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The Battle off Sept-Îles was a naval battle fought on the night of 22 and 23 October 1943 during World War II as part of the Atlantic campaign. The battle took place in the off the Sept-Îles near the French coast in the English Channel between a Light Cruiser and six destroyers of the British Royal Navy, and a minesweeper and torpedo boat flotillas of the German Kriegsmarine hoping to intercept and escort a blockade runner. The battle ended with HMS ''Charybdis'' being sunk and the destroyer being scuttled after suffering damage; nearly 500 British sailors lost their lives in the battle.〔Jaques pp. 738〕 The battle was to be the last surface fleet action of the war where the Royal Navy was defeated, but it was the last German surface fleet action victory of the war.〔〔Watts p. 197〕 ==Background== In late 1943, the British authorities were aware of the approach of the German blockade runner, ''Münsterland'', which had departed Brest and was carrying an important cargo of latex and strategic metals.〔O'Hara pp. 273-74〕 The British reacted by executing Operation Tunnel, a standard operation whereby available ships would attempt to intercept.〔 HMS ''Charybdis'' was assigned to the operation on 20 October, and on 22 October the British force put to sea from Plymouth.〔Lambert pp. 97-98〕 With ''Charybdis'' were the fleet destroyers and and four s; , , and . Six German minesweepers of the 2nd flotilla and two radar equipped patrol boats escorted the ''Münsterland''s in a well-rehearsed procedure.〔 The blockade runner was then joined by five s, comprising the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, commanded by Franz Kohlauf. Soon after midnight the British force conducted a radar sweep at thirteen knots while some seven miles west off Brittany. Meanwhile, at the same time German radar operators picked them up and carefully tracked them and then promptly relayed the information to the German ships.〔 These warnings were intercepted by the Hunt destroyers and by Plymouth Command, but ''Charybdis'' for some reason did not pick them up.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Sept-Îles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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