1942
NOVEMBER
1942
North
Africa - By
the 4th the Second Battle of El
Alamein had been
won by Eighth Army.
8th
- French North
African Landings:
Operation 'Torch'
Plans
were
formally approved in
October, by which time the
large amounts of shipping
needed had been
organised and assembled. To
provide them, Russian
convoys and those to and
from Britain and
Gibraltar/West Africa had
been suspended and the
Home Fleet stripped bare.
The Allies' greatest
concern was the hundred or
more U-boats at sea.
Outline order of battle was:
Allied
Commander-in-Chief
- US Gen
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Allied
Naval
Commander Expeditionary
Force - Adm Sir
Andrew Cunningham
Landing
Areas: |
Casablanca,
Morocco
|
Oran,
Algeria
|
Algiers,
Algeria
|
Forces
landing: |
35,000
US
troops
|
39,000
US
troops
|
33,000
US & British
troops
|
Departure
from: |
United
States
|
Britain
|
Britain
|
Naval
Task Forces:
Commanders:
|
Western
Rear-Adm H K
Hewitt USN
|
Centre
Cdre T H
Troubridge
|
Eastern
Vice-Adm Sir H
Burrough
|
Battleships
Carriers
Cruisers
Destroyers
Other warship
Troopships, supply
ships, tankers etc |
3
5
7
38
16
36
|
-
2
2
13
41
47
|
-
2
3
13
40
33
|
Total
Ships |
105
USN
|
105
RN
|
91
RN
|
Most
of the task force carriers
were escort
carriers, and the US totals
included a heavy
cover force. In the
Mediterranean, British Force
H reinforced by Home Fleet
and under the command
of Vice-Adm Sir Neville
Syfret, covered the
Algerian landings. Their
main task was to hold
off any attack by the
Italian fleet. Strength
included three capital
ships, three fleet
carriers, three cruisers and
17 destroyers.
Various other forces added
to the number of
Allied ships in the area.
Over 300 ships were
therefore directly involved
in what at that time
was the greatest amphibious
operation in history,
and the forerunner of even
greater ones to come
before the war was won.
Throughout October and
early November convoys
sailed for the landings on
Vichy French soil in the
early hours of the
8th. Negotiations with
the French were not
completed in time to avoid
resistance. There was
bloodshed on both sides.
Casablanca,
Morocco
- US
troops landed at three
points along a 200-mile
stretch of Atlantic
coastline. By the 10th they
prepared
to attack Casablanca itself,
but this
became unnecessary when the
French forces stopped
fighting. Before this
happened the Western Task
Force had fought a series of
fierce actions with
Vichy French warships.
Battleship "Jean
Bart" was seriously damaged
and a cruiser
and several destroyers and
submarines sunk or
beached.
Oran,
Algeria - Within the
Mediterranean,
the landings to the west and
east of Oran were
followed by an attempt to
smash through the
harbour boom and land troops
directly from ex-US
Coast Guard cutters "WALNEY"
(Capt Peters) and
"HARTLAND". Both were
disabled by
ship and shore gunfire and
soon sank. (+ Capt
Frederick Peters RN of the
"Walney" was
awarded the Victoria Cross
for gallantry. Five
days later he was kiIled in
an aircraft
accident.) Cruiser "Aurora"
(Capt
Agnew) and destroyers fought
off an attack by
French destroyers outside
the port. The large
destroyer "EPERVIER" was
driven ashore
and "Tornade" and
"Tramontane" disabled. In
addition,
destroyers "Achates" and
"Westcott" accounted for
submarines
"ACTEON" and "ARGONAUTE". US
troops fought their way into
Oran, which fell on
the 10th.
Algiers,
Algeria - A similar
opening attack
was mounted by old
destroyers "Broke"
and "Malcolm". The latter
was badly
damaged but "BROKE"
eventually broke through
the boom to land her troops.
Hard hit by shore
batteries, she got away but
foundered next day on
the 9th. Algiers was
soon in Allied hands
and Adm Darlan, C-in-C Vichy
French forces was
captured. It was not Gen
Giraud as originally
intended, but Adm Darlan who
broadcast the
ceasefire on the 10th.
Resistance was
stopped, but confusion
reigned for a number of
days as the Vichy French
authorities were
pressurised by both the
Allies and Axis. However,
before long the forces of
France were fighting on
the Allied side in French
North Africa. Adm
Darlan was assassinated in
late December and Gen
Giraud took his place.
|
Tunisia
- On news of the 'Torch' landings, the
first German
troops were flown across from Sicily to
Tunisia on the
9th and within two days started a large
build-up.
Southern
France -
Hitler ordered German troops into
unoccupied Vichy France
on the 11th. On the 27th, SS units tried
to capture the
French fleet at Toulon. They were too
late to stop the
scuttling of three battleships, seven
cruisers, 30
destroyers, 16 submarines and many other
smaller vessels.
Spain
-Throughout
all these events Spain fortunately
stayed neutral. There
was therefore no threat to Gibraltar
directly from
Spanish troops, or from Germans passing
through the
country. And the Americans in Morocco
were safe from
attack by the Spanish in Spanish
Morocco.
9th -
In continuing
Royal Navy submarine operations in the
Central
Mediterranean off northwest Sicily,
"Saracen"
sank Italian submarine "GRANITO".
