Battle of the Tarigo Convoy The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy ( sometimes referred to as the " Action off Sfax " ) was fought on 16 April 1941 , between four British and three Italian destroyers during the Battle of the Mediterranean of World War II . The battle was named after the Italian flagship , the Navigatori class destroyer , " Luca Tarigo " ; it took place near the Kerkennah Islands off the Tunisian coast . 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 . The Battle . In mid - April , 1941 , a five ship convoy sailed from Naples , en route to Tripoli . It consisted of four German troopships ( Adana , Arta , Aegina and Iserlhon ) and an Italian ammunition ship , the Sabaudia . The convoy was escorted by a Navigatori class destroyer , " Luca Tarigo " ( flagship ) and two Folgore class destroyer s , " Baleno " and " Lampo " , commanded by Captain Pietro de Cristofaro . They were delayed by bad weather , sailing in the evening of 13 April . The British had been forewarned of their passage by intercepted messages and , on the 15th , the convoy was sighted and shadowed by a British Maryland reconnaissance plane on the 15th Aptil . Two Italian SM . 79 s that were ordered to provide air cover did not arrive , due to the continuing bad weather . On the night of the 16th , the convoy was intercepted by the British 14th Destroyer Flotilla - HMS " Jervis " ( flagship ) , HMS " Janus " , HMS " Nubian " and HMS " Mohawk " - commanded by Captain Philip Mack . At least three of these destroyers were equipped with radar . The encounter took place as the Italian convoy maneuvered around the shallow waters surrounding the Kerkennah Islands . The Italian convoy was ambushed by the British force after passing off one of the buoys marking the sandbanks nearby . The battle took place at short range , from 2000 to 50 yards between the warships . The British destroyers ' radar enabled them to surprise the Italians in a night attack and destroy the convoy , sinking all the transports and the three destroyers ( although the " Lampo " was run aground and later salvaged after a four month effort ) . The flotilla commander , Captain de Cristofaro , on board the " Tarigo " , had his leg shot off and later died of his wounds ; he was posthumously awarded the " Medaglia d ' Oro " ( the highest Italian military decoration ) . While sinking , the " Tarigo " , now under the command of the only surviving officer , Ensign Ettore Bisagno , hit HMS " Mohawk " with two torpedoes . " Mohawk " was subsequently scuttled by HMS " Jervis " and settled on the sandy bottom at a depth of 12 mt . The outcome of the battle marked the end of the relatively unopposed Axis transport to Libya , which they had enjoyed since June 1940 . Aftermath . The Italian maritime command in Libya immediately organised a rescue operation which involved the destroyers Malocello , Da Noli , Vivaldi and Dardo ; the torpedo boats Centauro , Clio , Partenope , Perseus and Sirtori , seaplane carrier Orlando , the hospital ship Arno and steamers Antonietta Lauro and Capacitas . A total of 1271 Survivors were recovered of about 3000 men on board During April , May and June 1941 , Italian divers , disguised as local fishermen , made two attempts to retrieve whatever they could from the " Mohawk " . Recent sources assert that documents recovered were essential to the later , successful Italian attack on Alexandria . The destroyer Lampo was salvaged from the shallow water and repaired by May 1942 , she was sunk on 30 April 1943 Axis casualties are variously reported as 350 , 700 and 1800 men ; British losses were 43 .