Operation Pedestal (, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as  (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War.

Malta was a base from which British ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys to Libya, during the North African Campaign (1940–1943). From 1940 to 1942, the Axis conducted the Siege of Malta, with air and naval forces. Despite many losses, enough supplies were delivered by the British for the population and military forces on Malta to resist, although it ceased to be an offensive base for much of 1942. The most crucial supply item in Operation Pedestal was fuel, carried by , an American tanker with a British crew. The convoy sailed from Britain on 3 August 1942 and passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean on the night of

The Axis attempt to prevent the fifty ships of the convoy reaching Malta, using bombers, German E-boats, Italian MAS and MS boats, minefields and submarine ambushes, was the last sizeable Axis success in the Mediterranean. More than  and Royal Navy sailors and airmen were killed and only five of the  ships reached Grand Harbour. While costly for the Allies, it was a strategic victory; the arrival of Ohio justified the decision to hazard so many warships; its cargo of aviation fuel revitalised the Maltese air offensive against Axis shipping. Submarines returned to Malta and Supermarine Spitfires flown from the aircraft carrier  enabled a maximum effort to be made against Axis ships. Italian convoys had to detour further away from the island, lengthening the journey and increasing the time during which air and naval attacks could be mounted.

The Siege of Malta was broken by the Allied reconquest of Egypt and Libya after the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November) and by Operation Torch (8–16 November) in the western Mediterranean, which enabled land-based aircraft to escort merchant ships to the island.

Background

Allied operations

The Allies waged the Western Desert Campaign (1940–43) in North Africa, against the Axis forces of Italy aided by Germany, which sent the Deutsches Afrika Korps and substantial Luftwaffe detachments to the Mediterranean in late 1940. Up to the end of the year,  with  of cargo had reached Malta without loss and a reserve of seven months' supplies had been accumulated. Three convoys to Malta in 1941 suffered the loss of only one merchant ship. From January 1941 to August 1942,  ships had delivered  but  had been sunk and modern, efficient, merchant ships, naval and air forces had been diverted from other routes for long periods; 31 supply runs by submarines had been conducted. Reinforcements for Malta included  and dangerous aircraft carrier ferry operations to deliver fighters.

From August 1940 to the end of August 1942,  and Supermarine Spitfire fighters had been flown off carriers in the western Mediterranean. Many other aircraft used Malta as a staging post for North Africa and the Desert Air Force. Malta was a base for air, sea and submarine operations against Axis supply convoys and from 1 June to 31 October 1941, British forces sank about  of Axis shipping on the African convoy routes,  by the navy and  by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA). Loaded ships sailing to Africa accounted for 90 per cent of the ships sunk and Malta-based squadrons were responsible for about 75 per cent of those ships sunk by aircraft. Military operations from Malta and using the island as a staging post, led to Axis air campaigns against the island in 1941 and 1942. By late July, the  on the island averaged wastage of  and the remaining aviation fuel was only sufficient for the fighters, making it impractical to send more bombers and torpedo-bombers for offensive operations.

Malta, 1942

Operation Julius, a plan to supply Malta by simultaneous convoys from Gibraltar in Operation Harpoon and from Alexandria by Operation Vigorous  was a costly failure. Only two merchant ships from Harpoon reached the island; the Vigorous convoy was forced to turn back and several convoy escorts and many merchantmen, including the only tanker in Harpoon, were sunk. By August, the fortnightly (two-weekly) ration on Malta for one person was  sugar,  fats,  bread and  of corned beef. An adult male worker had a daily intake of  and women and children received  In August a mass slaughter of livestock began on the island to reduce the need for fodder imports and to convert grazing land for crop growing; the meat being supplied to the public through Victory Kitchens. Malta would be forced to surrender if fuel, food and ammunition were not delivered before September and Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, the local air commander since July, warned that there remained only a few weeks' supply of aviation fuel. The British Admiralty had the fast minelayer  converted to carry fuel and submarines were pressed into service to run supplies of aviation fuel, anti-aircraft ammunition and torpedoes through the blockade, to keep the remaining aircraft operational. The First Lord of the Admiralty Albert Alexander and Admiral of the Fleet Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord (professional head of the Royal Navy), concurred with the Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the loss of Malta would be

... and prepared a new convoy operation from Gibraltar, with an unprecedented number of escorts using ships taken from the Far East and from the Home Fleet, which had vessels to spare since the suspension of Arctic convoys, following the Convoy PQ 17 disaster.

Axis command
The Axis command structure in the Mediterranean was centralised at the top and fragmented at the lower levels. Benito Mussolini had monopolised authority over the Italian armed forces since 1933 by taking the offices of Minister of War, Minister of the Navy and Minister of the Air Force. Feldmarschall Albert Kesselring of the Luftwaffe commanded German ground forces in the theatre as Commander-in-Chief South () but had no authority over Axis operations in North Africa or the organisation of convoys to Libya. Fliegerkorps II and Fliegerkorps X were subordinate to the usual Luftwaffe chain of command. Since November 1941, Kesselring had exercised some influence over the conduct of German naval operations in the Mediterranean as the nominal head of Naval Command Italy () but this was subordinate to the Kriegsmarine chain of command. German inter-service rivalries obstructed co-operation and there was little unity of effort between German and the Italian forces in the Mediterranean. Kesselring had authority only to co-ordinate plans for combined operations by German and Italian forces and some influence on the use of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) for the protection of convoys to North Africa. The Italian Navy resisted all German attempts to integrate its operations; ships in different squadrons never trained together and Supermarina (Italian Naval High Command) constantly over-ruled subordinate commanders.

