page_title: German torpedo boat T24
section_title: Battle of the Bay of Biscay
hierarchical_section_title: German torpedo boat T24 / Construction and career / Battle of the Bay of Biscay
caption_attribution_description: Contemporary map of the German "Operation Trave"/Battle of the Bay of Biscay in December 1943. The German 4th and 8th destroyer flotillas sailed into the Bay of Biscay to rendezvous with the blockade runner Alsterufer. However, Alsterufer was hit by a Consolidated Liberator of No.311 Squadron RAF and sank on 27 December 1943 without notice the German Navy. Two cruisers of the Allied operation to catch the blockade runners, "Operation Stonewall", HMS Glasgow (C21) and HMS Enterprise (D52), intercepted the destroyers on 28 December 1943. In heavy seas, the German destroyer Z27 and the torpedo boats T26 and T27 were sunk in the ensuing "Battle of the Bay of Biscay".
context_page_description: The German torpedo boat T24 was one of fifteen Type 39 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in 1942, the boat was briefly assigned to Norway in early 1943 before she was transferred to France in July. T24 was unsuccessfully attacked by Allied motor torpedo boats and aircraft during her voyage down the English Channel and then came to the aid of a convoy being attacked by Allied destroyers. Later that year she escorted blockade runners and Axis submarines through the Bay of Biscay. The boat played a minor role in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay and was lightly damaged during the Action of 26 April 1944. During the subsequent battle, T24 sank a Canadian destroyer and was damaged when she later struck a mine. She played a minor role in the Battle of Ushant in June and was then damaged defending a convoy in August in the Bay of Biscay. T24 was sunk off the French coast later that month by Allied fighter-bombers.
context_section_description: On 24–26 December T24 was one of the escorts for the 6,951 GRT blockade runner MV Osorno through the Bay of Biscay. Another blockade runner, the 2,729 GRT refrigerated cargo ship MV Alsterufer, trailed Osorno by several days and four destroyers of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla and the six torpedo boats of the 4th Flotilla set sail on 27 December to escort her through the bay. The Allies were aware of these blockade runners through their Ultra code-breaking efforts and positioned cruisers and aircraft in the Western Atlantic to intercept them in Operation Stonewall. A Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber from No. 311 Squadron RAF sank Alsterufer later that afternoon.
  The German ships were unaware of the sinking until the following afternoon and continued onward to the rendezvous point. They had been spotted by an American Liberator bomber on the morning of the 28th and the British light cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise, which were assigned to Stonewall, maneuvered to intercept them. By this time, the weather had gotten significantly worse and the German ships were steaming for home, hampered by the rough seas that threw spray over their forward guns which made them difficult to operate. In addition the spray severely reduced visibility and hampered the rangefinders and sights for the guns and torpedoes. Using her radar, Glasgow was the first to open fire at 13:46 at a range of 19,600 meters (21,400 yd) with Enterprise following a few minutes later. About that time, the destroyers began firing back with guns and torpedoes; the latter all missed and one hit was made on Glasgow at 14:05. Kapitän zur See Hans Erdmenger, commander of the 8th Flotilla, decided to split his forces and ordered the destroyers Z23, Z27, and T22, T25 and T26 to reverse course to the north at 14:18. The cruisers pursued the northern group and sank Z27, T25 and T26. All of the ships in the southern group, including T24, were able to successfully disengage.
caption: Map of the Battle of Biscay
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