In February 1944 the British communications tapping service had already had earlier information that the German convoy would sail from Pola (Croatia) to Greece and so decided to intercept and destroy it. In the convoy was the cargo ship Kapitan Diederichsen. At around 21.35hrs. the French ships established radar contact with the enemy convoy at a distance of 17,000 metres. When at 21.44hrs. the distance dropped to 8,000 metres, the French ships opened fire. The German ships immediately returned fire, but after just four minutes, the Kapitän Diederichsen was hit. An attempt at towing the burning Kapitän Diederichsen failed and so at 11.45hrs. it sank from the damage it had received.
The position of the wreck is close to the border of Croatia’s territorial waters, some 500 metres inside the Croatian area.