Prelude

Allied plans

Operation Pedestal

Admiralty planning for Operation Pedestal began in late July 1942, under the direction of Vice-Admiral Neville Syfret, Rear Admirals Lumley Lyster and Harold Burrough and the Naval Staff. Syfret transferred to  on 27 July when Nelson and  returned to Scapa Flow from Freetown, West Africa. Syfret convened a conference on 29 July, for Flag and Commanding Officers of the naval forces for Pedestal at Scapa, to consider the orders for the operation. Several smaller operations were also planned, to be carried out concurrently with Pedestal. The convoy comprised 14 merchant vessels, the most important being Ohio, the only large, fast tanker available, a US ship loaned to the British, with a British crew. As insurance against the loss of Ohio and its  of oil, the other ships were to carry fuel in drums. The convoy was to be protected by two battleships, three aircraft carriers, seven cruisers, thirty-two destroyers and seven submarines, the largest escort force yet.

The combined group was named Force F; the convoy and escorts from Britain as far as the rendezvous, became Force P; the aircraft carriers Victorious, Argus and escorts were named Force M on the voyage to the meeting point. The aircraft carrier Eagle and its escort from Gibraltar to the rendezvous became Force J and the carrier Indomitable and its escorts from Freetown were called Force K. During Operation Berserk, all the carriers and escorts became Force G; Force R was made up of the fleet refuelling vessels  and , escorted by four corvettes and an ocean-going tug,  a Dale-class oiler; escorts were named Force W also for Operation Berserk, Force X formed the close escort to Malta, Force Z was made up of the heavy ships of Force F, that were to turn back to Gibraltar and Force Y was to conduct Operation Ascendant, a run from Malta to Gibraltar by the two ships that had reached the island during Operation Harpoon and escorts, when Pedestal entered the Mediterranean.

Embarked on Victorious were 809 Squadron and 884 Squadron FAA with sixteen Fairey Fulmars and 885 Squadron with six Sea Hurricanes; on Indomitable, 806 Squadron had ten Grumman Martlets, 800 Squadron and 880 Squadron had twenty-four Sea Hurricanes, 827 Squadron and 831 Squadron had fourteen Fairey Albacores. On Eagle were 801 Squadron and 813 Squadron with sixteen Sea Hurricanes. Based on Malta were five Martin Baltimores, six PRU Spitfires and five Wellington Mk VIII reconnaissance aircraft. Reinforcements were sent temporarily from Egypt, raising the maximum number of operational aircraft to a hundred Spitfires, thirty-six Beaufighters, thirty Beauforts, three Wellingtons, two Liberators, two Baltimores and three FAA Albacores and Swordfish. The convoy was named WS.21S (Winston's Specials were troop convoys from Britain to Suez via the Cape of Good Hope). After the usual convoy conference just before sailing, Burrough met with the Convoy Commodore, A. G. Venables and the masters of the merchant ships on board his flagship,  to brief them. A similar meeting was held with radio operators of the merchantmen to explain fleet communications and procedures. Envelopes marked "Not to be opened until 08:00 hours August 10" were handed to the ships' masters, containing personal messages signed by the First Lord of the Admiralty wishing the masters "God Speed". The convoy sailed from the River Clyde on the night of  escorted by Nigeria,  and destroyers, to rendezvous with the other escorts the following morning.

Operation Bellows

Shortly before the departure from Scapa, the Admiralty decided that Furious should carry out Operation Bellows, to reinforce Malta (known informally as a Club Run) with Spitfires at the same time as Operation Pedestal. The departure of Furious was delayed by technical difficulties caused by the flight deck, which sloped upwards to a point amidships. A Spitfire made a practice take-off, with wooden wedges in the flaps to ensure a  and Furious steaming at , into a  wind. The Spitfire was thrown into the air by the rise on the flight deck, bounced onto the forward slope, fell off the front near stalling speed and narrowly avoided ditching. An immediate request was made to the Air Ministry for constant-speed propellers and two days later, a Spitfire with the new propeller took off easily, leaving 38 aircraft still on board to be flown to Malta. In company with , she joined Nelson and the convoy three days before the start of Operation Pedestal.

Operations Berserk and Ascendant

On 31 July, Nelson, Rodney, , ,  and destroyers sailed from Scapa to rendezvous with  and  from Gibraltar and  and , from Freetown, for Operation Berserk. The operation took place between the Azores and Gibraltar from  and included exercises with the merchant ships in anti-aircraft gunnery, emergency turns and in changing cruising formations, communicating with signal flags and short range wireless telegraphy (W/T). The risk to security in breaking W/T silence during the exercises, was accepted by Allied planners and according to Cunningham, the convoy attained efficiency in manoeuvring "comparable to that of a fleet unit." The aircraft of the force performed dummy air attacks in the afternoon of 8 August, to exercise radar reporting, the fighter direction organisation and to give anti-aircraft gun crews aircraft recognition practice, followed by a fly past. In Operation Ascendant, Troilus and Orari, the two merchant ships that had survived the Harpoon fiasco in June, were to sail from Malta for Gibraltar, with the destroyers  and  (Force Y) on the night of the first day of Operation Pedestal. The ships were to be disguised with Italian deck markings and sortie from Malta, to  to the south of Lampedusa, then sail past Kelibia on Cap Bon, keeping close to the Tunisian coast as far as the Galita Channel and from there make for Gibraltar. (Force Y left Malta about 20:30 on 10 August, reached Cap Bon the next day and briefly exchanged fire with the  which was minelaying. The Italian ship showed French recognition lights and the British destroyers ended the engagement; Force Y arrived at Gibraltar at about 10:00 on 14 August.)

