British shells fall astern of the Italian light cruiser Muzio Attendolo during the battle Operation Pedestal planned to send to Malta a convoy of fourteen merchant ships, protected by two battleships, three aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and thirty-two destroyers; once arrived in the Sicily channel, Z Force (the battleships, the aircraft carriers, and three cruisers) was to return Gibraltar, while the convoy was to reach Malta with four cruisers and the destroyers escort. The operation started on 9 August 1942, when the convoy sailed through the Pillars of Hercules.
Regia Marina, on her side, had the problem of the short diesel oil reserves, which blocked the biggest units in the Italian ports, thus reducing their operativity. When the British convoy was detected, it was decided to attack it with German and Italian aircrafts based in Sardinia, than send ten submarines
in the Sicily channel; one Italian cruiser division was to give the final attack: for this reason, diesel oil was poured from the battleships to the cruisers.
This operation is known also as Battle of Mid-August.
Operation timeline
11 August
1pm: sailing in emersion, the German submarine U-73 sneaked through thirteen screening destroyers and launched four torpedoes against the aircraft carrier
HMS Eagle, sinking it.
8pm: an Italian air attack (S.84, CR.42, C.202, and Re.2001) against the aircraft carriers
causes damages on the flight deck of HMS Victorious.
12 August
The Italian cruiser division, formed by three heavy cruisers (Gorizia, Bolzano, and
Trieste), three light cruisers (Eugenio di Savoia, Raimondo Montecuccoli, and Muzio Attendolo) and seventeen destroyers set sail to meet the British convoy.
5pm: a British destoryer rammed and sank Cobalto submarine.
Another Axis air attack sank a merchant ship and damaged the flight deck of HMS Indomitable, whose aircrafts were
obliged to land on Victorious: the aircrafts on Victorious deck were dropped in the sea to make room for Indomitable aircrafts. The same air attack
sank destroyer HMS Foresight.
Z Force returned to Gibraltar.
8pm: Italian submarine Axum launched four torpedoes, sinking cruiser HMS Cairo and damaging oil tanker SS Ohio and
cruiser HMS Nigeria. A combined Italian-German air attack sank two merchant ships.
9pm: Italian submarine Alagi sank a merchant ship and damaged cruiser HMS Kenya; another submarine, Bronzo, sank another merchant
ship.
13 August
0-2am: a MAS attack sank cruiser HMS Manchester and six merchant ships.
Marshal Kesserling, commander of the German Air Command based in Sicily, denied the air coverage to the Italina cruiser division, having in little consideration the fighting capability of the Regia Marina, and preferring to use his aircrafts for direct attacks to the British convoy. Without the protection of the aircrafts, and considering the proximity of the air base of Malta, Supermarina (the Regia Marina High Command) decided to withdraw the cruisers to Messina. British submarine Safari damages Bolzano and Attendolo.
Aftermath
Axis air and sea attacks sank eleven of the cargo ships as well as one aircraft carrier (Eagle), two cruisers (Manchester and Cairo), and one
destoyer (Foresight).
The British claimed one Italian submarine and thirty-nine aircraft. Ohio under Capt. Dudley Mason, then the world's largest oil tanker capable of doing over 16 knots, suffered seven direct hits and twenty near misses and lost all power, but was lashed between two destroyers (HMS Penn & HMS Ledbury) and towed into port on 15 August.
By flying fighters from the carriers to Malta, the British reestablished a creditable air garrison on the island. Malta became a clamp on Axis supplies immediately
before the Second Battle of El Alamein.
British ships taking part in this operation included:
- Battleships:
- Aircraft Carriers:
- Cruisers:
- Phoebe
- Sirius
- Charybdis
- Nigeria (damaged)
- Kenya (damaged)
- Manchester (sunk)
- Cairo (sunk)
- Destroyers:
- Merchant Ships
- SS Almeria Lykes
- MV Brisbane Star (damaged, arrived 15 August)
- MV Clan Ferguson
- MV Deucalion
- MV Dorset
- MV Empire Hope
- MV Glenorchy
- MV Melbourne Star (arrived 13 August)
- SS Ohio (tanker, damaged, arrived 15 August)
- MV Port Chalmers (arrived 13 August)
- MV Rochester Castle (damaged, arrived 13 August)
- SS Santa Elisa (freighter loaded with drums of fuel, sunk)
- SS Waimarana (freighter loaded with drums of fuel, sunk)
- MV Wairangi
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