9th -
Off Oran the
corvette "GARDENIA"
was lost
in collision with armed trawler
"Fluellen".
10th -
In addition
to the Atlantic approaches to Gibraltar,
a large number
of German and Italian submarines were
concentrated in the
Western Mediterranean to attack the
'Torch' follow-up
convoys. Transports and escorting
warships were sunk and
damaged, but losses were never great,
and seven Axis
submarines (1-7)
were
sunk in
exchange. On the 10th, destroyer
"MARTIN"
was
sunk
by "U-431" off
Algiers and Italian submarine "EMO" (1)
scuttled after an attack by armed
trawler
"Lord Nuffield" .
10th -
Further
Allied landings were made to the east of
Algiers along
the Algerian coast, where there was
little air cover.
Attacks by German aircraft on these and
other Algerian
targets sank or damaged a number of
ships. On the 10th,
sloop "IBIS"
was
hit by an aircraft torpedo and went
down off Algiers.
Algeria -
The first
of the further Allied troop landings
were made at Bougie
and Bone on the 11th and 12th, well on
the way to the
Tunisian border.
12th -
"U-660" (2)
was
sunk
by escorting corvettes
"Lotus" and "Starwort" northeast of
Oran.
13th -
Next day
"Lotus", this time with "Poppy"
accounted for "U-605" (3)
off Algiers. On the 14th and 15th
respectively, "U-595" and "U-259" (4-5)
were
sunk
by aircraft.
13th -
"U-431" sent Dutch destroyer "lSAAC
SWEERS" to the
bottom northwest of Algiers.
17th -
"U-331"
(6) was
damaged
by RAF Hudsons of No 500 Squadron and
tried to surrender.
Aircraft of 820 Squadron from carrier
"Formidable" torpedoed her in error off
Algiers.
20th -
Cruiser "Delhi" was
damaged by bombs in Algiers Bay.
28th -
North of
Bone the Italian "DESSIE" (7)
was
sunk by destroyers
"Quentin" and the Australian
"Quiberon", now part of cruiser Force Q
operating out of Bone.
28th -
Destroyer "ITHURIEL" in harbour at Bone
was badly
damaged in bombing attacks and not
repaired.
The
Relief of Malta - At the
beginning of the month,
cruiser-minelayer "Welshman" ran vitally
needed
stores to Malta. On the 11th,
sister-ship
"Manxman" made a similar dash from
Alexandria.
Then on the 17th a convoy of
four ships, escorted
by three cruisers and 10 destroyers,
left Alexandria
(Operation 'Stoneage'). Although cruiser
"Arethusa"
was
badly
damaged by German torpedo
aircraft on the 18th and had to
return with over
150 casualties, the convoy got through
on the 20th.
Its arrival effectively marked the
lifting of the long
and bloody siege of Malta. Since
Operation 'Excess' in
January 1941, two aircraft carriers,
four cruisers, 16
destroyers and five submarines had been
lost in the many
attempts to supply and reinforce the
island, and in the
heavy air attacks launched against the
George Cross
island.
French
North Africa
continued - After the Bougie and
Bone landings in
eastern Algeria, British paratroops were
flown into the
north of Tunisia and the advance began
on Bizerta and
Tunis. Fighting took place as the Allies
closed in, but
by the time the main offensive started
on the 25th, the
Germans had built up their forces around
both Bizerta and
Tunis, and also occupied the east coast
towns of Sousse,
Sfax and Gabes.
24th -
Off
northwest Sicily, "UTMOST"
was
lost
to Italian destroyer escort
"Groppo".
Monthly Loss
Summary
13
British or Allied merchant ships of
103,000 tons
DECEMBER
1942
French
North Africa -
German forces counter-attacked in the
north of Tunisia,
driving back the Allies. By the end of
the year Axis
forces had established strong defence
lines around
Bizerta and Tunis, and were holding on
to the eastern
half of the country. The Allies had lost
the race for
Tunis. Throughout January 1943 both
sides attacked along
the line, but without much success. As
this happened,
more and more German and Italian troops
were drawn into
Tunisia.
Cruiser
Force Q -
Based in Bone, Force Q and a new
Malta-based cruiser
force took turns attacking Axis shipping
bound for North
Africa. On the 2nd, Force Q with
"Aurora", "Argonaut",
"Sirius" and two destroyers went into
action in
the Strait of Sicily. All four
transports in a convoy and
Italian destroyer "FOLGORE"
were
sunk by gunfire. As they returned,
destroyer "QUENTIN"
was
lost
to Italian torpedo aircraft
north of Cape Bon. 14th - Two
weeks after Force
Q's success in the Strait of Sicily,
cruiser "Argonaut"
was
badly damaged by Italian submarine
"Mocenigo" northeast of Bone.
Royal Navy
Submarine
Operations - Throughout the month,
British submarines
were on patrol in the Western
Mediterranean and lost four
of their number. In return they sank
several Axis ships
including two Italian warships. Early
December - "TRAVELLER"
left
Malta
on 28th November for the Gulf
of Taranto. Overdue by the 8th December,
she was presumed
mined in her patrol area. 6th -
"Tigris"
sank Italian submarine "PORFIDO" north
of Bone. 12th - In
the Gulf of Naples submarine "P-222"
was
lost to Italian torpedo boat
"Fortunale" while attacking a convoy. 17th
- North of Bizerta, "Splendid" sank
Italian
destroyer "AVIERE" escorting a convoy to
North Africa. 25th
- As an Axis convoy headed into Tunis,
"P-48" attacked and was sunk by Italian
destroyer escorts "Ardente" and
"Ardito". Late December - At the
end of
the month, submarine "P-311"
sailed
for
Maddalena, Sardinia with Chariot
human torpedoes for an attack on the
cruisers based
there. Her last signal was on the 31st
December and she
was presumed lost on mines in the
approaches to the port.