Axis plans

The Germans and Italians planned separately and although they co-operated to an extent, Fliegerkorps II in Sicily co-ordinated plans with the local Regia Aeronautica commanders but conducted its attacks separately. Supermarina, the Italian Navy headquarters, considered four contingencies, that the Allies would use their naval strength to protect a convoy, the main Allied battle fleet would sortie to provoke a fleet action, to use a powerful covering force for a convoy to force a passage to the north of Pantelleria, instead of turning west at the entrance to Skerki Bank or to use aircraft-carriers for attacks on Sardinian airfields, to ease the passage of a convoy. The Regia Aeronautica had 328 aircraft (90 torpedo-bombers, 62 bombers, 25 dive-bombers and 151 fighters) and the Luftwaffe 456 aircraft (328 dive-bombers, 32 medium bombers and 96 fighters (most of the Luftwaffe torpedo-bombers had been sent to Norway in June and were too late for the operation). About 20 Junkers Ju 88s from Fliegerkorps X on Crete arrived at Sicily on 11 August, for operations the next morning and another eight  arrived from Crete the same day, after completing convoy escort operations in the Aegean.

The Regia Marina had four battleships, three heavy and ten light cruisers, twenty-one destroyers, twenty-eight torpedo boats and sixty-four submarines but most of the capital ships were non-operational for lack of fuel and air cover. The navy had received only  of fuel in June, equivalent to 20 per cent of fuel consumption by convoys and the Italian battleships had to refuel the smaller vessels. Because of the fuel-shortage, Mussolini suggested to Hitler that a Malta convoy should be opposed only by submarines and land-based aircraft. Supermarina managed to prepare the 3rd Cruiser Division with the eight-inch cruisers Gorizia, Bolzano and Trieste and seven destroyers, along with the 7th Cruiser Division with the six-inch cruisers Eugenio di Savoia, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Muzio Attendolo and five destroyers plus 18 submarines, 19 torpedo boats (six MS and 13 MAS); the Germans had three U-boats and four S-boats. The Axis air forces lacked the fighters to escort surface ships, bombers and torpedo bombers and Mussolini preferred to use the fighters as bomber escorts and as cover for surface forces. Kesselring rejected the Italian request to provide air cover for the Italian fleet, because the Luftwaffe did not have enough fighters.

Kesselring doubted that the Italian heavy cruisers could succeed even with air cover and thought that the Italians used the lack of fuel as a pretext. Admiral Eberhard Weichold, the German naval attaché in Rome, wanted the Luftwaffe to provide air cover for Italian ships. Marshal Ugo Cavallero, Chief of the General Staff , also wanted Italian surface forces to participate in the operation but Supermarina did not want its big ships to operate without air cover. Axis tactics were similar to those used against Operation Harpoon in June; a joint special air reconnaissance of the western Mediterranean to be flown by Axis aircraft on 11 and 12 August, Axis aircraft based in Sicily and Sardinia, Italian submarines and German U-boats and Axis torpedo boats and minefields being used as successive barriers. The four barriers were to cause the convoy to disperse and be vulnerable to a force of cruisers and destroyers. Twenty-two torpedo-bombers, about one hundred and twenty-five dive-bombers with fighter escorts and forty medium bombers were to be used in a synchronised attack. Priority was given to the destruction of aircraft carriers, to prevent them from intervening when Italian surface forces closed in on the remnants of the convoy. The Axis navies had nineteen submarines in the western Mediterranean; nine boats were to be stationed north of Algeria between longitudes  and . Ten submarines were to wait between Fratelli Rocks and the northern entrance to the Skerki Bank, some arrayed north-west of Cap Bon, to co-operate with aircraft. An Italian submarine was to patrol west of Malta, one off Navarino in Greece and three more about  west-south-west of Crete.

From June 1940 to April 1942, the Regia Marina had laid about 2,320 mines between Cap Granitola at the south-west end of Sicily and Pantelleria, 1,020 mines between Pantelleria and Ras el Mustafa, Tunisia, 6,880 mines between the Aegadian Islands and Cap Bon and 1,040 mines between Bizerte and Keith Rock. The Italians also intended to lay a temporary minefield off Cap Bon on the night of 11/12 August, just before the convoy passed through. On the night of 12/13 August, thirteen MAS, six MS torpedo boats and four S-boats were to lie in wait south of Marettimo (an Aegadian Island) and off Cap Bon, then later to wait off Pantelleria. The 3rd Cruiser Division and the 7th Cruiser Division would be about  north of Pantelleria during the afternoon of 12 August and then sail through the night on an interception course south of Pantelleria, to attack the remains of the convoy and its close escort just before dawn. It was assumed that Axis aircraft could provide fighter cover against the larger number of British aircraft from Malta. Should an Allied convoy sail from Egypt, it would be attacked by the 8th Cruiser Division based at Navarino in Greece but the division was ordered into the Ionian Sea on 12 August, to support the 3rd Cruiser Division.

