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Part 4

Sorry for delay got engrosed in a bit of research reading hugh sebag-m..... Dunkirk book.

VM52 - North Sea near Hook of Holland

The constant spray from the waves was beginning to irritate Lt Van Merwe as the group of motor torpedo boats continued its journey from their normal base at Den Helder to their 'war base' of Zebrugge. The plan was that the flotilla would operate against the French ships operating off the coast of Flanders.

He looked around at the 5 other ships in the flotilla and he wondered how many of them would still be there when hostilities ended, he was realistic enough to know that the life expectancy of coastal forces was not high when the shooting started. The two 20mm mounts were manned and the flotilla had recently had the opportunity to fire them at both surface and airborne targets, he was fairly confident that his crews would more than hold their own against any similarly sized French threats. However Lt Van Merwe fully expected that his likely early opponents were vessels much larger than his own craft engaged in the support of the expected French Offensive along the coast. The strategic objective in his written orders was to provide support to the coastal defences whose role was to secure the right flank of the Dutch Forces and close the Scheldt to enemy forces.

As another wave drenched him, he envied the crews of the two new coastal defence battleships, miniaturised members of the main battle line. The design work which had helped the Finns build their Coastal battleships [1] had been used to accelerate the production of the two brand new additions to the fleet. Their 6 x 11" guns made them formidable opponents for the size of French ships that were likely to venture north of the French Border, the main French battlefleet with its fearsome new Richelieu class battleships would not be risked in the shallow waters off Flanders. The MTBs had not had chance to exercise with the Coastal Battleships and although the plan was that they would effectively be the torpedo battery of the larger ships - covered by the guns of the battleships on their death or glory rides - they had received orders to proceed south to give all available assistance to the Dutch and Flemish troops.

He wondered how long they would operate from Zebrugge before having to move further north. He was aware that parallel to his southward journey on the water that trains were moving enough supplies for two weeks operations, they would be risking the depot ship this far forward and its separate route to Rotterdam gave a clue as to their final location. That said, he thought although the French may cut off Zebrugge it was not an easy nut to crack and would not fall without a fight.

Some time later he signalled to the other craft to some to action stations as they came within combat range of French forces. His order was perfectly timed as within 10 minutes a L298 floatplane was seen in the distance. As the two combatants saw each other the L298 saw the opportunity to make a passing attach and maybe reduce the odds for the French Coastal Forces. The French were not aware that the VM52 class had 2 x 20mm and this would come as a nasty surprise.

The MTBs came into line astern to allow the greatest number of guns to bear. He looked at his gunner, who returned a determined smile. "hold your fire" order Van Merwe " I want to teach him a lesson not scare him off" the gunner gave him a thumbs up. The floatplane continued to bore in clearly aiming at the lead MTB hoping to cause confusion among the following MTBs if his attack was successful. The L298 was carrying 4 x 50kg bombs which would be more than sufficient to ruin a Dutch mtb's day.

The French plane opened fire first with its two forward firing MGs and a line of splashes marched towards the MTB which was now at top speed. The Dutch flotilla leader signalled to his lead gunner who already lined up on the plane squeezed the trigger, at this the other MTBs also opened fire. The impact of the second, third and fourth shells (from different guns) would have caused major worry for the French pilot however the first shell to hit was a perfect shot crashing through the cockpit glass and detonating in the cockpit. The L298 which was already low immediately lost controlled flight and tilting towards the sea the port wingtip touched the surface and the plane cartwheeled into the sea exploding as the bombs detonated.

The flotilla leader's gunner (for it was his shot) turned to the lieutenant and made the universal gesture of drinking a beer referring to the incentive offered for any one who shot down a plane. Lt Van Merwe made a mental note to next time specify the brand of beer as with shooting like that this could get expensive.

What they could not have known however that although the French pilot had underestimated the defensive armament of the Dutch MTBs with fatal consequences that he had not failed to make a sighting report prior to commencing his attach run. Thus the French Admiral Du Nord (Northern Region) in his bunker at Dunkerque was now aware that the Dutch coastal forces would be operating in his backyard. The rapid buildup of French coastal forces when the Channel/North Sea became a likely battleground meant that the operation of Dutch MTBs off the coast of Flanders would be a significant headache. When their base was known, and there were not many possibilities, he would task the LN411s based at Cherbourg to pay them a visit. His only doubt was whether the Dutch would risk the craft forward in Flanders or further back in the Scheldt at Vlissingen.