Attacks
off Algeria
- Attacks on Allied shipping off Algeria
led to more
losses in return for the sinking of one
Italian
submarine. 9th - As destroyer
"PORCUPINE"
escorted submarine
depot ship "Maidstone" from Gibraltar to
Algiers, she was torpedoed and badly
damaged off Oran by
"U-602", and never repaired. On the same
day
corvette "MARIGOLD"
was
sunk
by torpedo aircraft to the
west of Algiers while escorting North
Africa/UK convoy
MKS3. 11th - Escort destroyer
"BLEAN" sailing with fast North
Africa/UK
convoy MKF4 was lost to "U-443" west of
Oran. 13th
- Sloop "Enchantress" sank Italian
submarine "CORALLO"
off Bougie. 18th
- Porcupine's sister-ship "PARTRIDGE"
was torpedoed
by "U-565" while
carrying out an A/S sweep with Force H,
and went down off
Oran. 15th - Destroyers
"Petard" and
Greek "Queen Olga" sank Italian
submarine "UARSCIEK"
south of Malta.
North
Africa - On
the 11th, Gen Montgomery resumed Eighth
Army's advance. 19th
- Escorting a convoy to Benghazi,
corvette "SNAPDRAGON"
was
bombed and sunk off the port by
German aircraft.
Monthly Loss
Summary
3
British or Allied merchant ships of
6,000 tons.
1943
JANUARY
1943
Attacks
off Algeria -
Axis attacks continued against Allied
ships in Algerian
ports and convoys off the coast. There
were losses on
both sides. 1st - Cruiser
"Ajax"
was
severely
damaged in Bone harbour by
Ju87s. 13th - Canadian corvettes
on convoy escort
accounted for two submarines. On the
13th, "Ville de
Quebec" sank "U-224" west of Algiers. 19th
- Canadian
corvette "Port Arthur" sank Italian
submarine "TRITONE" off Bougie by
gunfire. 30th
- As corvette "SAMPHIRE" escorted
Gibraltar/North African ports
convoy TE14 she was torpedoed by Italian
submarine
"Platino" near Bougie.
Axis
Supplies to
Tunisia - Attempts by the Italian
Navy to supply the
Axis armies in Tunisia led to heavy
losses, especially on
mines laid between Sicily and Tunis by
fast minelayers
"Abdiel" and "Welshman", and
submarine "Rorqual". 9th -
Destroyer "CORSARO" hitd one of
"Abdiel's"
mines northeast of Bizerta. 17th
- Returning from
Tunisia, destroyer "BOMBARDIERE"
was
sunk off western Sicily by
submarine "United". 31st -
Torpedo boat "PRESTINARI" and corvette
"PROCELLARIA"
went
down on mines laid by
"Welshman" in the Strait of Sicily.
Axis
Supplies to Libya
- Final supply trips to Tripoli by
Italian submarines led
to more losses north of the Libyan
capital. 14th -
"NARVALO"
was
attacked
by
a RAF Beaufort and finished off by
destroyers
"Pakenham" and "Hursley", escorts
with Malta/Alexandria convoy ME15. 20th
- "SANTAROSA"
was
torpedoed
off Tripoli by MTB-260,
one of the growing number of coastal
forces operating
along the North African coast.
Libya
- Gen
Montgomery resumed the advance on the
15th, and Bueret,
outflanked by British Armour and New
Zealand troops was
soon taken. The defences in front of
Tripoli were
similarly outflanked and on the 23rd the
victorious
Eighth Army entered the capital.
21st
-
Submarine "Sahib" on patrol off western
Corsica
sank "U-301.
Monthly Loss
Summary
14
British or Allied merchant ships of
48,000 tons
FEBRUARY
1943
1st -
As
cruiser-minelayer "WELSHMAN"
sailed
from Malta to Alexandria after
minelaying operations in the Strait of
Sicily, she was
sunk by "U-617" north of Bardia.
3rd -
Italian
destroyer "SAETTA" and destroyer escort
"URAGANO", supplying Axis forces in
Tunisia,
sank on cruiser-minelayer "Abdiel's"
mines
northeast of Bizerta.
North
Africa - As
Rommel prepared his Mareth line defences
in southern
Tunisia, Eighth Army units crossed the
border from Libya
on the 4th. All of Libya was now in
Allied hands and the
Italian North African Empire ceased to
exist.
Northern
Tunisia
Campaign - German and Italian
operations against
Allied shipping off Algeria led to
further losses: 6th
- Canadian corvette "LOUISBERG"
escorting UK/North Africa convoy KMS8
was
torpedoed by German aircraft off Oran. 8th
- The
Royal Canadian Navy took its revenge
when corvette
"Regina" sank the Italian submarine
"AVORIO" off Philippeville. 17th
- A
patrol of escort destroyers "Bicester",
Easton", Lamerton" and Wheatland" shared
in the sinking of two Axis submarines.