Axis preparations

Axis planners lacked information about Allied plans but had fair knowledge of the Allied order of battle and the movement of Allied forces inside the Mediterranean, from the reports of ship-watching stations near Gibraltar, reconnaissance aircraft and submarines. Reports from the Abwehr on 5 August convinced Kesselring that the Allies were preparing a big operation to supply Malta from the west, in conjunction with a simultaneous attack on Mersa Matruh in Egypt. Allied bombers from Malta were expected to attack Italian naval forces as Malta fighters covered the passage of a convoy through the Sicilian Narrows. The Germans also considered a threat to Crete when the convoy had reached Malta and Kesselring ordered increased readiness of Luftwaffe units in Sicily and Crete, aircraft being transferred from Crete to Sardinia and Sicily. Fliegerkorps II reduced operations to increase serviceability, prepared facilities at Elmas in Sardinia for reinforcements sent from Fliegerkorps X in the eastern Mediterranean. The Allies learned through Enigma that the Luftwaffe had supply difficulties in Sardinia, preventing the movement there of long-range bombers and of fighter operations to the extent intended and that the Luftwaffe had sent 40 to 45 long-range bombers and 6 twin-engined fighters from the eastern Mediterranean; Fliegerführer Afrika was forced to divert aircraft for convoy escorts in the Tobruk area. On the morning of 8 August, a report erroneously indicated that an Argus-class carrier and four destroyers had sailed into Gibraltar and Abwehr agents reported much shipping in the Strait of Gibraltar on the night of  By  Luftwaffe aircraft were on Sicily along with  of the Regia Aeronautica and another  assembled on Sardinia.

The Italian submarine Uarsciek sighted the British ships at 04:30 on 11 August; the captain approached on the surface and fired three torpedoes, claiming a hit on the carrier in a 09:36 sighting report and during the evening a  photographed the fleet from high altitude, immune to anti-aircraft fire or FAA fighters. The Italian submarines were ordered into three patrol lines to intercept the convoy. On 12 August, Kesselring began discussions with Comando Supremo (Italian High Command) for the co-ordination of Axis forces for the forthcoming operation. During the morning Kesselring reported that the Luftwaffe was fully committed to bomber escort sorties, could not provide air cover for Italian ships and suggested laying mines but the Regia Marina had already laid one. The inability of the Luftwaffe to provide air cover for the Italian fleet greatly reduced its opportunities to intervene but the light cruiser Muzio Attendolo was sent with two destroyers from Naples to Messina.

At an afternoon meeting the surface ships were discussed again, the risk of attack from Malta-based aircraft led Cavallero to decide that the fleet could not be risked without sufficient protection by aircraft. The decision was taken to attack the convoy with submarines between Algiers and the Balearic Islands, torpedo boats between Cap Bon and Pantelleria and then the remnants of the convoy would be finished off by the 3rd and 7th Cruiser divisions General Rino Corso Fougier, the Regia Aeronautica chief of staff, had reported that 40 modern fighters and bombers were available and that the day before, 101 aircraft had transferred from Italy to Sardinia and Sicily, bringing the total to 247 but Superaereo would not begin attacks until 13 August. Radio-controlled bombers would be used to crash onto the aircraft carriers and  bombers from Crete and 10 torpedo-bombers from the training school at Grosseto had flown to Sardinia. In Sicily,  crews resting from operations were alerted and six Bf 110 long-range fighters were sent from Africa, bringing the Axis total to

Battle

9/10 August

Force R left Gibraltar on 9 August, ready to meet the convoy at a rendezvous south of Majorca; Force F made an uneventful passage of the Straits in dense fog during the night of  Fishing boats and one merchant vessel were passed at close quarters but due to the moonless night and the fog, Syfret thought it improbable that the force had been sighted from the shore. Abwehr agents near Gibraltar and Ceuta had sighted the convoy and the British decrypted their Enigma messages, learning how well-informed the Axis were and of their plans to defeat the convoy. At about 08:00 on 10 August, German reconnaissance aircraft detected the convoy and at 12:45 reported that the convoy was about  north of Algiers.

At 17:00 a French aircraft reported two aircraft carriers, two battleships, two cruisers, fourteen destroyers and twelve merchant vessels about  north of Oran. Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft reported at 19:00 that a convoy of two battleships, two carriers, two cruisers, fourteen destroyers and twelve merchantmen was on an easterly course,  north-north-east of Oran. By the afternoon of 10 August, Kesselring and Supermarina were aware that a convoy of forty to fifty ships, including possibly two carriers and nineteen freighters, was in the western Mediterranean, sailing on an easterly course at a speed of . The convoy was expected to be south of Majorca by 06:00 on 11 August and south of Sardinia by the same time on 12 August. Fliegerkorps II in the western Mediterranean was alerted and Fliegerkorps X was ordered to reconnoitre the eastern Mediterranean beyond the 25° E line of longitude after dawn on 11 August.

