On 24 May 1940, Wessex, the destroyers Vimiera and Wolfhound, and the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Burza were ordered to bombard German Army forces in France advancing on Calais. They opened fire on a German armored column west of Calais at Sangatte Hill at 16:20 hours and received return fire from German artillery ashore. At 16:30 hours, 27 German Junkers Ju 87 Stukadive bombers attacked the destroyers, hitting Wessex with three bombs. Wessex quickly sank in 115 feet (35 meters) of water at 51°00′54″N001°45′50″E / 51.01500°N 1.76389°E / 51.01500; 1.76389 ("HMS Wessex (D43) sunk"). Vimiera rescued her survivors but had to withdraw with damage from six near misses. The German aircraft then concentrated their attack on Burza, which suffered heavy damage from two bomb hits and three near misses but managed to limp back to Dover with Vimiera. The ships shot down one German aircraft during the action.[1][3]
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