Second Battle of Sirte
1942 naval battle between British and Italian forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Second Battle of Sirte (on 22 March 1942) was a naval engagement in the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Gulf of Sidra and south-east of Malta, during the Second World War. The escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta held off a much more powerful squadron of the Regia Marina (Italian Navy). The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships, escorted by four light cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser and 17 destroyers. The Italian force comprised a battleship, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and ten destroyers.[1] Despite the British success at warding off the Italian squadron, the Italian fleet attack delayed the convoy's planned arrival before dawn, which exposed it to intense air attacks that sank all four merchant ships and one of the escorting destroyers in the following days.[2]
Second Battle of Sirte | |||||||
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Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of Second World War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
British Empire | Italy | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Philip Vian | Angelo Iachino | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4 light cruisers 1 anti-aircraft cruiser 18 destroyers 1 submarine |
1 battleship 2 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 10 destroyers 1 submarine | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
39 killed 3 light cruisers damaged 2 destroyers disabled 3 destroyers damaged |
No casualties 1 battleship slightly damaged |