Battle of Skerki Bank

Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of World War II

The Navigatori-class destroyer Nicoloso da Recco, seriously damaged in the Battle of Skerki Bank

Date	2 December 1942
Location	near Skerki Bank, Tunisia
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Australia

Italy

Germany¹

Commanders and leaders

C. H. J. Harcourt

Aldo Cocchia

Strength

3 light cruisers
2 destroyers

3 destroyers
2 torpedo boats
4 troopships

Casualties and losses

None²

1 destroyer sunk
1 destroyer heavily damaged
2 torpedo-boats heavily damaged
4 troopships sunk
2,033 - 2,200 killed

¹one ship in the convoy was German
²one destroyer was sunk at dawn by aircraft with the loss of 20 servicemen

Battle of the Mediterranean

Malta Club Run¹ Malta Convoys¹ Espero ¹² Mers-el-Kébir Calabria¹² Cape Spada Hurry ¹ Cape Passero¹ MB8 ¹ Taranto Strait of Otranto² White ¹ Cape Spartivento¹ Excess ¹ Convoy AN 14¹ Genoa Abstention Souda Bay Matapan Tarigo ² Crete ² Substance ¹ Halberd ¹ U-boat Campaign Duisburg ² Bon² 1st Sirte¹² Alexandria raid 2nd Sirte¹ Calendar ¹ Bowery ¹ Albumen Harpoon ¹ Vigorous ¹ Pedestal ¹ Agreement Torch Stone Age ¹ Toulon Portcullis ¹ Skerki² Olterra's campaign¹ Algiers¹ Zuwarah Cigno ² Campobasso ² Sicily Gela Scylla ² Bastia Sinking of Roma Dodecanese Campaign Santorini Symi Cape Bougaroun¹ Port Cros La Ciotat Ligurian Sea ¹

¹ — Involved an Allied convoy ² — Involved an Axis convoy

The Battle of Skerki Bank was a World War II naval battle which took place near Skerki Bank in the Mediterranean Sea on the early hours of 2 December 1942 between British and Italian forces, as the last naval battle held in Mediterranean during 1942.

Background

The British force consisted of the light cruisers HMS Aurora, Argonaut and Sirius and the destroyers HMS Quentin and HMAS Quiberon. The squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt. They attacked an Italian convoy bound for Tunisia and its escort of three destroyers and two torpedo boats.

In the night of 2 December, a troop convoy was heading for Tunisia: the German KT-1 (850 tons), Aventino (3,794 t), Puccini (2,422 t), and Aspromonte (a militarized ferry-boat, 976 tons). The ships were carrying 1,766 troops, 698 tons of cargo (mainly ammunition), four tanks, 32 other vehicles, and 12 artillery pieces. The escort was relatively strong: destroyers Nicoloso da Recco (flagship), Camicia Nera, Folgore and the torpedo boats Clio and Procione was commanded by Captain Aldo Cocchia.

Battle

The British ships hit very hard and destroyed, one after the other, all the cargo and troop ships. The escort ships were hit as well, with Folgore fatally damaged (9 133 mm direct hits) by cruisers, and later sunk with 120 dead (among them, commander Ener Bettica), Nicoloso da Recco badly damaged (explosion of the forward 120 mm ready ammunition depots, out of commission until June 1943, half crew killed or wounded) with 118 dead. Camicia Nera launched all her 6 torpedoes, which missed their targets. Sirius escaped with no damage despite Camicia Nera firing on her from only 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), dodging several torpedoes and cooperating in the sinking of many Axis ships.

Aftermath

At dawn, the short-range engagement saw a clear British victory, while Axis lost no less but over 2,000 (probably 2,037 or even 2,200, the total is uncertain) lives and five ships, with Puccini still afloat, but later sank. In the return path Savoias attacked the Q-Force, without results but losing some aircraft (Spitfires claimed four Sparvieros with one loss), while HMS Quentin was sunk by a 500 kg bomb released from Junkers Ju 88s (even if uncertain if the hit scored was actually a torpedo) with 20 dead. On the other side, the human losses were 124 (Folgore), 118 (Nicoloso da Recco), 39 (Aspromonte), 3 (Procione), 200 (civil/militarized crews), 1,527 troops (all in Aventino and Puccini)^[1]

External links

Convoy Battle near Skerki Bank

References

↑ Sgarlato, Nico: Lo scontro del banco di Skerki, Eserciti nella Storia magazine, Delta editions, Parma, gen-feb-2012, p.23-25

Coordinates: 37°45′12″N 10°57′12″E / 37.75333°N 10.95333°E / 37.75333; 10.95333

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.