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"Exercise Tiger" memorial service. We will never forget!


Sabrejet
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Hundreds of GIs drowned at sea when their convoy was intercepted by Kreigsmarine E-boats during "Exercise Tiger", a rehearsal for the D-Day landings off Slapton Sands on the Devon coast on April 28, 1944. This came perilously close to compromising the whole D-Day operation...but in the event, thankfully it didn't!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22280461

 

 

 

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LST 289 was badly damaged by a torpedo strike but, despite the extensive damage and consequent loss of life she was able to limp back to port.

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This account is from the internet. The highlighted places are actually local to me.

 

"On April 2 the LST-325 arrived in Roseneath, Scotland, and unloaded the gear designated for the Navy base that had been brought from Londonderry, Ireland. The ship left early the next morning and,after sailing through dense fog, joined a southbound convoy for Falmouth, arriving there on April 5.

 

The LST-325 remained in Falmouth until April 15, completing the preparation and painting of the new magazines installed the month before in Ireland, and overhauling the generators and compressors.

 

 

On April 17 the LST-325, accompanied by the LST-332, the LST-315 and several merchantmen and escorts, arrived in Penarth, Wales, for further work on the main engines. On the 19th a team of 20 US Navy medical personnel and a Navy surgeon reported aboard the LST-325 for temporary duty during the invasion.

 

 

On the 24th the ship sailed to Swansea, Wales, via Penarth, Wales. After having their first practice drill with the newly added 20mm and 40mm guns, they moored to the hard at the Queen's Dock and began taking aboard Army vehicles of the 336th and 348th Engineers. They returned to Falmouth on the 28th and unloaded their cargo the next day.

 

 

It was during the early morning hours of the 28th that a group of LSTs taking part in the Operation TIGER training exercise was attacked off the coast of Devon by nine German torpedo boats. Fast and maneuverable, the German boats evaded Allied patrols that night and attacked the LSTs without warning. The LST-507 was torpedoed and the crew abandoned ship; LST-531 was torpedoed and sank within minutes.

 

The LST-289 was able to open fire on the attackers but was also torpedoed, though they were able to get their crippled ship back to port. Casualties from the attack were high; a total of 198 sailors and 551 soldiers were killed or listed as missing."

 

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Garandomatic

One local man was killed in Tiger, which i found after researching all of the local losses from the watt.no surprise, his cause of death as of the time of publication of the local history says anything BUT the real cause of his death from the lingering secrecy of the incident. I believe the UK based website that memorializes the men has his name slightly misspelled.

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Thank you, Ian. This event was so tragic and is unknown to most of the American people. A shame!

 

Indeed JS. It was brushed under the proverbial carpet for years after the war.

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Slapton Sands was chosen because of its relative similarity to the Normandy beaches, just across The Channel. The residents of the village of Slapton and neighbouring settlements were compulsorily re-located by the War Office because the area was used for live-fire shelling from the seaward side.

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RustyCanteen

This account is from the internet. The highlighted places are actually local to me.

 

"On April 2 the LST-325 arrived in Roseneath, Scotland, and unloaded the gear designated for the Navy base that had been brought from Londonderry, Ireland. The ship left early the next morning and,after sailing through dense fog, joined a southbound convoy for Falmouth, arriving there on April 5.

 

The LST-325 remained in Falmouth until April 15, completing the preparation and painting of the new magazines installed the month before in Ireland, and overhauling the generators and compressors.

 

 

 

On April 17 the LST-325, accompanied by the LST-332, the LST-315 and several merchantmen and escorts, arrived in Penarth, Wales, for further work on the main engines. On the 19th a team of 20 US Navy medical personnel and a Navy surgeon reported aboard the LST-325 for temporary duty during the invasion.

 

 

 

On the 24th the ship sailed to Swansea, Wales, via Penarth, Wales. After having their first practice drill with the newly added 20mm and 40mm guns, they moored to the hard at the Queen's Dock and began taking aboard Army vehicles of the 336th and 348th Engineers. They returned to Falmouth on the 28th and unloaded their cargo the next day.

 

 

 

It was during the early morning hours of the 28th that a group of LSTs taking part in the Operation TIGER training exercise was attacked off the coast of Devon by nine German torpedo boats. Fast and maneuverable, the German boats evaded Allied patrols that night and attacked the LSTs without warning. The LST-507 was torpedoed and the crew abandoned ship; LST-531 was torpedoed and sank within minutes.

 

The LST-289 was able to open fire on the attackers but was also torpedoed, though they were able to get their crippled ship back to port. Casualties from the attack were high; a total of 198 sailors and 551 soldiers were killed or listed as missing."

 

 

 

Ian, since those places are local to you - all you need to do is visit the LST-325 to have the complete experience: http://www.lstmemorial.org/

 

It was a very tragic event, that could have been much worse.

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