Operation Pedestal: The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942

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Rescue came soon after from the Melbourne Star which was immediately following the ship in the convoy. In Operation Tiger, convoy WS 8 sailed from Gibraltar to Alexandria, combined with a supply run to Malta by six destroyers of Force H. Five 15kn (17mph; 28km/h) merchant ships passed Gibraltar on 6 May accompanied by Force H, along with a battleship and two cruisers en route to Alexandria; Clan Campbell, Clan Chattam, Clan Lamont, Empire Song and New Zealand Star. The merchants tried to reach Alexandria with air cover of Fairey Fulmars onboard Ark Royal and the anti aircraft fire of 9 destroyers. Bad weather helped, but Regia Aeronautica engaged the convoy during the day, and at dusk Empire Song was lost after hitting two mines. It sank with tanks and planes (10 Hurricanes and 57 tanks); [38] crew was saved by destroyers Fortune and Foresight till La Valletta. The destroyers from Force H participated in the convoy operation as far as Malta then returned. Force H bombarded Benghazi and rendezvoused with the convoy 50nmi (58mi; 93km) south of Malta late on 9 May. [39] The minefied had been laid by the same Italian cruiser force whose mines had sunk the freighter Parracombe in early May. [37] The book tells a gripping, heroic story, accompanied by a generous selection of photographs and a host of technical detail. The convoy entered the Mediterranean on the night of August 10, 1942. Its codename became Operation Pedestal. Protecting the vessels, the Royal Navy had the three aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, HMS Victorious and HMS Indomitable, the battleships HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney, besides seven cruisers, 32 destroyers, eight submarines and other units.

The aircraft carrier HMS Victorious suffered eight fatal casualties, and all its air crew were lost in action. The 32,000 tons of supplies enabled Malta to stave off the target date for the island’s surrender, which was the first week of September 1942 - Charles Debono Although 53,000 of the 85,000 tons of supplies loaded on the merchant ship finished on the bottom of the Mediterranean, the remaining 32,000 tons enabled Malta to stave off the target date for the island’s surrender, which was the first week of September 1942. Protheroe William Loyd 'Willy' (21) Sub Lieutenant (A) RNVR (827 NAS)Sainsbury John Maurice (25) Leading Air Mechanic (O) FAA/FX 79980

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This is an excellent addition to the body of Pedestal literature – as well as a very detailed account of the battle, liberally sprinkled with first-hand descriptions from those who were there, there are more than a dozen appendices. Roskill, S. W. (1956). The Period of Balance. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol.II. London: HMSO. OCLC 174453986– via Hyperwar Foundation. In Operation Bowery, 64 Spitfires were flown off Wasp and Eagle. A second batch of 16 fighters were flown off Eagle in Operation LB. [74] June 1942 [ edit ] Operation Style [ edit ] Nine of the merchant ships were sunk en route, along with an aircraft carrier, two cruisers and a destroyer, the remainder [including the American oil tanker Ohio] completed the journey. Carabott, Sarah (15 August 2022). "Looting of a convoy that stands testimony to the starvation of a nation". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022.

He survived the war, and went on to become a character actor. He has over 100 television credits to his name, and guest starred in a number of dramas - including prominent ones such as Agatha Christie's Poirot and Doctor Who and - films, besides also having a wide stage and radio career. Front view of the tanker Ohio lashed to the destroyers HMS Bramham and HMS Penn to prevent it from sinking. Photo: En.Wikipedia.com In August 1942 operation 'Pedestal' was launched in a desperate last attempt to relieve the island. The largest, the most expensive and, possibly, the most important of all the Malta convoys. The consequences of failure can only be a matter of conjecture but there can be no doubt that General Montgomery and the 8th Army would have had a much tougher time at El Alamein later that year had Rommel been in possession of the many thousands of tons of supplies that were destroyed by Malta based aircraft and submarines in the September - October following 'Pedestal'. Austin, D. (2002). The Place of Malta in British Strategic Policy 1925–1943 (PhD). Computer File. London: University of London. OCLC 499365025 . Retrieved 19 December 2015.Crabb, Brian James (1998). In Harm's Way: The story of HMS Kenya. A Second World War Cruiser. Paul Watkins. ISBN 978-1-900289-02-3. Its size was borne out of circumstance: Malta was starving and two previous convoys - Operation Harpoon and Operation Vigorous - had seen just two merchant ships out of 17 arrive on the besieged island. The presentation is excellent, the writing flows and is easily read, the illustrations are comprehensive and the ultimate fate of the surviving ships is covered. As a Union-Castle fan I might have been disappointed that Wren, his ship and crew perhaps did not receive the cover of some of the others, but on reading the whole this disappointment does not stand up, for Brian has, rightly, concentrated on the far greater challenges that so many of the others, especially those that did not survive, and of course of Ohio, had to face.

Malta, a Mediterranean island of 122sqmi (320km 2) had been a British colony since 1814. By the 1940s, the island had a population of 275,000 but local farmers could feed only one-third of the population, the deficit being made up by imports. Malta was a staging post on the British Suez Canal sea route to India, East Africa, the oilfields of Iraq and Iran, India and the Far East. The island was also close to the Sicilian Channel between Sicily and Tunis. [1] Malta was also a base for air, sea and submarine operations against Axis supply convoys by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA). [2] Central Mediterranean, 1942 [ edit ] It's a book which would probably best be enjoyed by Second World War history buffs rather than newcomers to the subject, but that is not a criticism, this is a grown-up history telling a painful and heroic story in the detail it deserves. as the survivors of Convoy WS21S limped towards Malta's Grand Harbour. It was, he said, the happiest day of his life. He had helped bring succour to the beleaguered little island.

The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force (Public Record Office War Historiesed.). Richmond, Surrey: Air Ministry. 2001 [1948]. ISBN 978-1-903365-30-4. Air 41/10. This onslaught was bravely resisted but heroism itself is not enough if supplies of food, ammunition, fuel oil and aviation gasoline are in desperately short supply. Various attempts to relieve the situation by convoys from both east and west had been made with very little success and at great cost. The ships took on board a grand total of 85,000 tons of cargo with each vessel being allocated a mixture of Malta’s vital needs, except kerosene and fuel oil. Flour formed the bulk of supplies, but petrol, aviation spirit in tins, shells and other explosives were present on all the ships. was also nursed into harbour. But the best news of all was the arrival of the crippled oil tanker, Ohio, on the 15th. She had been bombed to a standstill, but was kept afloat by the Royal Navy and towed to Valletta, against all odds. Her voyage is legendary.