Operation Vigorous 1942

[jainso31]

This operation,an attempt to supply Malta;a precursor of Operation Pedestal failed due to the presence of a larger opposing naval force including Italian battleships; backed by incessant attacks from the Axis air foces based in North Africa.Could anything have been done different?

jainso31

[jainso31]

Adm.Vian admitted after the war that he had no confidence in Acting Adm. Harwood's plan (and therefore lost confidence in himself).Despite heavy attacks by the Luftwaffe -Vian pressed on -but Harwood who did not have the steely resolve of Adm. Cunningham,shilly shallied about whether Vian should continue; and wasted a lot of valuable time making course changes .Had this not been the case Vian would have carried on -instead the operation was ultimately aborted.:(
PS Would the convoy have got through if Adm.Cunninghsm had been still C in C Mediterrannean???
jainso31

[Old Salt]

It would have made a huge difference if our dozen submarines had managed to get amongst the Italian fleet when they sailed.

If wondering whether another course of action would have been more successful, one must also bear in mind any enemy counters which could have resulted.

An interesting question though.

Brian

[jainso31]

My sincere thanks Old Salt for your words of wisdom -as you point out- for evey action there is an equal and opposite reaction.I think Vian's post war comment is valid-Churchill's choice of Harwood as C in C Med. was a mistake.:(

jainso31

[Old Salt]

My sincere thanks Old Salt for your words of wisdom -as you point out- for evey action there is an equal and opposite reaction.I think Vian's post war comment is valid-Churchill's choice of Harwood as C in C Med. was a mistake.:(

jainso31

In war, as in sport, if you win, you are a hero .... if you lose, you are useless.
How fleeting, you are only as good as your last battle/game ... and there is another in a couple of days.

Brian

[jainso31]

Old salt
Yes Harwood- the victor over the Graf Spee, was churchill's choice as the new CinC Med. vice Cunningham.As you say he was not as good as his last battle and yes "Pedestal" was just in the offing.It got through-just!!:(
PS Kia kaha
jainso31

[jainso31]

Quoting Correlli Barnett in his book "Engage the Enemy more Closely" viz.
"Would the convoy have got through if Cunningham had still been CinC?.'The reply is' wrote Vian in 1954 in answer to this question,'that no flag officer ever thought of not going through with a direct order from Andrew;but he would never issue one not capable of achievement with the forces allocated' "

jainso31

[Vince O'Hara]

Quoting Correlli Barnett in his book "Engage the Enemy more Closely" viz.
"Would the convoy have got through if Cunningham had still been CinC?.'The reply is' wrote Vian in 1954 in answer to this question,'that no flag officer ever thought of not going through with a direct order from Andrew;but he would never issue one not capable of achievement with the forces allocated' "

jainso31

This quote implies that Vian thought Cunningham would never have ordered the operation. In his memoirs Cunningham wondered why Harwood just didn't order Vian to press on when Vian first queried him about turning back. In his report Harwood said it was always his intention to delay the convoy if the Italian fleet sortied. He wanted to give the submarines and air attacks a chance to inflict enough damage so the Italians would retreat. The operation would have succeeded if one of the battleships had been torpedoed. No one gives the Italians credit for beating off four air and one submarine attack en route or for timing their sortie perfectly so they would intercept the convoy at dawn in a position much farther east than Harwood expected.

Vince

[Hank]

I see one part of the chain of events I'd have done a bit differently, Jainso. The supply convoy(s) skirted the coast of North Africa before tacking Northward to Malta. I'd have stayed out to sea a bit further. Fear of submarine attack may have been the reason for the course, but it made easy work for the aviation who did most of the damage. Regards

[jainso31]

Hank- I confess to being "a bit at a loss" in your understanding of the course Operation Vigorous took.As far as I am aware the Axis air attacks were flown from the tip of Italy and Siclly;therefore requiring a course "hugging" the North African coastline; until the time to steer north for Malta.
As a matter of interest have you seen the this convoy's course on paper???

jainso31

[Vince O'Hara]

The air attacks on Vigorous were carried out by LG 1 and KG 54 based on Crete and II/St.G.3 on based around Derna west of Tobruk. Some units even shuttled from Crete to Derna to be a little closer. Also 35° Stormo flying from Rhodes contributed the attack that resulted in the loss of Nestor after the convoy had turned back. The Vigorous convoy turned northwest around the longitude of Torbuk but before that it kept closer to the African shore to facilitate friendly fighter coverage. Most of the air attacks on the convoy occured after the turn when it was in the center of the channel between Cyrenaica and Crete.

