Sea War
Νorth Sea – Zeebrugge Raid: St George’s Day Raid by British Dover Patrol 3 old cruiser blockships; 9 monitors; 5 cruisers; 7 flotilla leaders, 44 destroyers on Zeebruge and Ostend (night April 22-23) (2 blockships miss). Zeebrugge Raid lasts 1 hour and costs 588 Royal Navy casualties mainly from 900-strong landing party that tries tο storm harbour mole. Obsolescent submarine C3 destroys viaduct linking mole to mainland; 24 CMBs and 60 Minelayers lay flanking smokescreen; 8 Victoria Cross won (King invests them on July 31) and 209 other decorations. Destroyer North Star (35 casualties) sunk, probably by torpedo from Mole, and German destroyer probably torpedoed on inside. Germans dredge in 24 hours 60-feet wide channel round blockships, canal fully open within 3 weeks; coastal submarine UB-16 uses it on April 24, larger boats diverted to Ostend, but raid a great British morale booster at home and in France.
Adriatic: Destroyer action (night April 22-23) as 4 Austrian ships chased from West of Valona back to Cattaro by 5 British (Hornet suffers 32 casualties) and 1 French.
Air War
Occupied Belgium: DH4 bombs Zeebrugge harbour mole (night April 22-23) as diversion for Royal Navy Zeebrugge Raid.
Middle East
Caucasus: Tiflis Diet proclaims independent Τrans-Caucasian Federative Republic, which orders ceasefire on April 23.
