In just a month, France had fallen, and Britain was left to fend off the Third Reich alone.
The Royal Navy was spread thin across the Mediterranean Sea without the support of the
French Navy.
But when Britain thought things couldn’t get any worse, Italy declared war on them
on June 10, 1940, becoming their new rival in the Mediterranean.
With Italy controlling critical locations in the western region, Britain’s main naval
base in Alexandria, Egypt, was under threat.
They had to hold onto their ports at Malta and Greece or risk losing control over the
entire Mediterranean.
It was a daunting task, but one that the Royal Navy was determined to complete.
To do so, they launched Operation Excess, an audacious plan to deliver a series of supply
convoys to Malta, Alexandria, and Greece through treacherous waters infested with Italian warships,
mines, and Luftwaffe raiders.
The stakes were high, and the decision to execute Operation Excess would have monumental
consequences for Britain throughout the war.
Still, it would also lead the Royal Navy to face some of its most fearsome encounters
yet…
LOGO
Taking the initiative
Despite Italy’s sudden entrance into the war on the side of the Axis powers, the loss
of France as an ally, and Britain’s vulnerable and extended supply lines across the region,
the British were undeterred when it came to exerting their dominion over the Mediterranean
Sea.
Instead of waiting for the newcomer to make the first move in the Mediterranean theater,
Britain seized an opportunity to cripple the Italian Navy before they had time to mount
any major offensives.
During the night of November 11, 1940, Admiral Andrew Cunningham orchestrated a Royal Navy
attack on the Italian harbor of Taranto, which became known as the Battle of Taranto.
Cunningham’s assault became the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, utilizing
20 dependable Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers provided by the aircraft carrier HMS
Illustrious.
The British attack took Regina Marina anchored at Taranto harbor by surprise.
It delivered a decisive blow to Italy and paved the way for a modern naval doctrine
based on warplane deployment instead of battleship fire.
At the cost of only two aircraft, the British disabled three battleships, one heavy cruiser,
and two destroyers and took down two warplanes while inflicting over 650 casualties.
This led the Royal Navy to undertake a massive supply convoy operation to maintain control
over their harbors in Malta, Alexandria, and Greece.
At the end of 1940, Alexandria was the Royal Navy’s main base of operations in the region.
Greece and Malta served as staging grounds to project Britain’s power to the middle
of the Mediterranean.
But Britain’s hold over these waters was threatened, with Italy attacking Egypt from
Libya in September 1940 and Greece from Albania in October 1940.
The growing assaults by land meant that resupplying their harbors in the Mediterranean would have
to take place by sea.
A Massive Formation
For Operation Excess, three convoys set out across the sea, carrying much-needed goods
and personnel.
The fate of these convoys rested on the shoulders of the naval forces tasked with their protection.
At Gibraltar, Convoy MC 4 was assembled, consisting of four freighters, each brimming with critical
supplies.
Clan Cumming, Clan MacDonald, and Empire Song were loaded with materiel earmarked for Piraeus,
while the fourth vessel, Essex, carried a staggering 3,000 long tons of seed potatoes,
4,000 long tons of ammunition, and twelve crated Hawker Hurricanes bound for Malta.
The convoy set sail for the Skerki Banks escorted by Force H, made up of HMS Malaya, Renown,
Sheffield, and Ark Royal.
Between them and their destination there was a constant threat of attack; U-boats were
lurking beneath the surface and enemy warplanes soared overhead
Meanwhile, Convoy MW 5, consisting of Breconshire and Clan Macaulay, was making its way across
the sea, destined for Malta.
Force C was dispatched to protect them, comprising HMS Calcutta, Defender, and Diamond.
Convoy ME 6, on the other hand, was composed of nine freighters waiting anxiously in Malta
for passage to Alexandria.
Their journey would be protected by HMS York, Orion, and several Flower-class corvettes,
including Gloxinia and Salvia, making up Force D, who would meet up with HMS Ajax and HMAS
Perth from Souda Bay to provide support.
As the convoys made their way across the Mediterranean, they were accompanied by other naval forces.
Force A, consisting of ten ships, including the legendary battleship HMS Warspite, HMS
Valiant, HMS Nubian, and the carrier HMS Illustrious, was dispatched from Alexandria to cover the
convoys east of the Skerki Banks.
HMS Gloucester, Southampton, Ilex, and Janus of Force B, were tasked with transporting
500 soldiers and airmen from the Aegean to Malta before joining Convoy MC 4.
Despite the number of warships, a U-boat ambush, a hidden Italian mine, or a sudden Luftwaffe
raid could bring disaster to the Royal Navy’s plan.
