Second Battle of Sirte
Encyclopedia
The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British
convoy to Malta
frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina
(Italian Navy) squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruiser
s, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and 17 destroyer
s. The Italian force comprised a battleship
, two heavy cruiser
s, one light cruiser, and eight destroyers. Despite the initial British success at warding off the Italian squadron, the battle delayed the convoy's planned arrival before dawn, which exposed it to intense air attacks in the following days which sank all four merchant ships and one of the escorting destroyers. The battle occurred on 22 March 1942, in the Mediterranean
, north of the Gulf of Sirte
and southeast of Malta, during the Second World War
.
and in return became the target of an increasing number of heavy Axis air raids. By early 1942, however, the Allies lost the initiative in the central Mediterranean as Italian and German forces gained the upper hand in their attempts to isolate Malta and even made plans to remove it as a threat.
Indeed, after a series of Allied setbacks changed the overall scenario, the Italians achieved naval superiority over their enemies by spring 1942.
As Malta was running short of aircraft, antiaircraft guns, fuel, food and ammunition, convoy MW10 sailed from Alexandria
on 21 March.
The British expected opposition from German and Italian aircraft as well as Italian surface units. In December 1941, they had suffered the loss of their two battleships ( and ) in the eastern Mediterranean, after an underwater attack from the Italian frogmen led by Luigi Durand De La Penne
, and so their Alexandria squadron consisted only of cruisers and destroyers.
Meanwhile, a diversion was organized from Gibraltar
: on the morning of 20 March, the battleship —with the aircraft carriers and , supported by the cruiser and eight destroyers—set sail from the "Rock". The next day, the squadron aborted the operation and returned to port. The carriers were unable to fly off aircraft reinforcements to Malta due to defective long-range fuel tanks.
The escort of convoy MW10 relied heavily on destroyer
s—including lighter-built destroyer escort
s—to provide anti-submarine protection and included the anti-aircraft cruiser to bolster the convoy's anti-aircraft capability. Additional destroyers and another light cruiser were also sent from Malta.
In case of an Italian surface attack, the first five divisions were to stand off from the convoy to face the enemy while the sixth division laid smoke across the wake of the convoy to obscure it from the enemy. The first five divisions would act as a rearguard to lay smoke and delay the enemy while Carlisle and the Hunt destroyers proceeded with the cargo ships to Malta.
At 14:30 the next day, the British were faced by a pair of heavy cruiser
s and escorting destroyers. Admiral Vian immediately implemented his plan; the cargo ships and escorts turned away to the south while the light cruisers and remaining destroyers laid smoke and charged the Italians. After an exchange of fire, the two Italian heavy cruisers backed off in an attempt to lure the British toward the incoming main Italian squadron, and at 16:37 they returned to attack with the battleship , a light cruiser and their screening destroyers.
The battle raged for two and a half hours, with the British ships leaving the safety of their huge smoke screen to fire a few volleys and then returning to it when the Italian salvoes got too close. During one of these exchanges, suffered heavy damage from a near-miss when fired at by the Italian battleship, and was ordered to withdraw from the battle line and join the convoy. At 18:34, Vian decided to send his destroyers in to launch torpedo attacks from about 5000 yd (4,572 m), the closest the Italians would allow the British to approach. None of the torpedoes found their target, but as turned she was hit hard by a round which penetrated her boiler room, ignited a fire and temporarily brought her to a halt. The battle began with a 25 kn (30.4 mph; 49 km/h) wind blowing to the North-west, with the wind continuing to increase during the day; a factor which favoured the gunnery of the larger Italian ships throughout the battle, but the direction of the wind aided the laying of smokescreens by Vian's ships.
was also struck by shell splinters from the battleship's main guns that pierced a bulkhead
, causing some flooding but no casualties.
Right at the end of the action, at 18:55, had been hit by a 4.7 in (119.4 mm) round, with negligible damage. Her floatplane
caught fire from the blast from a salvo of her after turret at the same time. This led to the claim by the British that one of the torpedoes struck home.
At dusk, about 19:00, the Italians gave up and turned for home. Without radar
, they would have been at a significant disadvantage in a night action, as in the Battle of Cape Matapan
.
The Italians outgunned their British counterparts but they appeared unwilling to close for a decisive blow, perhaps wary of the torpedo threat from the numerically superior British destroyer force.
for repairs after being near-missed at 18:55 by ′s after turret.
Three more destroyers—, and —suffered lesser damage from 8 in (203.2 mm) cruiser fire.
