Account of PzIVs sinking french destroyer

[DudeWhereIsMyTank]

Account of PzIVs sinking a destroyer.

The ship was probably the French Chacal, the name-ship of that destroyer class. I have her fate, according to Conway's All The World's Ships, as "bombed off Boulougne, 24.5.40". It could be that the panzer crews found her in a stricken condition.

I am not claiming this story is true, I remembered long time ago I found this on the internet and posted it :) I could not find original article just my repost

I think you guys will enjoy this.

 

Sorry pictures are gone now...

 

 

: This is a wrap-up of the findings so far on the interesting issue concerning

: the sinking of a warship by two german Pz IVD in late May 1940 off

: Boulogne.

: I am in possession of a war diary of the german 3. Armor Regiment (part of 2.

: Armor Division). For the 25.5.1940 it makes mention of two of the

: regiment's Pz IV tanks engaging and after a longer fire exchange

: eventually sinking what the report calls a "british destroyer"

: just outside Boulogne. It also has two pictures, one shows the crew of one

: of the tanks with a kill painting of a ship on the tank's turret, the

: other picture shows a german jeep with soldiers on the beach taking a look

: at the the sunk ship in the outer harbor of Boulogne.

: Although the date of the battle report is 25.5.1940, the kill marking on the

: tank has the date 23.5.1940. Also, I am not a naval expert, but the ship

: looks pretty small for a destroyer to me.

: I have searched the british navy data and I am pretty confident that the ship

: in question was not british. The closest I could come up with would be the

: french Chacal, time and place would fit my source, but a french navy page

: lists it as destroyed by german aircraft. My source makes no mention of

: german aircraft. It might also be possible that it is one of the

: expatriate, fled Polish, Danish or Norwegian vessels.

: I would be inclined to label the incident a clever propaganda trick by the

: german army if it wasn't for the fact that the book was published by

: veterans several decades after the war, told by the veterans and enriched

: with the old official battle reports.

: I have typed up and translated the report in the book: ------------

: 1st Btln / 3rd Armor Regt Commander 4th Company

: Tanks versus Warship, 25.5.1940

: The sun that went into the water colored the smoke rising over Boulogne in

: bloody red. A succesful day was closing. The goal had been met, all

: coastal emplacements had been taken. The french navy units were marched

: back into the rear in huge columns. The tank crews had prepared a small

: evening meal and enjoyed the calmness that had settled in. Suddenly an

: alert. Oberleutnant v. Jarowski was waving his hands from afar and

: indicated "immediately two 7.5cm - tanks with me". While the

: drivers started the engines, the vehicles were prepared for battle. The

: company commander (=said OLt Jarowski) jumped onto the leading vehicle

: aand gave a short instruction: "english destroyer is attempting to

: land troops in the Boulogne harbor". The commander orders fastest

: pace, the two tanks race on the straight road through the bivouac are,

: turn off of it to use a shortcut, an proceeded to the most advanced

: stretch of ground, from where one could see 70m into the harbor bay. The

: voice of the tank commander - almost sounding like a cheer - announced

: "1 o'clock, distance 500, destroyer" immediately answered by the

: gunner "target identified". The first two rounds left the gun,

: the adjusting fire had been finished. The loader worked as fast as he was

: possible, the gunner kept readjusting without releasing the trigger, round

: after round left the gun. The destroyer slowly prepared to dock; troops

: were easily recognizable standing closely cramped on the deck, busy

: activity everywhere. The terror of the impacting rounds caused everybody

: who wasn't blasted from deck to run back and forth in confusion. They did

: not know where they were attacked from. The destroyer accelerated it's

: speed to evade the fire of the two tanks. The two tanks were forced to

: stop their fire for very short intervals to advance their position with

: short dashes. They still didn't ceae fire and round after round flew

: through the air. Immediately in front of the ship's command tower one

: could see an approximately 5m high, suddenly erupting bright yellow blast

: flame. From then on the forward part of the ship was blocked from the

: vision of the tanks because of the strong fumes and smoke. Only now did

: the ship's crew start to defend. From the rear/aft, one broadside after

: another left the ship The smoke grew more thick and at times covered the

: whole ship. Now strong enemy fire set in from everywhere. From the hill on

: the opposing side of the harbor enemy Air Defense artillery shot at the

: tanks; about ten muzzle flashes were identifiable. After, apparently

: through radio, the position of the tanks had been reported to enemy naval

: units cruising at high sea, those warships started to pour an intense

: barrage of High Explosive and fragmentation grenades onto the tanks. All

: hatches and shutters on the tanks had to be closed, however these

: disadvantageous circumstances did not keep the crew from keeping up their

: feverish activity. The smoke and propellant residue from the gun which

: dispersed glowing red throughout the crew compartment each time the breech

: was opened let all contours appear as schemes and as if smudged. The air

: became thick, acidous and burned the lungs. All crew members were eager to

: help the loader with his work, rounds were handed to him from everywhere,

: so that no pause would enter the nonstop rapid fire. The prolonged fire

: exchange forced the destroyer to retreat into the outer harbor. A few

: hours later the destryoer sunk, which was even conceded by the english

: "Nachrichtendienst" (could mean either civilian "news

: agency" or military "intelligence service").

