The attack came as German forces introduced radio-guided gliding bombs into the Bay of Biscay campaign. After HMS Bideford and HMS Landguard were damaged, Egret's First Support Group relieved the embattled escorts with Pelican and the frigates Jed, Rother, Spey, and Evenlode, backed by HMCS Athabaskan and HMS Grenville. Eighteen Dornier Do 217 bombers renewed the attack, heavily damaging Athabaskan and sinking Egret so quickly that 198 personnel died. Four of those lost were RAF electronic-warfare specialists operating equipment intended to monitor Luftwaffe bomber communications. Egret's destruction was therefore both a tactical disaster and an intelligence loss at the moment the Royal Navy most needed information about the new weapon.
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HMS Egret became the first ship lost to a guided gliding bomb
In the Bay of Biscay in 1943, a Luftwaffe attack with guided gliding bombs sank Egret and killed 198 people aboard, including four RAF electronic-warfare specialists.