HMS Egret (L75)
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HMS Egret (L75) was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was built by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight and was launched on May 31, 1938.
Egret had the dubious honor of being the first ship ever to be sunk by a guided missile. The Germans had used the Henschel Hs 293 glider bomb for the first time on August 25, 1943 against the 40th Support Group in the Bay of Biscay. Landguard and Bideford were hit and damaged, with one sailor killed.
On 27 August 1943 the 40th Support Group was relieved by the 1st Support Group, consisting of Egret together with the sloop Pelican and the frigates Jed, Rother, Spey and Evenlode. The group was attacked by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 carrying Henschel glider bombs. The covering destroyer Athabaskan was heavily damaged by a bomb and Egret was sunk with the loss of 194 of her crew. At the time there were a number of RAF and civilian electronics specialists on board. Egret had been fitted with additional electronic detection equipment designed to foil radio guided bombs such as the Hs 293.
Egret's sinking led to the anti-U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay being suspended.
[edit] References
- Maj. Sim, Stephen (Oct-Dec, 1998), “The Anti-Ship Missile - A Revolution in Naval Warfare”, Pointer 24 (4), <http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/back/journals/1998/Vol24_4/7.htm>
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