: ------------

: This is what I have concluded so far: The report only mentions "7.5cm

: tanks". The 3. Pz Regiment was equipped with Pz IV Ausf. D at that

: time which would be the only type to fit that bill.

: The reported enemy fire from the opposing side of the harbor would mean that

: the event took place at a time when the stretch of coast around Boulogne

: was not entirely occupied/secured. Boulogne's Chateau/citadel was

: surrenderedd 24.5., a fort west of Boulogne was taken 25.5.; the Fort de

: la Crèche according to the war diary was taken after this incident. Since

: the 2. Panzerdivison with it's 3. and 4. Panzerregiment closed onto and

: concquered Boulogne from the south, this would place the event just south

: of Boulogne. The french Chacal was lost on 23/24.5. 1940 at Cap

: d'Alprecht. Cap d'Alprecht is just immediately south-west outside of

: Boulogne.

: The dating of the batle report would not conflict with this as this is the

: date of the write-up of the action by the company commander (Olt v.

: Jarowski), besides, the tank kill marking on one of the pictures has the

: date 23.5.1940.

: The official cause of sinking of the Chacal by german aircraft bombs seems

: dubious in so far as I am also in possesion of a war diary of the 2. KG, a

: medium bomber wing equipped with Do-17 medium bombers which was used for

: tactical air support of the tank units in the french campaign, for attacks

: on enemy airfields, and participated on the atacks on shipping in the

: channel. For Wednesday, 22.5.1940 and Thursday, 23.5.1940 the entries

: report very bad weather that denied all operations up to 23.5.1940 and

: most operations on 23.5.1940. Mind you, this does not mean the supposed

: attack of german aircraft against the Chacal is impossible, it is just not

: likely.

: Also, the fact that the german commander initially misidentified the ship as

: a british destryoer doesn't really mean a lot, since IMO a tank commander

: doesn't really know ships too well, and any enemy vessel encountered might

: be labeled "Ein Engländer!" just like american GI's saw a Tiger

: in every german tank they encountered. besides, they also did not have

: time to correctly identify the ship afterwards due to the fast-paced

: nature of the warfare (Blitzkrieg) in which the 2.Panzerdivision was

: engaged, so they left the Boulogne area immediately after that to pursue

: the retreating enemy and advance towards the Dunkirk area.

: Another not match but good bet would be the french patrol boat Lorientaise.

: However, it is reported scuttled in Boulogne harbor on 21.5.1940.

: Here are again the three pictures published before. #1 shows Feldwebel

: Langhammer in his Pz IVD with the kill marking painted to the turret. #2

: shows a picture of german soldiers on the beach looking at the sunk

: british ship. #3 is a zoomed out part of picture #2 showing the profile of

: the british vessel.

:

:

:

: I have turned towards several people to inquire into this nevertheless I

: think the knowledge/expertise usually found on this board will be very

: valuable, too.

: yours sincerely,

: Markus Hofbauer

[Dayton_90]

wow iwas on a battle ship ner there

[Flakstorm_]

awesome. +1

[Jracule]

Interesting read. +1 for you.

 

I was recently reading of a similar action on the Eastern Front. There is a possibility that a Russian gunboat strayed too close to shore and got sunk by an Elefant tank Destroyer. A tank destroying a tank is impressive enough  but i feel that sinking a ship with a tank is grounds for a medal of manliness at the very least.

[PrototypeRewired]

I can picture that crew telling there officer that they suck a DD.....And their officer not believing them until they drag him to the wreck site.

[Super_Dreadnought]

PzIV must have been using the derp gun.

[Quaffer]

If you edit your first post and select Use Full Editor. You will be able to edit your title.

