First Battle of Sirte The First Battle of Sirte was fought between the British Royal Navy and the " Regia Marina " ( Italian Royal Navy ) during the Mediterranean campaign of the Second World War . The engagement took place on 17 December 1941 , southeast of Malta , in the Gulf of Sirte . The battle itself was relatively uneventful , but has come to describe a week of clashes and naval operations which well illustrate the cut and thrust of naval warfare in the Mediterranean at the time . Background . The British 8th Army and the Axis armies were engaged in battles resulting from Operation Crusader , which had been fought between 18 November and 4 December . Its aim was to defeat the " Afrika Korps " and relieve the siege of Tobruk . This had been achieved , the Axis forces were conducting a fighting retreat ; by 13 December , they were holding a defensive line at Gazala , east of Benghazi . The Axis were desperate to re - supply their forces , intending to transport stores to Tripoli , their main port in Libya , and Benghazi , the port closest to the front line . Meanwhile , the island garrison of Malta was under siege , the British were keen to run - in stores to resupply their forces there . Prelude . Axis convoy M41 . The Italians were preparing to send a major convoy of eight ships , designated M41 , to Africa on 13 December 1941 . That morning , their previous re - supply attempt , two fast cruisers carrying fuel to Tripoli , had failed when both ships were sunk at the Battle of Cape Bon by a force of destroyers " en route " to Alexandria . Convoy M41 consisted of eight merchant ships in three groups , with a close escort of five destroyers and a Distant Cover Force of the battleship s and , four destroyer s and two torpedo boat s . Meanwhile , the British planned to run supplies to Malta using the fast merchant ship " Breconshire " , covered by a force of cruisers and destroyers , while the destroyers from the Cape Bon engagement , at Malta after the battle , would proceed to Alexandria covered by the Malta Strike Force groups , Force K and Force B . This operation would commence on 15 December . M41 ’ s passage started badly ; soon after sailing on 13 December , one group was attacked by the British submarine , two ships were sunk ; later that day two other ships collided and had to return to base , while the Distant Cover Force was sighted by the submarine . The battleship " Vittorio Veneto " was torpedoed , and forced to return . The Italian Navy ' s High Command ( " Supermarina " ) , rattled by these losses and a report that a British force of two battleships was abroad , ordered the ships to return to await reinforcement . In fact , the " force of two battleships " was a decoy mission carried out by the minelayer . Sinking of " Galatea " . The British were also preparing their operation , but their force was depleted when the light cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by , just before midnight on 14 December . ( " U - 557 " was accidentally sunk less than 48 hours later , by the Italian torpedo boat " Orione " ) . On 15 December , " Breconshire " sailed from Alexandria ; with her as escort were three cruisers and eight destroyers under Rear - Admiral Philip Vian ( in ) . On 16 December , the four destroyers of 4th Flotilla , under Commander G . Stokes ( in ) , left Malta , covered by Force K , which consisted of two cruisers and two destroyers under Captain W . G . " Bill " Agnew ( in ) . Axis convoy M42 . On 16 December , the four - ship Italian convoy , re - designated M42 , left Taranto , picking up escorts along the way . The close escort was provided by seven destroyers and a torpedo boat , giving direct protection to the merchant ships . By the time they reached Sicily they were also accompanied by a " Close Cover Force " , comprising the battleship , three light cruisers and three destroyers . A third group , the " Distant Covering Force " , also formed up for detached support , consisting of the battleships " Littorio " , and , two cruisers and 10 destroyers . Some measure of the importance of the mission can be seen in the fact that 30 Italian warships were escorting four cargo ships . The two British groups were also at sea and steaming toward each other ; the opposing forces were destined to cross each other ' s tracks east of Malta on 18 December . The battle of Sirte . On 17 December , an Italian reconnaissance plane spotted the British west - bound formation near Sidi Barrani , apparently proceeding from Alexandria in order to intercept the Italian convoy . Thereafter , the British convoy was shadowed by Axis planes and attacked during the afternoon , no hits were