Battle of the Tarigo Convoy-April 15th & 16th 1941.

[astraltrader]

The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy-April 15th & 16th 1941.

Late in the evening of 15th April saw the Royal Navy 14th Destroyer flotilla, commanded by Captain P.J.Mack and comprising the Janus, Jervis, Mohawk and Nubian patrolling off the coast of Tunisia, with orders to look for and attack an Italian supply convoy reported to be in the area heading for Tripoli.

The British had been forewarned of their passage by intercepted messages and for most of that day had shadowed the convoy with a reconnaissance plane.

The convoy consisted of four German troopships and an Italian ammunition ship. The convoy was escorted by a large Navigatori class destroyer, Lucia Tarigo (flagship) and two smaller Folgore class destroyers, Baleno,and Lampo commanded by Captain Pietro de Cristofaro.

At about 2 am the British ships armed with the advantage of radar, met up with the enemy convoy, near the Kerkennah Islands off the Tunisian coast.

At 02:20 fire was opened and within minutes there was a general mass of ships all weaving about frantically and in the case of the Italian ships hell bent on trying to take evasive action. Mack skilfully organised his ships into a classic high-speed destroyer night action, in which all enemy ships were hit, damaged, on fire or sinking.
Unfortunately the Mohawk took two torpedo hits. The second hit her under the bridge and she quickly sank in only about six fathoms of water, leaving the front of the ship sticking out of the water...After an hour`s action the log from the Jervis read:
"One enemy destroyer sunk. Two other destroyers along with four merchantmen burning furiously. A fifth merchantman carrying ammunition blew up and sank. Mohawk sunk..."
In fact it later transpired that all the enemy ships in the convoy including all it`s escorts had been annihilated. All for the loss of one destroyer.

There are differing estimations of Axis deaths but are generally quoted as being in the 750 - 1800 range. the British lost 43.

Captain Mack led the rest of his flotilla back to Malta in triumph...

Control of the sea between Italy and Libya was heavily disputed as both sides sought to safeguard their own convoys while interdicting those of their opponent. Axis convoys to North Africa were critical to the resupply and reinforcement of the German and Italian armies and British attacks were based on Malta, itself dependent upon convoys.

[herakles]

What an interesting thread!

How brilliantly successful the action was too.

A lot of none too flattering comment is made about the fighting ability of the Italians. There is a wonderful picture somewhere of a solitary Australian guarding 10,000 captured Italian soldiers after one of the battles in the desert in North Africa. He has his rifle over his shoulder!

But the same can't be said about the Italian navy. They were resourceful, determined and fought well in my opinion.

Much could be posted here of the various battles in the Med during WW2, especially relating to Malta and the evacuation of the troops from mainland Greece and Crete. As I recall, Ajax and Perth were seemingly engaged just about non-stop.

A great post Terry. Most useful.

[astraltrader]

Thanks Richard. The Second World War ended up being a decisive defeat for Italy and therefore also for the Italian Navy. In my opinion the reasons for the naval disaster are various:
a] Poor strategies and frequent indecision by the Supermarina, who were if you like the Italian version of the Admiralty in conducting the war. Italian crews and their officers demonstrated every day extraordinary courage and skill but their initiatives were usually frustrated by Supermarina's too prudent policy;
b] Glaring lack of coordination with the Air Force;
c] Inadequate equipment. In particular a lack of radar as well as inadequate gun aiming systems;
d] Constant problems in providing enough fuel for their ships.
e] Misfortune to have as their prime enemy the Royal Navy who had for 200 years been the supreme maritime power - especially in the Med.
f] The advantages garnered to the Royal Navy by their ability to read encrypted Italian Naval messages...
g] Although equipped with many stylish, fast and capable warships - they had a tendancy to be deficient in adequate armour plating.
h] A large number of their ships were not ready for action at the start of hostilities. In particular ships had not completed sufficient trials before being thrown into action. Ships crews were both undermanned as well as under-trained...

Most of these above reasons are the obvious consequences of the irresponsible political gamble by Mussolini's government to enter the war.

Mussolini strongly believed that the War would be over in less than a year and would be won in the main by their ally - Germany. He gambled and lost in the belief that Italy would be well set to share in the victor`s spoils!!

[herakles]

You have summed up the situation most succinctly. The Italians really were let down by their own hierarchy. And had a leader good on pomp and rhetoric but little else. A similar situation occurred in northern Greece in 1940 when a vastly superior army was decimated by the Greeks.

And how the Germans punished them later. The atrocities committed by them against the Italian forces are little known but on a grand scale. You get a small idea of this from the excellent book: Captain Corelli's Mandolin which became such a dreadful film.

There is a tendency even today to poke fun at the Italians but it shouldn't be forgotten that this country is one of the most successful in the EU and very wealthy.

[astraltrader]

Absolutely spot-on Richard. In addition what ever they do is always near the top of the tree with regard to being stylish and/or artistic...

[The Sailor]

This is a very good post Terry.
There is much more to this story including that the official Italian report says that on April 27 and May 7, Italian forces under the command of cap. di feg. Eliseo Porta will rescue some important documents from the sunken Mohawk. These rescue attempts were also repeated on June 22nd and 23rd. According to the official Italian report, the only document of value rescued was the "Mediterranean Stationary Order Book". Other authors contradict this assertion; they actually affirm that documents rescued from the Mohawk were essential to the success of the Xa MAS attach against the port of Alexandria.

