Episode 7: Operation Pedestal
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Operation Pedestal, taking place between August 3 – 15, 1942, was one of the most critical convoys of the year. Allied victory in North Africa hinged on whether the small island of Malta could withstand the continuous siege to which it had been subjected by the Germans and Italians. A massive escort fleet, and the merchant ships they protected, would attempt to run the gauntlet of Axis air, surface warship, and underwater attacks
Malta was one of the most strategically significant locations in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II. The island served as a midway point between the British bases located at Gibraltar, near the mouth of the Atlantic, and Alexandria, Egypt. Malta had been seized by the British as a colonial possession during the Napoleonic Wars and was key to their control of the Mediterranean. Lying south of the Sicily and east of the Italian colonies of Libya and Tunisia, the island was in the perfect position to disrupt Axis naval convoys. Between World War I and World War II, the British military invested heavily in updating the defenses of Malta: new airfields, expanded docking facilities for surface warships, and submarines to bulk up the strategic hitting power of the garrison.
To ensure the British garrison’s survival, as well as that of the native Maltese, hundreds of tons of food, medicine, munitions, and fuel needed to be delivered each month. This was not a difficult task in peacetime, but the reality of Italy being part of the Axis strained the Royal Navy’s ability to support Malta. Between 1940 and 1942, both the German and Italian air forces conducted daily raids on the island attempting to force the garrison into starvation. An Axis air and naval blockade was designed to force the island’s surrender without the loss of valuable soldiers, warships, and other war materials. This was accomplished by daily raids on the island. A plan to drop German Fallschirmjagers on the island was made, but this was abandoned after the costly invasion of Crete in 1941.
Small Allied convoys organized during 1940-1942, were crippled by the Axis. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had on several occasions ferried fighter aircraft to Malta. This involved sending aircraft carriers loaded with Hurricanes and Spitfires on their decks. Once the carriers reached a certain point, the planes would take off and fly the rest of the way to the island. This presented dangers for the Royal Navy warships as they were exposed to both air and submarine attacks. Something more substantial had to be conducted if Malta were to stay in British hands.
Between June and July 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill developed a plan that would hopefully save the island. He ordered the Royal Navy to assemble warships to form a massive escort force to protect fourteen merchantmen and oilers destined for Malta. Ships stationed at Gibraltar, South Africa, and Great Britain were assembled. Four aircraft carriers, two battleships, along with dozens of other warships would fight their way across the Western Mediterranean. This was a major portion of the available strength of the Royal Navy, indicating the strategic importance of Malta.
The warships gathered outside of the Mediterranean and met up with their charges in late July. This meeting was a chance for all the ships to learn to work together and to drill for the expected air raids they would endure. Once this brief training was done, the convoy entered the Mediterranean, briefly stopping at Gibraltar to refuel. Axis agents in both Spain and North Africa sighted the convoy and relayed the information to German and Italian military intelligence: the element of surprise was gone.
The Axis powers quickly began to shift their military assets to confront this huge convoy. German and Italian submarines were sent to sea to intercept the Allied ships. The Luftwaffe moved some of its larger fighter and bomber formations to Sardinia and Sicily to give them additional numbers and better tactical range. The Germans and Italians were not entirely certain if this were simply a resupply convoy or an invasion fleet aimed for Crete: this uncertainty led to a scattering of surface warships that could have also been used to destroy the convoy as it approached Malta.
The Royal Navy was understandably nervous of the potential of losing so many of its aircraft carriers. While most of the smaller warships would escort the convoy all the way to Malta, some of the aircraft carriers were to turn back to Gibraltar after a certain point. This fear of losses was quickly realized on August 11, when the German U-boat, U-73, worked its way through the escort destroyers torpedoing the carrier HMS Eagle. Within eight minutes of being hit, the Eagle was sunk, causing the convoy to lose 20% of its air cover.
The submarine attack was just the start of a very long, and painful, day for the convoy. Within a few hours of the U-boat attack, hundreds of German and Italian aircraft conducted a series of air attacks. Despite all the munitions expended, the Axis airmen only managed to damage one merchant ship for. The lackluster performance of the attacking aircraft gave the Allied sailors hope that the convoy would steam to Malta with few losses: this sadly turned out to be not the case.
The convoy suffered another major loss the next day when the British carrier HMS Indomitable was hit in a bombing raid. It was forced to turn back towards Gibraltar, taking additional escort ships away from the convoy to protect it. The convoy was left with only one aircraft carrier, the HMS Victorious, able to launch planes for air cover. Increasing submarine and air attacks led the Royal Navy to pull Victorious and the battleships out of harm’s way during the night of August 12/13. This decision was understandable on a strategic level: the loss of these heavy ships would cripple British naval operations in several regions, but it left the remainder of the convoy exposed for the remaining 250 miles.
August 13 saw some of the heaviest Axis air raids on the shrunken convoy. Lacking aircover and the massive anti-aircraft batteries that bristled from the two battleships, the smaller escorts tried their best to disrupt the air attacks. Many of the merchant ships and warships were mauled that day. An Italian submarine torpedoed the most valuable ship in the convoy: the oil tanker SS Ohio. The Ohio was carrying fuel that was desperately needed to keep Malta’s planes and ships fighting. The convoy commander ordered The Ohio’s crew to abandon ship, but they refused: they managed to stop the fires from spreading, and restored power, and pushed towards Malta. Other merchant ships exploded as the ammunition and fuel they carried were consumed by flames. The situation for the convoy was dire.
Finally in the late afternoon of 13 August, the surviving escorts and merchant ships were met by the small Maltese naval garrison. Fighter aircraft from the island also managed to turn back attacking Axis aircraft. The damaged merchant ships that had been separated from the convoy continued to limp into the Malta Grand Harbor between August 13 and 15. The last ship to come into the harbor was the SS Ohio. It had to be towed in, due to the amount of water the ship had taken on and that her keel was broken. The oil she transported was removed before the ship settled to the bottom of the harbor.
Overall, Operation Pedestal was a costly success for the British. They managed to get the desperately needed supplies to Malta and prevent the island’s surrender, but the damage was significant to the convoy. One aircraft carrier was lost, and one was damaged. Two light cruisers were sunk and two more damaged. Of the fourteen merchant ships that conducted the operation, nine were sunk and the remainder were damaged. The Axis lost several submarines and roughly 65 aircraft in their attempt to destroy the Allied ships.