and Talbot) and four tankers(Cleopatra, Penelope, Dido and Euryalus), accompanied by an escort of an anti-aircraft cruiser and 12 destroyers. An Italian naval force sortied to attack the convoy, but in the subsequent battle (Second Battle of Sirte) it could only damage some ships of the escort without being able to reach the convoy. Axis air force sank one of the merchants (Clan Campbell) the next day and destroyed three more vessels after their arrival in Malta. At 13:42 on March 23, 1942, Onice detected through hydrophones British Force B that was returning to Alexandria after the battle. She closed in and at 14:15 sighted the ships of Force B (estimated to be composed of 3 or 4 cruisers, plus some destroyers). At 14:33 Onice launched two torpedoes from about 3,000 meters in the position . After 3 minutes two explosions were heard, but in fact no ships were hit, and the British force did not even notice the attack. At dawn on April 28, 1942, while patrolling east of Cape Bon, Onice sighted what she had thought to be a big submarine and launched two torpedoes but missed. In fact, it appears there were no British submarines present in this area on this date. It is possible that Onice mistook a fishing boat for a submarine, or she tried to attack which could have possibly be passing through this area. At 21:15 on May 9, 1942, Onice sighted disguised as a French destroyer Léopard traveling to Malta with an urgent load of supplies, 100 Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engines and some RAF personnel. Onice maneuvered into attack position, but suddenly aborted it due to captain Zelik's perceived threat from British aircraft. However, there were actually no British planes present at this time. On June 11, 1942 Onice was sent along with four other submarines (, , and ) to patrol the triangle between Malta, Pantelleria and Lampedusa to intercept a British convoy, part of Operation "Harpoon". Onice failed to detect any enemy ships. Following the Allied invasion of Sicily, Onice was transferred to Taranto. On September 3, 1943, under the Zeta Plan, ten submarines were deployed in the Ionian Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea to defend the coasts of Calabria and Campania from anticipated Anglo-American landings. Onice was deployed in the western Ionian Sea between the Gulf of Squillace and the Straits of Messina. On September 8, 1943, at the time