achieved success”.

Both these commanding officers begged Vice-Admiral Keyes to give them a second chance and gave Keyes no peace until he consented. The battered old Vindictive, survivor of the Zeebrugge attempt, was hurriedly patched and made ready for the second attempt at Ostend. Success would mean denial of Ostend as a base for the 40 – 50 U-boats resting and refitting there. Such a reward was worth the effort.

The problems began when Sappho developed an engineering fault and fell behind. Vindictive went on ahead, found difficulty in locating the entrance, obscured by fog and intense gunfire. Godsal was killed on his bridge by a shellburst and never seen again. Lieutenant-Commander Crutchley assumed command. He sank the blockship in a poor position under intense fire. The crew were evacuated to waiting MLs. Crutchley then transferred to Warwick wearing Keyes’s flag. She struck a mine before reaching Dover with another destroyer lashed alongside to keep her afloat. It was a sad end to a glorious attempt. The VC was awarded to Crutchley and to the two ML commanding officers Lieutenant Bourke RNVR and Lieutenant Drummond RNVR.

Battle Honour:

Faulknor Prince Eugene Trident Velox Vindictive

Warwick Whirlwind

CMBs: 22B, 23B, 24A, 25BD, 26B, 30B.

MLs: 254, 276.

* Denotes that these ships were hired for war service.

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