Operation Vigorous

Operation Vigorous was a World War II operation to deliver a supply convoy (MW-11) that sailed from Haifa and Port Said on the 12th June 1942 to Malta. The convoy encountered heavy air and sea opposition and returned to Alexandria on the 16th June.

Background

Until the French surrender and Italy's declaration of war, the Mediterranean had been an Allied "lake". The French Fleet and the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet dominated the only potential and credible adversary, Italy's Regia Marina.

The French surrender and its consequences changed that. The French Fleet became a potentially potent threat in Axis hands and so was, in part, destroyed, adding to French antipathy towards the British. French bases in North Africa ceased to offer protection to Allied, ie, British, shipping. The Regia Marina possessed potent modern warships, particularly battleships and heavy cruisers, and Italian and Libyan territory provided centrally located bases that could cut British supply routes.

Italy's Libyan territory also threatened Egypt and the strategically important Suez Canal. A catastrophe in Egypt might in turn lead to destablisation of Britain's control of Middle Eastern oil supplies, or even worse, to the Axis gaining control of them. This apocalyptic scenario depended upon Axis forces in North Africa - German and Italian - receiving adequate supplies from Italy.

Malta threatened this Axis supply route, but itself needed regular resupply and reinforcement, in order to be effective and to resist Axis invasion.

By mid-June, 1942, Malta's supply situation had deteriorated. The Luftwaffe had joined the Regia Aeronautica to isolate and starve the island and it had become untenable as an offensive base. Axis armies had advanced into Egypt and Crete thereby acquiring their own advance bases and denying the British safety over much of the eastern Mediterranean.

Fresh aircraft were regularly flown in to Malta, but food and fuel were diminishing. In response, the British invested large amounts of effort to ensure resupply. Two convoys, codenamed Harpoon and Vigorous, were gathered, sailing simultaneously to split the Axis opposition

The convoy assembles

The British Mediterranean Fleet was reinforced, with forces available from the Indian Ocean, for the passage of two simultaneous Malta convoys, one from Gibraltar (Operation Harpoon), the other from Egypt (Operation Vigorous). Ships were sent from Kilindini, Kenya, to Haifa to cover the eastern convoy, including the four Australian N Class destroyers HMAS Norman, HMAS Napier, HMAS Nestor and HMAS Nizam. These formed the 7th Destroyer Flotilla.

The Operation Vigorous force of 11 ships and their escorts sailed from Haifa and Port Said on 12 June, and were met on the 13th off Tobruk by Rear-Admiral Philip Vian's Force A, with seven light cruisers and 17 destroyers.

The total escorting force now comprised eight cruisers and twenty-six destroyers supported by corvettes and minesweepers, and also the old battleship Centurion, which, disarmed between the wars, had been refitted with anti-aircraft guns. Two British battleships had been sunk in Alexandria harbour in December 1941 (HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant), so no battleship was available to provide cover: Centurion simulated a commissioned battleship. Nine submarines were deployed as a screen at Taranto

"Bomb Alley"

The convoy sailed through 'Bomb Alley' between German occupied Crete and north Africa and came under intensive bomb, torpedo and surface attacks almost as soon as the convoy had left Alexandria. Early attacks were concentrated on the cruisers and the eleven ships of the convoy but later the destroyers became the principal targets.

HMS Grove was sunk north of Sollum after two torpedo strikes (from German submarine U-77) on 12 June 1942 at 05:37. Two officers and 108 ratings died, there were 60 survivors.

A merchant ship was damaged by air attacks on the 12th and had to divert to Tobruk. Another merchant ship sent to Tobruk due to engine trouble was sunk by further aircraft attacks.

The Italian Fleet at sea

By the 14th, two ships had been lost to air attack and two more damaged. That evening, Vian learnt that a strong Italian naval force (under Admiral Angelo Iachino) with two battleships, two heavy and two light cruisers plus destroyers had sailed from Taranto to intercept the convoy. The chances of driving them off were slim.

Early on the 15th, the first of five (1-5) course reversals were made as Vigorous tried to break through to Malta. As the convoy now headed eastwards (1), German E-boats from Darnah, Libya launched torpedo strikes. The cruiser HMS Newcastle was damaged by S-56 and the destroyer HMS Hasty was sunk by S-55. Around 07.00, when the Italian fleet was 200 miles to the northwest, the convoy resumed its course for Malta (2).

Royal Air Force aircraft based on Malta attacked the Italian fleet and disabled the heavy cruiser Trento on the morning of 15 June 1942. She was hit by a torpedo from a Bristol Beaufort at 5:15am. The Trento was immobilized and left behind, while the rest of the fleet continued to pursue the Vigorous convoy. The British submarine HMS Umbra found the damaged ship at 9:10am and torpedoed her, hitting the magazine. The ship sank quickly and over half the crew died. Italian support ships attacked the submarine with depth charges, adding to the death toll.

