Qualla: Zeebrugge Raid

Zeebrugge Raid: Introduction

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Charles de Lacy, Public domain. Just after midnight on 23 April 1918 - St George's Day, the patron saint of England - an old British cruiser named HMS Vindictive came out of the North Sea fog and rammed the side of a stone mole on the Belgian coast. The wind had shifted in the last hour and blown the protective smokescreen out to sea, leaving her naked under the German batteries. For seventy-five minutes Royal Marines and bluejackets fought across the top of that breakwater while three concrete-filled cruisers tried to scuttle themselves across the canal entrance behind it. Most of them died for ground they could not hold. About 200 British sailors and marines were killed. Eight Victoria Crosses were awarded. The canal stayed open.

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: Charles de Lacy | Public domain

Zeebrugge Raid: The U-Boat Problem

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit HMS Iphegenir Zeebrugge Raid.jpg, Public domain. By the spring of 1918 the German submarine campaign was strangling Britain. From their inland sanctuary at Bruges, Flanders Flotilla U-boats slipped out through the canals to Ostend and Zeebrugge each night, into the Channel and the Western Approaches where Allied merchant convoy...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: HMS Iphegenir Zeebrugge Raid.jpg | Public domain

Zeebrugge Raid: St George's Day

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gaius Cornelius, CC BY-SA 4.0. Two weeks earlier the fleet had sailed and been turned back when the wind changed. On the night of 22-23 April they sailed again. Volunteers from across the Grand Fleet had been told they were going to perform a hazardous service; most did not know where until they were at sea. T...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: Gaius Cornelius | CC BY-SA 4.0

Zeebrugge Raid: On the Mole

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Arcalino, CC BY-SA 3.0. The wind shifted at the worst moment. The smokescreen blew offshore. Vindictive came alongside the mole 200 yards from her intended position - which meant her flamethrower huts and heavy guns were facing the wrong way for the assault. The Germans, dug into casemates on the mole, ...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: Arcalino | CC BY-SA 3.0

Zeebrugge Raid: Sandford Drives In

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit photographer not identified, Public domain. While the slaughter went on above, Lieutenant Richard Sandford took submarine C3 toward the viaduct. The original plan was to set the steering, jump off, and let the boat ram itself - the automatic gyroscope would guide her in for the final yards. Sandford disobeyed the order. He...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: photographer not identified | Public domain

Zeebrugge Raid: The Blockships Miss

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Behind Vindictive, the three blockships - Thetis, Intrepid, and Iphigenia - bore in toward the canal mouth. Thetis caught her propellers on a submerged wire net, lost both engines, and had to be scuttled too far out to obstruct anything important. Intrepid and Iphigenia made it d...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Zeebrugge Raid: Eight Crosses

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Health tech nerd, CC BY-SA 4.0. British propaganda needed a victory and turned the raid into one. Eight Victoria Crosses were awarded. Four were chosen by ballot under Rule 13 of the Victoria Cross warrant - the last time in British history that was done. The 4th Battalion Royal Marines voted to award their two...

Read more: Zeebrugge Raid on Qualla

Image: Health tech nerd | CC BY-SA 4.0