Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid , which took place on 23 April 1918 , was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges - Zeebrugge . The British intended to sink older British ships in the canal entrance , to prevent German vessels from leaving port . The port was used by the Imperial German Navy as a base for U - boats and light shipping , which were a threat to Allied shipping , especially in the English Channel . Background . A raid on Zeebrugge was initially studied in detail by Vice Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon , Commander of the Dover Patrol , as early as 1915 . The raid was formally proposed at the Admiralty in 1917 by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe but was not authorised until Vice - Admiral Sir Roger Keyes adapted Bacon ' s plan for a blocking operation , which would make it difficult for German ships and submarine s to leave the port . The raid was formally approved by the British Admiralty in February 1918 and launched two months later , consisting of ships and Preparation . The cruisers involved in the blockade — including — were equipped in Chatham , an operation which involved over 2 , 000 workers for the special fitting out and stripping out ( in the case of the ships to be sunk ) of unnecessary equipment , including their masts . " Iris " , " Daffodil " and the submarines were fitted out in Portsmouth . The fleet made its rendezvous at Swin Deep , about south of Clacton . Almost none of the participants were aware of their target . The first opportunity for the raid was early April 1918 and on 2 April the fleet sailed and Zeebrugge was bombed by 65 Squadron from Dunkirk . The success of the raid depended upon smoke screens , to protect the British ships from the fire of German coastal artillery but the wind direction was unfavourable and the attack was called off . Zeebrugge was visible to the fleet and the fleet to the Germans in Zeebrugge . Seventy - seven ships of all sizes , some with their lights already switched off , had to make a sharp turn to the west to return to their bases . The raid . On 23 April a second attempt was made , in conjunction with a raid on the neighbouring harbour of Ostend . The raid began with a diversion against the mile - long Zeebrugge mole . The attack was led by an old cruiser , " Vindictive " , with two Mersey ferries , " Daffodil " and " Iris II " . The three ships were accompanied by two old submarines , which were filled with explosives to blow up the viaduct connecting the mole to the shore . " Vindictive " was to land a force of 200 Royal Marines at the entrance to the Bruges Canal to destroy German gun positions . At the time of the landing the wind changed and the smoke - screen to cover the ship was blown offshore . The marines immediately came under heavy fire and suffered many casualties . " Vindictive " was spotted by German gun positions and forced to land in the wrong location , resulting in the loss of the marines ' heavy gun support . Eventually the submarine commanded by Lt . R . D . Sandford , destroyed the viaduct by explosion . Sandford was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action . The attempt to sink three old cruisers , to block the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Bruges - Zeebrugge failed . The failure of the attack on the Zeebrugge mole resulted in heavy German fire on the three blocking ships , , and , which were filled with concrete . " Thetis " did not make it to the canal entrance , after it hit an obstruction and was scuttled prematurely . The two other ships were sunk at the narrowest point of the canal . The submarines " C1 " under Lieut . A . C Newbold and " C3 " under Lieut . R . D . Sandford were old , each with a volunteer crew of one other officer and four ratings . They had five tons of amatol packed into their fore - ends and were to be driven into the viaduct and then blown up , to prevent reinforcement of the German garrison on the mole . The crews were to abandon their submarines shortly before the collision with the viaduct , leaving the submarines to steer themselves automatically but during the passage from Dover , " C1 " parted with her tow and arrived too late to take part in the operation . Aftermath . Analysis . The blockships were not in the correct position when sunk and only managed to block the canal for a few days . The Germans removed two piers in the western bank of the canal near the blockships and dredged a channel through the silt near the blockships ' sterns . The Germans were then able to move submarines along the channel past the blockships at high tide . Bacon wrote in 1931 that the operational failures were due in part to the recently appointed Keyes ( an Admiralty man ) changing the plans made by Bacon , a seagoing Commander with intimate knowledge of the tidal and navigational conditions in the Ostend and Zeebrugge area . Casualties . The Zeebrugge Raid was promoted by Allied propaganda as a British victory and resulted in the awarding of eight Victoria Crosses . Of the involved in the operation , Wise recorded wounded and more than Kendall gave figures of and One destroyer was sunk . Among the dead was Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock , the man who devised and commanded the operation of the smoke screen . Some of the casualties were buried in England , either because they died of their wounds " en route " or because their comrades had recovered their bodies with the intention of repatriating their remains . Two men were buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery , Deal , Kent . At least nine men were buried in the St . James ' s Cemetery , Dover . German casualties were eight dead and sixteen wounded . Commemoration . On 23 April 1964 , some of the of the raid , families , the mayor of Deal and a large Royal Marines Honour Guard held a service of commemoration for their fallen comrades at the Royal Marines Barracks in Deal ; a tree was planted near the officers ' quarters in remembrance . A message from Winston Churchill to the ex - servicemen was read to those assembled and the event was reported in The Deal , Walmer and Sandwich Mercury newspaper on 23 and 30 April 1964 . In Dover there are two memorials , the Zeebrugge Bell with memorial plaque in the Town Hall , given to Dover by the King of the Belgians in 1918 and the Zeebrugge Memorial in St James ' s Cemetery , where a regular memorial service is held .