Gibraltar, on 8 August while Lightning was refuelling. Operation Pedestal By mid 1942 the strategically important island of Malta was being starved by the German and Italian blockade. Without the island fortress the Allies could not strike at convoys from Italy that were supplying the Axis armies in North Africa. Further more, it was realised that an Allied North Africa campaign could not begin until the Axis armies had been weakened by lack of supplies. A huge escorting force from the Home Fleet and Force H from Gibraltar was assembled to escort fourteen merchant ships from the UK to Malta. Many capital ships were damaged in the desperate air and submarine attacks. Only six merchantmen got through but Malta was never under pressure again and so the Allied invasion of north Africa (Operation Torch) was made possible in November 1942. Lightning joined Force Z comprising aircraft carrier Indomitable, cruiser Phoebe, and sisters Laforey and Lookout. On 3 August 1942 Force Z met up with the main Force X from the UK just off Gibraltar and refuelled alongside Indomitable the next day. On 5 August 1942 the convoy passed through the straits en route to Malta. On 11 August 1942 Lightning along with Lookout was screening the aircraft carrier , when the nearby carrier was hit by four torpedoes from the German submarine . In only eight minutes she had sunk. On 12 August 1942 Lightning came under attack from bombers and had several near misses during the raid. Follow-up to Operation Torch November 1942 After refits, Lightning and Laforey left Greenock 12 December 1942 for Liverpool to escort Duchess of Richmond, a 20,000-ton Canadian Pacific liner which had embarked thousands of troops for North Africa, in convoy KMF 5. On 21 December Lightning helped rescue more than 1,000 soldiers and nurses from the 23,722 ton P&O liner Strathallan, which was torpedoed by off the coast of Algeria, carrying over 4,000 Allied personnel. Lightning arrived in Bône on New Year's Day 1943 and joined Force Q which consisted at various times of two cruisers from the 12th cruiser squadron – , , , and – supported by L-class destroyers including Laforey, Lookout and Loyal. The sinking of HMS Lightning During late February and March 1943 Lightning was escorting troop and supply ships between Algiers and Bône in the day and attacking enemy convoys at night. When in harbour she was attacked