HMS Bonaventure was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy. Bonaventure participated as an escort vessel in Operation Fish, the World War II evacuation of British wealth from the UK to Canada. It was the largest movement of wealth in history. On 10 January 1941 Bonaventure, along with and/or , shelled and sank the Italian torpedo boat off Cape Bon, Tunisia, during Operation Excess. Two members of her crew were killed by return fire. On 31 March 1941 Bonaventure was hit amidships by two torpedoes launched by the and sank south of Crete () with the loss of 139 of her 480 crew. 310 survivors were rescued by HMS Hereward and . She was the largest warship sunk by an Italian submarine in World War II. References Citations Sources Further reading External links World War II cruisers HMS Bonaventure at Uboat.net IWM Interview with survivor Patrick Northcott IWM Interview with survivor Frank Connor 1939 ships Dido-class cruisers Maritime incidents in March 1941 Ships built on the River Clyde Ships sunk by Italian submarines World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea