Operation MB8
Encyclopedia
Operation MB8 was a British Royal Navy
operation in the Mediterranean Sea
during 4-11 November 1940. It was made up of six forces—totalling two aircraft carrier
s, five battleship
s, 10 cruiser
s, and 30 destroyer
s, including much of Force H
—protecting four distinct supply convoy
s.
It consisted of several phases: Operation Coat, Operation Crack, Convoy MW 3, Convoy ME 3, Convoy AN 6, and the main element, "Operation Judgement"
.
Operation Coat was a reinforcement convoy from Britain to Malta
, carrying troops and anti-aircraft gun
s. The convoy was made up of the battleship
, heavy cruiser
s and , and three escorting destroyer
s. It was covered by the aircraft carrier
, light cruiser
, and three more destroyers, all from Force H, out to mid-Mediterranean; three Force H destroyers would remain, the rest turning back 165 nmi (189.9 mi; 305.6 km) from Sicily
.
Convoy MW 3 was made up of five merchantmen bound for Malta from Alexandria
, plus two more providing supplies to the base at Suda Bay. The convoy was escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser , accompanied by three destroyers.
Convoy ME 3 comprised four merchantmen sailing in ballast from Malta to Alexandria, under escort of the battleship , Coventry, and two destroyers.
Convoy AN 6 consisted of four slow tanker
s bound for Greece
from Egypt
, in support of the British expedition there, escorted by a slow trawler
.
Shaping a similar course were reinforcements for Crete
, embarked in light cruisers and as Force B, while light cruiser (Vice Admiral H. D. Pridham-Wippell's Force C) transported RAF supplies to Greece and inspected Suda Bay. All three would rejoin to form Force X for an 11/12 November raid on the Otranto Strait
.
Operation Crack was an attack on Cagliari
by aircraft from Ark Royal, en route to Malta, branching off from Operation Coat.
Operation Judgement—under the overall command of Admiral A. B. Cunningham
—was executed by aircraft from the carrier , escorted by battleships Ramilies, , , and . They met the heavy cruisers and and three destroyers, then escorting Convoy MW 3, and provided cover. Then the Barham group from Operation Coat was to be met, with Illustrious, Gloucester, York, and Berwick detaching to attack Taranto, coincident with the Force X raid.
The Italians were aware of sorties from Alexandria and Gibraltar by 7 November, and sent nine submarine
s to attack a Malta convoy (MW 3) detected on 8 November. Bombers (unsurprisingly) failed even to pinpoint the Judgement force, and when Force H was detected headed back toward Gibraltar on 9 November, the Italians presumed MW 3 had turned around, too.
Italian confusion arose when Barham, Berwick, Glasgow, and their destroyers were detected 10 November off Lemnos
. The correct deduction—they had detached from the Gibraltar-bound force—was not accompanied by a correct guess they would join with Cunningham. The same day, Ramillies, Coventry, and two destroyers protecting ME 3 were detected, and again, bombers failed even to locate them.
The very complexity of Operation MB8, with its various forces and convoys, succeeded in deceiving the Italians into thinking only normal convoying was underway. (Its success stands in stark contrast to complex Japanese failures at Coral Sea
and Midway
.) While Italian reconnaissance
was characteristically bad, in the end, the Italians had only failed to keep track of Illustrious. That the Italians (reasonably enough) expected the British to behave in what was, at the time, their usual way was the root of the mistake.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
operation in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
during 4-11 November 1940. It was made up of six forces—totalling two aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s, five battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s, 10 cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, and 30 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, including much of Force H
Force H
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....
—protecting four distinct supply convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s.
It consisted of several phases: Operation Coat, Operation Crack, Convoy MW 3, Convoy ME 3, Convoy AN 6, and the main element, "Operation Judgement"
Battle of Taranto
The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Operation Coat was a reinforcement convoy from Britain to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, carrying troops and anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
s. The convoy was made up of the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s and , and three escorting destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s. It was covered by the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
, and three more destroyers, all from Force H, out to mid-Mediterranean; three Force H destroyers would remain, the rest turning back 165 nmi (189.9 mi; 305.6 km) from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
Convoy MW 3 was made up of five merchantmen bound for Malta from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, plus two more providing supplies to the base at Suda Bay. The convoy was escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser , accompanied by three destroyers.
Convoy ME 3 comprised four merchantmen sailing in ballast from Malta to Alexandria, under escort of the battleship , Coventry, and two destroyers.
Convoy AN 6 consisted of four slow tanker
Tank ship
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
s bound for Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, in support of the British expedition there, escorted by a slow trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
.
Shaping a similar course were reinforcements for Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
, embarked in light cruisers and as Force B, while light cruiser (Vice Admiral H. D. Pridham-Wippell's Force C) transported RAF supplies to Greece and inspected Suda Bay. All three would rejoin to form Force X for an 11/12 November raid on the Otranto Strait
Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1940)
The Battle of the Strait of Otranto was a minor naval action during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It took place in the Strait of Otranto in the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Albania.-Background:...
.
Operation Crack was an attack on Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
by aircraft from Ark Royal, en route to Malta, branching off from Operation Coat.
Operation Judgement—under the overall command of Admiral A. B. Cunningham
Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....
—was executed by aircraft from the carrier , escorted by battleships Ramilies, , , and . They met the heavy cruisers and and three destroyers, then escorting Convoy MW 3, and provided cover. Then the Barham group from Operation Coat was to be met, with Illustrious, Gloucester, York, and Berwick detaching to attack Taranto, coincident with the Force X raid.
The Italians were aware of sorties from Alexandria and Gibraltar by 7 November, and sent nine submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s to attack a Malta convoy (MW 3) detected on 8 November. Bombers (unsurprisingly) failed even to pinpoint the Judgement force, and when Force H was detected headed back toward Gibraltar on 9 November, the Italians presumed MW 3 had turned around, too.
Italian confusion arose when Barham, Berwick, Glasgow, and their destroyers were detected 10 November off Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
. The correct deduction—they had detached from the Gibraltar-bound force—was not accompanied by a correct guess they would join with Cunningham. The same day, Ramillies, Coventry, and two destroyers protecting ME 3 were detected, and again, bombers failed even to locate them.
The very complexity of Operation MB8, with its various forces and convoys, succeeded in deceiving the Italians into thinking only normal convoying was underway. (Its success stands in stark contrast to complex Japanese failures at Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
and Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
.) While Italian reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
was characteristically bad, in the end, the Italians had only failed to keep track of Illustrious. That the Italians (reasonably enough) expected the British to behave in what was, at the time, their usual way was the root of the mistake.