The Japanese also sank Motion_directional or damaged Damaging three cruisers , three destroyers , an anti-aircraft training ship Sending , and one minelayer .

Three of the four guns in a large emplacement at the Longues-sur-Mer battery were disabled Destroying by direct hits Attack from the cruisers ' and ' at 06:20 .

Also , about forty ships — two light cruisers , four destroyers , nine auxiliary ships , and about two dozen cargo vessels — were sunk Motion .

The German armoured cruisers and entered Arriving the port of Papeete on the island of Tahiti and sank Removing the French gunboat and freighter `` Walküre '' before bombarding Attack the town 's fortifications .

The main strategic consequence of the engagement was the disclosure Reveal_secret of the cruisers ' positions Employment to the British Admiralty , which led to Causation the Battle Hostile_encounter of Coronel where the entire German East Asia Squadron defeated Conquering a Royal Navy squadron .

The plan Arranging of attack Attack was for the British raiding Attack force to sink two obsolete cruisers in the canal mouth at Ostend and three at Zeebrugge , thus preventing Preventing_or_letting raiding Attack ships leaving Departing Bruges .

Late in the day `` Bismarck '' briefly turned on Military_operation her pursuers ( `` Prince of Wales '' and the heavy cruisers and ) to cover Filling the escape of her companion , the heavy cruiser to continue further into the Atlantic .

The third phase on the morning of 27 May was an attack Attack by the British battleships and supported Supporting by cruisers .

In March 1944 , a force of three Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) heavy cruisers raided Attack Allied shipping Self_motion in the Indian Ocean .

The cruisers departed Departing Japanese-held territory on 1 March with the support of other IJN vessels and aircraft .

The outcome of the battle Hostile_encounter was a strategic victory Earnings_and_losses for the Allies—the German blockade failed—but at great cost Cost : 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships were sunk Earnings_and_losses in the Atlantic for the loss Earnings_and_losses of 783 U-boats ( the majority being Type VII submarines ) and 47 German surface warships , including 4 battleships ( `` Scharnhorst '' , `` Bismarck '' , `` Gneisenau '' , and `` Tirpitz '' ) , 9 cruisers , 7 raiders , and 27 destroyers .