Look through this site everyone.
http://www.regiamarina.net/engagements/tarigo/tarigo_us.htm

[astraltrader]

Yes thank you Sailor, I have seen that site before. As you alluded to there are no clear conclusions to draw from all the differing opinions which is why I decided not to expand on the sinking of HMS Mohawk...

[David Verghese]

Dear astraltrader,

I would just like to say how useful I have found this thread, in particular your evocative posting of 26.02.08 on the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy. I am researching a short Biography of an ERA over the period 1936-1948 while he served on a number of HM Ships and Shore Establishments. Indeed I have found the World Naval Ships Forums site to be an invaluable resource for photos and facts. Amongst many I would like to single out, for Mention In Despatches, batstiger, alanbenn, kc and yourself as being quite awesome in your knowledge and information shared on this site.

David V.

[alanbenn]

David, a belated welcome to the forum, I notice you joined in Dec 2008.

Obviously doing some research before posting, it is kind of you to make a post such as this as feedback is always welcome, I'd like to say thank you for mentioning me by name and I'm somewhat flattered you have done so.

If I can help further in any way please do let me know, I'm sure other members will also offer their assistance if needed.

I hope you will continue with the forum, I for one would be very interested in the result of your research.

Best wishes
Alan

[astraltrader]

David - thank you for your kind words.

When I first joined the forum I wrote a series of articles such as this one about the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy.

As somebody who has always enjoyed a great interest in military history, this was the major reason for joining the forum in the first place.

As things transpired after a few months I found myself first of all emmersed in uploading many from my large collection of warship postcards and then following my appointment as a moderator, increasingly involved in helping with the day to day running of the forum.

It is my great hope that later on in the year, I will be able to make the time to write other articles that have been germinating in the back of my mind over the past year and more!

[David Verghese]

In the interests of keeping this thread alive I would like to present what I would regard as somewhat opposing ends of the spectrum of reporting of the same event, both over the passage of time and secondly in the context of -where you stand depends upon where you sit.

In the strategic picture of Britain gaining and struggling to keep naval superiority in the Mediterranean theatre this particular engagement by the 14th Destroyer Flotilla merits little attention, compared to say the struggle for Crete or other conflicts.
I am attaching a cutting from a 1941 newspaper(actual newspaper and artist unknown) showing an artist's impression of the engagement. It is worth noting the text ie
'An artist's impression of the recent sinking of an enemy convoy and three Italian warshipsladen with supplies for Tripoli. The action took place in moonlight and the convoy was taken completely by surprise by four British destroyers which turned all their guns on the ships, which were carrying motortransport; ammunition and Nazi officers to Tripoli. Four merchantmen and two Italian destroyers were sunk, and one merchantman and one destroyer were beached. This is a German move that did not work ' "according to plan" '.
I guess you have to read it in the diction of Movietone broadcasts of the time to appreciate the morale boosting nature of such reports at the time. The text doesn't actually refer to the loss of Mohawk, merely mentioning one destroyer (of ? which side).

The RM report by Cristiano D'Adamo, for which The Sailor provides the link earlier in the thread, is a useful analysis drawing upon the accuracies, or otherwise, of a number of authors over the subsequent fifty seven years. As stated by The Sailor the report should be read.
HMS Mohawk was lost with 43 of her complement, there being 168 survivors.

David

[Don Boyer]

c] Inadequate equipment. In particular a lack of radar as well as inadequate gun aiming systems;

Terry: Excellent coverage of the battle! So many of the smaller actions don't get the coverage they deserve in the "big histories" of the war.

The comment above was new to me from your follow-on post. Anything on why the Italians, with the same time and availability of funding as most countries between the wars were unable to develop decent fire control for their ships? I can see how radar would be a problem, considering it's secrecy when first developed, but you'd think that Italian shipbuilders like Odero, Terni Orlando, with their relationships with Vickers (before the war) and the like would have been able to develop good optics and fire control tables.

Sincerely,

[Sheila1946]

Very interesting to read this Thread as my late father was a seaman of 18 at the time The Mohawk was hit. We have heard stories of how he dragged himself along the inside of the ship and pulled himself up with one hand to reach a hatch and surprise rescuers who thought there were no more survivors. That little pic of The Mohawk makes me realise how frightening it all was.

[David Verghese]

Sheila1946, You are most welcome aboard.

It seems that your father was probably the last of the 168 survivors of HMS Mohawk to be picked up. I knew one of the rescuing party aboard HMS Janus.

To set the scene I will precis the excellent first post of this thread using notes from a biography I am writing.

Force K, comprising HM Destroyers Jervis, Janus, Mohawk and Nubian, part of the 14th Destroyer Flotilla, led by Captain (later Rear Admiral) Philip Mack engaged an axis troop/munitions convoy of four German (Arta, Iselerlohn, Aegina, Adana) and one Italian (Sabaudia) transport in a nightime attack. The armed merchantmen were carrying appoximately 3000 military personnel, 300 army vehicles and a large amount of munitions and stores for the North African theatre. As indicated in the first post of the thread, Force K assisted by radar, was able to get close to her quarry, undetected by the Italian escort force of 3 destroyers.

At about 02:30 HMS Janus took out the bridge of the Baleno in her first salvo. The belligerents of both sides closed up in near vicinity of each other as illustrated in the artist's depiction of the battle in my earlier post. As you say Sheila it would have been quite frightening at such close quarters.

