Second Battle of Sirte The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful " Regia Marina " ( Italian Navy ) squadron . The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruiser s , one anti - aircraft cruiser , and 17 destroyer s . The Italian force comprised a battleship , two heavy cruiser s , one light cruiser , and eight destroyers . Despite the initial British success at warding off the Italian squadron , the battle delayed the convoy ' s planned arrival before dawn , which exposed it to intense air attacks that sank all four merchant ships and one of the escorting destroyers in the following days . The battle occurred on 22 March 1942 , in the Mediterranean , north of the Gulf of Sidra and southeast of Malta , during the Second World War . Background . Malta had long been a major factor in British successes against Italian convoys to North Africa , and in return became the target of an increasing number of heavy Axis air raids . By early 1942 , however , the Allies lost the initiative in the central Mediterranean as Italian and German forces gained the upper hand in their attempts to isolate Malta and even made plans to remove it as a threat . Indeed , after a series of Allied setbacks changed the overall scenario , the Italians achieved naval superiority over their enemies by spring 1942 . As Malta was running short of aircraft , antiaircraft guns , fuel , food and ammunition , convoy MW10 sailed from Alexandria on 21 March . The British expected opposition from German and Italian aircraft as well as Italian surface units . In December 1941 , the two battleships ( and ) stationed in the eastern Mediterranean had been disabled by an attack by Italian frogmen , and so their Alexandria squadron consisted only of cruisers and destroyers . Meanwhile , a diversion was organized from Gibraltar : on the morning of 20 March , the battleship — with the aircraft carriers and , supported by the cruiser and eight destroyers — set sail from " The Rock " . The next day , the squadron aborted the operation and returned to port - the carriers were unable to fly off aircraft reinforcements to Malta due to defective long - range fuel tanks . The escort of convoy MW10 relied heavily on destroyer s — including lighter - built destroyer escort s — to provide anti - submarine protection and included the anti - aircraft cruiser to bolster the convoy ' s anti - aircraft capability . Additional destroyers and another light cruiser were also sent from Malta . British defensive plan . Admiral Sir Philip Vian , commanding the convoy , organised his ships into six divisions plus a close escort for the convoy of five Hunt - class destroyer s . In case of an Italian surface attack , the first five divisions were to stand off from the convoy to face the enemy while the sixth division laid smoke across the wake of the convoy to obscure it from the enemy . The first five divisions would act as a rearguard to lay smoke and delay the enemy while " Carlisle " and the Hunt - class destroyers proceeded with the cargo ships to Malta . The battle . At 14 : 30 the next day , the British were faced by a pair of heavy cruiser s and escorting destroyers . Admiral Vian immediately implemented his plan ; the cargo ships and escorts turned away to the south while the light cruisers and remaining destroyers laid smoke and charged the Italians . After an exchange of fire , the two Italian heavy cruisers backed off in an attempt to lure the British toward the incoming main Italian squadron , and at 16 : 37 they returned to attack with the battleship , a light cruiser and their screening destroyers . The battle raged for two and a half hours , with the British ships leaving the safety of their huge smoke screen to fire a few volleys and then returning to it when the Italian salvoes got too close . During one of these exchanges , suffered heavy damage from a near - miss when fired at by the Italian battleship , and was ordered to withdraw from the battle line and join the convoy . At 18 : 34 , Vian decided to send his destroyers in to launch torpedo attacks from about , the closest the Italians would allow the British to approach . None of the torpedoes found their target , but as turned she was hit hard by a round which penetrated her boiler room , ignited a fire and temporarily brought her to a halt . The battle began with a wind blowing to the North - west , with the wind continuing to increase during the day ; a factor which favoured the gunnery of the larger Italian ships throughout the battle , but the direction of the wind aided the laying of smokescreens by Vian ' s ships . Right at the end of the action , at 18 : 55 , had been hit by a 4 . 