The Royal Navy’s astonishing victory in the Bay of Biscay in 1943 helped to secure the English Channel in the run up to D-Day
On December 28, 1943, the Royal Navy scored a remarkable victory. The Germans were trying to run cargo ships from Japanese-occupied Asia to France carrying crucial materials such as rubber. But the Royal Navy blockaded the coast of France, and, with German signals decoded, knew the position of the cargo ships.
On December 27, 1943, an RAF bomber found one of the cargo ships, Alsterufer, in the Bay of Biscay and sank her. But 11 German destroyers and torpedo boats had been sent out to escort Alsterufer into port without realising she had already been sunk. The following day, two