Mattesini, Francesco Dalle Operazioni Britanniche "Excess" e "MC.4" al Bombardamento Navale di Genova

This book is divided into two parts and deals in detail with the planning and execution of two British naval operations (Excess and Grog), which were met with varying degrees of success. Operation Excess, which was planned and then carried out, involved the transfer of a convoy of four large, fast steamships from Clyde in south-west Scotland, one of which reached the port of Malta and the other three the Greek port of Piraeus, to unload weapons and supplies for the Greek army fighting the Italians in the mountains of Epirus on Albanian territory. The operation took place throughout the Mediterranean with the participation of the Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Alexandria. On this occasion, the German Air Force carried out its first dramatic operation in the Mediterranean, which was dramatic for the Royal Navy. On 10 January 1941, the 3rd Stuka Squadron of dive bombers and the Italian Ju-87 dive bombers of the 96th Gruppo Bombardamento a Tuffo from airports in Sicily and attacked and severely damaged the aircraft carrier Illustrious west of Malta. The next day, 11 January, after a 200-mile flight east of Malta, the German Stukas reached the cruiser Southampton and sank it, while damaging its sister ship Gloucester, which also belonged to the Mediterranean Fleet. Meanwhile, the destroyer Havock lost its bow due to Italian mines in the Strait of Sicily but was able to reach Valletta, where it remained permanently disabled. This major tactical and strategic success for the Axis powers, which forced the Alexandria fleet to leave the Eastern Mediterranean theatre of operations, was followed by a dramatic episode for the Italians. This occurred on 9 February 1941 as part of Operation Grog, when Vice Admiral Somerville's Force H emerged from Gibraltar in the morning off the port of Genoa and bombarded the port, docks and industrial facilities for forty minutes, also hitting buildings in the city, including the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, which was severely damaged. The Italian fleet, which had been stationed in a very good position by the Operational Command of the General Staff of the Royal Italian Navy, attempted to intercept Force H by sailing north from the waters of Asinara (north-western Sardinia), but without success. This was due to the indecision and misinterpretations of their commander, Fleet Admiral Angelo Iachino, compounded by equally serious mistakes made by the crews of the Regia Aeronautica aircraft, who, among other things, mistook the British units for Italian ones on three occasions.