The Italian "ASTERIA"
went
down off Bougie on the 17th. 23rd
- Six days later the same escort
destroyer patrol
sank "U-443" to the northwest of
Algiers.
Southern
Tunisia
Campaign - As the Mediterranean
Fleet Inshore
Squadron continued to support the
advancing Eighth Army,
ships were lost on both sides: 9th
- Corvette "ERICA" on escort duty sank
on a British
mine off Benghazi. 17th -
"U-205" attacked Tripoli/Alexandria
convoy
TX1 northwest of Derna, and was then
sunk by South
African aircraft of No 15 Squadron and
destroyer
"Paladin". 19th - Combined air
and sea
attacks also accounted for "U-562"
northeast of Benghazi. This time
the convoy was Alexandria/Tripoli XT3,
the warships
destroyers "lsis" and "Hursley" with
aircraft from No 38 Squadron RAF.
Mediterranean
Fleet -
Adm Sir Andrew Cunningham returned to
his old post as
C-in-C, Mediterranean Fleet on the 20th.
Monthly Loss
Summary
14
British or Allied merchant ships of
53,000 tons
MARCH
1943
Royal Navy
Submarine
Operations - The Royal Navy lost
three 'T' class
submarines: February/March -
"TIGRIS"
set out from Malta on
18th February for a patrol off Naples.
She failed to
return to Algiers on the 10th March,
possibly mined off
the Gulf of Tunis as she returned. 12th
- "TURBULENT" (Cdr Linton) attacked an
escorted
ship off Maddalena, Sardinia and was
presumed sunk in the
counter-attack by Italian MTB escorts. +
Cdr John Linton
RN was awarded the Victoria Cross for
his record as commanding officer of
"Turbulent". The award was not gazetted
until
May 1943. 14th - "THUNDERBOLT"
was
lost
off the north entrance to the
Strait of Messina to Italian corvette
"Cicogna".
Tunisia
- In the
south, before his final recall from
Africa, Field Marshal
Rommel attacked Eighth Army positions in
front of the
Mareth Line, but was easily held. By the
29th the Mareth
Line was broken, and the Germans and
Italians had
retreated to a strong position north of
Gabes at Wadi
Akarit. The Inshore Squadron was still
in attendance on
Eighth Army in the south and the battles
of the supply
routes in the north and south continued:
8th -
Cruiser-minelayer "Abdiel" laid more
mines in
the Axis supply routes to Tunisia. The
field north of
Cape Bon sank three destroyers in March,
starting with
destroyer escort "CICIONE" on the 8th. 12th
- In a sortie
against Axis shipping bound for Tunisia,
Force Q
destroyer "LIGHTNING"
was
torpedoed and sunk off Bizerta by
German E-boat "S-55". 19th -
Attacks by
German aircraft on Tripoli harbour sank
two supply ships
and damaged escort destroyer "DERWENT"
so badly she was not fully
repaired. This was the first German
success using
circling torpedoes. 24th -
"Abdiel's"
Cape Bon minefield sank two more Italian
destroyers on
the 24th - "ASCARI" and "MALOCELLO".
Monthly Loss
Summary
16
British or Allied merchant ships of
86,000 tons
APRIL
1943
Tunisia
- The
Battle of Gabes in southern
Tunisia started on the
5th when Eighth Army attacked the Wadi
Akarit defences.
Within two days the Axis was retreating.
For the rest of
April heavy fighting took place as the
Allies slowly
closed in.
16th -
Destroyers
"Pakenham" and "Paladin" out of Malta
encountered an Italian convoy north of
Pantelleria
island. In a running gun battle with the
four escorting
torpedo boats, Italian "CIGNO"
was
sunk
and another damaged, and "PAKENHAM"
disabled. She had to be scuttled.
21st -
Numerous
Axis supply ships on the Tunisian route
and elsewhere,
and an Italian warship, fell victim to
Royal Navy
submarines. In return three were lost
starting with "SPLENDID" to German
destroyer
"Hermes" (ex-Greek) south of Capri.
24th -
After
sinking a transport off northeast
Sicily, "SAHIB"
was
counter-attacked by the escorts
including a German Ju88 and finally sunk
by Italian
corvette "Gabbiano".
28th -
"Unshaken" torpedoed and sank Italian
torpedo
boat "CLIMENE" off Sicily as she
escorted a
convoy.
Mid/Late
April - "REGENT" on patrol in the
Strait of Otranto
may have attacked a small convoy near
Bari, Italy on the
18th, but there was no response from the
convoy escorts.
She failed to return to Beirut at the
end of the month
and was presumed lost on mines in her
patrol area.
'The Man
Who Never
Was'- Submarine "Seraph" released
the body
of a supposed Royal Marine officer into
the sea off
Spain. His false papers help to persuade
the Germans that
the next Allied blows would fall on
Sardinia and Greece
as well as Sicily.
Monthly Loss
Summary
6
British or Allied merchant ships of
14,000 tons
MAY
1943
North
Africa and Tunis:
The End for the Axis - The Allied
Armies continued to
push on, and on the 7th, Tunis was taken
by the British
and Bizerta by the Americans. The Axis
surrender came on
the 12th and nearly 250,000 Germans and
Italians were
taken prisoner. All North Africa -
French and Italian -
was under Allied control after nearly
three years
struggle.
