Mattesini, Francesco La Seconda Battaglia della "Sirte"

Dall’inizio del blocco aeronavale italo-tedesco di Malta, al combattimento navale del 22 Marzo 1942

In November and December 1941, the British had established a convoy route between Italy and Libya, which was not only served by submarines and aircraft from bases in North Africa and Malta, but also by a small fleet formation called Force K. This Force K, stationed in the port of Valletta, had caused considerable losses to merchant ships carrying reinforcements and supplies that were essential for the Italian and German forces in Libya to continue the war. It was precisely because of this blockade in the central Mediterranean that Italy was prevented from sending men and equipment to Cyrenaica: these reinforcements had the specific aim of halting the British advance towards Tripolitania. Adolf Hitler therefore decided to send a large contingent of aircraft to Italy to restore the situation in the Mediterranean and Libya, but above all to put pressure on Malta through increased air raids, with the specific aim of preventing the island from receiving air and sea reinforcements. The strategic situation in favour of the Royal Navy at the beginning of the third week of December was determined by the sinking of the following units by German U-boats: the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the battleship Barham and the cruiser Galateo; in addition, the cruiser Neptune was sunk in the waters off Tripoli by an Italian minefield. Furthermore, the two battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, the only ships still available to the Mediterranean fleet, were severely damaged in Alexandria. The operation was carried out by the attack ships of the X MAS. All this happened when the first units of the German Air Force under the command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring were already arriving in Sicily. At that point, the British were in an almost hopeless situation in terms of supplying the island of Malta with vital goods - fuel for ships, petrol for aircraft, combat vehicles for the garrison, coal, kerosene and food for the island's population (which consisted of about 270,000 civilians and a garrison of 30,000 men). With only a few light cruisers and destroyers, they were unable to break through the Italian and German naval blockade, which had significantly superior naval forces. This book is about the efforts the Mediterranean Fleet had to make in the first three months of 1942 to supply Malta until the Royal Navy finally deployed its large naval forces to engage the enemy in a naval battle that took place on 22 March 1942 in the Gulf of Sirte: However, this did not have the favourable tactical and, above all, strategic outcome that the Italians and Germans had hoped for.