HMS Mohawk was hit in the stern, losing her aft armament capability, by a torpedo fired from the Italian command ship Luca Tarigo. Some of the axis transports literally went to ramming stations as they bore down on the Jervis and Nubian, both the latter taking evasive action.
A second torpedo strike on Mohawk by Luca Tarigo disabled the former, moments before the latter sank (her gallant captain, critically wounded, and staying at his command post later receiving his country's highest award for valour). Mohawk herself was scuttled and the 'Abandon Ship' order was given. Janus and Nubian picked up survivors, many of them rendering a loud chorus of "Roll out the Barrel" to indicate their perilous positions in the water.

P.O. Pete Hocking of HMS Janus had a particular good personal reason to participate in the rescue of Mohawk's survivors. Three months previously, elsewhere in the Med, his then ship the destroyer HMS Gallant had struck an Italian mine off Pantellaria Island, losing her bow section and 65 of her ship's company. HMS Griffin and HMS Mohawk embarked the survivors and Mohawk effected a difficult slow tow of the remains of HMS Gallant to Valletta, at one time being attacked by Italian SM79 bombers.

With 168 survivors of Mohawk's ship's company aboard Nubian and Janus, HMS Jervis led, the three destroyers of Force K, with their battle ensigns flying, into harbour at Malta.

I am sure P.O. Hocking, then aged 20, might have shared a pint or two with
some of Mohawk's crew, perhaps even your father, quietly celebrating. their common good fortune.

Kind regards

David (also 1946)

[Sheila1946]

Wow, that is very interesting - it all ties in. He said when he managed to open the hatch, he popped out and the rescuers were amazed anyone was left. Trying to piece what happened after that I am not sure if I am right but he joined The Orion after that but she was torpedoed and he was badly burned on his face, back and legs and was in the water for three or four hours:eek:. Apparently when picked up he was shaking and someone said, "Here sonny have a cigarette". He was put on a Hospital ship (Philomena?) and went to South Africa and eventually was taken back to Liverpool RN Hospital, Woolton, to recover. It was there he met my mother who was a Wren working there at the time.:) He went back to sea in 1942. I have his records.

I know that he went away to sea, minesweeping for 2 and a half years when I was six months old and when he came back the three of us moved down here to Portsmouth. He was on numerous ships and Naval bases over the years and went around the world on 9 month drafts, eventually doing long service at HMS Collingwood as an Instuctor. He became a Chief petty Officer
and was an electrician. He finally left there in 1971, became a civilian electrician (which he hated :)) but in 1987 was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer and died in June 1988. He was dedicated to the Navy but didn't talk that much about his adventures, though I probably wasn't listening at the time but my husband and brother do remember more than I do. I saw this forum and typed Mohawk in the Search option and this came up so I had to mention that he was on the Mohawk.

[Sheila1946]

I have a very interesting pdf. of 1948 reports by each of the Commanders of each of the ships Nubian, Nohawk, Janus and Jervis. It is minute by minute account of what happened. It even mentions picking up two survivors from the Mohawk before Janus sank it. I don't know how to send it to you.

[David Verghese]

I have a very interesting pdf. of 1948 reports by each of the Commanders of each of the ships Nubian, Nohawk, Janus and Jervis. It is minute by minute account of what happened. It even mentions picking up two survivors from the Mohawk before Janus sank it. I don't know how to send it to you.

Hi Sheila

Thankyou for this last post.
If you click on the private message tag in the upper right hand corner of the page, you should see a private message from me where I list my email address.
Then you can electronically send me the pdf of interest.

Many thanks

Dave

[Sheila1946]

Hi Sheila

Thankyou for this last post.
If you click on the private message tag in the upper right hand corner of the page, you should see a private message from me where I list my email address.
Then you can electronically send me the pdf of interest.

Many thanks

Dave

I have sent you an email with apologies as I have just found your email in my Spam :eek: Why it was in there I don't know. Sorry for not seeing it earlier.:o

[Sheila1946]

By the way I love the second pic you sent of the Mohawk. I am going to blow it up (well it happened once before!) print it off and frame it. Thank you for that. :D

[Canine99]

Here is a wargame report detailing a recreation that I designed and gamemastered of the Tarigo Convoy battle that I thought might be of interest. Granted, this is not the historical result, but that is why I find wargaming so interesting. Doing the research to design and run the game was greatly assisted by this thread so I felt I could share the results. Obviously, the game had a different result from reality.


This is an after action report of a General Quarters 3 naval game played at The Fantasy Store in O’Fallon, Illinois on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. This game is the first of six linked scenarios that outline the fighting of the Royal Navy squadrons stationed at Malta between April and December, 1941. The Royal Navy stationed ships at Malta to intercept the increasing convoys of men and supplies sailing from Italy to North Africa to support the Afrika Korp in their attempt to take Egypt and the Suez Canal. Each scenario will be played in order and winners determined for each scenario. In addition, a cumulative score will be kept and at the end of the six scenarios, the cumulative score will reflect how effective the Royal Navy at Malta was in slowing or stopping the convoys to North Africa.

The first scenario had the following players:

Italians
Terry Callahan-DD Lampo
Mike Connor-DD Baleno
Dennis Hill-DD Luca Tarigo
Ray Gluck Sr.-Convoy Commander

Royal Navy
DD HMS Nubian-Steve Lowry
DD HMS Mohawk-Richard Wright
DD Janus and DD Jervis-Glen Connor


16 April, 1941 found the Italian troop convoy passing by the African town of Sfax as it headed toward Tripoli. Four transports were loaded with soldiers of the 15th Panzer Division along with one transport loaded with equipment and ammunition for the fighting in North Africa. Escorting the group were three Italian destroyers.

