World War II maintenance convoy operation
Operation Halberd was a British naval operation that took place on 27 September 1941, during the Second World War. The British were attempting to deliver a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy was escorted by several battleships and an aircraft carrier, to deter interference from the Italian surface fleet, while a close escort of cruisers and destroyers provided an anti-aircraft screen.
The Italian fleet sortied after the convoy was detected, but turned back after learning the strength of the escorting force. Air attacks by Italian bombers and fighters damaged several ships, and forced one of the merchant vessels to be scuttled. The rest of the convoy arrived at Malta and discharged their cargo.
The convoy.
Operation Halberd was at the time the largest Malta supply effort of the war. Nine merchant ships carrying 81,000 tons of military equipment and supplies sailed from Liverpool on 16 September and from the Clyde on 17 September as part of convoy WS (Winston Specials) 11X, passing Gibraltar on 24 September 1941, with a close escort under the command of Rear-Admiral Harold Burrough. The nine ships were
British forces.
Force H, under the command of Admiral James Somerville, accompanied the convoy as defence against Italian surface ships. Force H consisted of the battleships , and with the aircraft carrier operating 12 Fairey Swordfish and 27 Fairey Fulmars of 807 and 808 Naval Air Squadrons. Force H included cruisers , , , and , and was screened by destroyers , ORP "Garland" and , and , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . Submarines and patrolled south of the Strait of Messina while and patrolled north of the Strait. The Polish submarine patrolled north of Sicily with and while the Dutch submarine patrolled south of Sardinia. Malta had recently received 27 long-range fighters (22 Bristol Beaufighters and 5 Bristol Blenheims), which had been bombing and strafing Italian airfields on Sicily and Sardinia, and would provide air cover for the convoy after Force H retired before reaching the Sicilian narrows.
Italian forces.
Italian submarines deployed to ambush the British battleships thought to be planning a bombardment raid against the Italian coast. "Dandolo", and patrolled south of Ibiza while , "Serpente", and patrolled east of the Balearic Islands. "Squalo", "Bandiera" and patrolled Southwest of Sardinia and "Narvalo" was off the African shore of the Sicilian narrows. Light cruisers and of the 8th cruiser division sailed from Palermo with s "Maestrale", "Grecale" and "Scirocco" of the 10th destroyer flotilla to take position off La Maddalena. Battleships and were prepared to sortie from Naples with , , and "Gioberti" of the 13th flotilla, and , and of the 16th flotilla while cruisers , and from Taranto with , , and of the 12th flotilla prepared to join them. Sardinia deployed thirty Macchi C.200, twenty Fiat CR.42 Falco fighters and twenty-six Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and SM.84 torpedo bombers against the convoy while Sicily deployed fifteen C.200 and three Reggiane Re.2000 fighters and nine Junkers Ju 87 with twenty-four Fiat BR.20, SM.79 and SM.84 as high-level bombers and plus three with torpedoes. More Italian aircraft were operational but were assigned other missions including bombing Malta.
Prelude.
Ships of the Mediterranean Fleet operating from Alexandria began making heavy radio traffic in the hope of diverting "Luftwaffe" attention to possible preparations for a major operation in the eastern Mediterranean. On 24 September Admiral Somerville shifted his flag from "Nelson" to "Rodney" and "Nelson" sailed west into the Atlantic at 18:15 escorted by "Garland", "Piorun" and "Isaac Sweers" to give the impression the strength of Force H was being reduced. "Nelson" turned back after dusk to join the merchant ships from Convoy WS 11X, now renamed convoy GM 2 as the second convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. Force H separated from the merchant ships in the early hours of 25 September so Axis aerial reconnaissance might think only Force H was at sea. Fulmars from "Ark Royal" provided air cover over the convoy.
Italian aircraft found Force H on the afternoon of 25 September, and assumed the battleships were on a bombardment raid against the Italian coast. A CANT Z.506 seaplane observing Force H at 09:32 on 26 September reported a battleship with an aircraft carrier incorrectly identified as . Since "Ark Royal" had been seen leaving Gibraltar, the Italians assumed "Furious" might be flying off aircraft to reinforce Malta while "Ark Royal" attacked Genoa. The Italian fleet sailed from Naples to take a defensive position with the 8th cruiser division off northern Sardinia, but was ordered not to engage the British fleet unless the Italians held a decisive superiority of forces.
Battle of 27 September.