11 August

Despite Axis submarines, three cruisers and twenty-six destroyers refuelled from the tankers Dingledale and Brown Ranger of Force R by dawn. (Previous Malta convoys had refuelled on arrival but now the island had no oil to spare.) The convoy was south of the Balearic Islands on course for Cap Bon at daybreak and at about 06:20, a U-boat sighted the convoy. At 08:15 a Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft reported that the convoy was  north-west of Algiers; fifteen minutes later, a  began to shadow the convoy at  and continued throughout the day. At noon, the convoy was about  south of Majorca, sailing due east on a zigzag course. Furious conducted the flying off between 12:30 and 15:15 of 38 Spitfires for the  journey to Malta and then turned round with her escorts for Gibraltar (37 of the aircraft reached Malta).

Enigma decrypts showed that at 11:55, the light cruisers Eugenio di Savoia, Raimondo Montecuccoli, Muzio Attendolo of the 7th Cruiser Division at Cagliari had been ordered by Supermarina to be at two hours' notice from 18:00 and that with the heavy cruisers Gorizia, Bolzano and Trieste of the 3rd Cruiser Division at Messina, had been informed at 13:00 that Italian submarines were operating north of Bizerte. Three Axis submarines were seen departing Cagliari at 20:45 and the British learned that at 18:00 the 7th Cruiser Division with seventeen destroyers, had sailed east and that the 3rd Cruiser Division had departed from Messina and Naples. Allied intelligence also learned that Panzerarmee Afrika in Egypt believed that the convoy was a threat to Tobruk. Kesselring thought that a landing on the North African coast might be attempted and next day issued an order of the day, that landings by the Allies would influence operations in Africa and must be prevented. Luftgau Afrika (Air District Africa) expected a landing at Tripoli on

At 08:00,  sighted ships out of range but behind them another group of merchantmen were followed by the carrier Eagle. She was able to manoeuvre within  and fire four torpedoes which hit Eagle at 13:15, sinking the ship eight minutes later  south of Cape Salinas,  north of Algiers. The destroyers ,  and the tug Jaunty rescued  of the complement of   and all but four Sea Hurricanes (in the air during the sinking) were lost, about  of the fighter cover for the convoy. The German submarine escaped, possibly due to layers of the sea being at different temperatures, affecting the ships' ASDIC and after the torpedoing there were frequent false alarms. At 14:30 a , one of ten Aufklärungsgruppe 122 aircraft that had shadowed the convoy from 10:10, flew a reconnaissance sortie over the convoy, too high for the Sea Hurricanes to intercept. The Luftwaffe attacked just after sunset at 20:56, when the convoy was about  from Sardinia, with  bombers and three He 111 torpedo-bombers. The Heinkels flew low to drop torpedoes and the  attacked out of the dusk in shallow dives, that evaded the fighters but anti-aircraft fire from the convoy shot down two  for no loss and then damaged several British fighters as they landed on. During the night the Axis airfields in Sardinia were attacked by B-24 Liberators and Beaufighters, which set a hangar on fire and destroyed several aircraft.

Night, 11/12 August

On the night of  the Italian 7th and 3rd Cruiser divisions and 17 destroyers sailed from Cagliari, Messina and Naples to engage the British convoy. The RAF at the Malta Operations Room sent orders in plain language to a Wellington bomber that dropped flares and sent messages in clear, supposedly guiding a fictitious B-24 Liberator force, to bluff the Italian ships away from the convoy. ( had actually cancelled the operation before the British signals were received because of a lack of air cover.) At 00:20, the British discovered from Enigma that Italian intelligence had sighted four British cruisers and ten destroyers and thought that part of the convoy might be proceeding to the eastern Mediterranean. Enigma also revealed operation orders from Fliegerkorps II to the fighters of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77) at Elmas in Sardinia, to expect a convoy in the Sicilian Narrows early on 12 August. Fliegerkorps II was to co-operate with the Regia Aeronautica in Sicily and Sardinia, flying in waves with fighter escorts against the convoy.

British intelligence concluded that the convoy and its huge escort force had caused the Axis commanders to be apprehensive of a landing anywhere along the North African coast or on Crete. Axis precautionary measures had been taken on the assumption that if Crete was the target, landings would occur before 14 August. Defensive measures were also taken in the Benghazi–Tripoli area of Libya, where a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and the long-range bombers based at Derna were alerted to move to Benghazi or Tripoli, supported by Ju 52 transport aircraft. Panzerarmee Afrika prepared detachments to repel landings and moved forces to the Sollum–Mersa Matruh area, to defend the coast east of Tobruk. At 07:00, all ship movements from North Africa to Italy and the Aegean were suspended and by late afternoon, the British knew that the Luftwaffe anticipated a landing at Tripoli on 13 or 14 August. Fighter and dive-bomber reinforcements were sent from Sicily and Enigma intercepted a message from Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, ordering that the Luftwaffe

and that the attacks were to be directed against the British aircraft carriers and merchantmen. At 00:54, , part of the escort force for Furious, had been detached with four more destroyers for anti-submarine patrols after the loss of Eagle, detected a submarine at , accelerated, obtained a visual contact at  and rammed the Italian submarine Dagabur at , sinking the submarine with all hands.

