Summary

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Operation Halberd

Halberd

A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...

was a British naval operation in September 1941 to escort a convoy

Malta Convoys

The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply convoys that sustained the besieged island of Malta during the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War...

 from Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

.

The nine merchant ships originally sailed from Liverpool (16 Sept) and the Clyde (17 Sept) as part of convoy WS (Winston Specials) 11X, arriving Gibraltar 24 September 1941, with a close escort under the command of Rear Admiral Harold Martin Burrough. It was also accompanied by Force H, under the command of Admiral James Sommerville

James Sommerville

James Sommerville is the current principal hornist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic, in Hamilton, Canada. Before coming to Boston in 1998, Mr...

. This consisted of the one aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 (HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (91)

HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...

), three battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s (HMS Nelson

HMS Nelson (1925)

HMS Nelson was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy between the two World Wars. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson the victor at the Battle of Trafalgar...

, HMS Rodney

HMS Rodney (1925)

HMS Rodney was one of two s built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. She was named for Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney...

 and HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Prince of Wales (1939)

HMS Prince of Wales was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy, built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England...

) to protect the convoy against Italian surface ships. The British warships also included five cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s and 18 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s.

The Italian fleet attempted to intercept the convoy on 26 September but did not make contact with it as they turned away after learning that the Royal Navy force included several battleships and an aircraft carrier. HMS Prince of Wales, followed by the slower HMS Rodney, attempted in vain to intercept the Italian force. HMS Nelson was hit in the bows by a torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 launched from an Italian torpedo bomber on 27 September south of Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

 and seriously damaged. On the evening of 27 September Force H turned back and sailed for Gibraltar. The merchant vessel Imperial Star carrying 8,000 tons of war supplies was hit by another aerial torpedo on the 27th and damaged. Despite being taken in tow by the destroyer HMS Oribi it had to be scuttled the following day. There was no loss of life. The convoy arrived at Malta on 28 September and delivered 85,000 tons of supplies to the island.The Italian Air Force lost 21 aircraft to RN Fleet Air Arm fighters and the AA guns of the Royal Navy.

Extract from an Italian Report

At 08:18 on 27 September 1941 an Italian reconnaissance aircraft spotted a carrier and seven unidentified ships west of La Galite. Towards noon, the Comando Aeronautica della Sardegna received the following message from a Cant Z.506 (triple-engine float-plane) of 287a Squadriglia (Sottotente Giovanni Del Vento in MM45252):"At 37°43' – 8°55' - route 90° - speed 12 nm per hour: 1 battleship, 1 carrier, 4 cruiser, unspecified number of destroyers and steamboats. At 37°55' - 8°45' - route 90° - speed 18 nm per hours: 3 cruisers"


At 13.20 the S.79s (torpedo-bombers) of the 130 Gruppo, escorted by twelve fighters, had spotted the enemy. The formation split up to perform an attack from various directions: the 280 and the 282 Squadriglia from north, the 283 Squadriglia from south, the 278 Squadriglia and Tenente Deslex from west. Before they could attack, they were chased by six Fulmars. The 280 Squadriglia’s Melley and Setti believed to have shared a hit on a light cruiser (HMS Lightning), which had a narrow miss.


At 13.58 the north-coming torpedo-bombers, partially covered by bad weather, surprised the enemy. Tenente Deslex tried to attack HMS Ark Royal at sea level, but was shot down by AA fire before having released the torpedo. Then Venturini and Bucceri attacked HMS Ark Royal and HMS Cossack missing both. Soon after they were chased for 20 minutes by Ark Royal’s Fairey Fulmars, which killed Venturini's radio operator.


At 13.59 in an attempt to distract the anti-aircraft gunners, Sergente Maggiore Luigi Valiotti, flying a Fiat CR.42

Fiat CR.42

The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden and Hungary...

 of 354 Squadriglia started performing aerobatics over the heads of the astounded ships gunners, who after a while started to shoot at him. He lasted 6 minutes before he was shot down and killed. Further attacks were unable to get through the anti-aircraft barrage, and the Italian aircraft flew back to base, landing at 15.50 pursued by the Ark Royals Fulmars, which strafed the airfield at Cagliari (Sardinia), damaging 10 seaplanes and causing 3 casualties.

A first hand account by George Gilroy of HMS Lightning describes the loss of Valiotti: "I remember at one stage during an attack a Fiat fighter performing stunts over the convoy; some said that it was trying to divert attention from the incoming torpedo bombers. However, we shot him down".

The convoy and close escorts through to Malta

HMS Breconshire (9,776 tons) 'Convoy Commodore' Auxiliary Supply Ship


Ajax (7,797 tons) Blue Funnel Line


City of Calcutta (8,063 tons) Ellerman’s City Line


City of Lincoln (8,039 tons) Ellerman & Bucknall


Clan Ferguson (7,347 tons) Clan Line


Clan MacDonald (9,653 tons) Clan Line


Dunedin Star (13,000 tons) Blue Star Line


Imperial Star (12,427 tons) Blue Star Line


Rowallan Castle (7,798 tons) Union-Castle Line

Their nine close escorts consisted of the destroyers:

HMS Blankney

HMS Laforey

HMS Lightning

HMS Oribi

HMS Whitehall

HMS Witch

ORP Garland (Polish)

ORP Piorun (Polish)

HMNS Isaac Sweers (Dutch)

External links

• Newsreel footage of Operation Halberd, as filmed from HMS Prince of Wales