The convoy was arrayed in a box formation with the German transport SS Aegina leading one column and SS Iserlhon following SS Aegina three thousand yards behind. SS Arta led the other column that was three thousand yards to port of the first column with SS Adana following SS Arta. Three thousand yard to the rear of the box formation and placed between the two transport columns was the Italian transport MV Sabaudia carrying munitions and vehicles. Leading the convoy three thousand yards to the front was the Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo. Three thousand yards off of the starboard bow of SS Aegina was the Italian destroyer Baleno. Bringing up the rear of the convoy and stationed three thousand yards off of the port stern of SS Adana was the Italian destroyer Lampo.

It was an overcast night with 4-6 foot swells. Visibility was poor at about three thousand yards. The convoy struggled to keep station while the destroyers scanned for any possible sign of enemy action. Suddenly, one of Baleno’s lookouts shouted that unknown ships were appearing off to the starboard bow some three thousand yards away….

The 14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy, consisting of HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk had been alerted by Ultra intercepts of an important troop convoy headed for North Africa. Reacting quickly, the squadron sailed to the interception point. Not finding the convoy initially, the force started to sweep the area and around 0200, located the convoy by radar. Using radar as their guide, the flotilla set up an approach to cut across the starboard bow of the convoy. HMS Nubian led the flotilla with HMS Mohawk, HMS Janus, and HMS Jervis following in line. Sweeping in at twenty knots, a ship looms out of the darkness and takes the shape of an Italian destroyer…

Baleno called for General Quarters as her gun and torpedo directors attempt to acquire the closing ships. The lead unknown ship opens fire and launched torpedoes, with the gunfire smothering Baleno and hitting her twice, damaging her engine room and rudder compartment, throwing Baleno into a hard starboard turn. Baleno responded quickly and managed to fire back at the firing ship but saw no apparent hits. Baleno’s torpedo officer also got a quick solution on the lead ship and fired off both torpedo mounts toward the line of ships...

HMS Nubian continued to push across the front of the convoy hit Baleno with her rapid firing main guns. HMS Nubian’s torpedoes ran into the night without hitting anything. The HMS Mohawk, sensing that Baleno could have launched torpedoes, broke from the line of battle and swung away from the Italians, speeding up to avoid the torpedo spreads. HMS Janus and HMS Jervis were still in the dark as to what was happening and continued forward in line toward the fight...

Baleno was taking numerous hits destroying the just emptied torpedo mounts and knocking out the rear turret. Damage control parties struggled to repair the rudder but found that it was too damaged to repair. The parties then focused on the damaged engine room to repair and restore the engine room. Baleno continued to circle starboard as she slowed due to the engine room damage. Suddenly, the night was split by huge explosions….

HMS Janus and HMS Jervis had been pushing forward in line to try to get into the action. In front of them, the flash of gunfire and explosions flickered on and off. Just as HMS Janus spotted a ship in the distance, torpedoes from the Baleno found a target as HMS Janus was hit by one torpedo that split the destroyer in half and sank her in six minutes. HMS Jervis immediately began to swerve to avoid the holocaust in front of her but she too was struck by two of Baleno’s torpedoes. HMS Jervis slowly sank in eighteen minutes.

Baleno did not have any time to celebrate her victories as HMS Nubian continued to pound on the Italian destroyer as Baleno's jammed rudder forced her to continue to circle to starboard and slow down. HMS Mohawk had initially swung away from the fight and after she was out of sight of any ships, turned back to engage the enemy. As HMS Mohawk closed back into visibility range, a destroyer took shape out of the night off of HMS Mohawk’s port bow. Reacting quickly, HMS Mohawk opened fire on the destroyer. As soon as the salvo was away, the fire control director screamed to cease fire as it was realized that the target was HMS Nubian. The mistaken salvo apparently did no visible damage. HMS Mohawk sailed past HMS Nubian and when HMS Mohawk was clear of HMS Nubian, the large hulk of a transport appeared to the front of HMS Mohawk. The British destroyer turned to port to bring her broadside to bear and opened fire on this new positively identified target…

HMS Nubian swung toward Baleno and continued to fire, hitting Baleno in the hull. As HMS Nubian maneuvered against Baleno, a large freighter appeared out of the gloom approaching HMS Nubian from the port side and began to fire at her. In addition, another Italian destroyer appeared behind HMS Nubian and began to fire at her as well.

HMS Mohawk almost could not miss at the close range of sixteen hundred yards as she snapped on her spotlight and opened up on the illuminated transport. Her initial broadside into the German steamship SS Iserlhon smashed the hull and breached multiple bulkheads along with destroying the single 4.1” gun mount that was firing back in defiance. The SS Iserlhon’s crew valiantly attempted to save the flooding ship but the damage was too extensive and the SS Iserlhon sank some twenty minutes later taking soldiers of the 15th Panzer Division with her. After finishing off the SS Iserlhorn, HMS Mohawk spotted another freighter some two thousand yards to the starboard. HMS Mohawk fired her torpedoes at the transport SS Adana but no hits were seen or reported.