7 in ( 120 mm ) shell , with negligible damage . Her floatplane caught fire from the blast from a salvo of her after turret at the same time . This led to the claim by the British that one of the torpedoes struck home . At dusk , about 19 : 00 , the Italians gave up and turned for home . Without radar , they would have been at a significant disadvantage in a night action , as in the Battle of Cape Matapan . The Italians outgunned their British counterparts but they appeared unwilling to close for a decisive blow , perhaps wary of the torpedo threat from the numerically superior British destroyer force . Battle damage . According to British reports , " was struck on the after part of the bridge at 16 : 44 . . . " , by a hit from the light cruiser ; 16 seamen were killed . Cruisers and were also damaged , with " Euryalus " straddled by at 16 : 43 and at 18 : 41 . " Kingston " was hit amidships by a shell from " Littorio " that killed 15 men of her crew . and left the destroyer dead in the water , with her whaler torn apart , her anti - aircraft guns , searchlight tower and torpedo launchers shattered by the explosion . Some sources claim that she was hit by the guns of the heavy cruiser . Although " Kingston " had an engine in flames and a flooded boiler , she managed however to recover speed , reaching Malta the next day . " Havock " was also badly damaged in a boiler by a near miss at 17 : 20 , suffering eight deaths . " Lively " was forced to retreat to Tobruk for repairs after a near miss at 18 : 55 from ′ s after turret . Three more destroyers — , and — suffered lesser damage from cruiser fire . The Italian fleet expended 1 , 511 rounds of all calibers upon the British squadron ; the only destroyer to open fire was . The British cruisers had replied with 1 , 553 rounds and the destroyers with about 1 , 300 rounds as well as 38 torpedoes . Axis aircraft made continual attacks , mainly against the convoy , throughout the naval action and Royal Navy AA gunners claimed the destruction of seven Axis aircraft and damage to several more . Follow - up actions . Most of the escort force , now short of fuel and ammunition due to the protracted engagement and unable to find the convoy , turned back for Alexandria . The damaged destroyers and the cargo ships were sent on to Malta , with " Carlisle " , " Penelope " and " Legion " . The next day , they were subjected to continuous air attacks . The cargo ship " Clan Campbell " was sunk twenty miles from harbour , and the oil tanker " Breconshire " was too damaged to reach Valletta . Nonetheless , the other two merchantmen , " Talabot " and steamer " Pampas " , reached Malta ' s Grand Harbour virtually unharmed . " Pampas " had been hit by two bombs but these failed to explode . " Penelope " attempted to tow " Breconshire " , but the tow parted in heavy seas . She anchored short of the protective minefields and the destroyer " Southwold " attempted to take her in tow , hitting a mine in the process . She was eventually towed into Marsaxlokk Bay by tugs . Intense Axis air raids against Malta on 24 – 25 March failed to damage the three surviving convoy ships . However , on 26 March , German dive bomber s scored bomb hits on all three ships , sinking " Talabot " and " Pampas " that day with " Breconshire " capsizing on 27 March . Much of " Breconshire " ′ s oil was salvaged through the hole in her hull . Only about of cargo had been unloaded , of the that had been loaded in Alexandria . The Italian fleet units were no more lucky after the battle . After failing to destroy the convoy by themselves , they were caught " en route " to their bases by a severe storm that sank the destroyers and . While under repair in dry dock at Malta , " Kingston " was attacked a few days later by German aircraft and suffered further damage , this time beyond repair . She was scrapped at Malta in the following months . Assessments . Almost all sources with an opinion on the matter have assessed the battle as a British victory , credited to the escort of light cruisers and destroyers which successfully prevented the Italians from inflicting any damage whatsoever on the convoy by staving off an Italian squadron , composed of a battleship and two heavy cruisers , while fending off heavy Axis air attacks . On the other hand , some authors while generally acknowledging the British success , write of the battle as a partial Italian achievement in delaying and turning the convoy aside . Nearly all sources acknowledge the Italian fleet inflicted significant damage and several casualties on the British squadron while suffering minimal damage and no casualties in return . The action , however , represented a failure on the Italians ' part to exploit their advantage and destroy the convoy . Indeed , they were unable to sink or cripple a single cargo ship . This was due to Admiral Vian ' s vigorous and skillful defence in the face of a superior adversary . The overwhelming strength of the Italian fleet was not fully exploited by Admiral Iachino also because bad weather and lack of radar prevented him from continuing the pursuit of the convoy at dusk . But when the main objective , to re - supply Malta , is included in the assessment , the outcome is different . The British intention to reach Malta before dawn with a substantial escort was disrupted by the intervention of the Italian Navy . This left the cargo ships exposed to Axis air supremacy . Thereafter , Italian and German aircraft caught the British convoy at sea and chased the surviving steamers to the harbour ; more than 80 % of the supplies were lost . The British convoy operation was , therefore , a strategic failure .