Battle of the Cigno Convoy

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Cigno Convoy
partof=the Mediterranean Theater of World War II


caption=RM torpedo boat "Cassiopea"
date=16 April 1943
place=Mediterranean off Marettimo Island
result=Italian victory
combatant1=flagicon|UK|naval United Kingdom
combatant2=
commander1=unknown
commander2=unknown
strength1=2 destroyers
strength2=2 torpedo boats
1 transport ship
casualties1=1 destroyer sunk
1 destroyer damaged
10 dead
casualties2=1 torpedo boat sunk
1 torpedo boat damaged
100-120 dead

The Battle of the Cigno Convoy was a naval engagement between two Royal Navy destroyers and two "Regia Marina" torpedo boats which took place southeast of Marettimo island, on the early hours of 16 April, 1943. The Italian units were escorting the transport ship "Belluno", of 4,200 tons.

Background

The battle was part of the daily aerial, naval and submarine campaign mounted by the Allies against Axis forces, on the spring of 1943, in order to achieve a complete naval and air supremacy around North Africa and Sicily. Their aim was to isolate and defeat the bulk of the Afrika Corps and the Italian Army in Tunis by strangle their resupply lines. The struggle was so fiercely contested that the maritime area between Italy and Africa was dubbed the "route of death". [Bragadin, page 237] By April, Axis merchant ship losses reached a 3.3 ratio each day. [Sadkovich, page 326] The huge extension of minefields planted by both sides, made surface trips against Axis shipping more unlikely than during the Libyan campaign. [Bragadin, page 247] The supply route for the Italian Navy was also shorter, but the Allied air supremacy and the attrition of the war made almost impossible to assemble large convoys. This, along with a sharp shortage of fuel, forced the Italians to use small and fast destroyers or torpedo boats to escort their cargo ships heading to Africa. [Bragadin, pp 244-245] The convoys, however, were only capable of making 8 to 10 knots in practice, owing to the loss of the main high-speed cargo ships by 1943. [Sadkovich, page 317]

The action

One of these small convoys, comprising two Italian torpedo-boats, "Cigno" and "Cassiopea" escorting the 4,200 ton former French transport "Belluno", sailed from Naples bound for Tunis on April 15. A similar convoy was scheduled to depart a couple of hours later. On 2:38 AM of the 16th, the escort spotted two British destroyers approaching. These were the P class destroyers HMS "Pakenham" and HMS "Paladin". This was one of the few night engagements in the Mediterranean in which the British failed to take their opponents by surprise. This circumstance was decisive to the outcome of the battle. However, the fire power of "Pakenham" and "Paladin" was fairly superior to that of the Italian side. In fact, they were armed with five 4" guns against three 3.9" of the Italians. The armour protection also favoured the Royal Navy ships. The first vessel to suffer the effects of gunfire was the "Cigno", which was almost immediately knocked out. The Italian unit continued to fire on the British ships until a torpedo sank her. Around 100 seamen went down with the ship. Nevertheless, "Cassiopea", albeit also struck by several rounds, was able to counter attack by launching a torpedo at "Paladin" and raking "Pakenham" with gunfire. The port side of the latter was hit at least six times and the engine room was seriously damaged. Several of her crew were scalded by the explosion of a boiler. Nine men were killed, another died of his wounds two days later. [ [http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1943-04APR.htm#prof www.naval-history.net] ] "Paladin" was also damaged by shell splinters. During the clash, the "Belluno" managed to slip towards the north, where the second convoy was in advance, still unaware of the events. Meanwhile, the British ceased fire and withdrew. The torpedo boat "Cassiopea", almost disabled, was assisted by her similar "Climene", one of the escorts in the second convoy. After trying to reach Malta with an auxiliary engine, "Pakenham" broke down off Sicily and then "Paladin", unable to take her in tow, scuttled her sister ship with a torpedo. The transport "Belluno" reached her destination safely some hours later. [Sadkovich, page 326] [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/33/a7443533.shtml#prof BBC interview to survivor] ] [ [http://www.marina.difesa.it/editoria/rivista/rivista/2006/novembre/fontiappendice.asp#prof Rivista Maritima] ]

Notes

References

* Bragadin, Marc'Antonio: "The Italian Navy in World War II", United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1957. ISBN 0405130317.

* Sadkovich, James: "The Italian Navy in World War II", Greenwood Press, Westport, 1994. ISBN 031328797X.