23 April 1918: The Royal Navy and Royal Marines paid a steep price while earning eight Victoria Crosses blocking the Zeebrugge harbor exit.

In all, 162 vessels participated in the raid along with the 4th Royal Marines Bn. The official casualty count was 227 dead and 356 wounded.

For details, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeebrugge_Raid

ILLUSTRATIONS: (1) HMS Vindictive and the Mersey River ferries Iris II and Daffodil put sailors and Royal Marines on the Zeebrugge mole to take out the German guns there. (2) Royal Marines crowd Vindictive's gangplanks while assaulting German trenches on the Zeebrugge mole during intense shelling. (3) Royal Marines storm the Zeebrugge mole. (4) HMS Vindictive heads back to England after being shelled a second time during the raid on the Zeebrugge mole. (5) A graphic depiction of the Zeebrugge raid that appeared in Popular Science magazine in July 1918.