'Premium' (ii) was a British unsuccessful repeat of 'Madonna Able', and as such an amphibious attempt to land special forces for a raid on Scheveningen in the German-occupied Netherlands (24/25 February 1944).

Under the command of Lieutenant Commander D. G. Bradford in MTB-617, the motor torpedo boats of the 55^th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla involved in the operation departed Chatham on the north coast of Kent and headed toward IJmuiden at 22 kt. At about 02.58 the boats received a message that there was an S-boote force heading in their direction after a successful attack on an Allied convoy off the mouth of the Tyne river as it was making for London. The German boats had sunk the merchant vessel Phillip M and then escaped from a counterattack by the British warships escorting the convoy.

The motor torpedo boats neared the Dutch coast near Texel and then turned toward IJmuiden as Bradford was ordered to catch and engage the German force. Bradford divided his six boats into two units of three boats each: the 'M' group comprised MTB-617, MTB-621 and MTB-629, and the 'C' group MTB-630, MTB-652 and MTB-668. The 'M' group unexpectedly encountered the five rearmost of the German boats, which immediately opened fire. Bradford did not seek to attack in the face of superior numbers and strength, but reported the German force’s position, speed and course. Even so, there erupted a sharp firefight before the British broke away as it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

MBT-621 lost one man killed, and the boats reached Great Yarmouth at 10.15. Here MTB-617 embarked the small commando force it was designated to deliver and extract, and departed Great Yarmouth at 16.00 on 24 February. The crossing went well, but as the motor torpedo boat approached the Dutch coast it was illuminated by a searchlight and there were signs that the arrival of a German convoy was imminent. Then from the north there then loomed five German minesweepers checking the convoy’s route. To the surprise of the men on the motor torpedo boat, the Germans did not immediately open fire, and indeed the minesweeper force passed without any reaction whatsoever.

Bradford then opted for a dangerous gamble. Believing that the Germans had wrongly identified his boat as friendly, he crossed behind the minesweepers to approach the Dutch coast, and then followed the German convoy with its S-boote escort farther to the rear. After passing Katwijk, Bradford slowed his boat and laid smoke to conceal his cautious approach to the disembarkation point for the commandos. The commandos disembarked into a dory at 01.30 hours, and the motor torpedo boat’s crew soon saw flares rising over the coast and heard a great hullabaloo.

The motor torpedo boat returned quietly to the rendezvous point from 04.00, and one hour later there appeared the dory carrying two French commandos. At 05.10 Bradford decided he could wait no longer for the other commandos, and turned back toward the English coast, reaching Great Yarmouth without further incident.