English Channel: 11th October 1940

WAR CABINET WEEKLY RESUME (No. 59) 15/10/1940

On the night of the 11th-12th October motor torpedo boats torpedoed and sank two enemy trawlers off the Belgian Coast and took 34 prisoners. No account of this incident was given to the Press as it is possible that the Germans will ascribe the loss of these ships to mines. On the same night two of H.M. Trawlers Listrae and Warwick Deeping were sunk by enemy light craft off St. Catherines. There were 24 survivors from the former and the majority of the Warwick Deeping's crew landed in the Isle of Wight. Two French chasseurs with British crews on patrol in this area are also missing and it is feared that they have been sunk. There is evidence that the enemy force consisted of a destroyer and 3 or 4 torpedo boats or E-boats. Destroyer patrols were ordered to intercept the enemy and early on the 12th October H.M.S. Jackal sighted and engaged two small craft 30 miles north of Cherbourg but the enemy were soon lost in the darkness. National Archives (CAB/66/13/3)

Addendum: Survivors from both sinkings were picked up by the German torpedo boat Greif and interned as POWs for the duration.