Baleno slowly drifted to a stop as she continued to battle HMS Nubian. Although damaged and adrift, the crew stayed at their battle stations and continued to fire at HMS Nubian and was pleased to see that the British destroyer was also slowing down and her return fire was becoming more ineffective. HMS Nubian turned away from Baleno as the large freighter and the second Italian destroyer continued to fire on HMS Nubian.
HMS Nubian, although being swarmed by fire from the two Italian destroyers and the freighter was only hit twice by the incoming fire. The hull hits did begin to take their toll as the destroyer slowed down further due to damage. HMS Nubian remained fixated on Baleno and continued to fire back at the Italian destroyer.

Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo was originally stationed at the lead of the convoy when the battle erupted to her starboard. She turned to starboard and sped up to assist in the fight. At first, only gun flashes and explosions marked the location of the fighting but soon one of the lead transports hove into view and shortly after that, the two sparring destroyers, HMS Nubian and Baleno came into sight. Luca Tarigo opened fire with her bow guns to assist Baleno in her struggle with the British destroyer. The lead transport; the German transport SS Aegina was adding her single gun to the fight. HMS Nubian had turned and was running away from Luca Tarigo. Luca Tarigo lined up and fired both torpedo mounts toward the disappearing HMS Nubian. The torpedo officer was confident that the two spreads of torpedoes would miss the lead transport as it was reported to him that the transport SS Aegina would be turning away from the fight. After the torpedoes were launched, the torpedo officer watched in horror as the SS Aegina did NOT turn quick enough and one spread of torpedoes merged with the slowly turning transport. A huge fountain of water rose from the rear of the transport as one torpedo found the wrong target. The SS Aegina slowed to a stop and took on an increasing list as crew and passengers began to abandon ship. The SS Aegina sank twelve minutes later. Luca Tarigo continued down and screened the dead in the water Baleno from further attacks by the British.

HMS Mohawk continued her hunt for transports. After sinking the SS Iserlhon, HMS Mohawk turned to starboard toward where her radar was reporting a target. After completing the turn, HMS Mohawk increased speed and soon another transport appeared from the night off of her port bow. The Italian ammo transport MV Sabaudia has lost all situational awareness and believed the convoy was under air attack. Her attention was directed upward as the HMS Mohawk came into view, illuminated the transport with her spotlight and opened fire. HMS Mohawk was spot on with her initial attack, hitting the MV Sabaudia in the hull and twice into the volatile cargo holds filled with ammunition. The MV Sabaudia erupted in a volcanic explosion that disintegrated the transport and almost caught HMS Mohawk in the blast. Just as the light of the explosion began to fade, splashes from shells surrounded HMS Mohawk. A quick look to the stern found the Italian destroyer Lampo had entered the fight.

The Italian destroyer Lampo had been stationed to the rear of the convoy and was tasked with the job of assisting any transport that strayed from the convoy. When the attack started at the front of the convoy, Lampo sped up and started to move to the sound of the guns. Lampo swung to the rear of the transport MV Sabaudia and had turned to close toward the mass of explosions and flashes off of the bow. Just as Lampo began her run into the battle, the destroyer spotted a ship off of her port bow and heading away. As Lampo laid her guns and torpedoes on the unidentified target, the ship illuminated and opened fire on the transport MV Sabaudia which immediately erupted in a huge explosion. Crossing the stern of the now illuminated British destroyer HMS Mohawk, Lampo opened fire. Shell splashes surrounded HMS Mohawk but apparently did not do any visible damage. Lampo also launched both torpedo tubes at HMS Mohawk.

HMS Mohawk realized that she was not in the greatest position to attack Lampo. Convinced that the Italian destroyer had launched torpedoes, any attempt to turn to attack Lampo could result in Italian torpedoes sinking HMS Mohawk. HMS Mohawk’s only defense was to try to outrun the torpedoes. Accelerating to her max speed of 35 knots, HMS Mohawk quickly drew out of sight of the Lampo and held a collective breath hoping that that they managed to avoid being hit by torpedoes. After a few minutes, HMS Mohawk was satisfied that she had avoided the torpedoes. Lookouts quickly scanned the area and spotted a transport slowly fading into the dark some two thousand yards to starboard. HMS Mohawk quickly fired at this disappearing target. The salvo smashed into the SS Adana who had earlier avoided the torpedo spread fired by HMS Mohawk. This time, HMS Mohawk did not miss as bulkheads quickly collapsed and the SS Adana slowly drifted to a halt and eventually capsized and sank.

Both HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian were low on ammunition and HMS Nubian was slowed by damage. Both ships decided to disengage and sailed off into the dark, leaving the Italians to rescue survivors and reorganize what was left of the convoy.

Final results of the battle:

Royal Navy:
Sunk
DD HMS Janus
DD HMS Jervis
Damaged
DD HMS Nubian


Regia Marina:
Sunk
MV Sabaudia
SS Adana
SS Aegina
SS Iserlhon
Damaged
DD Baleno


Battle Honors for the British was awarded to HMS Mohawk as she was responsible for sinking two transports and an ammo freighter. Considering that HMS Mohawk’s first salvo was targeted at a friendly ship certainly makes her performance that much more impressive.

Battle Honors for the Italians was awarded to DD Baleno. The fact that the crew of Baleno remained at battle stations on a drifting and damaged destroyer along with the effective torpedo launch that was responsible for sinking two British destroyers made the selection very easy.

