Page 404 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

404 from Italy to the Canary Islands

The “L. Malocello” destroyer sailing.

in June 1942, because the island of Malta was desperately short of supplies,
the British Admiralty ordered the dispatch of a convoy of merchant ships
escorted by both light and heavy units. The British operation “Harpoon”
sailed for Malta on 13 June 1942 with the cruisers “Liverpool” and “Cairo”,
nine destroyer escorts (Blankney, Badsworth, Middleton, Kujawak,
Bedouin, Marne, Matchless, Ithuriel, Partridge), and six merchant ships
loaded with precious supplies. After spotting the convoy through aerial
reconnaissance, the Italian Navy sent Division VII (cruisers Eugenio di
Savoia and Raimondo Montecuccoli) from Cagliari, along with destroyer
squadrons XI (Ascari, Gioberti, Premuda) and XIV (Vivaldi, Malocello,
Zeno). The whole naval force was under Admiral Alberto Da Zara, who
headed straight for the enemy.
On 14 June 1942, the British fleet sighted the Italian one, because
Admiral Da Zara attacked at a speed of thirty-two knots, firing furiously on
the destroyer escorts and sending the two slowest destroyers, the Vivaldi
and the Malocello, to attack the merchant ships directly. However, four
British destroyers broke away from the rest of the convoy and headed
directly toward the two Italian destroyers, shooting with all guns on board