page_title: Philip Vian
section_title: Mediterranean
hierarchical_section_title: Philip Vian / World War II / Mediterranean
caption_attribution_description: English: Description: HMS Attacker (D02) at anchor in San Francisco Bay on 13 November 1942. A Fairey Swordfish biplane of 842 Squadron RAF can be seen on the flight deck just ahead of the superstructure. US Navy photo #7043-42. Source: Navsource Online.
context_page_description: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars was a Royal Navy officer who served in both World Wars.
  Vian specialised in naval gunnery from the end of World War I, and subsequently received several appointments as gunnery officer. In the early 1930s, he was given command of a destroyer, HMS Active, and, later, various destroyer flotillas. During this phase of his career, in early 1940, he commanded a force that forcibly released captured British merchant sailors from the German supply ship Altmark in Jøssingfjord in then-neutral Norway and, later, his flotilla took an active role in the final action of the German battleship Bismarck.
  Much of Vian's World War II service was in the Mediterranean, where he commanded a cruiser squadron, defended several critical convoys and led naval support at the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. His wartime service was completed in command of the air component of the British Pacific Fleet, with successful actions against the Japanese in Sumatra and the western Pacific. Post-war, Vian served in the United Kingdom, as a Fifth Sea Lord and as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.
context_section_description: In October 1941, Vian was given command of the 15th Cruiser Squadron (flag in HMS Naiad, stationed at Alexandria. The main naval tasks at this stage of the Mediterranean campaign were to ensure the survival of Malta as a British possession and military base by the protection of supply convoys while preventing Italian convoys supplying their forces in north Africa. Secondary tasks included the supply and artillery support of Allied military actions in north Africa and elsewhere, such as a successful bombardment of Derna in December. Vian's first convoy was in December 1941 and led to the First Battle of Sirte. This was, in effect, a series of skirmishes between British and Italian warships escorting desperately needed supply convoys. Overall, the fight was inconclusive, but both sides managed to deliver the supplies. There were several sorties to support the army and to intercept Italian convoys. On one such operation, in early March 1942, Vian's flagship, HMS Naiad, was torpedoed and sunk by U-565. Vian transferred his flag to HMS Dido and later to HMS Cleopatra.
  Malta was still in a desperate state and another convoy (MG1) was run in March 1942. This time, the Italian Navy made a more determined attempt to intercept the convoy, leading to the Second Battle of Sirte. Vian's force of cruisers and destroyers, using threat and concealment by smoke, managed to hold off the Italians while the convoy escaped. The naval action was portrayed as a tactical success against a greatly superior enemy, although the convoy's progress was sufficiently delayed to leave it vulnerable to air attacks and all four transports were sunk and the bulk of the supplies were lost. Despite this, Vian received a personal letter of congratulation from Winston Churchill and he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).
  In June 1942, Vian's force provided escort for the Operation Vigorous convoy from Haifa and Port Said. This was a part of a sequence of movements but it was rebuffed by strong surface and air forces and returned. After this failed operation, Vian's health deteriorated and he was sent back to Britain in September 1942. During a delay in the journey in west Africa, he caught malaria and was not passed fit for service until January, 1943. In January, he was Mentioned in Despatches for "outstanding zeal, patience and cheerfulness and for setting an example of wholehearted devotion to duty without which the high tradition of the Royal Navy could not have been upheld".
  Vian's physical condition was now considered to debar him from further sea service and in April 1943 he was appointed to the planning staff for the invasion of Europe. Probably much to his relief, however, this shore job was pre-empted by his return to the Mediterranean to command (from HMS Glengyle) an amphibious force for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
  In September 1943, he commanded Force V, a flotilla of escort aircraft carriers providing air support for the Allied landings at Salerno, Italy. Force V comprised the escort aircraft carriers HMS Attacker, HMS Battler, HMS Hunter and HMS Stalker, and the maintenance carrier HMS Unicorn, acting temporarily as a light fleet carrier. The planned period had to be increased and, when General Mark Clark requested Force V to stay longer despite fuel shortages, Vian replied: "My carriers will stay here if we have to row back." Vian was twice Mentioned in Despatches; once for each of the Italian operations.
caption: HMS Attacker at anchor in San Francisco Bay on 13 November 1942
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