by RockyMountainNavy, 19 March 2025
In his book A Sailors Odyssey, Lord Admiral Andrew Cunningham, who served as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean for the Royal Navy during the Second Battle of Sirte in 1942, wrote:
“I shall always consider the Battle of Sirte, on March 22nd 1942, as one of the most brilliant Naval actions of the War, if not the most brilliant. As told here it sounds easy; but it is against all the canons of Naval Warfare for a squadron of small cruisers, and a handful of destroyers to hold off a force of heavy ships . . . had the roles been reversed, it is unthinkable that the convoy, or much of its escort would not have been destroyed.”
Helmut Pensel in A History of War at Sea: An atlas and chronology of conflict at sea from the earliest times to the present (Naval Institute Press, 1975) writes a description of the Second Battle of Sirte much longer than most other entries—perhaps an indication of how highly the battle was thought of:
22 March 1942: Second Battle of Syrte. The British try to get an urgent convoy of 4 freighters from Alexandria to beleaguered Malta. Covering forces under Rear Admiral Vian are 4 cruisers and 10 destroyers and, from Malta, a cruiser and a destroyer. The Italians commit strong forces to destroy the convoy; under Admiral Iachino are the battleship Littorio, 3 cruisers and 10 destroyers. As soon as he sights the Italians, Vian releases the convoy with a light escort, and heads for the enemy, laying a smokescreen, behind which he launches a determined torpedo attack. The SSE wind drives the smoke onto the Italians, who do not attack for fear of the torpedoes. Several attempts to outflank the British force with Littorio to the west fail and, after 3 hours, Iachino breaks off the fight. Two British destroyers have been badly hit, but are brought home safely; 2 Italian destroyers sink in a storm on the way back to port. The convoy, meanwhile, has been held up so long that it only approaches Malta after dawn next day: Fliegerkorps II attacks and sinks 2 of the freighters off the island, and the other two are destroyed in Valetta harbour. (Pemsel, 124)
That summary certainly captures the highlights of the battle. It also shows why wargamers likely find this scenario interesting; where else do you get a chance to fend off a big battleship with what should be a vastly inferior force?
When doing my research for this posting I did an obligatory search of the internet. One somewhat surprising result that popped up was an entry on the Second Battle of Sirte on the Naval Historical Society of Australia website. “The Second Battle of Sirte – Mediterranean, 1941″ is written by a retired Royal Australian Navy Commander who was at the battle. This first-person account is highly enlightening as it talks to aspects of the battle that often are overlooked or—in one case for me—much unknown.
Carrier island
And Malta must survive, for the miniscule air striking force, surface force and submarine arm operating from the battered island were destroying 37% of the war supplies being shipped to General Rommel. (Storey)
click images to enlarge
Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC and then-Commandant of the Marine Corps was quoted in 1980 as saying, “Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.” Malta was not just another imperial outpost in a dying colonial empire; it was a vital airfield to protect the flank of the British Eighth Army in North Africa. For a great wargame on the defense of Malta that will teach you much more than I can write here go play Nothing Left to Bomb: The Skies Over Malta, 1940-1942 by Nicola Saggini from SNAFU Design Team (2023).
New and untested
Vian decided to transfer his flag, together with key personnel, to Cleopatra, the least experienced ship. With him he took his brilliant Flag Captain and CSO, Captain Guy Grantham, his Squadron Navigating Officer, Robin Maurice, his Flag Lieutenant, Peter Hankey and me as Squadron Gunnery Officer. (Storey)
If you ever served in the military you certainly know that there are times when one has to step up whether they are ready or not. Cleopatra was a newly commissioned ship (5 December 1941) but was the one with the most flag space available so it became the flagship. Wargames often have rules for “crew quality” or the like; how well those rules reflect reality is always a question. In this case we will see that “morale” and “ability” are not necessarily synonymous.
Airpower
The advance of the Eighth Army had made it possible to provide us with the luxury of a fighter escort of two Beaufighters for the first two days, and as a result, bombing attacks were sporadic and harmless. (Storey)
Two Beaufighters. Does not sound like much but it is indicative of how even a little airpower can change a battle. Vian’s ships were still attacked enroute but in a somewhat half-hearted manner thanks to the presence of just a few aircraft. It is also important to remember that the Second Battle of Sirte came just a few months after the loss to airpower of Force Z (HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse) in the Far East. The Royal Navy was almost certainly still processing the full meaning of those losses, much like the Italians and Germans very likely were also doing.