4th -
As the
Tunisian campaign ended, destroyers
"Nubian",
Paladin" and "Petard" sank Italian
torpedo
boat "PERSEO" and a supply ship near
Cape Bon.
21st -
Six Axis
submarines were lost in May - two German
to the RAF, two
Italian to US forces, and two to the
Royal Navy. The
first RN success came on the 21st when
submarine
"Sickle" on patrol south of Toulon,
France
torpedoed "U-303".
25th -
Four days
later escorting corvette "Vetch" sank
"U-414" northeast of Oran.
Merchant
Shipping War -
In the first five months of 1942 Allied
forces had sunk
over 500
Axis merchantmen of 560,000 tons
throughout the Mediterranean. In
contrast,
the end of the Tunisian campaign marked
a major upturn in
the fortunes of Allied shipping. By
mid-month
minesweepers had cleared a channel
through the Strait of
Sicily, and the first regular
Mediterranean convoys since
1940 were able to sail from Gibraltar to
Alexandria
(GTX). Return XTG's started in June
1943. The long haul
around the Cape of Good Hope to the
Middle East was no
longer necessary, and the WS troop
convoys were
discontinued. The opening of the
Mediterranean was
equivalent to commissioning a large
amount of new Allied
merchant ship tonnage.
Monthly Loss
Summary
6
British or Allied merchant ships of
32,000 tons
JUNE
1943
2nd -
Destroyers
"Jervis" and Greek "Queen Olga" sank
two merchantmen and Italian torpedo boat
"CASTORE"
off Cape Spartivento,
southwest Italy.
Pantelleria
&
Lampedusa - After heavy sea and
air bombardments
these two Italian islands to the
north-west and west of
Malta surrendered to the Allies on the
11th and 12th June
respectively.
Monthly Loss
Summary
7
British or Allied merchant ships of
25,000 tons
JULY
1943
10th - Invasion of
Sicily: Operation 'Husky'
The
Americans
still wanted to concentrate
on the cross-Channel
invasion of France, but at
the Casablanca
Conference somewhat
reluctantly agreed to go
ahead with the Sicily
landings. Amongst the
benefits would be the
opening of the
Mediterranean to Allied
shipping. The final plan
was approved in mid-May and
not much more than a
month later, the first US
troop convoys were
heading across the Atlantic
for an operation even
greater than the French
North African landings
the previous November.
Allied
Commander-in-Chief
- US Gen
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Allied
Naval
Commander Expeditionary
Force - Adm Sir
Andrew Cunningham
Landing
Areas:
|
Gulf
of Gela, S coast
|
South
of Syracuse, SE
coast
|
Forces
landing: |
US 7th
Army - Gen
Patton
66,000 troops
|
Eighth
Army - Gen
Montgomery
115,000 British
& Canadian
troops
|
Departure
from: |
United
States,
Algeria, Tunisia
|
Egypt,
Libya,
Tunisia, Malta;
Canadian division
from
Britain
|
Naval
Task Forces:
Commanders:
|
Western
Rear-Adm H K
Hewitt USN
|
Eastern
Adm Sir B
Ramsey
|
Naval
Forces
Battleships
Carriers
Cruisers
Destroyers
Submarines
Other warship
Troopships, supply
ships, LSIs etc
Landing Ships and
Craft (major) |
U.S.A.
-
-
5
48
-
98
94
190
|
British
& Allied
6
2
10
80
26
250
237
319
|
Totals
|
435
USN
|
930
RN
|
Plus
Landing Craft
(minor) |
510
USN
|
715
RN
|
The grand total of 2,590 US
and British warships - major
and minor were mostly
allocated to their own
landing sectors, but the
Royal Navy total included
the covering force against
any interference by the
Italian fleet. The main
group under Vice-Adm Sir A.
U. Willis of Force H
included battleships
"Nelson", "Rodney",
"Warspite" and "Valiant" and
fleet carriers "Formidable"
and Indomitable". Seven
Royal Navy submarines acted
as navigation markers off
the invasion beaches.
Many of the troops coming
from North Africa and Malta
made the voyage in landing
ships and craft. As they
approached Sicily with the
other transports late on the
9th in stormy weather,
Allied airborne landings
took place. Sadly, many of
the British gliders crashed
into the sea, partly because
of the weather.
However, early next day, on
the 10th, the troops
went ashore under an
umbrella of aircraft. The
new amphibious DUKWS (or
"Ducks") developed by the
Americans played an
important part in getting
the men and supplies across
the beaches.
German and Italian aircraft
sank and damaged a number of
warships and transports in
the invasion area including
a US destroyer on the 10th.