The Italian fleet expended 1,511 rounds of all calibers upon the British squadron; the only destroyer to fire her guns in anger
was Aviere. The British cruisers had replied with 1,553 rounds and the destroyers with about 1300 rounds as well as 38 torpedoes. Axis aircraft made continual attacks, mainly against the convoy, throughout the naval action and Royal Navy A.A. gunners claimed the destruction of seven Axis aircraft and damage to several more.
The damaged destroyers and the cargo ships were sent on to Malta, with Carlisle, Penelope and Legion. The next day, they were subjected to continuous air attacks. The cargo ship Clan Campbell
was sunk twenty miles from harbour, and the oil tanker Breconshire was too damaged to reach Valletta
. Nonetheless, the other two merchantmen, Talabot and steamer Pampas, reached Malta's Grand Harbour virtually unharmed, save for two bombs that hit Pampas but failed to explode. Penelope attempted to tow Breconshire, but the tow parted in heavy seas.
She anchored short of the protective minefields and the destroyer Southwold attempted to take her in tow, hitting a mine in the process. She was eventually towed into Marsaxlokk Bay by tugs.
Intense Axis air raids against Malta on 24–25 March failed to damage the three surviving convoy ships. However, on 26 March, German dive bomber
s scored bomb hits on all three ships, sinking Talabot and Pampas that day with Breconshire capsizing on 27 March. Much of Breconshire′s oil was salvaged through the hole in her hull. Only about 5000 ST (4,535.9 t) of cargo had been unloaded, of the 26000 ST (23,586.8 t) that had been loaded in Alexandria.
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The Italian fleet units were no more lucky after the battle. After failing to destroy the convoy by themselves, they were caught en route to their bases by a severe storm that sank the destroyers and .
While under repair in dry dock
at Malta, Kingston was attacked a few days later by German aircraft and suffered further damage, this time beyond repair. She was scrapped at Malta in the following months.
On the other hand, some authors
while generally acknowledging the British success, write of the battle as a partial Italian achievement in delaying and turning the convoy aside.
Nearly all sources acknowledge the Italian fleet inflicted significant damage and several casualties on the British squadron while suffering minimal damage and no casualties in return.
The action, however, represented a failure on the Italians' part to exploit their advantage and destroy the convoy. Indeed, they were unable to sink or cripple a single cargo ship. This was due to Admiral Vian's vigorous and skillful defence in the face of a superior adversary. The overwhelming strength of the Italian fleet was not fully exploited by Admiral Iachino also because bad weather and lack of radar prevented him from continuing the pursuit of the convoy at dusk.
But when the main objective, to re-supply Malta, is included in the assessment, the outcome is different. The British intention to reach Malta before dawn with a substantial escort was disrupted by the intervention of the Italian Navy. This left the cargo ships exposed to Axis air supremacy
.
Thereafter, Italian and German aircraft caught the British convoy at sea and chased the surviving steamers to the harbour; more than 80% of the supplies were lost. The British convoy operation was, therefore, a strategic failure.
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}.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
convoy 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...
frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
(Italian Navy) squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and 17 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 force comprised a 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...
, two heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s, one light cruiser, and eight destroyers. Despite the initial British success at warding off the Italian squadron, the battle delayed the convoy's planned arrival before dawn, which exposed it to intense air attacks in the following days which sank all four merchant ships and one of the escorting destroyers. The battle occurred on 22 March 1942, in the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, north of the Gulf of Sirte
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
and southeast of Malta, during the Second World War
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...
.
Background
Malta had long been a major factor in British successes against Italian convoys to North Africa,and in return became the target of an increasing number of heavy Axis air raids. By early 1942, however, the Allies lost the initiative in the central Mediterranean as Italian and German forces gained the upper hand in their attempts to isolate Malta and even made plans to remove it as a threat.
Indeed, after a series of Allied setbacks changed the overall scenario, the Italians achieved naval superiority over their enemies by spring 1942.
As Malta was running short of aircraft, antiaircraft guns, fuel, food and ammunition, convoy MW10 sailed from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
on 21 March.
The British expected opposition from German and Italian aircraft as well as Italian surface units. In December 1941, they had suffered the loss of their two battleships ( and ) in the eastern Mediterranean, after an underwater attack from the Italian frogmen led by Luigi Durand De La Penne
Luigi Durand De La Penne
Luigi Durand de la Penne was an Italian naval diver in Decima MAS during World War II. De la Penne was born in Genoa, where he also died.De la Penne graduated from the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno in 1934...
