Ushant would ever see. During World War II, a force of British Commandos and US Army Rangers of the 29th Provisional Rangers successfully attacked a German radar installation on the island. In March 1978, the oil tanker "Amoco Cadiz" ran aground at Portsall about from the island, leading to major pollution of the Brittany coast. According to an old Breton proverb, "" ("He who sees Molène sees his pains / He who sees Ushant sees his blood / He who sees Sein sees his end / He who sees Groix sees his cross"). This proverb is related to the area around
Japanese cruiser Sakawa down and "Nagato" attempted to tow the cruiser, but had a boiler failure and then ran out of fuel. An oil tanker, , was diverted to refuel the ships, but ran aground on a reef in bad weather and was lost. The two ex-Japanese ships were finally taken in tow on 30 March, with "Sakawa" reaching Eniwetok two days later. While at Eniwetok, five of the ship's American sailors were angry over the dismal working conditions aboard, "Sakawa" and sabotaged her in an unsuccessful attempt to get off the ship. They damaged the fuel system, poured sand into the oil