Between 09.40 and noon on the 15th, two more course reversals (3 & 4) were made so that once again the convoy was bound for Malta. All afternoon, there were air attacks and, south of Crete, the cruiser HMS Birmingham was damaged and the escort destroyer HMS Airedale was sunk by Ju87 Stukas. During the afternoon of the 15th, no less than twelve aircraft had targeted HMS Airedale, and left it a smoldering wreck. The after end was completely gone: it's believed that the ship's own ammunition or depth charge store had exploded. She was scuttled the following day by HMS Aldenham and HMS Hurworth.

On the afternoon of 15 June, a signal was received intimating that the Operation Harpoon convoy had succeeded in reaching Malta from the west.

The convoy was down to six ships when, at about 1800 on 15 June 1942, when the convoy was south west of Crete, HMAS Nestor was straddled by a stick of heavy bombs which caused serious damage to her boiler rooms. She was taken in tow by HMS Javelin but at about 0530 the next morning (16 June), with the destroyer then sinking by the nose, it was decided to scuttle. The crew was transferred to HMS Javelin and she was sunk at about 0700 by depth charges.

Operation abandoned

On the evening of the 15th, in view of the strength of enemy air attacks from the extended network of Axis airfields in North Africa, the presence of a large portion of the Italian fleet, lack of fuel caused by diversionary tactics and seriously depleted ammunition stocks, it was finally decided to abandon the operation and return to Alexandria (course reversal 5).

As the convoy withdrew to Alexandria, the light cruiser HMS Hermione was torpedoed and sunk in the early hours of the 16th by the German submarine U-205, south of Crete, in "Bomb Alley".

At this time, as the Italian fleet returned to Taranto, an RAF Wellington from Malta torpedoed and damaged the Littorio, but she reached port.

None of the Vigorous ships reached Malta. One cruiser, HMS Hermione; three destroyers, HMS Airedale, Hasty and HMAS Nestor and two merchant ships had been lost in the attempt. Three cruisers, one destroyer and one corvette were damaged. British air attacks sank the Italian cruiser Trento and damaged the Littorio.

Total Allied losses included 8 merchant ships sunk, 3 damaged, 5 cruisers damaged, 4 destroyers sunk, 1 destroyer damaged, 2 corvettes damaged and one torpedo boat sunk. One Italian heavy cruiser was lost, sunk by British submarine after severe damage,

To try to keep the Italian Fleet away from the Vigorous and Harpoon convoys, two forces of submarines had been deployed, one to lay in wait off the Italian base at Taranto, and the other to operate between Sicily and Sardinia, ready for orders to attack any Italian forces. The submarines Proteus, Thorn, Taku, Thrasher, Porpoise, Una, Uproar, Ultimatum and Umbra were detailed to patrol off Taranto, with Safari, Unbroken, Unison and Unruffled between Sicily and Sardinia. For various reasons, the submarines were generally unsuccessful in providing any cover for the convoys, with only the Italian cruiser Trento being sunk, and even that only after it had been crippled by an RAF air attack. The two operations, Vigorous and Harpoon, were important Italian naval victories, but unrepeatable due to the crippling oil shortages suffered by the Italian military machine.

The British Spitfire fighters based at Malta needed fuel to fly, just as Malta itself needed supplies. Operation Vigorous had failed. Only two of Operation Harpoon's six ships had reached Malta and Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, the air commander in Malta, told London he had only seven weeks' fuel left. In August, therefore, almost all the available strength of the Royal Navy was put into the next major convoy operation of the war, Operation Pedestal.

The ships

The following are (incomplete) lists of Axis and Allied ships involved in Operation Vigorous.

Allied warships

Seven cruisers:HMS Birmingham (damaged), HMS Hermione (sunk), HMS Arethusa, HMS Newcastle (damaged)

Twenty-six destroyers:
*7th Destroyer Flotilla: HMAS Norman, HMAS Napier, HMAS Nestor (sunk), HMAS Nizam
*22nd Destroyer Flotilla: HMS Hero
*HMS Jervis, HMS Grove (sunk), HMS Hasty (sunk), HMS Airedale (sunk), HMS Aldenham, HMS Hurworth

Four corvettes:

Two minesweepers:

Two rescue ships:

Old battleship:
*HMS Centurion

Nine submarines:
*HMS Proteus, HMS Thorn, HMS Taku, HMS Thrasher, HMS Porpoise, HMS Una, HMS Uproar, HMS Ultimatum and HMS Umbra

Allied merchantmen

*m.v. City of Pretoria

Axis warships

Two battleships:
Littorio (damaged), Vittorio Veneto

Two heavy cruisers:
Trento (sunk), Gorizia

Two light cruisers:
Emanuele Filiberto Duca D'Aosta,

Twelve destroyers:
Alpino, Antonio Pigafetta, Ascari, Aviere, Bersagliere, Camicia Nera, Geniere, Folgore, Freccia, Legionario, Mitragliere, Saetta

See also

Malta Convoys

External references

* Italian outline
* Campaign summary of Malta Convoys
* RN submarines site