British, and French submarines, rounded out the allied forces involved in this exercise. Allied warships escorted three convoys of supply ships which were subjected to repeated simulated air and submarine attacks. One convoy that departed Malta experienced air attacks every four hours and submarine attacks every five hours during its entire six days at sea. Opposition forces against this particular convoy included the French naval task force, land-based strike aircraft, and carrier-based aircraft from the Midway. All three convoys arrived at their respective destinations although with numerous ships declared damaged or sunk by the simulated enemy attacks. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations were also executed by the allied navies during Operation Grand Slam. However, a French submarine successfully penetrated the destroyer screen protecting the American-French carrier task force and successfully sank a target within that formation. That French submarine was subsequently declared to be heavily crippled by ASW forces. Finally, a surface force consisting of eight cruisers and ten destroyers carried out a shore bombardment off the Sardinian coast. Carrier aviation units Carrier Air Group Six embarked on USS Midway (CVB-41): Carrier Air Group Eight embarked on USS Tarawa (CV-40): 14th Carrier Air Group embarked on HMS Theseus (R64): 810 Naval Air Squadron: Fairey Firefly 807 Naval Air Squadron: Hawker Sea Fury Conclusion The overall exercise commander, Admiral Carney summarized the accomplishments of Exercise Grand Slam by stating: "We have demonstrated that the senior commanders of all four powers can successfully take charge of a mixed task force and handle it effectively as a working unit." Exercise Grand Slam did receive comparatively little contemporary media coverage. The U.S. Navy's All Hands magazine noted that Grand Slam was "an exercise which will probably prove typical of future NATO naval exercises." See also Exercise Longstep Notes External links N.A.T.O. FLEET MANOEUVRES video newsreel film - Pathé Films online Grand Slam 1952 in military history February 1952 events in Europe March 1952 events in Europe