The Battle of Cape Matapan had a paralysing effect on the "Regia Marina", providing the Royal Navy with an opportunity to tighten its grip on the Mediterranean, as evidenced by the unequal Battle of the Tarigo Convoy near the Kerkennah Islands on 16 April. This was not enough and the success of the "Afrika Korps" in North Africa induced Churchill to order a desperate attack on Tripoli to block the Axis supply route by sinking a battleships in the harbour. Cunningham rejected this plan but on 21 April he sailed with "Warspite" to bombard the harbour in company with and , the cruiser and several destroyers. The raid was ineffectual, partly because of poor visibility created by dust from an earlier RAF bombing raid but the fleet returned to Alexandria without damage. The futility of the mission and the exposure of his battleships led to a tense exchange of letters between Cunningham and Churchill.