On 19 July nine convoys were at sea as German aircraft scouted the shipping lanes in the early morning.
A Do 17 from 4.(F)/121 was shot down by 145 Squadron at 07:04.
No 264 Squadron flying Boulton Paul Defiants, had operated with success over Dunkirk eight weeks earlier and its sister unit, 141 Squadron with twelve aircraft, was moved from West Malling to Hawkinge.
The unit was inexperienced and while the aircraft were being fitted with Constant speed propellers in the early summer, the crews had little time to practice in the air; the gunners were uneasy about escaping their turrets in an emergency.
Dowding and Park were dubious about the Defiant but ordered 141 Squadron to escort a convoy that morning.

Osterkamp used a break in the weather to lead III./JG 51 on a patrol over the Dover area and spotted a formation of RAF aircraft at 12:45.
Identifying them as Defiants, they attacked from the rear and below, to avoid return fire from the turret.
Four Defiants were shot down on the first pass and another as it sought cloud cover.
The Bf 109s were interrupted by 111 Squadron which shot down a Bf 109 into the sea and the four surviving Defiants escaped, one crash-landed, one was written off and the other two were damaged.
Osterkamp noted that the pilots' delight with their success was tempered with knowledge of their own mortality after this mission.

Analysis suggested that the RAF controller failed to get the squadron airborne before the German aircraft arrived, because a scramble had only been ordered when German fighters had been seen by observers at RAF Hawkinge.
The Bf 109s loitering with the advantage of height led to disaster for 141 Squadron.
The German pilots quickly learned to distinguish the Defiant from other fighters and did not consider it formidable.
Dowding reported on the battle to Churchill, telling him that many men had died; Churchill acknowledged Dowding's misgivings with the Defiant and turned away.
The surviving Defiants saw very little action for the remainder of the battle; 19 July was the worst defeat of Fighter Command during the battle, the RAF losing ten aircraft against four from the Luftwaffe.
Encouraged by the Luftwaffe successes, Hitler made his last "appeal to reason" that day and millions of copies of the speech were circulated in Britain.

Off Portland harbour, 87 Squadron intercepted Ju 87s without result and 64 Squadron shot down a Heinkel He 115 float plane mining the Thames Estuary.
III./KG 55 lost a bomber to 145 Squadron and against Bf 109s, 1 and 32 squadrons lost a Hurricane each, 43 Squadron lost two and one damaged, two pilots were seriously wounded and one was killed; 141 Squadron lost ten crew killed and one wounded.
Although the losses on this day were small numerically, the British fighters had been defeated in each engagement.
The Germans were more experienced, operating in greater numbers and the Bf 109 units were fighting with greater flexibility.
Operating at generally higher altitudes, the Finger-four formation tactic used by German fighter pilots proved far more effective than close British formations of British pilots.
All the German pilots could scan the air but the British had to rely on the formation leader, while concentrating on tight formation-flying.

At 12:15, StG 1 attacked the destroyer HMS Beagle off Dover and Beagle replied with its anti-aircraft guns and high-speed manoeuvres, to escape the deluge of bombs from 40–50 Ju 87s.
Several near misses damaged Beagle's gyro and engines but there were no casualties and Beagle made it back to Dover.
At 16:00, German formations appeared over Dover and nine Do 17's from KG 2 and Ju 87s from StG 1 bombed the harbour, attacking in shallow dives.
Twenty-two bombs were dropped and the oiler War Sepoy blew up, the tug Simla, the drifter Golden Drift and the destroyer HMS Griffin were damaged.
On 19 July nine convoys were at sea as German aircraft scouted the shipping lanes in the early morning. A Do 17 from 4.(F)/121 was shot down by 145 Squadron at 07:04. No 264 Squadron flying Boulton Paul Defiants, had operated with success over Dunkirk eight weeks earlier and its sister unit, 141 Squadron with twelve aircraft, was moved from West Malling to Hawkinge. The unit was inexperienced and while the aircraft were being fitted with Constant speed propellers in the early summer, the crews had little time to practice in the air; the gunners were uneasy about escaping their turrets in an emergency. Dowding and Park were dubious about the Defiant but ordered 141 Squadron to escort a convoy that morning.
Osterkamp used a break in the weather to lead III./JG 51 on a patrol over the Dover area and spotted a formation of RAF aircraft at 12:45. Identifying them as Defiants, they attacked from the rear and below, to avoid return fire from the turret. Four Defiants were shot down on the first pass and another as it sought cloud cover. The Bf 109s were interrupted by 111 Squadron which shot down a Bf 109 into the sea and the four surviving Defiants escaped, one crash-landed, one was written off and the other two were damaged. Osterkamp noted that the pilots' delight with their success was tempered with knowledge of their own mortality after this mission.
Analysis suggested that the RAF controller failed to get the squadron airborne before the German aircraft arrived, because a scramble had only been ordered when German fighters had been seen by observers at RAF Hawkinge. The Bf 109s loitering with the advantage of height led to disaster for 141 Squadron. The German pilots quickly learned to distinguish the Defiant from other fighters and did not consider it formidable. Dowding reported on the battle to Churchill, telling him that many men had died; Churchill acknowledged Dowding's misgivings with the Defiant and turned away. The surviving Defiants saw very little action for the remainder of the battle; 19 July was the worst defeat of Fighter Command during the battle, the RAF losing ten aircraft against four from the Luftwaffe. Encouraged by the Luftwaffe successes, Hitler made his last "appeal to reason" that day and millions of copies of the speech were circulated in Britain.
Off Portland harbour, 87 Squadron intercepted Ju 87s without result and 64 Squadron shot down a Heinkel He 115 float plane mining the Thames Estuary. III./KG 55 lost a bomber to 145 Squadron and against Bf 109s, 1 and 32 squadrons lost a Hurricane each, 43 Squadron lost two and one damaged, two pilots were seriously wounded and one was killed; 141 Squadron lost ten crew killed and one wounded. Although the losses on this day were small numerically, the British fighters had been defeated in each engagement. The Germans were more experienced, operating in greater numbers and the Bf 109 units were fighting with greater flexibility. Operating at generally higher altitudes, the Finger-four formation tactic used by German fighter pilots proved far more effective than close British formations of British pilots. All the German pilots could scan the air but the British had to rely on the formation leader, while concentrating on tight formation-flying.
At 12:15, StG 1 attacked the destroyer HMS Beagle off Dover and Beagle replied with its anti-aircraft guns and high-speed manoeuvres, to escape the deluge of bombs from 40–50 Ju 87s. Several near misses damaged Beagle's gyro and engines but there were no casualties and Beagle made it back to Dover. At 16:00, German formations appeared over Dover and nine Do 17's from KG 2 and Ju 87s from StG 1 bombed the harbour, attacking in shallow dives. Twenty-two bombs were dropped and the oiler War Sepoy blew up, the tug Simla, the drifter Golden Drift and the destroyer HMS Griffin were damaged.
Kanalkampf