First Battle of Sirte

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First Battle of Sirte
Part of World War II
Date 17 December 1941
Location Mediterranean, Gulf of Sirte
Result Italian victory
Combatants
Royal Navy Ensign United Kingdom
Royal Navy Ensign Australia
Royal Netherlands Navy Ensign Netherlands		 Regia Marina Ensign Italy
Commanders
Andrew Cunningham Angelo Iachino
Strength
6 light cruisers
10 destroyers		 4 battleships
2 heavy cruisers
3 light cruisers
19 destroyers
1 torpedo boat
Casualties
1 light cruiser sunk
1 destroyer sunk
2 destroyers damaged
767 dead		 None (?)
Mediterranean Campaign
Mers-el-Kebir – Calabria – Spada – Taranto – Spartivento – Matapan – Tarigo – Crete – Duisburg – Bon – 1st Sirte – 2nd Sirte – Harpoon – Pedestal – Torch – Skerki – Sicily

The First Battle of Sirte was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina during the Second World War. It took place on 17 December 1941, in the Mediterranean, north to the Gulf of Sirte, west of Malta, between the Regia Marina and Royal Navy. This episode of the "Battle of the Convoys" ended with an Italian victory, even though both forces were able to complete their convoy escort missions.

Contents

[edit] Background

Late in 1941 the British had routed the Italian forces in North Africa, and had recently occupied Benghazi. This pushed the line of action in the Mediterranean to the west, and in theory offered new bases for the British air forces to operate against Italian shipping. Meanwhile the Italians were desperately attempting a convoy of their own, M42, hoping to build a force and retake Benghazi.

On December 16th the four-ship Italian convoy left Naples, picking up escorts along the way. An aerial reconnaissance of Malta mistakenly reported the presence of two British battleships, which caused the Italians to dramatically increase their own defenses. By the time they reached Sicily they were accompanied by the battleship Duilio, the light cruisers Aosta, Montecuccoli and Attendolo and three destroyers. A second group, the "Distant Covering Force", also formed up for detached support, consisting of the battleships Littorio, Doria and Cesare, cruisers Trento and Gorizia, and ten destroyers. An additional seven destroyers and a torpedo boat were assigned direct protection over the merchant ships. Some measure of the importance of the mission can be seen in the fact that thirty Italian ships were escorting only four cargo ships.

The British forces were considerably smaller than the Italians, consisting of two groups with a total of twenty ships. Philip Vian was in overall command, leading a force of three light cruisers, Naiad, Euryalus and Carlisle, and eight destroyers. A second force consisted of another three light cruisers, Aurora, Penelope and Neptune and four destroyers. Another two destroyers were assigned close escort.

[edit] The battle

On the 17th, an Italian reconnaissance plane spotted a British formation near Sidi Barrani, apparently proceeding from Alexandria in order to intercept the Italian convoy. Among the defensive forces was a battleship, meaning that a total of three British battleships were believed to be in the general area. In fact, the ships in question were actually escorting a British convoy to Malta, and the battleship was later discovered to be a tanker, the Breconshire, disguised with painted-on guns.

Angelo Iachino, commander of the Italian forces, immediately gave chase. However, believing that the force was a British task force out to intercept his convoy, he maneuvered slowly, apparently in order to keep the British away from his convoy, as opposed to pressing the attack. Andrew Cunningham had earlier ordered Vian to avoid combat, so with the British giving ground and the Italians pursuing with caution, the British were able to easily stay out of an engagement.

Just after sunset a Luftwaffe attack on the British forced them to return fire with their anti-aircraft guns, allowing the Italians to spot them at last. Iachino took in the Distant Covering Force and opened fire at about 32,000 meters from the British. This was well out of range from the British guns, leaving the Italians essentially immune to return fire. Admiral Vian immediately laid smoke and attempted a retreating maneuver.

Lacking radar, the Italians were rightfully hesitant to engage in night combat (notably after the disaster at Battle of Cape Matapan). Expecting an attack, Iachino fired for only fifteen minutes before disengaging and returning westward to protect his convoy. No British ships were hit during the firing. Both convoys were successful in reaching their ports, an important victory for the Italians, who had repeatedly suffered heavy losses on the way to Libya.

[edit] After the battle

Realizing after the fact that the Italians were also escorting a convoy, the British escorts attempted to intercept them on their way back to Italy. On 19 December they ran into an extensive Italian minefield about fifteen miles outside of Tripoli. The cruiser Neptune and destroyer Kandahar both sank, while cruisers Aurora and Penelope were heavily damaged but were able to return to Malta.

[edit] Order of battle

From [1]

[edit] Regia Marina

Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino (on Littorio)

  • Distant covering force - Rear Admiral Angelo Parona (on Gorizia):
    • 3 battleships: Andrea Doria, Giulio Cesare, and Littorio;
    • 2 heavy cruisers: Gorizia, and Trento;
    • 10 destroyers: Vincenzo Gioberti, Alfredo Oriani (9a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Maestrale (10a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Carabiniere, Corazziere (12a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere (13a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Antoniotto Usodimare (16a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere).
  • Close escort:
    • 6 destroyers: Saetta (7a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Antonio da Noli, Ugolino Vivaldi (14a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Lanzerotto Malocello, Nicolò Zeno (15a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere); Emanuele Pessagno (16a Squadriglia Cacciatorpediniere);
    • 1 torpedo boat: Pegaso.

[edit] RN Ensign Royal Netherlands Navy Ensign Allies

[edit] External links

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