Vince

[jainso31]

Thanks for your reply -I must confees that nothing I had; indicated the sources of the axis air attacks.I suppose on reflection some of the attacks had to have come from German occupied North Africa and Crete being only 200 mls from Tobruk/Derna area,however this was June12; and Tobruk did not fall until June21, therefore probably airstrips in the Benghazi area.
I did tend to to think about hank's choice of course for the convoy ie.further out to sea-which I could not accept as a good idea.It would have had to have been so far north, as to be in grave danger from the Italian Fleet!!!

jainso31

[Vince O'Hara]

There were three convoys MW 11A from Haifa, MW 11B from Alexandria and MW 11C from Port Said. MW 11C sailed first and took the most inshore course and was supposed to act as a decoy to lure the Italian fleet to sea early. It turned back short of Tobruk after attracting one air strike. The three convoys and their escort finally united on 14 June at 0600 about 45 miles offshore even with Sidi Barrani. The submarine threat was considered greater closer inshore, but the air threat much less and that was the biggest concern.

There was no way the Italian fleet could have intervened so far east. Their destroyers were relatively short-legged and the waters south of central Crete were considered the effective limit of the fleet's range. However, to be in such a position to intercept a convoy, the fleet would have had to leave port about the same time (or even before) a convoy left Alexandria.

Vince

[jainso31]

I have been reading this up -this time with more care-I did know the there were three seperate mini convoys making up Vigorous; but did not pick up that MW11c was a decoy and the way i read it -it "stopped" at Tobruk.
The whole plan was, to my mind, complex and certainly did not embue Vian with a lot of confidence (Barnett).
Whether there was "internal"friction between Vian and Harwood is debatable.
Thanks again Vince for your intervention and timely input.

jainso31

[Keith Enge]

I have recently completed an animated map of these two interlocking convoy operations. I find that animated maps provide needed insights into complex actions; it is the only way that you can easily visualize the geometry of things happening simultaneously in both convoys. However, I have been unable to resolve several issues involving the participating aircraft. I would like to put numbers and aircraft models to the various attacks and CAP defenses. I do have numbers and models for about half of the German/Italian attacks but not the rest. As for the British, I have data on their attacks but nothing for CAP beyond generalities like "Spitfires from Malta acted intermittently as CAP over the Harpoon convoy". Similarly, Bf 109s intercepted one of the British attacks soon after takeoff and reduced the number of Beauforts from twelve to five (two downed, five other returned with damage). However, I don't know how many Bf 109s there were, the model of Bf 109 (it was June 1942 so G is a possibility but F is more likely), or even where they came from (Derna probably).

I would like everything that I could get about each of the attacks and CAP including such things as numbers of each aircraft, time of arrival at combat, duration of combat, and even kills/losses. I have a reasonably sized library and access to other books but have been unable to find the necessary details anywhere. Perhaps, the problem is that most of my sources were more concerned with the naval aspects so that the aviation stuff was given a lower priority of interest. Some of what I do have is of questionable reliability and is contradicted by other sources. Other sources, like the combat reports of ships, are almost totally useless.

Can anyone give me some help or point me to other sources?

Thanks, Keith

[Vince O'Hara]

For the Axis air attacks Italian sources include

Santoni, Alberto, and Francesco Mattesini. La partecipazione aeronavale tedesca alla Guerra nel Mediterraneo. Rome: Ateneo e Bizzarri, 1980. This book focuses on German participation.

Fioravanzo, Giuseppe. Le azioni navali in Mediterraneo dal 1 aprile 1941 al’8 settembre 1943, 1970. A general account of the complete action.

Santoro, Giuseppe. L’Aeronautica italiana nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Rome: Danesi, 1957. This focuses on Italian aerial participation.

ADM 199/1244. Operation Vigorous contains a log of RAF support provided to the convoy. Generally flights of four fighers were over the convoy as long as it was in range. I'd have to dig through it to give you more details as to times and dates. I'm not sure it includes types with complete accuracy. There are also lots of German works that you can refer to. The only one I can cite is Radtke, Siegfried Kampfgeschwader 54 – von der Ju 52 zur Me 262: Eine Chronik nach Kriegstagebüchern, Dokumenten und Berichten 1935-1945. Munich, Schild Verlag, 1990. I think Ospey has some titles on the Bf 109 that might help.

Vince

[Keith Enge]

Thank, Vince

Keith

[Vince O'Hara]

Keith,

I made a pdf of the air co-operation report that should give you the information you're looking for on the air protection provided to Vigorous. If you send an email to vohara@gmail.com I'll forward a copy.

Vince