, and so their Alexandria squadron consisted only of cruisers and destroyers.
Meanwhile, a diversion was organized 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...
: on the morning of 20 March, the battleship —with the aircraft carriers and , supported by the cruiser and eight destroyers—set sail from the "Rock". The next day, the squadron aborted the operation and returned to port. The carriers were unable to fly off aircraft reinforcements to Malta due to defective long-range fuel tanks.
The escort of convoy MW10 relied heavily on 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—including lighter-built destroyer escort
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
s—to provide anti-submarine protection and included the anti-aircraft cruiser to bolster the convoy's anti-aircraft capability. Additional destroyers and another light cruiser were also sent from Malta.
British defensive plan
Vian organised his ships into six divisions plus a close escort for the convoy of five Hunt class destroyers.- 1st Division: destroyers Jervis, Kipling, Kelvin and Kingston
- 2nd Division: cruisers Dido and Penelope with the destroyer Legion
- 3rd Division: destroyers Zulu and Hasty
- 4th Division: cruisers Cleopatra (flagship) and Euryalus
- 5th Division: destroyers Sikh, Lively, Hero and Havelock
- 6th Division: anti-aircraft cruiser Carlisle and Hunt class destroyer Avon Vale
In case of an Italian surface attack, the first five divisions were to stand off from the convoy to face the enemy while the sixth division laid smoke across the wake of the convoy to obscure it from the enemy. The first five divisions would act as a rearguard to lay smoke and delay the enemy while Carlisle and the Hunt destroyers proceeded with the cargo ships to Malta.
The battle
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s and escorting destroyers. Admiral Vian immediately implemented his plan; the cargo ships and escorts turned away to the south while the light cruisers and remaining destroyers laid smoke and charged the Italians. After an exchange of fire, the two Italian heavy cruisers backed off in an attempt to lure the British toward the incoming main Italian squadron, and at 16:37 they returned to attack with the battleship , a light cruiser and their screening destroyers.
was also struck by shell splinters from the battleship's main guns that pierced a bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
, causing some flooding but no casualties.
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
caught fire from the blast from a salvo of her after turret at the same time. This led to the claim by the British that one of the torpedoes struck home.
At dusk, about 19:00, the Italians gave up and turned for home. Without radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, they would have been at a significant disadvantage in a night action, as in the Battle of Cape Matapan
Battle of Cape Matapan
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second World War naval battle fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
.
The Italians outgunned their British counterparts but they appeared unwilling to close for a decisive blow, perhaps wary of the torpedo threat from the numerically superior British destroyer force.
Battle damage
According to British reports, " was struck on the after part of the bridge at 16:44...", by a 6 in (152.4 mm) hit from the light cruiser ; 16 seamen were killed. Cruisers and were also damaged, with Euryalus straddled by at 16:43 and at 18:41. Kingston was hit amidships by a shell from Littorio that killed 15 men of her crew. and left the destroyer dead in the water, with her whaler torn apart, her anti-aircraft guns, searchlight tower and torpedo launchers shattered by the explosion. Some sources claim that she was hit by the guns of the heavy cruiser . Although Kingston had an engine in flames and a flooded boiler, she managed however to recover speed, reaching Malta the next day. Havock was also badly damaged in a boiler by a near miss at 17:20, suffering eight deaths. Lively was forced to retreat to TobrukTobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
for repairs after being near-missed at 18:55 by ′s after turret.
Three more destroyers—, and —suffered lesser damage from 8 in (203.2 mm) cruiser fire.
The Italian fleet expended 1,511 rounds of all calibers upon the British squadron; the only destroyer to fire her guns in anger
Fire in anger
"Fire in anger" is a phrase used in military contexts to describe the use of a projectile weapon to deliberately cause damage or harm to an opponent, as opposed to training exercises or warning shots. For example, Napier of Magdala Battery "never fired a shot in anger"; the battery never engaged in...
was Aviere. The British cruisers had replied with 1,553 rounds and the destroyers with about 1300 rounds as well as 38 torpedoes. Axis aircraft made continual attacks, mainly against the convoy, throughout the naval action and Royal Navy A.A. gunners claimed the destruction of seven Axis aircraft and damage to several more.