Force H rejoined the convoy at 07:10 27 September. Sixteen destroyers formed a bent line screen ahead of two columns of merchant ships. The port column was led by the cruiser "Kenya", followed by "Ajax", "Clan MacDonald", "Imperial Star", "Rowallan Castle" and "City of Calcutta". The starboard column was led by the cruiser "Edinburgh" followed by "Clan Ferguson", , HMS "Breconshire" and "City of Lincoln". "Rodney" took position behind the port wing of the screen followed by "Prince of Wales". "Nelson" took position behind the starboard wing of the screen followed by "Ark Royal" in formation with the anti-aircraft cruisers "Euryalus" and "Hermione". The cruiser "Sheffield" took position astern of the merchant ships, while the destroyers "Piorun" and "Legion" assumed plane guard positions astern of "Ark Royal".
Italian aircraft correctly identified "Ark Royal" at 08:10, and at 10:45 reported the convoy speed of , which indicated that merchant ships were with the convoy. The battleships from Naples rendezvoused with the cruisers from Taranto at 10:40 and were joined by the 8th cruiser division at 11:48. The Italian fleet was faster than the battleships of Force H, but was inferior to the British force in firepower. The "Regia Aeronautica" gave priority to fighter defence of bomber strikes, and the six fighters providing air cover over the Italian fleet could not travel more than from their base. Since Italian aircraft had reported only a single British battleship, the Italian fleet received authorisation at noon to engage the British formation. The "Regia Aeronautica" was requested to provide increased air cover for the Italian fleet by 14:00.
The "Regia Aeronautica" launched a strike of 28 SM.79 and SM.84 torpedo planes with 20 Cr.42 fighters. The convoy came under air attack at 13:00. The strike was met by defending Fulmars and heavy anti-aircraft fire. Three bombers pressed through the barrage of starboard wing destroyers to launch torpedoes at "Nelson". "Nelson" turned to comb the torpedo tracks, and inadvertently steadied on the reciprocal course of a torpedo which struck the port side of the forecastle. "Nelson" slowed to 15 knots, but maintained position in the convoy. The Italian plane had released the torpedo at a range of only and endured concentrated anti-aircraft fire from "Prince of Wales" before being shot down by one of the Fulmars. Six more torpedo planes and 1 fighter failed to return from the strike. Friendly fire from "Rodney" and "Prince of Wales" shot down two Fulmars, and a patrolling Swordfish had been shot down by the Italian fighters before the strike ended at 13:30.
The Italian fleet was shadowed by British aircraft from Malta beginning at 13:07. At 14:30 the Italian fleet was about from the convoy, but "...decided to return home around 14:30 on 27 September when..." it "... learned that the British had two battleships, a carrier and six cruisers at sea." Aircraft from "Ark Royal" shadowed the Italian fleet from 15:15 to 17:50. Cr.42 fighters arrived at 15:30 to provide air cover but the squadron leader of the first flight was shot down by friendly fire from an Italian destroyer. Two more Italian pilots were lost when another flight of ten C.200s ran out of fuel and ditched in the sea. At 14:46 "Prince of Wales", "Rodney", "Sheffield", "Edinburgh", and six destroyers steamed toward the Italian fleet but were recalled at 17:00 before making contact and rejoined the convoy at 18:30. "Nelson", "Rodney", "Prince of Wales" and "Ark Royal" turned west to return to Gibraltar, escorted by "Duncan", "Fury", "Gurkha", "Lance", "Legion", "Lively". "Garland", "Piorun", and "Isaac Sweers". "Euryalus" fell in astern of the port column of merchant ships while "Sheffield" and "Hermione" joined the starboard column as the remaining destroyers closed into a night steaming formation. The formation was attacked by a few torpedo bombers, and "Imperial Star" was struck by a single torpedo. "Oribi" took the damaged freighter in tow. Italian "Motoscafo armato silurante" (MAS torpedo boats) deployed through the Strait of Messina, but failed to find the convoy.
Aftermath.
"Hermione" detached from the convoy to bombard Pantelleria to put the airfield out of action when the convoy arrived in Malta. The damaged "Imperial Star" was scuttled without loss of life to maintain convoy speed and the convoy arrived in Malta on 28 September. Force H was attacked on its return journey by three submarines and "Adua" was sunk by "Gurkha" and "Legion". Another "Ark Royal" Fulmar fell to friendly fire from "Prince of Wales", raising British aircraft losses to three Fulmars from friendly fire and one Swordfish shot down by the Italians. Italian aircraft losses were 21 including seven bombers and one fighter from enemy action, one fighter from friendly fire and ten fighters from fuel exhaustion.
Somerville was knighted in recognition of his command of Force H during Operation Halberd. It was the second time Somerville had received that honour, and it occasioned a memorable congratulatory message from Andrew Cunningham "Fancy, twice a knight at your age".
Footnotes.
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