Two "Gruppen" of the anti-shipping "Kampfgeschwader 100" (KG 100) equipped with Do 217s in 1943, with II/KG 100 receiving the Do 217E-5, equipped to carry the Hs 293 guided missile and III/KG 100 the Do 217K-2, with the Fritz-X guided bomb. II/KG 100 made its combat debut against Royal Navy warships in the Bay of Biscay on 25 August 1943, when it near missed the sloop HMS "Landguard", while on 27 August, a second attack by 18 Do 217s sank the sloop HMS "Egret" and badly damaged the destroyer HCMS "Athabaskan". This attack lead to a temporary withdrawal of Royal Navy surface ships from the Bay of Biscay until the guided weapon equipped aircraft were transferred to the Mediterranean following the allied landings at Salerno.