WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk The Channel Dash: Out The Frying Pan (Part 4)
Mar 12, 2026
A dramatic retelling of Operation Cerberus and the daring German dash from Brest through the English Channel. Naval torpedo boat ambushes, misfiring torpedoes and rescue-at-sea confusion feature heavily. Air attacks struggle with navigation, flak and fuel limits. Chaotic destroyer clashes, a mine strike on Scharnhorst and the fleet’s eventual escape shape the narrative.
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Fuller Plan Collapsed When Germans Chose Daylight Dash
- The Fuller plan depended on night positioning and surprise that evaporated when the Germans timed a daylight dash through the Straits of Dover.
- Al Murray explains the fleet arrived at noon, forcing MTBs and aircraft to scramble into improvised, poorly coordinated attacks rather than the planned ambush.
Pumphrey's Desperate MTB Intercept That Missed
- Lieutenant Commander Pumphrey led five Fairmile D MTBs at 20 knots to intercept a 30-knot German flotilla two miles off the French coast.
- Pumphrey fired two torpedoes at close range amid E-boat fire but recorded no strikes and several torpedoes later misfired across the squadron.
Bad Communication Made Air Rendezvous Impossible
- Poor inter-command communication fatally hampered Coastal and Fighter Command coordination during rendezvous over Manston.
- James Holland and Al Murray recount Beauforts and Hudsons circling, escorts mis-routed, and pilots receiving conflicting orders via Morse.