[jainso31]

The Supermarina learned of this disaster the next day and mounted a large rescue effort,but the Axis still lost 1700 men,300 vehicles and 3500; tons of supplies.
Despite all this the Supermarina was able to regard the destruction of the Tarigo convoy as an anomaly based on lucky air reconnaissance.:confused::(

jainso31

[Sheila1946]

Here is a wargame report detailing a recreation that I designed and gamemastered of the Tarigo Convoy battle that I thought might be of interest. Granted, this is not the historical result, but that is why I find wargaming so interesting. Doing the research to design and run the game was greatly assisted by this thread so I felt I could share the results. Obviously, the game had a different result from reality.


This is an after action report of a General Quarters 3 naval game played at The Fantasy Store in O’Fallon, Illinois on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. This game is the first of six linked scenarios that outline the fighting of the Royal Navy squadrons stationed at Malta between April and December, 1941. The Royal Navy stationed ships at Malta to intercept the increasing convoys of men and supplies sailing from Italy to North Africa to support the Afrika Korp in their attempt to take Egypt and the Suez Canal. Each scenario will be played in order and winners determined for each scenario. In addition, a cumulative score will be kept and at the end of the six scenarios, the cumulative score will reflect how effective the Royal Navy at Malta was in slowing or stopping the convoys to North Africa.

The first scenario had the following players:

Italians
Terry Callahan-DD Lampo
Mike Connor-DD Baleno
Dennis Hill-DD Luca Tarigo
Ray Gluck Sr.-Convoy Commander

Royal Navy
DD HMS Nubian-Steve Lowry
DD HMS Mohawk-Richard Wright
DD Janus and DD Jervis-Glen Connor


16 April, 1941 found the Italian troop convoy passing by the African town of Sfax as it headed toward Tripoli. Four transports were loaded with soldiers of the 15th Panzer Division along with one transport loaded with equipment and ammunition for the fighting in North Africa. Escorting the group were three Italian destroyers.

The convoy was arrayed in a box formation with the German transport SS Aegina leading one column and SS Iserlhon following SS Aegina three thousand yards behind. SS Arta led the other column that was three thousand yards to port of the first column with SS Adana following SS Arta. Three thousand yard to the rear of the box formation and placed between the two transport columns was the Italian transport MV Sabaudia carrying munitions and vehicles. Leading the convoy three thousand yards to the front was the Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo. Three thousand yards off of the starboard bow of SS Aegina was the Italian destroyer Baleno. Bringing up the rear of the convoy and stationed three thousand yards off of the port stern of SS Adana was the Italian destroyer Lampo.

It was an overcast night with 4-6 foot swells. Visibility was poor at about three thousand yards. The convoy struggled to keep station while the destroyers scanned for any possible sign of enemy action. Suddenly, one of Baleno’s lookouts shouted that unknown ships were appearing off to the starboard bow some three thousand yards away….

The 14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy, consisting of HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk had been alerted by Ultra intercepts of an important troop convoy headed for North Africa. Reacting quickly, the squadron sailed to the interception point. Not finding the convoy initially, the force started to sweep the area and around 0200, located the convoy by radar. Using radar as their guide, the flotilla set up an approach to cut across the starboard bow of the convoy. HMS Nubian led the flotilla with HMS Mohawk, HMS Janus, and HMS Jervis following in line. Sweeping in at twenty knots, a ship looms out of the darkness and takes the shape of an Italian destroyer…

Baleno called for General Quarters as her gun and torpedo directors attempt to acquire the closing ships. The lead unknown ship opens fire and launched torpedoes, with the gunfire smothering Baleno and hitting her twice, damaging her engine room and rudder compartment, throwing Baleno into a hard starboard turn. Baleno responded quickly and managed to fire back at the firing ship but saw no apparent hits. Baleno’s torpedo officer also got a quick solution on the lead ship and fired off both torpedo mounts toward the line of ships...

HMS Nubian continued to push across the front of the convoy hit Baleno with her rapid firing main guns. HMS Nubian’s torpedoes ran into the night without hitting anything. The HMS Mohawk, sensing that Baleno could have launched torpedoes, broke from the line of battle and swung away from the Italians, speeding up to avoid the torpedo spreads. HMS Janus and HMS Jervis were still in the dark as to what was happening and continued forward in line toward the fight...

Baleno was taking numerous hits destroying the just emptied torpedo mounts and knocking out the rear turret. Damage control parties struggled to repair the rudder but found that it was too damaged to repair. The parties then focused on the damaged engine room to repair and restore the engine room. Baleno continued to circle starboard as she slowed due to the engine room damage. Suddenly, the night was split by huge explosions….

HMS Janus and HMS Jervis had been pushing forward in line to try to get into the action. In front of them, the flash of gunfire and explosions flickered on and off. Just as HMS Janus spotted a ship in the distance, torpedoes from the Baleno found a target as HMS Janus was hit by one torpedo that split the destroyer in half and sank her in six minutes. HMS Jervis immediately began to swerve to avoid the holocaust in front of her but she too was struck by two of Baleno’s torpedoes. HMS Jervis slowly sank in eighteen minutes.