[Snakehead1234]

Cool read :smiles:

[Snakehead1234]

Dayton_90, on 03 April 2013 - 11:07 PM, said:

wow iwas on a battle ship ner there

meh toe ileke batleswhips

[Ariecho]

Sorry to contradict people here, but you know how I am when it comes to French ships.  Chacal was sunk by the Luftwaffe, not any Pz IV.  More precisely, the aircraft responsible for the sinking of that destroyer were Ju-87s.  The destroyer was transporting demolition charges, which helped to its destruction.

 

The only verified account that I have on a Panzer IV aiming at a French ship was in Toulon, when the French fleet destroyed itself, rather than being captured.  A Panzer IV shot the Strasbourg.  Let's say that when the main batteries turned in its direction, the tank crew didn't try a second round.

[NGTM_1R]

The ugly truth is Chacal could probably have a knock-down drag-out with a Tier 7 company in Tanks and win it. US destroyers more or less did at Anzio.

[mr3awsome]

Tiger 131 took a shot at a submarine whilst on its way back to Britain.  :playing:

[JeeWeeJ]

The Dutch sloop HNLMS Soemba was also hit by a 88mm shell from a Tiger off the coast of Sicily, destroying most of the bridge and mortally wounding the captain.

They took revenge a day later though...giving that panzer batallion a taste of her 6 inch guns. :playing:

[Wake_Island]

http://en.wikipedia....estroyer_Chacal

http://en.wikipedia...._Boulogne_(1940)

 

Quote

Fougueux and the destroyer Chacal were damaged by the Luftwaffe; Chacal was later sunk by German artillery. During the night, a force of one hundred French soldiers attempted to break out towards Dunkirk but failed.

There are so many diffrent storys I do not belive anyone.

OP if you can provide refrences I would appreciate it.

The wiki on the Chacal does not have enough refrences to be accurate enough to belive.

[Ariecho]

Here is a picture of the Chacal

 

 

I doubt any tank could sink a ship that large.

[DudeWhereIsMyTank]

Wake_Island, on 04 April 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

http://en.wikipedia....estroyer_Chacal
http://en.wikipedia...._Boulogne_(1940)


There are so many diffrent storys I do not belive anyone.
OP if you can provide refrences I would appreciate it.
The wiki on the Chacal does not have enough refrences to be accurate enough to belive.

Sorry, I am just reposting an ancient thread, I don't have any references.
I guess if you can find "War diary of the german 3. Armor Regiment (part of 2. : Armor Division)."

[triptyx]

Ariecho, on 04 April 2013 - 05:32 PM, said:

Here is a picture of the Chacal

I doubt any tank could sink a ship that large.

She has a pretty large hole amidships.

Ultimately, if one of the tank rounds managed to penetrate and nail a magazine, I suppose a bright flash that could cause extremely critical damage could occur.  It's certainly a questionable story.  I'd be very interested to know what really happened that day.

[Ariecho]

Here is a translation of what one of the sailors of the Chacal had to write about his last day on the ship:

 

I was 19-year old in 1939, and lived in Sanguatte.  I didn't wait to be drafted and volunteered to join the Navy as a driver.  After boot camp abord the Paris battleship, I was sent to the Montcalm, then in January 1940 on the destroyer Chacal, onboard which I was still in May 1940.

 

On May 24, around 4:00AM, we were in the English Channel, close to Boulogne, closer to Alprech.

 

By 5:00AM, I had finished my shift and was resting in the crew cabin, on port side.

 

By 9 AM, a bomber flight of 7 aircraft, Stukas, could be seen above us.  Soon after, whoever was asleep was awaken by the ships' anti-aircraft guns and machine guns.

 

One of the bombs launched by one of the aircraft went through the bridge and landed on the hamac of one of our ship mates, who was sleeping on starboard side.  Fortunately, it didn't detonate.  Of course, it woke up whoever was still sleepy!

 

That's when we were all called to battle station.  We never had time to make it.  At the same time we were in the ship gangways, trying to reach our battle station, we were asked to evacutate.

 

At the same time I was trying to leave the ship starboard side, a bomb fell into the water, about two meters away from me.  I rapidly went the other way and reached the port side.

 

Here, I found some of my mates who were readying one of the ship boats.  I slided down the boat rope and let myself reach the water.

 

I managed to stay afload as I was wearing a lifebelt, and was soon brought into the boat, which we managed to separate from the ship.  In the meanwhile, small caliber German batteries started to fire at us.  We were 20 in the boat, the maximum she could carry.  We were trailing a raft that contained twelve other sailors....

[Jracule]

Ariecho, on 04 April 2013 - 05:32 PM, said:

Here is a picture of the Chacal



I doubt any tank could sink a ship that large.

Unless the tank was from World of Tanks and Russian in Origin......