On the 16th carrier
"Indomitable"
was
damaged by Italian torpedo
aircraft.
|
Axis
submarines had fewer successes than the
attacking
aircraft in and around Sicily. Two
British cruisers were
damaged, but in return 12 of their
number were lost over
the next four weeks into early August: 11th
- "FLUTTO" off the southern end of
the Strait
of Messina in a running battle with MTBs
640, 651 and
670. 12th - "U-561" torpedoed in
the Strait of Messina by
MTB-81; Italian "BRONZO" captured off
Syracuse by minesweepers
"Boston", "Cromarty",
"Poole" and "Seaham"; "U-409" sunk off
Algeria by escorting
destroyer "Inconstant" as she attacked a
returning empty convoy. 13th -
Italian "NEREIDE"
was
lost
off Augusta to destroyers
"Echo" and "llex"; and north of the
Strait of Messina "ACCIAIO" torpedoed by
patrolling submarine
"Unruly". 15th - Transport
submarine "REMO" on passage through the
Gulf of
Taranto during the invasion was lost to
submarine
"United". 16th - Cruiser
"Cleopatra"
was
torpedoed
and badly damaged off
Sicily by submarine "Dandolo". 18th
-
"Remo's" sister-boat "ROMOLO"
was
sunk off Augusta by the RAF. 23rd
- Cruiser "Newfoundland"
was
damaged off
Syracuse by a torpedo
from "U-407", and as Italian "ASCIANGHI"
attacked a cruiser force off the
south coast of Sicily she was sunk by
destroyers
"Eclipse" and "Laforey". 29th
- "PIETRO
MICCA" was
torpedoed
by submarine "Trooper" at the entrance
to the
Adriatic in the Strait of Otranto. 30th
- "U-375" was
lost off southern Sicily to an
American sub-chaser.
Monthly Loss
Summary
14
British or Allied merchant ships of
80,000 tons
AUGUST
1943
Sicily
- As the Germans and Italians prepared
to evacuate Sicily
across the Strait of Messina, the Allies
started the
final push - US Seventh Army along the
north coast aided
by three small amphibious hops and
Eighth Army up the
east side from Catania with one small
landing. Gen
Patton's men entered Messina just before
Gen Montgomery's
on the 17th. Sicily was now in Allied
hands.
4th
-
Destroyer "ARROW" assisted with
unsuccessful fire-fighting
alongside the burning merchantman "Fort
La
Montee" off Algiers harbour. She was
badly damaged
in the resulting explosion and never
fully
re-commissioned.
Royal
Navy
Submarine Operations - Patrols in
the Mediterranean
led to the sinking of numerous Axis
ships including two
Italian warships, but two boats were
lost in August, the
first for over three months: 9th -
"Simoom" sank destroyer GIOBERTI" off
Spezia, northwest Italy. 11th
- "PARTHIAN"
was
overdue on this date. She left
Malta on 22nd July for the southern
Adriatic and failed
to return to Beirut. 14th -
"SARACEN" on patrol off Bastia, Corsica
was
lost to Italian corvettes "Minerva" and
"Euterpe". 28th - "Ultor"
torpedoed torpedo boat "LINCE" in the
Gulf of Taranto. 22nd
- Escort destroyers "Easton" and Greek
"Pindos" sank "U-458" southeast of
Pantelleria.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
11
British or Allied merchant ships of
43,000 tons
SEPTEMBER
1943
6th
-
On passage to Oran, escort destroyer
"PUCKERIDGE"
was
sunk
just east of Gibraltar by
"U-617", herself lost six days later.
7th
-
Submarine "Shakespeare" on patrol off
the Gulf
of Salerno sank Italian submarine
"VELELLA".
Italy
- Surrender and
Invasion
The
Italian
surrender was signed in
Sicily on the 3rd,
but not announced until the
8th to coincide with
the main Allied landing at
Salerno. Before long
the Germans control north
and central Italy, had
occupied Rome and disarmed -
often bloodily -
Italian forces in the
Dodecanese islands and
Greece. Meanwhile the
invasion and occupation of
southern Italy got underway.
A start was made on
the 3rd when British
and Canadian troops
of Gen Montgomery's Eighth
Army crossed over the
Strait of Messina from
Sicily in 300 ships and
landing craft (Operation
'Baytown') and pushed north
through
Calabria, eventually joining
up with forces
landed at Salerno. Early on
the 9th, in
conjunction with these
landings, the Eighth
Army's 1st Airborne Division
was carried into
Taranto by mainly British
warships (Operation
'Slapstick').
Shortly afterwards the
Adriatic ports of Brindisi
and Bari were in Allied
hands. 9th -
Around midnight in Taranto
harbour,
cruiser-minelayer "ABDIEL",
loaded with 1st Airborne
troops, detonated one of the
magnetic mines
dropped by E-boats "S-54"
and
"S-61" as they escaped, and
sank with
heavy loss of life.
Off
the west coast
of Italy, the Germans
decided to evacuate the
more southerly island of
Sardinia by way of
Corsica starting on the 10th.
French
troops landed in Corsica in
mid-month, but by
early October the Germans
had gone. Both islands
were now in Allied hands.
Following the
announcement of the Italian
surrender, the bulk
of the Italian fleet sailed
for Malta - three
battleships, cruisers and
destroyers from Spezia
and Genoa, and three more
battleships and other
vessels from Taranto and the
Adriatic. As the
first group came south,
battleship "ROMA"
was sunk by a
FX1400 radio-controlled bomb
(unpropelled unlike
the Hs293 rocket-boosted,
glider-bomb), but next
day the remaining ships were
escorted into Malta
by battleships "Warspite"
and
"Valiant". Over 30
submarines headed
for Allied ports. On the 11th,
Adm A B
Cunningham fittingly had the
honour of signalling
to the Admiralty the arrival
of the Italian
battlefleet in Malta.
