Battle of the Ligurian Sea

Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of World War II

HMS Meteor, an M-class destroyer armed with six 4.7 inch guns

Date	18 March 1945
Location	Mediterranean sea between Corsica & Gorgona island
Result	Decisive British victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Germany

Commanders and leaders

Derick Hetherington

Franz Burkart (POW)

Strength

2 L and M-class destroyers

1 destroyer
2 Torpedo boats

Casualties and losses

1 destroyer lightly damaged

2 torpedo boats sunk
1 destroyer damaged (later scuttled)
60 killed
244 captured

The Battle of the Ligurian Sea was a naval surface battle that was fought on 18 March 1945 in the Gulf of Genoa in the Mediterranean Sea. A German Kriegsmarine force, consisting of two torpedo boats and one destroyer, was engaged in an offensive mine laying operation and was intercepted by a British Royal Navy force. In this action, the British destroyers HMS Lookout and Meteor sank two of the German ships and severely damaged the third. This was Germany's last surface naval battle of the Second World War.

On the night of 17 March 1945, the last three operational ships of the German 10th flotilla under command of Korvettenkapitän Franz Burkart conducted an offensive mine laying operation northeast of Corsica. After sailing out of Genoa, TA24 (ex-Italian Arturo) and TA29 (ex-Italian Eridano) successfully laid 56 mines south of Gorgona Island while TA32 (ex-Yugoslavian Dubrovnik, later Italian Premuda) placed 76 mines in another field north of Cap Corse. The flotilla then reunited for the return to Genoa and was about twenty miles north of Cape Corse when an Allied shore radar at Livorno detected their presence. Four Allied destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla were patrolling in the area: the French L'Adroit-class destroyer Basque and Bourrasque-class destroyer Tempête, along with the British L and M-class destroyers HMS Meteor and Lookout. In the early hours of 18 March, all but Meteor had received Livorno’s radar report.

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