Second Sirte 1942: The Desperate Battle to Relieve Malta

96 pages

Chris O’Flaherty

The Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942 was one of the key naval actions in the Mediterranean during the prolonged siege of Malta. Well trained Italian forces, ably led by Admiral Angelo Iachino, were perfectly positioned to decimate the Royal Navy’s resupply efforts from Alexandria, but political caution induced following Matapan in 1941 meant that Mussolini had hamstrung the Regia Marina.

The narrative starts by setting out the strategic context of the engagement, the precursors (including the First Battle of Sirte, December 1941), and the respective orders of battle for both R Adm Vian’s Royal Navy forces, and those of Adm Iachino. At first glance, the Royal Navy’s five cruisers and 18 destroyers (to defend just four merchant ships carrying 26,000 tons of cargo) appear to overmatch Italy’s one battleship, three cruisers and eight destroyers. But attachments and detachments on the British side, plus the daylight availability of shore-based attack aircraft for Axis forces, quickly tilt the balance the other way.

The description of the pre-battle period generates a suitable degree of anticipation for the reader, piqued at 0900 on 22 March when “Air cover ends for convoy as RAF fighters reach limit of their range.” Just 30 minutes later the first Italian air attack commences, concurrently vectoring in their surface action group. The subsequent onslaught was relentless, with the Royal Navy repeatedly having to change formation from air defence to surface action and back again. Much of this manoeuvring was expertly pre-planned by R Adm Vian, but Captain Nicholl of the light cruiser Penelope had only been attached under Vian the day before the convoy encountered the Regia Marina…

“The convoy and all the ships of the escort then began moving in various directions at high speed. I, unfortunately, had no knowledge of any pre-arranged plan … ‘When in doubt, follow father!’ So I tacked on to Vian’s cruisers … Though I had no instructions, I had no difficulty in sensing what Vian wanted the cruisers to do.”

In the grip of a brewing gale, Vian’s forces duly kept the cautious Italian surface ships sufficiently far from the convoy, whilst suffering some hits on his escorts. Royal Navy gunners also distracted determined enemy aviators into repeated near misses on the main body.

After four days at sea, the convoy finally approached Malta delivering just 5,000 tons of cargo before further attacks on Valetta harbour and Marsaxlokk Bay anchorage caused the loss of three of the supply ships. After this unwelcome reminder that convoy success occurs when the stores are unloaded, not just delivered to a port, these stores (plus 3,000-4,000 tons recovered from the wrecks) were sufficient to allow Malta to survive for a further 3 months. Back in Alexandria, Vian received a hero’s welcome.

As your reviewer it pains me to point out a few elements of reader’s angst.  The title of ‘Second Sirte 1942’ is a tad terse, noting that Konstam correctly acknowledges that the engagement “became known as the Second Battle of Sirte”. There are also some frustrating terminological perplexities: ‘sea miles’ being differentiated from ‘nautical miles’ and also confused with ‘tactical miles’ (i.e. 2000 yards); and the illustrator has chosen to show the “British Royal Navy” [sic].  Some mathematical confusions also wrench – for example, page 51 lists 18,000 yards as equivalent to 10 miles, disagreeing with itself on page 74 which corrects 18,000 yards as equal to 9 (tactical) miles. Small details.

Overall, this is a lovely summary of a savage battle, in which both sides handled their ships very well in awful conditions. The author has a delightful way of really engaging the reader, drawing you onto a bridge that is ‘wreathed in smoke’, or crouched over a plotting table that is shock damaged and under repair, or frantically mending a steam line shattered by enemy shrapnel. It is well worth curling up with, and then referring to when seeking great examples of mission command, naval leadership, and a few hints of luck.