Editing Exercise Tiger (section)

==Battle of Lyme Bay==
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Lyme Bay
|partof=[[World War II]]
|image= Lyme Bay.png
|image_size= 220px
|caption= Arrow shows Lyme Bay in south-west England
|date=28 April 1944
|place=off [[Portland, England]], [[Lyme Bay]], [[English Channel]]
|coordinates={{coord|50.28|N|3.64750|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline}}
|result=German victory
|combatant1={{flag|United States|1912}}<br />{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|combatant2={{flagcountry|Nazi Germany|1935}}
|commander1=
|commander2=
|strength1=1 [[Flower-class corvette|corvette]]<br />8 [[Landing Ship, Tank|LST]]s
|strength2=9 [[E-boat]]s
|casualties1=749 killed<br />~200 wounded<br />2 LSTs sunk<br />2 LSTs damaged
|casualties2=none
}}
{{Campaignbox Atlantic Campaign}}
On the day after the first practice assaults, early on the morning of 28 April, the exercise was blighted when Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the [[Engineer Special Brigade#1st Engineer Special Brigade|1st Engineer Special Brigade]], was attacked by German [[E-boat]]s in [[Lyme Bay]].{{efn|One of these E-Boats was ''S-130'', now in [[dry dock]] in [[Plymouth, Devon]].<ref>{{cite web |date=7 November 2004 |title=Schnellboot S130 |publisher=British Military Powerboat Team |url=https://www.bmpt.org.uk/boats/S130/index1.htm |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>}} Nine German E-boats had left Cherbourg shortly after midnight, avoiding the British [[Motor torpedo boat|MTBs]] watching the port area and patrols in the [[English Channel]].{{sfn|Margaritis|2019|pages=359-360}}

Around 0130 hrs, six E-boats of the 5. S-Boot Flottille (5th E-Boat Flotilla) commanded by [[Korvettenkapitän]] [[Bernd Klug]] saw eight dark ships and split into three pairs to attack with torpedoes: first [[Squad|''Rotte 3'']] (''S-136'' & ''S-138''), then ''Rotte 2'' under [[Oberleutnant zur See]] Goetschke (''S-140'' & ''S-142''), then ''Rotte 1'' (''S-100'' & ''S-143''). The final three E-boats of the nine, S-Boot Flottille commanded by Korvettenkapitän [[Götz Freiherr von Mirbach]] (''S-130'', ''S-145'' & ''S-150''), saw the red flares for attack (or may have heard the contact report sent at 0203 hrs) and joined the attack. Within the ''Rotte 1'' pair, ''S-100'' collided with ''S-143,'' damaged its superstructure, and the boats decided to leave, masking their retreat with smoke while sending another contact report. ''S-145'' attacked the ships with gunfire. The attack ended circa at 0330 hrs. The Germans had been puzzled by the strange-looking ships which did not look like merchantmen. They estimated that they were some type of American landing ship with a shallow draft as the initial torpedoes from ''Rotte 3'' and ''Rotte 2'' seemed to miss.{{sfn|Margaritis|2019|pages=359–360}}

Of the two ships assigned to protect the convoy, only one was present. {{HMS|Azalea|K25|6}}, a [[corvette]], was leading the LSTs in a straight line, a formation that later drew criticism since it presented an easy target to the E-boats. The second ship that was supposed to be present, {{HMS|Scimitar|H21|6}}, a [[World War I]] destroyer, had been in a collision with an LST, suffered structural damage and left the convoy to be repaired at [[Plymouth]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |year=2003 |title=HMS Scimitar, destroyer |publisher=Naval History.net |url=https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-05S-Scimitar.htm |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref> Because the LSTs and British naval headquarters were operating on different frequencies, the American forces did not know this.{{sfn|Small|Rogerson|1988}} {{HMS|Saladin|1919|6}} was dispatched as a replacement, but did not arrive in time to help protect the convoy.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=75}}
<!-- The E-boats had left Cherbourg on patrol the previous evening and did not encounter the Allied patrol lines off Cherbourg or in the [[English Channel]]. They spotted the convoy and attacked.{{efn|One of these E-Boats was ''S-130'', now in [[dry dock]] in [[Plymouth, Devon]].<ref>{{cite web |date=7 November 2004 |title=Schnellboot S130 |publisher=British Military Powerboat Team |url=http://www.bmpt.org.uk/boats/S130/index1.htm |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref>}} On the day after the first practice assaults, early on the morning of 28 April, the exercise was blighted when Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the [[Engineer Special Brigade#1st Engineer Special Brigade|1st Engineer Special Brigade]], was attacked by nine German E-boats under the command of ''[[Korvettenkapitän]]'' [[Bernd Klug]], in [[Lyme Bay]]. -->

===Casualties===
* {{USS|LST-289||2}} was set on fire but eventually made it back to shore with the loss of 13 Navy personnel.
* {{USS|LST-507||2}} was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of 202 US Army/US Navy personnel.
* {{USS|LST-511||2}} was damaged by [[friendly fire]] from {{USS|LST-496||2}} (intended to be directed at one of the E-boats which passed between the two LSTs)<ref>{{cite web |title=Report of Action Taking Place Morning of 28 April 1944 (LST 511) |website=Exercise Tiger.org.uk |url=https://www.exercisetiger.org.uk/document-archive/declassified-report-uss-lst511-enclosure-a/ |access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref> resulting in injuries to 18 US Army/Navy personnel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Exercise Tiger UK LST 511 casualty report |website=Exercise Tiger.org.uk |url=https://www.exercisetiger.org.uk/document-archive/declassified-report-uss-lst511-casualty-report-table/ |access-date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703212252/https://www.exercisetiger.org.uk/document-archive/declassified-report-uss-lst511-casualty-report-table/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{USS|LST-531||2}} sank within six minutes of being torpedoed with the loss of 424 Army and Navy personnel.<ref name=MacDonald-1988/><ref name=Fenton-2004/><ref>{{cite web |title=Operation Tiger |publisher=[[Combined Operations Headquarters|Combined Operations Command]] |url=https://www.combinedops.com/Op_Tiger.htm |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>

The remaining ships and their escort fired back and the E-boats made no more attacks. In total, 749 servicemen (551 [[United States Army]] and 198 [[United States Navy]]) were killed during Exercise Tiger.<ref name=Fenton-2004/>{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=227}} Many servicemen drowned or died of [[hypothermia]] in the cold sea while waiting to be rescued. Many had not been shown how to put on their lifebelt correctly, and placed it around their waist, the only available spot because of their large backpacks. In some cases this meant that when they jumped into the water, the weight of their combat packs flipped them upside down, dragging their heads under water and drowning them.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|pages=64, 114–115}} Dale Rodman, who travelled on ''LST-507'', commented: "The worst memory I have is setting off in the lifeboat away from the sinking ship and watching bodies float by".<ref name=Stokes/> The 248 bodies that were recovered were sent to [[Brookwood Cemetery]] in Surrey on 29 April.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=237}} The unit with the most casualties was the 1st Special Engineer Brigade.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tiger – The E-Boat Attack |website=[[U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum]] |url=https://qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/d-day/tiger.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001018023652/http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/d-day/tiger.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2000 |access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>