Battle of the Mediterranean
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The Naval Battle of the Mediterranean was waged during World War II, to attack and keep open the respective supply lines of Allied and Axis armies, and to destroy the opposing side's ability to wage war at sea.
Outside of the Pacific War battles, the Mediterranean saw the largest conventional naval warfare during WWII. In particular, Allied forces struggled to supply and retain the key naval and air base of Malta.
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[edit] Italy's declaration of war
On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. The following day, Italian bombers attacked Malta, the first of many raids. During this time, the French navy shelled some Italian towns on the east coast. When France surrendered on June 24, the Axis leaders permitted the new Vichy French regime to retain its naval forces.
[edit] The French Mediterranean Fleet
After France fell to the Germans in 1940, the French navy in the Mediterranean was considered a potentially grave threat to the Royal Navy by the British, so it was imperative for them that this threat was neutralised. The French squadron at Alexandria in Egypt was dealt with via negotiations, mainly because the two commanders, Admirals Godfroy and Cunningham, were on good personal terms. British terms - an ultimatum - to place the bulk of the French Fleet, at Mers-el-Kebir in North Africa, out of German reach were refused, and so it was largely destroyed by bombardment on July 3, 1940 by the British Force H from Gibraltar (Admiral Somerville). The Vichy French government broke off all ties with the British as a result. See Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir.
As part of the occupation of Vichy France in 1942 (Case Anton), the Germans intended to capture the French fleet at Toulon. This was thwarted by determined action by French commanders and the bulk of the fleet was scuttled at anchor.
[edit] Battle of Taranto
Main article: Battle of Taranto
To reduce the threat posed by the Italian fleet based in the port of Taranto to convoys sailing to Malta, Admiral Cunningham organised an attack code-named Operation Judgement. Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Illustrious attacked the Italian fleet while it was still at anchor. This was the first time in history that an attack such as this had been attempted. It was a great success and on November 11, 1940, the Royal Navy crippled or destroyed three Italian battleships in the Battle of Taranto. This decisive Allied victory forced the Italian fleet to Italian ports further north so as to be out of range of attack by carrier-based aircraft. This reduced the threat of Italian sallies to attacking Malta bound convoys.
[edit] The Battle of Matapan
Main article: Battle of Cape Matapan
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a decisive Allied victory, fought off the coast of the Peloponnese in southern Greece from March 27 to March 29, 1941 in which British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces under the command of the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham intercepted those of the Italian Regia Marina, under Admiral Angelo Iachino.
The Allies sank the heavy cruisers Fiume, Zara and Pola and the destroyers Vittorio Alfieri and Giosue Carducci, and damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto. The British lost one torpedo plane and suffered light damage to some ships.
Decisive factors were the use of Ultra intercepts and the lack of radar on the Italian ships.
[edit] Crete
Main article: Battle of Crete
The effort to prevent German troops from reaching Crete by sea, and later the evacuation of Allied land forces after their defeat by German paratroops in the Battle of Crete during May 1941, cost the Allied navies a number of ships. Attacks by German planes, mainly Ju-87 and Ju-88, destroyed several British warships: two cruisers (HMS Gloucester, Fiji) and six destroyers (Kelly, Greyhound, Kashmir, Hereward, Imperial, Juno). Seven other ships were damaged, including the battleships HMS Warspite and Valiant and the cruiser HMS Orion. Close to two thousand British sailors died.
It was a significant victory for the Luftwaffe, as it proved that the Royal Navy could not be expected to operate in waters where the Germans had air supremacy, without suffering severe losses. In the end, however, this had little strategic meaning, since the Wehrmacht's attention was directed to Russia (Operation Barbarossa) a few weeks later, and the Mediterranean was to play a secondary role in German war planning in the following years. The Royal Navy would never face such a strong air threat again. It did, however, extend Axis reach into the eastern Mediterranean, and extend the threat to Allied convoys.
During the evacuation, Cunningham was determined that the "Navy must not let the Army down". When army generals stated their fears that he would lose too many ships Cunningham said that "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition". The Battle of Crete, although a defeat, took a fearful toll of Hitler's elite paratroops. So heavy were the losses that General Kurt Student, who commanded the German invasion would later say "Crete was the grave of the German parachutists."
[edit] Malta
Main articles: Siege of Malta (1940) & Malta Convoys
Malta's position between Sicily and North Africa was perfect to interdict Axis supply convoys destined for North Africa. It could thus influence the campaign in North Africa and support Allied actions against Italy. The Axis recognised this and made great efforts to neutralise it as a British base, either by air attacks or by starving it of its own supplies.
For a time during the Siege of Malta it looked as if Malta would be starved into submission by the use of Axis aircraft and warships based in Sicily, Sardinia, Crete and North Africa. A number of Allied convoys were decimated. The turning point in the siege came in August 1942, when the British sent a very heavily defended convoy codenamed Pedestal. Malta's air defence was repeatedly reinforced by Hurricane and Spitfire fighters flown off to the island by HMS Furious and other Allied aircraft carriers. The situation eased as Axis forces were forced away from their North African bases and eventually Malta could be resupplied and become an offensive base again.
The British re-established a credible air garrison and offensive naval base on the island. With the aid of Ultra, Malta's garrison was able to disrupt Axis supplies to North Africa immediately before the Second Battle of El Alamein. For the fortitude and courage of the Maltese during the siege, Malta was awarded the George Cross.
[edit] Other actions
There were a series of surface actions (eg, Battle of Punta Stilo, Battle of Cape Spada, Battle of Cape Spartivento, Battle of Cape Bon) between Allied navies and the Regia Marina, during which the British, able to replace losses with warships redeployed from other theatres, gained the upper hand.
The Italian Navy's most successful attack was when divers planted mines on British battleships in Alexandria harbour (19 December 1941). HMS Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were sunk but later raised and returned to active service.
[edit] Major Allied operations
- 8 November 1942, start of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria.
- 9 July 1943, start of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily.
- 3 September 1943, start of the Allied invasion of Italy.
- 9 September 1943, start of the Allied Salerno landings in Italy.
- 22 January 1944, start of Operation Shingle, the Allied landings at Anzio in Italy.
- 15 August 1944, start of Operation Dragoon, the Allied landings in southern France.
