Battle of Ushant ( 1944 ) The Battle of Ushant , also known as the Battle of Brittany , occurred on the early morning of 9 June 1944 and was an engagement between German and Allied destroyer flotillas off the coast of Brittany . The action came shortly after the initial Allied landings in Normandy . After a confused engagement during the night the Allies sank one of the destroyers and forced another ashore , where she was wrecked . Background . On 6 June 1944 , the day of the first landings in Normandy , the remnants of the German 8th destroyer flotilla , consisting of the Type 36A " Z24 " and " Z32 " , and the " ZH1 " ( formerly the Dutch destroyer " Gerard Callenburgh " ) were ordered by " Vizeadmiral " Theodor Krancke to sail from the Gironde to Brest . The order was intercepted by the British which detailed Canadian Bristol Beaufighter s from RAF Coastal Command to attack the German ships as they sailed through the Bay of Biscay . In the ensuing raid , the destroyer " Z32 " was slightly damaged . The German ships made port at Brest , where " Z24 " and " Z32 " had their anti - aircraft armament increased . They then put to sea again on 8 June in company with the Flottentorpedoboot 1939 class torpedo boat " T - 24 " , the sole survivor of the 4th torpedo boat flotilla , bound for Cherbourg under the command of Theodor von Bechtolsheim , where they would reinforce German positions . The Allied forces learned of the German intentions through Ultra intercepts , and detailed the 10th destroyer flotilla to intercept the German ships as they sailed up the English Channel . The 10th destroyer flotilla was at this time under the overall command of Captain Basil Jones , who had his flag aboard the Tribal class destroyer . With him were , and , the Canadian ships and , and the Polish vessels ORP " Piorun " and ORP " Błyskawica " . Jones decided to split his flotilla in two ; the 19th Division consisted of the " Eskimo " , " Javelin " , " Piorun " and " Błyskawica " , the 20th Division consisted of " Tartar " , " Ashanti " , " Huron " and " Haida " . Engagement . The British flotilla were moving westward down the Channel when the German ships were detected by radar just after 01 : 00 on 9 June . Jones turned his force to meet the Germans , who were by now 30 miles east - northeast of the Ile de Batz . The two flotillas clashed intermittently thereafter , exchanging gunfire and salvoes of torpedoes . " Tartar " was struck several times , but was able to put out fires and restore her speed . " ZH1 " was then engaged by both " Tartar " and " Ashanti " , with " Ashanti " launching two torpedoes at point - blank range . One struck " ZH1 " , blowing off her bows . With the ship crippled , her captain , Klaus Barckow gave the order to abandon ship , then scuttled her with depth charges at 02 : 40 . Barckow was among the 39 killed . Twenty - eight managed to reach France , the remaining 140 were picked up by the British . " Haida " and " Huron " had meanwhile been pursuing " Z24 " and " T - 24 " until the German ships ran into a British minefield . The Canadians attempted to detour around it , but eventually lost the Germans . " Z24 " and " T - 24 " regrouped , with the intention of returning to engage the British , but finding they were not being followed , they left the area . " Haida " and " Huron " returned to the scene and came across von Bechtolsheim ' s " Z32 " , which had received a heavy pounding and lost contact with the rest of the Germans . There was some confusion over establishing each other ' s identity , but when the Canadians discovered she was a German ship they opened fire . Von Bechtolsheim fled at high speed , but " Z32 " , having sustained heavy damage , was driven ashore on the Ile de Batz and wrecked .