| Battle off Ist | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAdriatic Campaign of World War II andBattle of the Mediterranean | |||||||
 Free French destroyerLe Terrible | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Free France |  Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Pierre Lancelot |  Jürgen Von Kleist | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 destroyers | 2 torpedo boats 2 corvettes 3 minesweepers 1 freighter | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 150 killed and wounded 1 corvette sunk 1 freighter sunk 2 torpedo boats damaged[1] | ||||||
  Ist The Island of Ist in the Adriatic Sea | |||||||
TheBattle of Ist was a naval engagement inAdriatic Sea, between the islands ofŠkarda andMolat, off the island ofIst, on 29 February 1944. The engagement was fought between twoFree French Naval Forces destroyers and aKriegsmarine force of twocorvettes, twotorpedo boats and threeminesweepers. The Germanflotilla had been deployed to escort a freighter. In the ensuing engagement the French managed to destroy the German freighter and a corvette in return for no loss before withdrawing.[2]
In 1944 for operations in the Adriatic Sea, theRoyal Navy formed the24th Destroyer Flotilla atBari which consisted of ten ships, including three French destroyers,Le Fantasque,Le Terrible andLe Malin. The French under Captain Pierre Lancelot would operate in the northern part of the Adriatic, while the British would do the same but further south. The speed of the French destroyers, being the fastest in the world at the time, allowed them to react swiftly both on intelligence and to strike at targets.[1]
On 29 February the French departedManfredonia fifty miles North of Bari and headed up the Adriatic. At the same time a German convoy had departed fromPola consisting of a strong escort: the torpedo boatsTA36 andTA37 (the formerItalianAriete-classStella Polare andGladio); the submarine chasersUJ201 andUJ205, (the former ItalianGabbiano-class corvettesEgeria andColubrina); and three smallminesweepers. They were escorting the 6,311-gross register ton (GRT) freighterKapitan Diederichsen.[3] The German escorts had only been recently commissioned and were only on their second operation. The two were heading towards each other in the dark of the night with very little moonlight.[4]
At 21:35 hoursLe Terrible'sradar soon picked up targets further north and sailed towards them. When it was known that the targets were confirmed as non-allied, the French opened fire at roughly 9,000 yards just west of Ist Island, surprising the Germans.Le Malin opened fire on the largest of the targets which was the freighter and soon scored a hit. The Germans attempted to lay asmoke screen, but the destroyers with their speed soon closed in using their radar.Le Terrible scored more hits on the freighter whileLe Malin targeted the closest of the escorts.[1] At 4,500 yards (4,100 m)Le Terrible fired asalvo oftorpedoes; the first salvo missed but the first device of the second salvo hit the freighter amidships which then caused her to burn fiercely and she soon drifted helplessly.[3]
Meanwhile,UJ201 was soon struck byLe Malin's well-directed 90-pound (41 kg) shells; now having found the range, the German corvette was hit six more times and was soon a burning wreck.Le Malin was close enough to launch a salvo of torpedoes; one hit and was enough to detonate the ship'smagazine causing a tremendous explosion lighting up the sky. She sank immediately and all hands went with her.[4] BothLe Terrible andLe Malin then took on the rest of the German escorts;TA36 suffered near misses and was soon hit right on the end of the bow suffering light damage.TA37 however was hit in the engine room and burst into flames which caused her speed to drop rapidly.[1]
Lancelot was about to finish off the German ship, but on seeing low fast-movingsilhouettes of potentialE-boats he decided to withdraw.[1] They were in fact the motor minesweepers coming in to help with the crew of the stricken freighter and search for survivors of the destroyedUJ201. Lancelot headed south back to port.[4]
TheKapitan Diederichsen remained afloat but only for some time, an attempt to tow failed and the survivors were taken off by the German escorts. The heavily damagedTA37 was towed successfully and made it to Pola.[3]
The French force remained in the Adriatic for half of the year bombardingZante, and on 19 March sank twoSiebel ferriesSF273 andSF274 on their way toPylos and crippling another two. In August they took part in Operation Dragoon, theSouthern Invasion of France.[1]
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