Battle of the Ligurian Sea The Battle of the Ligurian Sea was a naval surface battle that was fought on 18 March 1945 in the Gulf of Genoa . The German kriegsmarine consisting of two torpedo boats and one destroyer , were engaged in an offensive mine laying operation ; the same mission that led to her first battle against the British navy in the North Sea 60 months before . In this action the British Royal navy destroyers HMS " Lookout " and HMS " Meteor " sunk two of the German ships and severely damaged another . Of note this was Germany ' s last surface naval battle of the war . Background . On the night of 17 March 1945 the last three operational ships of the German 10th flotilla conducted an offensive mine laying operation northeast of Corsica . After sailing out of Genoa , " TA24 " ( Ex Italian " Arturo " ) " TA29 " ( Ex Italian " Eridano " ) successfully laid 56 mines south of Gorgona Island while " TA32 " placed 76 mines in another field north of Cap Corse . The flotilla then reunited in line for the return to Genoa and were about twenty miles north of Cape Corse when Allied shore radar at Livorno detected their presence . Four Allied destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla were patrolling in the area , the French " Basque " and " Tempete " and the British HMS " Meteor " and HMS " Lookout " . In the early hours of the 18th all but " Meteor " had received Liverno ’ s radar report . Believing the Germans might double back to intercept a convoy near Cape Corse Captain Morazzani the senior officer aboard " Tempete " ordered the British ships to intercept the intruders while he led the older and slower French destroyers southeast to cover . " Lookout " ' s commander Derrick Hetherington advised " Meteor " via TBS ( Talk Between Ships ) what was happening and the British ships went on separate courses northeast at full speed . By the time Captain Morazzani determined the Germans were no threat to the convoy , he was too far away to join the action . Action . " Lookout " established radar contact with the Germans at 3am on March 18th . They were sailing at twenty knots just west of north . The British destroyer approached at high speed from ahead and opened fire from about five thousand yards . Minutes later she swung around moving parallel to the Germans and launched torpedoes . The Germans were completely surprised by this attack and " Lookout " ’ s radar - directed guns quickly scored hits on " TA24 " and " TA29 " . " TA29 " dropped out while the other two ships retreated north . " Lookout " decided to let them go to concentrate on the crippled " TA29 " and circled the German firing continuously with her six 4 . 7 inch guns from as close as two thousand yards . " TA29 " fought back , her gunners near missing " Lookout " a number of times , only hitting her with a burst of 20mm shells which hit some smoke floats and ignited a small fire that was quickly extinguished . " Lookout " however continued blasting " TA29 " until just after 4am after being hit more than forty times she was burning furiously and quickly sunk . She only lost 20 men despite " Lookout " ’ s intense and accurate salvo s . " Meteor " , meanwhile , altered course in order to intercept the other German ships and at around the same that " Lookout " was battling " TA29 " , she made radar contact from 12 , 300 yards on the other two German ships retreating north . Without hesitation " Meteor " at eight thousand yards opened fire and hit " TA24 " almost immediately . Seeing the hit in the dark she then launched a salvo of torpedoes a few minutes later with one hitting its target . " Meteor " ' s commander Richard Pankhurst , saw a " geyser of flame and metal " and " TA24 " sank at just after 4am losing thirty men in just thirteen minutes . Aftermath . " TA32 " participated briefly but although damaged made good her escape , she was scuttled by her own crew at Genoa on 25 April 1945 . 244 survivors in rafts and boats from " TA24 " and " TA29 " were picked up by the British destroyers and held as prisoner . This was to be the last surface action of the German Kriegsmarine of the war . The British destroyers had ended any possibility of German deep water offensive operations in the Ligurian sea let alone anywhere in the Mediterranean . The Germans from January 1945 till 2 May 1945 had practically lost all its merchant shipping and virtually all its warships were destroyed . 112 warships and 118 small auxiliary vessels had been destroyed with more than half of these being scuttled to avoid capture . The engagement was also the last surface naval battle the British fought in the western theater and also the last major surface action in the Mediterranean sea .