12 August

Morning

Axis aircraft resumed shadowing at 05:00 and at 06:10, Indomitable sent Martlets to shoot down two  reconnaissance aircraft, which proved too high and too fast to intercept. Four Sea Hurricanes and Fulmars took off from the two carriers for air cover and every aircraft was readied to fly. German reconnaissance aircraft kept watch on the convoy, flying too high and fast for the FAA fighters. At 09:15, when the convoy was about  south-south-west of   dive-bombers of Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1) were intercepted  out. Four  were shot down and another two were claimed by navy anti-aircraft gunners (German records showed five shot down and two lost over Sardinia from mechanical failure) for the loss of one FAA fighter. The German crews made extravagant claims but did little damage and three Italian reconnaissance aircraft were also shot down. Beaufighters returning from a raid on Sardinia saw the 7th Cruiser Division (Da Zara) at sea and raised the alarm. The cruisers had sailed from Cagliari into the Tyrrhenian Sea at 08:10 on 11 August, escorted by the destroyers Maestrale, Alfredo Oriani and Vincenzo Gioberti, to rendezvous with Muzio Attendolo from Naples.

Early on 12 August, Trieste sailed from Genoa for Naples with the  and a torpedo-boat,  to join the 3rd Cruiser Division, which had left Messina early with the cruisers Gorizia, Bolzano and six destroyers after receiving a signal from U-83 that four cruisers and ten destroyers (MG 3) were close to Crete. The Italian cruisers and destroyers rendezvoused  north of Ustica off Palermo at the west end of Sicily, some of the ships being short of fuel and then moved south in two squadrons, preceded by the torpedo-boats  and . British reconnaissance aircraft from Malta had flown over Italian ports, a Spitfire pilot saw that the 3rd Cruiser Division had left port and at 18:54 a Baltimore crew saw the Italian ships rendezvous. On Malta, Park was not disturbed until the convoy and escort losses of the day, which depleted Force X; five Wellington bombers were sent to find the Italian cruisers and 15 Beaufort torpedo-bombers and 15 Beaufighters stood by.

The biggest convoy attack came around noon from Sardinia-based aircraft; a wave of ten SM.84 bombers from 38° Gruppo BT and eight CR.42s of 24° Gruppo CT flying as bombers with 14 MC.202 escorts, followed after five minutes by nine Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s and ten SM.84 torpedo bombers attacking the starboard side of the convoy, escorted by 12 Re.2001 fighters and 21 SM.79s and 12 Re.2001s from the port side, all the bombers aiming for the merchant ships. The second wave had been delayed by 15 minutes due to a shortage of mechanics for the Re.2001s and only 31 aircraft could take off. The bombers were met by a big anti-aircraft barrage, the merchantmen took evasive action and none was hit by the bombers that managed to get into range. The third wave comprised a pair of Re.2001G/V fighter-bombers from the Sezione Speciale (Special Section), intended to carry  low-altitude armour-piercing bombs. The bombs were not ready and the aircraft carried anti-personnel bombs; the fighter-bombers were accompanied by a special radio-controlled SM.79, loaded with a  bomb and directed by Generale di brigata Ferdinando Raffaelli in a Cant Z1007.

The wave was escorted by two of the five G.50 fighters of the 24° Gruppo CT which managed to find the formation. The pilot of the SM.79 pointed the aircraft towards the ships and parachuted, Rafaelli in the Z.1007 guiding the bomb by radio. The radio failed and the SM.79 flew straight on, instead of diving on one of the aircraft carriers as intended and crashed into Mount Khenchela in Algeria. The Sezione Speciale was mistaken for a Hurricane formation and both hit Victorious, one bomb killing six sailors and wounding two, the other bouncing off the deck and exploding over the sea. The first ten SM.84 bombers carried electric Motobomba FFF torpedoes which were designed to travel in an increasing spiral. The torpedoes were dropped  from the ships, which used the evasive manoeuvres practised in Operation Berserk to escape.

Between the second and third waves of Regia Aeronautica aircraft, 37 Ju 88s from Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) and Kampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77) attacked, having flown from Sicily with 21 Bf 109 fighter escorts, after using radio-countermeasures to blind the British radar on Malta. Five aircraft had turned back with mechanical failures but the rest evaded four Fulmars.  was hit and forced out of the convoy, escorted by . The number of Axis aircraft in the attacks was unprecedented, with  and  sorties for only meagre results. Two bombers, a torpedo-bomber and a fighter had been lost for one hit on Victorious and the damage to Deucalion. The quantity of anti-aircraft fire had led many aircrew to release their bombs and torpedoes early, but the Italian aircraft from Sardinia could refuel and rearm to attack again and a Cant Z1007 and several Luftwaffe aircraft continued to shadow the convoy.

Enigma decrypts showed the British that at 18:30 on 12 August, an S-boat flotilla was due to sail at 16:00 from Porto Empedocle in Sicily for Cap Bon to operate in the area until about 04:30 on 13 August. At 21:45, a Fliegerkorps II assessment revealed that the Axis thought that there were fifty-one ships in the western Mediterranean, including two carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers and twenty destroyers. The Germans mistakenly thought that a US Yorktown-class aircraft carrier was present but correctly identified Rodney and Nelson. The convoy was thought to consist of  of , protected by ten to sixteen fighters and plenty of anti-aircraft guns. The  was driven off by destroyers and at 09:30 a Sunderland flying boat damaged  off Algiers. At 13:34 another Sunderland from 202 Squadron caused more damage but Giada shot down the flying boat before heading for Valencia (until 14 August) with one dead and eight wounded crewmen on board.

