Hello all,

On 12.12.1942 a terrific battle opposited a German convoy and a Britannic Task Force composed of 6 destroyers off Dieppe (Normandy). During this battle two German Sperrbrecher were torpedoed while the 4 escort ships succeeded in escaping safely.The operation codename was "Operation KI" and the destroyers were HMS Whitshed, Worcester, Vesper, Albrighton, Borcklesby and the Norwegian Eskdale.

Because you are specialists with this topic, I was wondering if a few MTB took part to the battle ? Was it common to add MTBs in escort of such a Task Force ? Is there a possibility to know more about the potential MTBs action in this battle (the case there were MTBs) ? Is there another specialized phorum dealing with MTBs where I could get an answer ?

Many thanks for any help and best regards,

MAX

Hello Maxx,

Can't add any technical details to your questions, but this is certainly a good place to start, a number of people on the site have good historical knowledge, and I hope they will see your post soon and assist you, welcome aboard.

John K 

Hello Maxx

I cannot answer your question regarding this particular action but if you read one of several excellent books (Battle of The Narrow Seas,We Fought Them In Gunboats,MGB 658 etc) you will see that conditions suitable for MTB ops were moonless flat calm nights,and the targets were generally small coastal convoys escorted by E/R-Boats,armed trawlers and corvettes so I would imagine that it would have been rare for MTBs to escort fighting ships in their missions (except for a number of notable exceptons such as The Channel breakout of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau,Dieppe and Operation Chariot).

Regards,Christian

        Hello Max. Usually MTBs went hunting in three`s or four`s and as stated on moonless flat seas becaus the boat is a weopons platform andwith it Jinking about on a rough sea it is dificult to aim the guns or fire torpedoes accurately

But most of the time was spent laying in wait for something to come along and most times they returned home empty handed. But when things did happenthey often took on six E-boats or lighters at a time using the Nelson touch, that is Cutting through the enemy line in line astern firing from both sides and then leaving a confused enemy shooting at each other.

      Good hey.  Ted Drum1