On this day, 80 years ago, 18 brave men took to the skies to above Kent in attempt to stop two of Adolf Hitler's battleships - but just five returned.

In one of the most disastrous days in the history of the Royal Navy, the Channel Dash on February 12, 1942, saw 13 naval airmen lose their lives as an armada of German ships sailed through the Dover Straits back to Germany.

Operation Fuller was set up in the hopes of stopping two German battleships, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and the Prinz Eugen battle cruiser reaching their home after arriving in Brest, France, in March 1941.

The British navy had targeted the ships, described as the "core of Hitler's navy", and set out a plan to stop them returning home as they travelled from waters near the county.

The Germany Naval Command decided to bring the ships back to Germany after repeated attacks by the RAF on the port and Adolf Hitler demanded more protection in occupied Norway.

The British were aware this plan could take place and established Operation Fuller as a counter-measure with patrols running up and down the coast of southern England and over Brest to monitor movements.

Naval intelligence believed the Germans would not dare make a move through the Channel under daylight and expected them to try to pass Dover at night.

Several training missions for night raids took place but Britain decided to drop the guard thinking the moment had passed and the Germans seized their opportunity.

The plan was for the German ships to be spotted leaving Brest and the navy to be alerted, leading to motor boats and Swordfish torpedo bombers launching a co-ordinated attack to cripple the ships, destroyers would then close in to deal further blows, while the RAF would rain bombs from above, protected by a shield of fighters.

However, things didn't go to plan after a sequence of events meant the German ships were left undetected for almost 12 hours after they left the French port at about 9pm on February 11, 1942.

A British agent in Brest was unable to signal that the Brest Group was departing because of German wireless jamming, and Sealion, which was patrolling outside the harbour, had withdrawn to recharge its batteries.

It wasn't until about 10.50am on February 12, 1942, that radar stations in Kent reported two large ships off Le Touquet.

Now, the British navy was almost 12 hours behind in its plans to stop the German ships and Operation Fuller was hurried into action, including 18 men in the Fleet Air Arm's 825 Squadron.

Their six Swordfish planes left from RAF Manston to bomb a fleet of 66 German ships spotted slipping through the Dover Straits.

The planes, which only had a top speed of around 90mph and were mainly made of wood and canvas, scrambled from Manston were horribly outdated and outgunned by the 200 fighter aircraft escorting the German ships with their big guns.

Led by Lt Cmdr Eugene Esmonde, the Swordfish had been promised five squadrons of Spitfires as fighter cover.

It's reported that Eugene Esmonde was told: “This is going to be a difficult job. You volunteered for a night attack, it’s now a daylight attack. It’s up to you. I shall not think any less of you if you withdraw.”

With the Commander laying down one condition - five squadrons for his sluggish bombers - before adding: “Tell them to be here by 12.25 – get the fighters to us on time, for the love of God.”

Even with fighter cover, Esmonde felt this was a one-way mission. He never voiced his misgivings – but his half-hearted salute to Manston’s commander, Tom Gleave, as the RAF man wished him luck, Mr Gleaves has revealed.

Only one squadron of RAF Spitfires arrived to help the six Swordfirsh, and the entire fleet was gunned down.

Only five of the brave men who took to the skies that day were picked up from the freezing waters of the Channel.

As a final throw of the dice, the RAF sent in 242 bombers to sink the German ships but the attack failed causing only minor damage as they safely made it back to Germany with Britain losing 42 planes in the raids, including the six Swordfish, suffering more than 250 casualties, which included 147 people killed in action.

In the years since the tragic failed mission, which took the lives of many men, memorial days have been held in Thanet, Ramsgate and Dover.

A commemoration event will take place at Manston today.