9th
September
- Salerno
Landings,
Operation
'Avalanche'
|
Landing
Areas: |
Gulf
of
Salerno, S of
Naples
|
Forces
landing: |
US
5th Army - Gen
Mark Clark
55,000 British
& US troops
with 115,000
follow-up
|
British
10th
Corps
|
US
Sixth
Corps
|
Departure
from:
|
Tunis,
Libya
|
Algeria
|
Naval
Attack
Forces
and Commanders: |
Western
Vice-Adm H K
Hewitt USN
|
Northern
Cdre G N Oliver
|
Southern
Rear-Adm J L Hall
USN
|
Naval
Assault &
Follow-up Forces
|
British
&
Allied
|
U.S.A.
|
Cruisers
|
4
|
4
|
Destroyers
|
8
|
18
|
Other
warships
|
77
|
90
|
Troopships,
supply ships,
LSIs etc
|
29
|
13
|
Totals
|
128
|
125
|
Landing
Ships and Craft
(major only)
|
333
|
In
addition to the grand total
of 586 Allied
naval units directly engaged
in the landings,
most of which were in their
respective British or
American sectors, Adm
Cunningham as C-in-C
provided a strong Royal Navy
cover force and
carrier support group. The
cover force was again
Force H under Adm Willis
with battleships
"Nelson", "Rodney",
Warspite", "Valiant" and
carriers
"Formidable" and
"Illustrious". Rear-Adm Vian
commanded
the support carriers with
light carrier
"Unicorn", escort carriers
"Attacker", Battler",
"Hunter" and "Stalker",
three
cruisers and destroyers.
Most
of the troops were carried
to
Salerno via Sicily in the
landing ships and
craft, and, early on the
9th, without any
preliminary air or naval
bombardment, landed in
the face of strong German
resistance. By the end
of the day, with the support
of the covering
warships and carrier
aircraft, both the British
and Americans had
established bridgeheads but
with a gap in between. Over
the next few days the
Germans counter-attacked and
on the 13th and 14th
came dangerously close to
breaking through the
Allied lines and reaching
the beaches. They were
held, and much of the credit
went to the
supporting warships,
especially
"Warspite" and "Valiant"
which arrived on the 15th.
On the 16th, the
threat of dislodgement was
over. 13th -
All this time German Do127
aircraft using both
types of guided bombs were
attacking Allied
shipping laying off the
beaches. On the 13th,
cruiser "Uganda"
was
damaged as she provided
supporting gunfire. 16th
- On the 16th,
after "Warspite"
had
done her most valuable
work, she was hit and
near-missed by three or
four guided bombs. Damaged,
she had to be towed
to Malta.
|
12th
- Six days after sinking
"Puckeridge", "U-617"
was
damaged
by a RAF Wellington of No 179
Squadron and beached on the coast of
Spanish Morocco. She
was destroyed by gunfire from trawler
"Haarlem", supported by corvette
"Hyacinth" and Australian minesweeper
"Wollongong".
British
Aegean Campaign (map left)
- With the surrender of Italy,
Winston Churchill wanted to seize the
Italian Dodecanese
islands in the southern Aegean before
the Germans could
establish themselves. From here the
Allies could threaten
Greece and support Turkey, but the
Americans and some
British commanders were lukewarm on what
they saw as a
sideshow compared with the battle for
Italy. Insufficient
forces and especially aircraft were made
available, and
the Germans soon took Rhodes from where,
together with
other bases, they maintained air
superiority throughout
the coming campaign. On the 15th and
16th, British troops
occupied Kos, Leros, Samos and other
smaller islands. The
Royal Navy had the task of supplying and
reinforcing
them, as well as attacking German supply
routes. The
potential parallels with Norway, Greece
and Crete all
those many months back were obvious, if
only in
hindsight. 26th - After carrying
troops to Leros,
destroyers "Intrepid" and Greek "Queen
Olga" were attacked by Ju88s while at
anchor in the
harbour. "QUEEN OLGA" soon went down and
"INTREPID"
capsized next day.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
11
British or Allied merchant ships of
52,000 tons
OCTOBER
1943
Mediterranean
Fleet - Adm Sir John H. D.
Cunningham succeeded Adm
Sir Andrew Cunningham as C-in-C in the
middle of the
month - they were not related.
Early
October - Two RN submarines failed
to return from
patrol in the month. The first was
"USURPER" which left Algiers on 24th
September for the Gulf of Genoa, and
failed to answer a
signal on the 11th. She may have been
mined or fallen
victim to German A/S forces.
Italy
- British units of the US Fifth Army
entered Naples on
the 1st as the Germans fell back, ready
to make the
Allies fight long and hard for every
gain over the next
eight months. They prepared their main
defences - the
Gustav Line. On the west,
Gen Mark Clark's
Fifth Army managed to fight its way
across the Volturno
by mid-month and then come up against
the formidable
defences in front of the main
Gustav Line. On the east,
Gen Montgomery's Eighth Army had to
cross a number of
well-defended rivers before reaching the
Line.
British
Aegean
Campaign - On the 3rd,
German troops
landed on British-held Kos, which fell
next day. More
German forces headed for the Kos and on
the 7th a
convoy of seven small ships and one
escort was
annihilated by cruisers "Penelope" and
"Sirius" and two destroyers. As they
withdrew
through the Scarpanto Strait, "Penelope"
was
damaged in attacks by Ju87s and
Ju88s. More sweeps and more supply trips
led to further
losses, particularly amongst the
'Hunts', through to
November: 9th - Returning from a
sweep west of
Kos, cruiser "Carlisle" and destroyers
were
dive-bombed in the Scarpanto Strait area
by Ju87 Stukas. "CARLISLE"
was
seriously damaged and never fully
repaired; destroyer PANTHER
was
sunk.
