13. An Audacious Effort
The raiders evaded the extensive protections within the harbor, and maneuvered their vessels above or below torpedo nets until they reached their targets. The frogmen dove beneath their targeted ships, removed the warheads from their torpedoes, affixed them to the bottom of the enemy hulls, set timers for the explosives to go off at 6AM, and beat a retreat. One crew was spotted and captured as soon as they surfaced inside the harbor. The other two crews swam ashore and made it into Alexandria, but were captured by Egyptian police within a few days. The explosives went off on time, and both battleships suffered extensive damage that kept them out of action for a year. As to the tanker Sagona, it was destroyed outright, and a destroyer that had been refueling from it at the time suffered significant damage.