Baleno did not have any time to celebrate her victories as HMS Nubian continued to pound on the Italian destroyer as Baleno's jammed rudder forced her to continue to circle to starboard and slow down. HMS Mohawk had initially swung away from the fight and after she was out of sight of any ships, turned back to engage the enemy. As HMS Mohawk closed back into visibility range, a destroyer took shape out of the night off of HMS Mohawk’s port bow. Reacting quickly, HMS Mohawk opened fire on the destroyer. As soon as the salvo was away, the fire control director screamed to cease fire as it was realized that the target was HMS Nubian. The mistaken salvo apparently did no visible damage. HMS Mohawk sailed past HMS Nubian and when HMS Mohawk was clear of HMS Nubian, the large hulk of a transport appeared to the front of HMS Mohawk. The British destroyer turned to port to bring her broadside to bear and opened fire on this new positively identified target…

HMS Nubian swung toward Baleno and continued to fire, hitting Baleno in the hull. As HMS Nubian maneuvered against Baleno, a large freighter appeared out of the gloom approaching HMS Nubian from the port side and began to fire at her. In addition, another Italian destroyer appeared behind HMS Nubian and began to fire at her as well.

HMS Mohawk almost could not miss at the close range of sixteen hundred yards as she snapped on her spotlight and opened up on the illuminated transport. Her initial broadside into the German steamship SS Iserlhon smashed the hull and breached multiple bulkheads along with destroying the single 4.1” gun mount that was firing back in defiance. The SS Iserlhon’s crew valiantly attempted to save the flooding ship but the damage was too extensive and the SS Iserlhon sank some twenty minutes later taking soldiers of the 15th Panzer Division with her. After finishing off the SS Iserlhorn, HMS Mohawk spotted another freighter some two thousand yards to the starboard. HMS Mohawk fired her torpedoes at the transport SS Adana but no hits were seen or reported.

Baleno slowly drifted to a stop as she continued to battle HMS Nubian. Although damaged and adrift, the crew stayed at their battle stations and continued to fire at HMS Nubian and was pleased to see that the British destroyer was also slowing down and her return fire was becoming more ineffective. HMS Nubian turned away from Baleno as the large freighter and the second Italian destroyer continued to fire on HMS Nubian.
HMS Nubian, although being swarmed by fire from the two Italian destroyers and the freighter was only hit twice by the incoming fire. The hull hits did begin to take their toll as the destroyer slowed down further due to damage. HMS Nubian remained fixated on Baleno and continued to fire back at the Italian destroyer.

Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo was originally stationed at the lead of the convoy when the battle erupted to her starboard. She turned to starboard and sped up to assist in the fight. At first, only gun flashes and explosions marked the location of the fighting but soon one of the lead transports hove into view and shortly after that, the two sparring destroyers, HMS Nubian and Baleno came into sight. Luca Tarigo opened fire with her bow guns to assist Baleno in her struggle with the British destroyer. The lead transport; the German transport SS Aegina was adding her single gun to the fight. HMS Nubian had turned and was running away from Luca Tarigo. Luca Tarigo lined up and fired both torpedo mounts toward the disappearing HMS Nubian. The torpedo officer was confident that the two spreads of torpedoes would miss the lead transport as it was reported to him that the transport SS Aegina would be turning away from the fight. After the torpedoes were launched, the torpedo officer watched in horror as the SS Aegina did NOT turn quick enough and one spread of torpedoes merged with the slowly turning transport. A huge fountain of water rose from the rear of the transport as one torpedo found the wrong target. The SS Aegina slowed to a stop and took on an increasing list as crew and passengers began to abandon ship. The SS Aegina sank twelve minutes later. Luca Tarigo continued down and screened the dead in the water Baleno from further attacks by the British.

HMS Mohawk continued her hunt for transports. After sinking the SS Iserlhon, HMS Mohawk turned to starboard toward where her radar was reporting a target. After completing the turn, HMS Mohawk increased speed and soon another transport appeared from the night off of her port bow. The Italian ammo transport MV Sabaudia has lost all situational awareness and believed the convoy was under air attack. Her attention was directed upward as the HMS Mohawk came into view, illuminated the transport with her spotlight and opened fire. HMS Mohawk was spot on with her initial attack, hitting the MV Sabaudia in the hull and twice into the volatile cargo holds filled with ammunition. The MV Sabaudia erupted in a volcanic explosion that disintegrated the transport and almost caught HMS Mohawk in the blast. Just as the light of the explosion began to fade, splashes from shells surrounded HMS Mohawk. A quick look to the stern found the Italian destroyer Lampo had entered the fight.

The Italian destroyer Lampo had been stationed to the rear of the convoy and was tasked with the job of assisting any transport that strayed from the convoy. When the attack started at the front of the convoy, Lampo sped up and started to move to the sound of the guns. Lampo swung to the rear of the transport MV Sabaudia and had turned to close toward the mass of explosions and flashes off of the bow. Just as Lampo began her run into the battle, the destroyer spotted a ship off of her port bow and heading away. As Lampo laid her guns and torpedoes on the unidentified target, the ship illuminated and opened fire on the transport MV Sabaudia which immediately erupted in a huge explosion. Crossing the stern of the now illuminated British destroyer HMS Mohawk, Lampo opened fire. Shell splashes surrounded HMS Mohawk but apparently did not do any visible damage. Lampo also launched both torpedo tubes at HMS Mohawk.

HMS Mohawk realized that she was not in the greatest position to attack Lampo. Convinced that the Italian destroyer had launched torpedoes, any attempt to turn to attack Lampo could result in Italian torpedoes sinking HMS Mohawk. HMS Mohawk’s only defense was to try to outrun the torpedoes. Accelerating to her max speed of 35 knots, HMS Mohawk quickly drew out of sight of the Lampo and held a collective breath hoping that that they managed to avoid being hit by torpedoes. After a few minutes, HMS Mohawk was satisfied that she had avoided the torpedoes. Lookouts quickly scanned the area and spotted a transport slowly fading into the dark some two thousand yards to starboard. HMS Mohawk quickly fired at this disappearing target. The salvo smashed into the SS Adana who had earlier avoided the torpedo spread fired by HMS Mohawk. This time, HMS Mohawk did not miss as bulkheads quickly collapsed and the SS Adana slowly drifted to a halt and eventually capsized and sank.

