Castore was disabled and sank before dawn, but her counterattack allowed the freighters to limp away. Vragnizza and Postumia, both damaged during the action, reached Messina at 16.30. 17 July, Operation Scylla. The , fitted with EC-3 Gufo radar, engaged four British Elco motor torpedo boats at night while on passage through the strait of Messina. One motor torpedo boat was sunk with all hands and three others damaged. 1945 18 March, the Battle of the Ligurian Sea. Two German torpedo boats and one destroyer, formerly of the Italian Navy, were returning to Genoa after laying mines. Two intercepting British destroyers sank the torpedo boats and damaged the destroyer. Major Axis and Allied amphibious operations 1941 25 February, Operation Abstention, the Allied assault and occupation of Kastelorizo is thwarted by naval and air Italian forces. 20 May, start of the Battle of Crete, the Axis invasion of the island. 1942 14 September, Operation Agreement, the Allied assault on Tobruk which is repulsed by Axis ground, air and naval forces. 8 November, start of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria. 10 November, Axis invasion of Tunis. 1943 9 July, the start of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. 3 September, Operation Avalanche, the start of the Allied invasion of Italy. 8 September, the start of the Dodecanese Campaign, the failed Allied attempt to control the Dodecanese Islands. 9 September, the start of the Allied Salerno landings in Italy. 1944 22 January, the start of Operation Shingle, the Allied landings at Anzio in Italy. 5 August, the start of Operation Dragoon, the Allied landings in southern France. See also Naval history of World War II Force H Force K Mediterranean U-boat Campaign (World War II) Military history of Italy during World War II Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II List of classes of British ships of World War II List of Classes of French ships of World War II World War II naval ships of the United States Regia Marina Footnotes Bibliography Blitzer, Wolf; Garibaldi, Luciano (2001). Century of War. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. New York. Barnett, Corelli. Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War (1991) Bragadin, A, Italian Navy in World War II,1st Ed, US Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1957. Caravaggio, Angelo.N, 'The attack at Taranto: tactical success, operational failure', Naval War College Review, Summer 2006, Vol. 59, No.