scored . Also during the day , Agnew and Stokes met the west - bound convoy . By late afternoon , the Italian fleet was close by , spotter planes from the battleships had made contact with the British convoy . At 17 : 42 , the fleets sighted each other ; Admiral Angelo Iachino — commander of the Italian forces — moved to intercept in order to cover his convoy . Vian also wished to avoid combat , so with the British giving ground and the Italians pursuing with caution , the British were easily able to avoid an engagement . Just after sunset , an air attack on the British ships caused them to return fire with their anti - aircraft gun s , allowing the Italian naval force to spot them at last . Iachino took in the Distant Covering Force and opened fire at about , well out of range of the British guns . Vian immediately laid smoke and moved to the attack while " Breconshire " moved away , escorted by the destroyers , HMS and . Lacking radar and mindful of their defeat in the night action at Matapan , the Italians wished to avoid night combat . Expecting an attack , Iachino fired for only 15 minutes before disengaging and returning westward to protect his convoy . Only two British destroyers suffered the effects of Italian gunfire . suffered the loss of one seaman to a near - miss from a shell , presumably fired by the Italian cruiser . The Australian destroyer was also damaged by near - misses from the Italian destroyer " Maestrale " . Aftermath . Tripoli ' s minefield . After dark , Vian and Agnew parted company , Vian to return with Stokes to Alexandria , Agnew to bring " Breconshire " to Malta . In this , he was joined by Force B , one cruiser ( the other was under repair ) and two destroyers . " Breconshire " and her escorts arrived in Malta at 15 : 00 on 18 December . At midday , the Italian force also split up ; three ships headed for Tripoli , accompanied by the Close Cover Force , while the other merchantman , the German supply ship " Ankara " , headed for Benghazi . The Distant Cover Force remained on station in the Gulf of Sidra until evening , before heading back to base . The British had now realized that the Italians had a convoy in the area ; Vian searched for it without success as he returned to Alexandria . In the afternoon , the position of the Tripoli group was established , the Malta Strike Force of one cruiser and two destroyers of Force B , and two cruisers and two destroyers of Force K — under the command of Captain O ’ Conor , on board the cruiser — sortied at 18 : 00 to intercept . However , the force ran into a minefield off Tripoli , in the early hours of 19 December . The minefield took the British by surprise as the water - depth was , which they had thought was too deep for mines . " Neptune " struck four mines and sank , the destroyer also struck a mine and was scuttled the following day . The cruisers and were badly damaged but were able to return to Malta . Overall , about 830 Allied seamen , many of them New Zealanders from " Neptune " , lost their lives in the disaster . The Malta Strike Force which had been such an active threat to Axis shipping to Libya during most of 1941 was much reduced in its effectiveness . It was later forced to withdraw to Gibraltar . " Jervis " antisubmarine chase . As Vian ’ s force returned to Alexandria , — one of his destroyers — encountered a submarine , which she attacked and thought she had sunk . However , this was not confirmed , as no submarine in the area was reported lost or having been attacked . The attack in Alexandria . The submarine reportedly sunk was not , although she was in the vicinity with a group of Italian frogmen equipped with manned torpedo es . Shortly after Vian ' s force arrived in Alexandria , on the night of 18 December , the Italians penetrated the harbour and attacked the fleet there . " Jervis " was damaged , two British battleships were crippled , and . This was a strategic change of fortune against the Allies whose effects were felt for several months . Conclusions . It is hard to describe this series of actions as anything other than inconclusive . Both sides achieved their strategic objectives ; the British got supplies through to Malta , which was restored , at least for a while ; the Axis got their ships through to Tripoli and Benghazi , although Benghazi fell to the Eighth army five days later , on 24 December . Tactically , of the nine actions described here , four were British and three were Axis successes ; two of them , including the eponymous First Battle of Sirte , were inconclusive . Order of battle . Italy . Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino ( on " Littorio " ) - Plancia di Commando