Both HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian were low on ammunition and HMS Nubian was slowed by damage. Both ships decided to disengage and sailed off into the dark, leaving the Italians to rescue survivors and reorganize what was left of the convoy.

Final results of the battle:

Royal Navy:
Sunk
DD HMS Janus
DD HMS Jervis
Damaged
DD HMS Nubian


Regia Marina:
Sunk
MV Sabaudia
SS Adana
SS Aegina
SS Iserlhon
Damaged
DD Baleno


Battle Honors for the British was awarded to HMS Mohawk as she was responsible for sinking two transports and an ammo freighter. Considering that HMS Mohawk’s first salvo was targeted at a friendly ship certainly makes her performance that much more impressive.

Battle Honors for the Italians was awarded to DD Baleno. The fact that the crew of Baleno remained at battle stations on a drifting and damaged destroyer along with the effective torpedo launch that was responsible for sinking two British destroyers made the selection very easy.

A game. I find this offensive.

[jainso31]

War Gaming is a world wide pastime-some will find offensive,some will not and others will not care either way.You find it offensive and that is your opinion on this particular subject presumably-if that be the case; I think you should have put forward your case for saying so however I hasten to add, that I am absolutely neutral in this matter.

jainso31

[astraltrader]

A game. I find this offensive.

I'm afraid you can add me to the list as well Sheila.

At least somewhere between offensive and unacceptable.

[Sheila1946]

War Gaming is a world wide pastime-some will find offensive,some will not and others will not care either way.You find it offensive and that is your opinion on this particular subject presumably-if that be the case; I think you should have put forward your case for saying so however I hasten to add, that I am absolutely neutral in this matter.

jainso31

Really. Well I will put forward my case. I was shocked to read this tripe last night and could hardly think as I was so upset. If you read back you will see that my father was serving on HMS Mohawk on this terrible night, was saved by the skin of his teeth after struggling to save his own life while the ship was on fire and on it's side and 43 men died in an horrific way with the ship eventually being blown up and sunk with bodies of men on it. If my father had read this person's "Game", joke, lie, rubbish, whatever you like to call it, then he would have been as angry as myself. It's as if the whole episode is dismissed and everyone lived happily ever after! FGS the whole of our lives have been affected by this event and the memories my father had were told to us over and over again - I feel like after 60 years people do not have the right to rubbish this event when relatives and other survivors might still be alive to read stuff like this as if it never happened.

I can't believe this post is allowed to be still here - I thought this was a serious Forum - I am so angry I feel like leaving here. :mad:

Yes of course YOU would be neutral, your father was not nearly killed on HMS Mohawk - mine WAS.

[jainso31]

Shiela-abject apologies for my ill worded post -it was not intended to offend you personally - I truly did not know of your personal connection with HMS Mohawk- not having read through the entire thread; having had little to do with it. I'm sorry I cannot say more.

jainso31

[kc]

Here is a wargame report detailing a recreation that I designed and gamemastered of the Tarigo Convoy battle that I thought might be of interest. Granted, this is not the historical result, but that is why I find wargaming so interesting.

I appreciate that what you have submitted is somewhat related to the thread, but perhaps it might be best to keep wargaming and alternative histories to a separate part of the forum from now on. This thread should deal with what really happened.

[astraltrader]

I think Kc has made a very good point.

Perhaps there might be a possibility of creating a new section for wargaming and alternative history. This will be discussed in the Admin and Mods section to evaluate how feasible this might be.

I would just like to add my voice in asking Sheila to remain with us and accept that the poster about the wargaming information did not realise about the terrifying ordeal suffered by her very brave father and other sailors involved in this battle and consequently had no intention to upset her.

War gaming does has a part to play - not just as a game involving alternative history but also as a strategic tool used by most navies during the past 100 years or so but it should not have encroached into the this thread which deals with what really happened back in April 1941.

[Dave Hutson]

Well said Terry and thankyou for your PM.

Dave H

[Sheila1946]

Shiela-abject apologies for my ill worded post -it was not intended to offend you personally - I truly did not know of your personal connection with HMS Mohawk- not having read through the entire thread; having had little to do with it. I'm sorry I cannot say more.

jainso31

Okay, apologies accepted. You hadn't been part of the thread and wouldn't know about my father's part during this Battle.

I think Kc has made a very good point.

Perhaps there might be a possibility of creating a new section for wargaming and alternative history. This will be discussed in the Admin and Mods section to evaluate how feasible this might be.

I would just like to add my voice in asking Sheila to remain with us and accept that the poster about the wargaming information did not realise about the terrifying ordeal suffered by her very brave father and other sailors involved in this battle and consequently had no intention to upset her.

War gaming does has a part to play - not just as a game involving alternative history but also as a strategic tool used by most navies during the past 100 years or so but it should not have encroached into the this thread which deals with what really happened back in April 1941.

Thank you for your comments - I have never heard of wargaming - how pointless! I would rather talk about reality, as you know. It is more interesting! I still seethe when I see the Post.