Afternoon

The convoy was approached at 16:30 by Emo, which manoeuvred into position to fire torpedoes at a carrier from  but a sudden course change led Franco to change targets, launch four torpedoes and dive. The convoy had changed course again and the torpedoes missed; observers on Tartar saw the torpedo tracks and raised the alarm. Lookout sped towards a periscope, which was that of  moving into an attack position and forced it to dive, spoiling its attack; at 17:40, Lookout returned to the convoy. At 16:49  was depth charged by  while at periscope depth, forced to the surface, engaged by gunfire and rammed by Ithuriel, sinking at 17:02. Ithuriel lost two crewmen who had boarded Cobalto to try keep the submarine afloat; two Italian seamen were lost and the rest were rescued by the British. Ithuriel was badly damaged, lost its Asdic, was slowed to  and had to make for Gibraltar. Syfret had two destroyers on each flank of the convoy drop depth charges every ten minutes to deter submarines. Force F entered the Italian submarine ambush area C and just after 16:00  obtained an ASDIC contact on , forced it away with five depth charges but then had to return to the convoy. (Many submarine alarms were possibly caused by ghost Asdic contacts, due to the warm waters of the Mediterranean.)

The Regia Aeronautica units based in Sardinia managed to prepare eight Cr.42 dive-bombers and an escort of nine Re.2001 from 362°  and nine SM.79 bombers from Decimomannu. The SM.79s failed to find the convoy and a Re.2001 was shot down by an 806 Squadron Martlet from Indomitable. The convoy crossed the 10th parallel, beyond which aircraft based in Sicily could fly with fighter escorts and 105 aircraft prepared to attack in three waves. Problems with the fighter escorts were encountered because the Re.2001s of the 2°  had escorted the Sardinia-based bombers, landed in Sardinia and were not available until the next day. The torpedo- and dive-bombers were sent to Pantelleria to fly with the 51°  (MC.202s) and avoid the problems of co-ordination when aircraft flew from different bases. Four aircraft were sent on reconnaissance sorties; four of the Italian Ju 87s of 102°  were found to lack long-range tanks and torpedoes could not be attached to six SM.84s. Fulmars from Victorious shot down a SM.79 on reconnaissance but a Cant Z1007 maintained contact.  II arranged to co-ordinate with the Italians but the operations were independent. I , Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 (StG 3) had transferred from Trapani to Elmas and at 17:30 hrs, 20 Ju 87s with Bf 109 escorts took off.

Evening

Italian Ju 87s of 102° Gruppo arrived in poor visibility but at 18:35 the clouds parted. The Italian formation had been detected by radar while  out and three Martlets, twelve Sea Hurricanes and three Fulmars were airborne but faced MC.202 and Bf 109 escorts, the best Axis fighters. The dive- and torpedo-bomber attacks were well synchronised, the Ju 87s diving as the torpedo bombers approached in three waves at  The Ju 87s managed a near miss on Rodney with the  bomb exploding in the sea, one Stuka being shot down by a Hurricane and one by anti-aircraft fire. As the ships manoeuvred to evade the torpedo-bombers, another wave of Ju 87s arrived at  and bombed Indomitable from out of the sun, hit the flight deck twice and near-missed three times, with  bombs, killing fifty and wounding 59 men and seriously damaging the ship, which caught fire and slowed to , leaving Victorious as the last operational carrier. By 20:30, Indomitable had worked up to  but the damage to the flight deck left it out of action. Aircraft landed on Victorious but those that could not be accommodated were thrown overboard.

Charybdis, Lookout, Lightning and Somali gave assistance to Indomitable and the SM.79 torpedo-bombers were met with concentrated anti-aircraft fire. Only twelve SM.79s were able to drop torpedoes, at the long range of ;  was hit on the stern, sending crewmen flying through the air. The ship was scuttled the following day. A final Axis attack with twelve SM.79s and 28 Ju 87s cost two Ju 87s shot down and two damaged for no Allied loss; after returning to Pantelleria, the Axis aircraft were strafed by three Beaufighters, which flamed a  fuel depot, destroyed a Ju 52 and damaged two SM79s and an SM.84, also killing an Italian pilot caught on the airfield. The Axis air forces had flown  bomber sorties during the day and the Germans claimed that they had damaged an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, a destroyer and a large merchant ship. Both sides over-claimed, the British counted 39 shot-down aircraft against the true figure of 18 Axis aircraft lost; three Fulmars, three Sea Hurricanes and one Martlet had been shot down.

The loss of Eagle with its 16 aircraft and the damage to Indomitable which kept its 47 more aircraft out of action, reduced the number of operational fighters to eight Sea Hurricanes, three Martlets and 10 Fulmars, as Force Z was due to leave the convoy, to remain outside the range of Axis aircraft based in Sardinia. Syfret had intended Force Z to turn west upon reaching the Skerki Bank at 19:15 but ordered the turn at 18:55 to get Indomitable out of danger. Rodney was having boiler trouble which slowed Force Z to  but because of the number of aircraft involved in the Axis attacks, Syfret thought that there could be no more before dark and that the danger at the Skerki Bank would come from after dawn. About forty minutes after the turn a Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft reported the new course; Pedestal was about  from Malta with no local air cover, because of the four Fulmars left for the convoy, one had been shot down and one damaged by Bf 109s. At 18:55, Burrough with the close escort of Force X continued towards Malta with the merchant ships and Force R cruised in the western Mediterranean in case it was needed, until ordered to return to Gibraltar (arriving in the morning of 16 August).

