Bay Of Biscay in WW2 History | World War II Database

21 Jun 1940

Atlantic Ocean

At 0411 hours the 1,144-ton unescorted Finnish freighter Hilda was hit by one torpedo from German submarine U-52 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Salman and sank in a few minutes in the Bay of Biscay, killing 5. The master and ten crew members survived aboard a lifeboat. ww2dbase [U-52 | Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | Bay of Biscay | HM]

22 Jun 1940

Atlantic Ocean

At 1804 hours, German submarine U-65 reported the sinking of an unescorted tanker of 7,000 tons with a spread of two G7e torpedoes about 70 miles southwest of Penmarch in the Bay of Biscay. The ship was immediately covered in burning oil and apparently broke in two before it sank. The ship was the 7,011-ton French tanker Monique. ww2dbase [U-65 | Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | Bay of Biscay | CPC, HM]
At 0217 hours the 5,154-ton unescorted and unarmed Greek merchant steamer Neion was hit in the engine room by a G7a torpedo from German submarine U-38 while steaming without navigational lights lit on a non-evasive course at 10 knots in the Bay of Biscay about 40 miles west-southwest of Belle Île off the coast of Bretagne, France. One crew member was lost. The master, eight officers and 22 crew members abandoned ship in one lifeboat before she sank by the stern after five minutes. The cargo of naphtha drums was recovered in 1948. ww2dbase [U-38 | Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | Bay of Biscay | HM]

20 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean

British submarine HMS Cachalot torpedoed and sank German submarine U-51 in the Bay of Biscay 100 miles west of St. Nazaire, France, killing the entire crew of 43. ww2dbase [Cachalot (Grampus-class) | First Happy Time | Bay of Biscay | CPC]

1 Sep 1942

Atlantic Ocean

A British Sunderland aircraft attacked Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani on the surface in the Bay of Biscay west of France at 1244 hours, damaging the submarine; 2 were killed. ww2dbase [Reginaldo Giuliani | Second Happy Time | Bay of Biscay | CPC]

2 Sep 1942

Atlantic Ocean

Reginaldo Giuliani was damaged by British No. 304 Squadron Wellington aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean. ww2dbase [Reginaldo Giuliani | Bay of Biscay | CPC]

1 Jun 1943

Atlantic Ocean

The actor Leslie Howard, who had played the Spitfire designer Reginald Mitchell in the propaganda film "The First of the Few", was killed when the KLM DC3 airliner in which he was travelling from Lisbon, Portugal was shot down in flames by German Luftwaffe fighters over the Bay of Biscay. ww2dbase [Bay of Biscay | AC]

14 Jun 1943

Atlantic Ocean

At 0929 hours in the Bay of Biscay north of Corunna, Spain, three Mosquito aircraft from 307 Polish Squadron RAF accompanied by another from 410 Squadron RACF spotted and attacked a group of German submarines, U-68, U-155, U-159, U-415, and U-634, outward bound for the North Atlantic. The leading Mosquito aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader Stanislaw Szablowski was hit by flak as it strafed U-68 and turned to attack U-155, the port engine of the aircraft stopped and the pilot was forced to turn back and return to RAF Predannack, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom where the pilot brought her down in a belly landing. The second aircraft piloted by Flight Officer then attacked but he and the other pilots were held off by the heavy flak barrage put up by the German gunners and the attack was called off. Aboard U-68, the commander, the Second Watch Officer and one of the men were wounded. The First Watch Officer, Oberleutnant zur See Ekkehard Scherraus, took command. One man, Obergefreiter Hans Schaumburg, was hit while operating an MG38 machinegun, fell overboard and could not be recovered. The boat returned to base in company with U-155. U-68's doctor was later transferred to the other boat. ww2dbase [U-68 | U-155 | U-159 | Bay of Biscay | HM]

15 Aug 1943

Atlantic Ocean

Before dawn, German seaplane tender Richthofen, torpedo boat T24, minesweeper M275, minesweeper M385, and Sperrbrecher 157 were caught by British cruiser Mauritius, destroyer HMS Ursa, and destroyer Iroquois in the Bay of Biscay off Les Sables d'Olonne, France. T24 laid a smoke screen and fired torpedoes at Iroquois, but all of them missed. British ships fired, sinking Sperrbrecher 157, and damaging all other ships; M385 was forced to beach to prevent sinking. HMS Iroquois suffered light damage in the engagement. ww2dbase [Mauritius | T24 | Richthofen | M275 | M385 | Bay of Biscay | CPC]

15 Feb 1944

Photo(s) dated 15 Feb 1944

HSL 2641 rescuing downed US Navy airmen whose PB4Y-1 bomber had been shot down by Germans over the Bay of Biscay, 15 Feb 1944

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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