Three Italian ships were scuttled in Kisimayu on 12 February as British troops reached the vicinity of the port which was captured with the support of Shropshire two days later. Five of the Italian ships were spotted by aircraft from Hermes and captured by Hawkins, the German ship Uckermark was scuttled. The German Askari and Italian ship Pensilvania were seen off Mogadishu and destroyed by bombs and gunfire; two of the Italian ships reached Madagascar. While waiting for mines in the Suez canal to be swept, Formidable conducted Operation Composition on the night of 12/13 February, sending 14 Albacores to attack Massawa, half with bombs, half with torpedoes. The attack was disorganised by low cloud, SS Monacalieri (5,723 GRT) was sunk but little more was achieved. On 13 February, Hermes attacked Kismayu with Swordfish aircraft and the cruiser bombarded coastal defences, supply dumps and Italian troops. The Walrus aircraft on Shropshire attacked Brava and Italian bombers claimed a near miss on one of the British ships. When Kismayu was captured on 14 February, fifteen of the sixteen Axis merchant ships in the harbour were captured. In the Red Sea, the carrier Formidable conducted Operation Composition while en route to Suez; its 14 FAA Albacores attacked Massawa on 13 February and sank the merchant ship Moncaliere (5,723 GRT) and inflicted slight damage on other ships The colonial ship Eritrea escaped from Massawa on 18 February and on 21 February, Formidable sent seven Albacores to dive-bomb the harbour; four were hit by anti-aircraft fire but all returned. During the night the auxiliary cruiser Ramb I (3,667 GRT) and the German Coburg (7,400 GRT) departed, followed by Ramb II on 22 February. On 27 February, Ramb I was caught by Leander sunk north of the Maldive Islands; Eritrea and Ramb II escaped and reached Kobe, Japan. On 25 February, Mogadishu fell and British merchant sailors, taken prisoner by German commerce-raiders, were liberated. On 1 March, five Albacores from Formidable flying from a landing ground at Mersa Taclai raided Massawa again but caused little damage. MS Himalaya (6,240 GRT) departed on 1 March and reached Rio de Janeiro on 4 April. On 4 March Coburg, with a captured tanker, Ketty Brovig (7,031 GRT) were spotted by an aircraft flown from Canberra south-east of the Seychelles; when Canberra and Leander approached, the Axis crews scuttled their ships. From 1 to 4 March, the submarines Guglielmo