There they relayed substantial intelligence on the Allies' disposition in the Granville area, including the fact that several ships were in the harbour discharging coal, which was in short supply in the Channel Islands, and the location of US troops.

On the night of 6–7 February 1945, a first attempt was aborted, due to a combination of bad weather and the detection of an escorting Schnellboot ("E-boat"), by US Navy submarine chaser USS PC-552.

The captain, Lieutenant Percy Sandel, gave the order to abandon ship, but he and other crew members remained on board, and managed to evade the Germans, before intentionally grounding PC-564 on the shore.

By the time they were ready to depart, the tide was so low that only one captured collier, Eskwood, containing 112 tonnes of coal, could be taken back to the Channel Islands.

Using hatch covers as makeshift sails, they managed to steer Kyle Castle into the English Channel, where they were received assistance and were towed to Plymouth.

[7] In a later operation, an 18-man German sabotage raid from Jersey landed from rubber boats on Cape de la Hague on 5 April 1945, intending to destroy installations.

[8] A further raid was planned for 7 May 1945, but Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered Hüffmeier not to carry out any more offensive operations so close to the end of the war.