Sub scouts
With us, things began to happen at 0530 on 22nd, when Vian received a report from our submarine (P36) watching off Taranto. The report, timed at 0130, was that heavy units accompanied by destroyers were leaving harbour, and the delay in transmission was due to the submarine having been forced to dive. (Storey)
Not a glamorous mission and one often overlooked in wargames. Players often want their submarines to strike at an enemy fleet or convoy; there is “no fun” in just trying to sneak around and not get caught. The mission may not be fun to wargame, but is essential to the set up of so many scenarios.
The moon was out
At 1427, Captain Bush of Euryalus, who, though an ardent nudist, was never one to be caught with his pants down, reported the enemy in sight to the northward and distant about 15 miles. (Incidentally one hundred and thirty seven years before, it was the frigate Euryalus, also in the weather gauge, who first sighted the enemy at Trafalgar). (Storey)
That…is a personality trait I was not expecting. I appreciate the historical link with Euryalus but I just can’t unsee that first sentence. Moving along…
Smoke on the water
It took us some little time to realise that our smoke was lying low, and that our masts protruding about it, were providing perfect aiming points for a little unopposed aerial bombing practice. (Storey)
Smoke screens in wargames are often portrayed as “perfect” as in only the wind might disrupt them. Here is a good reminder that sometimes your defenses do not act like you expect—Mother Nature gets a vote even in combat.
Angles high and low
So we very quickly stopped making smoke, and switched the after groups of guns from Low Angle into High Angle to drive the flies away.
Fortunately these well-synchronised bombing attacks did not persist, though for a time, we really appreciated the versatility of our armament. It allowed us to engage our surface targets with A, B and Q turrets, while X and Y turrets took on the aircraft, and altogether made a satisfying and reassuring noise.
…
It was during the first of these forays that Cleopatra’s lack of a full ‘working up’ period showed up. I have mentioned earlier that the procedure at the guns in low-angle fire, was a little different from high angle, and we discovered to our chagrin, that this change had not been mastered in Cleopatra.My language from the bridge, I am told, was loud enough and descriptive enough to be heard and understood by the Italians 16,000 yards away. We withdrew into the smoke to carry out some much needed gun-drill. (Storey)
I always understood that naval guns fired at different angles. It totally makes sense to me that high-angle guns are useful for anti-aircraft firing and low-angle guns are better for surface engagements, I did not, however, seriously think about the need to “change modes” and the time it takes. Once again, wargames simplify or gloss over such issues. Come to think of it, I cannot think of a set of naval combat rules that limit you to firing at surface OR air targets in a given turn. Maybe this is a realism that takes it too far but it does create an interesting decision. What “mode” are your guns assigned? How long does it take to change that mode? When do you make the decision to do so? What is the risk if you do not make the decision?
Oil skimming
It is sad to report that in spite of three of the four supply ships reaching Malta only 5,000 tons out of 26,000 tons of stores were actually unloaded due to the ships being bombed in harbour. Fortunately much of the oil fuel from Breconshire, which capsized in harbour after being bombed near Malta, was afterwards saved by fitting valves to the exposed bottom. (Storey)
Given the loss of all four ships in the convoy, I have a hard time seeing the Second Battle of Sirte as a victory. Maybe from a tactical perspective it counts as such and that is what the focus of the battle should be. At the strategic level, however, the future of Malta remained in great doubt. Heavy air attacks by the Luftwaffe against Malta in April 1942 rendered the island near-unusable. June 1942 would see only two freighters make it through in Operation Harpoon and Vigorous against the loss of a cruiser and five destroyers. In August 1942, Operation Pedestal would see five freighters arrive but at the cost of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, two cruisers and a destroyer, along with another two aircraft carriers and two other cruisers damaged. The Battle of Malta would not end until May 1943 when the Allies clearly controlled the Mediterranean and cut off German and Italian forces in North Africa which capitulated in turn.
SOURCES CONSULTED
- Pemsel, Helmut (1975) A History of War at Sea: An atlas and chronology of conflict at sea from the earliest times to the present. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
- Storey, A.S, DSC, Commander, RAN (Rtd). “The Second Battle of Sirte – Mediterranean, 1941”. The Historical Society of Australia. Article first appeared in the December 1977 edition of the [Australian] Naval Historical Review. Accessed 3 March 2025.
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