Follow-up actions
Most of the escort force, now short of fuel and ammunition due to the protracted engagement and unable to find the convoy, turned back for Alexandria.The damaged destroyers and the cargo ships were sent on to Malta, with Carlisle, Penelope and Legion. The next day, they were subjected to continuous air attacks. The cargo ship Clan Campbell
SS Clan Campbell (1937)
The SS Clan Campbell was a cargo vessel built in the yards of the Greenock Dockyard Co., Greenock, Scotland and launched on 14 January 1937 for Clan Line Steamers Ltd, of Glasgow. She was registered at Glasgow....
was sunk twenty miles from harbour, and the oil tanker Breconshire was too damaged to reach Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
. Nonetheless, the other two merchantmen, Talabot and steamer Pampas, reached Malta's Grand Harbour virtually unharmed, save for two bombs that hit Pampas but failed to explode. Penelope attempted to tow Breconshire, but the tow parted in heavy seas.
She anchored short of the protective minefields and the destroyer Southwold attempted to take her in tow, hitting a mine in the process. She was eventually towed into Marsaxlokk Bay by tugs.
Intense Axis air raids against Malta on 24–25 March failed to damage the three surviving convoy ships. However, on 26 March, German dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s scored bomb hits on all three ships, sinking Talabot and Pampas that day with Breconshire capsizing on 27 March. Much of Breconshire′s oil was salvaged through the hole in her hull. Only about 5000 ST (4,535.9 t) of cargo had been unloaded, of the 26000 ST (23,586.8 t) that had been loaded in Alexandria.
While under repair in dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
at Malta, Kingston was attacked a few days later by German aircraft and suffered further damage, this time beyond repair. She was scrapped at Malta in the following months.
Assessments
Almost all sources with an opinion on the matter have assessed the battle as a British victory, credited to the escort of light cruisers and destroyers which successfully prevented the Italians from inflicting any damage whatsoever on the convoy by staving off an Italian squadron, composed of a battleship and two heavy cruisers, while fending off heavy Axis air attacks.On the other hand, some authors
while generally acknowledging the British success, write of the battle as a partial Italian achievement in delaying and turning the convoy aside.
Nearly all sources acknowledge the Italian fleet inflicted significant damage and several casualties on the British squadron while suffering minimal damage and no casualties in return.
The action, however, represented a failure on the Italians' part to exploit their advantage and destroy the convoy. Indeed, they were unable to sink or cripple a single cargo ship. This was due to Admiral Vian's vigorous and skillful defence in the face of a superior adversary. The overwhelming strength of the Italian fleet was not fully exploited by Admiral Iachino also because bad weather and lack of radar prevented him from continuing the pursuit of the convoy at dusk.
But when the main objective, to re-supply Malta, is included in the assessment, the outcome is different. The British intention to reach Malta before dawn with a substantial escort was disrupted by the intervention of the Italian Navy. This left the cargo ships exposed to Axis air supremacy
Air supremacy
Air supremacy is the complete dominance of the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's, during a military campaign. It is the most favorable state of control of the air...
.
Thereafter, Italian and German aircraft caught the British convoy at sea and chased the surviving steamers to the harbour; more than 80% of the supplies were lost. The British convoy operation was, therefore, a strategic failure.
Italy
- Admiral Angelo Iachino
- 1 battleshipBattleshipA 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...
: ' - 6 destroyerDestroyerIn 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: Alfredo Oriani, Ascari, Aviere, Geniere, , (sunk by a storm after the action)
- 1 battleship
- 2nd division, Admiral Parona
- 2 heavy cruisers: Gorizia,
- 1 light cruiserLight cruiserA light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
: - 4 destroyers: Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, (sunk by a storm after the action)
- Submarine: Platino.
United Kingdom
- Carlisle squadron:
- 1 cruiser: ;
- 5th Destroyer Flotilla ("Hunt" classHunt class destroyerThe Hunt class was a class of Destroyer escort of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in World War II, particularly on the British East Coast and Mediterranean convoys. They were named after British fox hunts...
): (sunk by a mine on 23 March); ; ; ; ; . - 4 cargo ships: Clan Campbell, Breconshire, Pampas and Talabot (all sunk by 26 March).
- 15th Cruiser Squadron (Admiral Vian):
- 3 cruisers: ; (slightly damaged); (seriously damaged).
- 14th Destroyer Flotilla: ; ; ; (heavily damaged).
- 22nd Destroyer Flotilla: ; (heavily damaged); ; (seriously damaged); (slightly damaged); (damaged ).
- Support squadron from Malta:
- 1 cruiser: ;
- 1 destroyer: (damaged and subsequently sunk by air attack on 26 March)
- 4 submarines: Unbeaten, and P-34.
- Submarine based in Alexandria:
}.
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