the surviving ships of OA 178 dispersed in the Southwest Approaches and joined oceanic convoys. Aftermath Analysis In 2008, Nick Hewitt wrote that hitherto, 3,404 ships had sailed the Channel with eight losses, which was some explanation for British complacency. In 2013, the historian Andy Saunders wrote that the convoy was too far from the English coast for fighters easily to have protected it and when the Stukas attacked. If Fighter Command squadrons had been scrambled from RAF bases they would have not arrived before the raid was over. Saunders called the losses inflicted on OA 178 a British failure, which showed the Germans that the Royal Navy and the RAF were incapable of protecting Channel convoys. After OA 178 local CE and CW coal convoys proved equally vulnerable to the combination of Stukas and . The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, issued an Action this Day memo to the Admiralty inquiring about the measures to defend convoys along the south coast, particularly the matter of air cover. The severity of the losses to OA 178 was such that henceforth OA convoys were assembled at Methil in Fife and sailed northabout Scotland to avoid the English Channel. Casualties Temporary Lieutenant Commander (E) B. Nish RNR, Temporary Lieutenant (E) J. R. Bissett RNR, Temporary Sub/Lieutenant (E) J. W. McMullan RNR, Lieutenant W. G. P. Brigstocke RNVR, Probationary Temporary Surgeon Lt E. I. Smith, MB, ChB RNVR and one hundred and seventy one ratings (total 176) were killed on Foylebank; thirteen officers and one hundred and forty-four ratings (total 157) were rescued. Sixteen men of Elmcrest were killed and one man was killed on Kolga, a total of 193 men were killed. One Stuka crew was shot down and killed by antiaircraft fire from HMS Foylebank during the attack on Portland Harbour. Convoy OA 178 Escorts Ship losses in Portland Harbour Notes Footnotes References Further reading Aerial operations and battles of World War II Convoy OA178