Zeebrugge, Belgium - Ruins of Mole & Lighthouse & wreck of the Brussels c.1918

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  The Ruins of Zeebrugge 1914-18 - extremity of the Mole, the lighthouse, the guns and the ship 'Brussels' sunk
• Publisher:  Nels
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Zeebrugge (Dutch pronunciation: [ze?'br???], Bruges on Sea^[1][2]; French: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.

Located on the coast of the North Sea, the busiest sea in the world,^[3] its central location on the Belgian coast, short distance to Great Britain and close vicinity to densely populated industrialized cities make Zeebrugge a crossroads for traffic from all directions. An expressway to Bruges connects Zeebrugge to the European motorway system; one can also get to and from Zeebrugge by train or tram.

It is Belgium's most important fishing port^[4][5] and the wholesale fish market located there is one of the largest in Europe.

Aside from being a passenger terminal with ferries to the United Kingdom, the harbour serves as the central port for Europe's automotive industry and is important for the import, handling and storage of energy products, agriculture products and other general cargo. Zeebrugge has the largest LNG terminal complex in Europe.^[6]

The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge by sinking older British ships in the canal entrance to prevent German ships from leaving port. The port was used by the German Navy as a base for their U-boats and light shipping, which was a serious threat to Allied shipping, especially in the English Channel.

A raid on Zeebrugge, initially studied in detail by Vice Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, Commander of the Dover Patrol, as early as 1915, but was first formally proposed at the Admiralty in 1917 by Sir John Jellicoe, but was not authorised until Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes adapted Bacon's plan for a blocking operation which would make it difficult for German ships and submarines to leave the port. The raid was formally approved by the British Admiralty in February 1918 and launched two months later consisting of 75 volunteer ships and 200 soldiers.

The cruisers involved in the blockade—including HMS Vindictive—were equipped in Chatham, an operation which involved over 2,000 workers for the special fitting out, and stripping out (in the case of the ships to be sunk) of all unnecessary equipment including their masts. Iris, Daffodil and the submarines were fitted out in Portsmouth. The fleet made its rendezvous at Swin Deep about 8 mi (7.0 nmi; 13 km) south of Clacton. Almost none of the participants were aware of their target.

The first opportunity for the raid was early April 1918, and on 2 April, a first attempt was initiated and Zeebrugge was subjected to an initial air raid by 65 Squadron from Dunkirk. The success of the raid depended upon smoke screens to avoid a massacre of the British Fleet, but as the wind direction was unfavourable, the attack was called off. By this time, Zeebrugge was visible to the fleet, and the fleet to the Germans in Zeebrugge. Seventy-seven ships of all sizes—some with their lights already switched off—had to make a sharp turn to the west and return to their bases.

The raid began with a diversionary attack against the mile-long Zeebrugge mole. The attack was led by the old cruiser, Vindictive, with two Mersey ferries, Daffodil and Iris II. The three ships were accompanied by two old submarines, which were filled with explosives to blow up the viaduct connecting the mole to the shore. Vindictive was to land a force of 200 Royal Marines at the entrance to the Bruges Canal. However, at the time of the landing the winds changed and the planned smoke-screen to cover the ship proved ineffective. The marines, whose objective was to destroy German gun positions, immediately came under heavy fire and suffered heavy casualties. Vindictive—spotted by German gun positions—was forced to land in the wrong location, resulting in the loss of the marines' heavy gun support. Eventually, the submarine HMS C3—commanded by Lt. R. D. Sandford—destroyed the viaduct as planned, by explosion. Sandford was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.

The plan to sink three old cruisers to block the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge did not go as planned. The failure of the attack on the Zeebrugge mole resulted in heavy German fire on the three blocking ships, HMS Thetis, Intrepid and Iphigenia, which were filled with concrete. Thetis did not make it to the canal entrance, after it had hit an obstruction and was scuttled prematurely. The two other ships were sunk at the narrowest point of the canal.

The submarines C1—under Lieut. A.C Newbold — and C3 — under Lieut. R.D. Sandford — were old, each with a volunteer crew of one other officer and four ratings. They each had five tons of amatol packed into their fore-ends and were to be driven into the viaduct and then blown up to prevent reinforcement of the German garrison on the mole. The crews were to abandon their submarines shortly before the collision with the viaduct, leaving the submarines to steer themselves automatically, but during the passage from Dover, C1 parted with her tow and consequently arrived too late to take part in the operation.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: rest of the world

sub-theme=europe

county/ country=belgium

number of items=single

period=world war i (1914 - 1918)

postage condition=unposted