Still, they pressed on…
The Journeys
Besides the Italian Navy’s fearsome fleets that could operate in the area, the massive
British convoys had a new overwhelming enemy: the recently deployed Luftwaffe anti-shipping
aircraft.
The aerial force consisted of 500 anti-shipping aircraft of Fliegerkorps X, transferred from
Norway to Sicily to safeguard Axis convoys to North Africa and thwart passage of British
convoys to Malta.
On January 6, Convoy MC 4 set out from Gibraltar, misdirecting Axis agents near the port.
After dark, the convoy turned towards Malta, with an escort, including Force H, tasked
with ensuring their safe passage.
As the convoy traveled across the sea, other forces were dispatched to join them.
Force A, Force D, and Convoy MW 5, with Force C, all sailed from Alexandria.
Force B set out from the Aegean, carrying 500 soldiers and airmen to Malta.
After landing their passengers in Malta, they headed west to meet Convoy MC 4.
Meanwhile, the Vickers Wellington bombers carried out a daring raid on Naples, causing
damage to the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare and forcing the retreat of the only operational
Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto.
Turning Tides
On January 9, the convoy came under attack by Italian aircraft and torpedo boats.
Despite their best efforts, the Axis forces failed to sink any convoy ships.
But the Royal Navy’s luck would soon run out when its most prized asset, the carrier
Illustrious, flagship of Force A, would become the target of the Axis’s wrath.
On January 10, the ship was attacked by a swarm of Axis Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and Junkers
Ju 87 bombers; despite the fleet’s gunners’ efforts to keep the enemy warplanes at bay,
some of them managed to slip through the defenses and the ship was hit by five bombs, including
one that failed to explode, and a near miss that disabled the rudder mechanism.
Illustrious sustained heavy damage; nine Swordfish and five Fulmars were destroyed, and many
casualties among the aircraft maintenance personnel.
The attacks continued throughout the day.
Illustrious finally reached Malta at 9:30pm, having suffered 126 losses and 91 wounded.
Reaching Port
Calamity struck again on January 11, as Mohawk and the Force B cruisers steamed from Malta
to rejoin Force A, they were attacked by 12 Ju 87R dive bombers of II Gruppe, Sturzkampfgeschwader
2, Luftwaffe.
Gloucester was hit by a bomb that failed to explode, while Southampton was hit by two
bombs and caught fire; the blaze spread from stem to stern and trapped several men inside.
81 sailors lost their lives, with the survivors being rescued by Gloucester and the destroyer
Diamond.
Severely damaged and without power, Southampton was scuttled by one torpedo from Gloucester
and four from the cruiser Orion.
Despite the Axis’ best efforts and the damage inflicted on some of the escorting warships,
all convoys made it safely to their destination, delivering much-needed supplies and personnel
to the Allied forces.
While the Royal Navy lost one cruiser and had another cruiser, one destroyer, and their
flagship damaged, the Axis proved incapable of stopping the supply lines to the Royal
Navy’s bases in the Mediterranean which secured the future of Britain’s Naval operation
in the region.
Additionally, the Luftwaffe lost at least 8 warplanes to the unrelenting British anti-air
defenses.
The Illustrious Blitz
Regardless of the failure to cripple allied supply shipments, the Luftwaffe and the Italian
Air Force had managed to severely damage Illustrious, one of the Royal Navy’s most important assets.
After such a feat, they could not let the flagship be repaired and sent back into combat.
As eager as the Axis were to finish off the carrier, their bomb stocks had been depleted
after the relentless attacks on January 10 and 11, but on the 16, when their stockpiles
were restored, the Axis powers made a desperate attempt to destroy the mighty HMS Illustrious
before she could be repaired.
On January 16, the skies were filled with the ominous hum of enemy planes as ten Macchi
C.202s, ten CR.42s, and 20 Bf 110s escorted 44 Ju 87s towards their target.
The bombs exploded with a deafening roar, sending shrapnel and debris flying everywhere.
Grand Harbour, the port where Illustrious and Essex were moored, was shaken to its core.
However spectacular, the attack had little effect, with the carrier remaining steadfast
and her crew fighting back fiercely.
Meanwhile, HMS Essex was not so lucky, as a bomb exploded in her engine room, causing
38 casualties.
The attacks continued relentlessly, with another heavy air raid on January 17 and another on
January 18.
But the fearless crew of HMS Illustrious never faltered, fighting valiantly against overwhelming
odds.
And on January 19, after the last bomb fell from the sky, the ship emerged unscathed from
the attack.
After departing Malta on January 23, HMS Illustrious sailed towards Alexandria, her hull battered
and her engines damaged.
But even as she limped towards safety, her brave Fulmars remained behind to defend the
island and maintain British naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.
____
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