17th - Cruiser "Sirius"
was
damaged
by bombs south of Scarpanto
Strait. 22nd - Greek 'Hunt'
"ADRIAS"
was
badly damaged off Kos on mines laid
by the German "Drache", and as sister
ship "HURWORTH"
went
to
her aid, was also mined. She sank
with heavy casualties. 24th -
Destroyer "ECLIPSE" fell victim to the
same minefield.
30th - Cruiser "Aurora"
was
damaged in bombing attacks.
Mid-October
- The second Royal Navy submarine
failing to return
was "TROOPER". She set out from Beirut
in the
Lebanon on 26th September for Dodecanese
patrol and did
not get back on the 17th. German records
claimed she was
sunk by a Q-ship off Kos on the 14th
30th
-
Submarine "Ultimatum" on patrol off
Toulon,
south of France sank "U-431".
31st
-
Five German U-boats set out for the
Mediterranean, but
one was sunk by the RAF while still in
the Atlantic and
two were disposed of by Gibraltar air
and sea patrols. On
the 31st
destroyer "Douglas" and trawlers
"Imperialist" and "Loch Oskaig" sank
"U-732"
off Tangiers.
The second sinking was on the
first day of November.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
9
British or Allied merchant ships of
46,000 tons
NOVEMBER
1943
1st
-
The second U-boat lost to the Strait of
Gibraltar
defences following the sinking the day
before was "U-340" to destroyers
"Active"
and "Witherington", sloop "Fleetwood"
and RAF aircraft of No 179 Squadron.
Italy
- In the west, Fifth Army
struggled to make
progress towards the main Gustav Line
but was still short
of Cassino. To the east, Eighth
Army was over the
Trigno and preparing to attack new
German positions
behind the Sangro River.
British
Aegean
Campaign - Conclusion - German
forces landed
on Leros on the 12th and captured the
Island after four
day's heavy fighting against the British
and Italian
defenders. The campaign came to an end
when Samos was
evacuated on the 20th, but not before
two more 'Hunts'
fell victim, this time to Hs293 glider
bombs: 11th -
"ROCKWOOD"
was
severely damaged off Kos following
an attack with other destroyers on
Kalymnos (Calino). She
was not repaired and went into reserve.
13th -
"DULVERTON"
was
sunk
off Kos as she withdrew from searching
for German shipping making for Leros.
The cost of this
abortive campaign to the Royal Navy
could now be added up
- four cruisers damaged with one never
repaired, six
destroyers lost or permanently out of
action and others
damaged. In addition the small Greek
Navy had lost two
destroyers.
Mid-November
- Submarine "SIMOOM"
sailed
from
Port Said on the 2nd for the
Aegean and failed to answer a signal on
the 19th. She was
presumed mined although German records
claim she was
torpedoed by "U-565" off Kos on the
15th.
28th
-
On passage through the Mediterranean to
join the Eastern
Fleet, cruiser "Birmingham"
was
badly damaged northwest of Derna by
"U-407".
Monthly
Loss
Summary
10
British or Allied merchant ships of
68,000 tons
DECEMBER
1943
Italy
- Fifth Army continued its bloody
struggle in the west
of the country towards the Gustav Line.
Meanwhile Eighth
Army had breached the Line in the east
and the
Canadians taken Ortona, where the Allies
remained until
June 1944.
War
at Sea
- With the surrender of the Italian
fleet, the big ships
of the Royal Navy were released for the
Eastern Fleet and
to prepare for the landings in Normandy.
The remaining
smaller vessels continued to escort the
convoys needed to
supply the Allied forces in Italy, and
to support both
Fifth and Eighth armies on their seaward
flanks. The RN
also went over to the offensive against
Germany supply
traffic down the west coast of Italy and
also from the
northeast through the Adriatic to
Yugoslavia. From bases
such as Corsica and Bari, light and
coastal forces struck
regularly at shipping, and also at land
targets along the
coast of Yugoslavia in support of Tito's
partisan armies.
A major disaster marred these successes
on the 2nd when
an air raid on Bari blew up an
ammunition ship with 16
more merchantmen lost in the resulting
fires.
11th-16th
- U-boats attacks on UK/North
Africa Convoy KMS34 - U-boat attacks
were made on the Convoy off the
Algerian coast using acoustic torpedoes:
11th -
"U-223" damaged frigate
"Cuckmere". 12th
- Northeast of Bougie, "U-593" sank
'Hunt'
escort destroyer "TYNEDALE". A long hunt
ensued by escort destroyers
"Calpe" and "Holcombe" and US
destroyers "Benson", "Niblack" and
"Wainwright", in the course of which the
U-boat
managed to sink "HOLCOMBE". 13th
- After more than 30 hours the
escorts finally sent "U-593" to the
bottom. Other US destroyers
including "Niblack" sank "U-73" on the
16th. This was the 23rd
U-boat lost in the Mediterranean in
1943.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
18
British or Allied merchant ships of
83,000 tons