The British Naval Raid on the Mole at Zeebrugge, St George’s Day 1918

On the second half of 1914, the forces of the German army had pushed into Belgium, taking over the town of Zeebrugge. A two mile crescent-shaped outcrop called the Mole had been constructed in order to hamper the British Naval Intelligence from incursions.

Along with nearby Ostend, Zeebrugge with its Mole coastline, provided shelter for German destroyers and torpedo boats. Naturally the British Forces needed to breach the Mole in order to eradicate the U-boat threat.

Assault on the Mole

Map of Zeebrugge and the Mole

However, the Mole was defended by a dozen or more strategically-placed German coastal guns, all facing out to sea.

On the 23 April 1918 (St George’s Day) the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and the Submarine Service gathered servicemen, mostly volunteers, to undertake a daring attack upon the Mole.

The plan was to use a smokescreen under which two old submarines laden with high explosives were to be detonated with the aim of destroying the Mole viaduct shoreline. Then, three old cruisers, HMS Intrepide, Iphigenia and Thetis, all heavily laden with cement, were to be scuttled at the Mole entrance. This would in effect block the entrance to the Mole.

The HMS Vindictive

HMS Vindictive Assault Ship

To act as an escort and armed with a landing party, HMS Vindictive, a six-inch gun second class cruiser had been stripped and reinforced with extra metal protection as a shield for the assault force. Once the Vindictive was alongside the harbour, the landing party was to take out the German gun batteries.

Before the attack even began the wind direction changed, removing the smokescreen. The vessels were sighted from the shoreline. Illumination lights were sent up making the attack an easy target. Not put off, the raid pushed on.

Scuttling Ships

HMS Thetis grounded before its proper position had been reached. The Intrepide and the Iphigenia were scuttled. Under intense close range fire, Vindictive’s landing party struggled to get ashore. Although the daring raid on the Zeebrugge Mole was good for national prestige, there had been many casualties. And after a few days, the Mole was operational once more. For the courage displayed, a number of British servicemen were acknowledged with many awards.

Once the war was over, it took a salvage company almost a year to clear the Mole properly. Zeebrugge today is a busy commercial area with its skyline covered by cranes for the loading and unloading of container ships.

The Mole is now a pier and docking area for cruisers.

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