The Second Battle of Dover Strait was a
naval battle
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...
of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, fought in the
Dover Strait
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continen ...
in April 1917 and should not be confused with the major
Battle of Dover Strait in 1916. Two
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s defeated a superior force of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
''
Kaiserliche Marine
{{italic title
The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control.
The term wa ...
''
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s.
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
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...
— the field of
floating mines that prevented German ships from getting into the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Six torpedo boats bombarded
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
and another six bombarded
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
just before midnight.
Battle
Two
flotilla leader
A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The flotil ...
s of the Royal Navy — and — were on patrol near Dover and engaged six of the German ships early on 21 April near the
Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...
. In a confusing action, ''Swift'' torpedoed . ''Broke'' rammed , 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
Board or Boards may refer to:
Flat surface
* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat
** Plank (wood)
** Cutting board
** Sounding board, of a musical instrument
* Cardboard (paper product)
* Paperboard
* Fiberboard
** Hardboard, a ty ...
the British ship,
before ''Broke'' got free and ''G42'' sank.
[Chatterton 189.]
Aftermath
HMS ''Swift'' was slightly damaged, but ''Broke'' was heavily damaged and had to be towed back to port.
Notes
Bibliography
* Baldwin, H. W. ''World War I: An Outline History''. New York: Harper and Row, 1962.
* Chatterton, E. K. ''The Auxiliary Patrol''. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1923.
* Liddle, Peter H. ''The Sailor's War, 1914-1918''. New York: Stirling, 1985.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dover Strait, 1917
North Sea operations of World War I
Naval battles of World War I involving Germany
Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
Conflicts in 1917
1910s in Kent
April 1917 events
Strait of Dover