Night, 12/13 August

At about 20:00, the convoy manoeuvred from four to two columns to pass through the Skerki Channel, the starboard column with Kenya in the lead and Manchester sixth back, the port column with Nigeria leading and Carlisle in the centre, ten destroyers sailing outside the columns. Five Italian submarines were waiting and at 19:38,  fired four torpedoes at a freighter from  and heard three explosions. The sound of the detonations turned out to be from torpedoes fired by  hitting Nigeria with 52 men killed,  and Ohio blowing a hole  in its side and starting a fire; the crew put out the fire and were soon able to make . The torpedoing of HMS Nigeria and Cairo (eventually sunk by the British), the diversion of  to become Burrough's new flagship and the detachment of four Hunt-class destroyers to stand by the damaged cruisers, temporarily deprived Force X of its commander, the two columns of the leaders and deprived the convoy nearly half its escort. On hearing that Nigeria and Cairo, which were equipped as Fighter Direction ships had been torpedoed, Syfret ordered Force Z to send back HMS Charybdis also fitted for fighter direction, with  and  to reinforce Force X. Nigeria and the other damaged ships turned back to Gibraltar, escorted by ,  and .

KG 54 and KG 77 dispatched 30  with seven He 111 torpedo-bombers from 6/KG 26 escorted by six Bf 110s of 6/ZG 26 and the destroyers were still with the damaged ships and when the raid was detected by radar at 20:35; six long-range Beaufighters of 248 Squadron arrived and were also fired on by the convoy gunners. Ashanti and  laid a smokescreen to cover the light western horizon, the sun having set at 20:10 but the reduced anti-aircraft firepower of the convoy and escorts failed to prevent the attack. After thirty minutes  was stopped, hit in the bows (possibly by the ), eventually to continue at . Clan Ferguson was torpedoed and set ablaze, later to be destroyed by an ammunition detonation, Rochester Castle was damaged and Empire Hope was sunk by a destroyer after rescuing the crew. At 21:05 Alagi fired a salvo of four torpedoes at Kenya, the tracks of which were seen on Port Chalmers and reported. Kenya turned sharply and avoided three of the torpedoes but the fourth hit aft on the starboard side; Kenya was able to keep up but this left Force X with Manchester as the only undamaged cruiser.  reported that it had sunk Deucalion and the captain of Kenya described the state of the convoy as "chaotic". At 21:30, the commander of Alagi reported that he had sunk the merchant ship Empire Hope and damaged Kenya and that

At 23:56, the convoy passed south of Zembra island towards Kelibia on Cap Bon, to avoid the minefields between Africa and Sicily, still out of formation. Three minesweeping destroyers sailed ahead, followed by the cruisers Kenya, Manchester and two freighters. Charybdis and the destroyers Eskimo and Somali from Force Z were still some hours behind and Ashanti was steaming fast to overhaul the main body. Three destroyers remained with nine of the merchantmen and Bramham was en route after Deucalion had been sunk. The main part of the convoy was attacked at 00:40 by four boats of the German III Squadron and 13 torpedo boats of the Italian 18° MAS, 2° MS and 20° MAS, which made 15 attacks; the long line of merchant ships and the reduced number of escort ships providing an easy target. The 18° MAS detected the convoy on radar, south-east of Pantelleria and attacked the escorts at the head of the procession, coming under fire, as they fired torpedoes to no effect. The Italian boats then attacked the merchant ships.

The convoy was vulnerable because the lighthouse at Cap Bon revealed their position about  offshore. S 58 and S 59 sighted the first ships at 00:20, attacked and S 58 was damaged, turning away for Porto Empedocle. S 59 attacked and claimed a freighter about  north-east of Cap Bon, but no ships were hit there. At 01:02 near Ras Mustafa south of Kelibia, MS 16 or MS 22 attacked the convoy to no effect but then attacked Manchester from close range and each scored a hit, flooding its boilers, fuel tanks and magazines and wrecking three of its four propeller shafts, the ship taking on a 12° list until counter-flooding reduced the list to 5°. ,  and Glenorchy following on, swerved around Manchester and lost formation. Glenorchy mistakenly claimed the destruction of a torpedo boat and the two MAS boats ran aground in Tunisia. Power was restored on Manchester and 156 men were taken on board Pathfinder but at 05:00, the captain ordered the ship be scuttled and the remaining crew to make for the Tunisian coast.

Between 03:15 and 04:30 about  off Kelibia, the torpedo boats hit and sank Wairangi, Almeria Lykes (US),  (US) and Glenorchy, as they took a short cut to catch up with the convoy. Rochester Castle was torpedoed but escaped at  and caught up with the main body by 05:30, by when Charybdis, Eskimo and Somali had arrived, increasing the escort to two cruisers and seven destroyers around Rochester Castle, Waimarama and Melbourne Star. Ohio and its destroyer were slowly closing the distance and further back were Port Chalmers and two destroyers. Dorset was sailing independently and Brisbane Star lurked near the Tunisian coast, ready to make a run for Malta after dark. Dawn brought an end to the torpedo boat attacks and at 07:30, Burrough sent Eskimo and Somali back to help Manchester but they arrived too late, took on survivors who had not reached the shore and made for Gibraltar.

13 August

Morning

An attack by the Italian cruisers appeared imminent, after air reconnaissance had sighted them the previous evening, heading south about  from the west end of Sicily, on course to reach the convoy at dawn. At 01:30 the cruisers had turned east and run along the north coast of Sicily; British aircraft from Malta had conducted a ruse to decoy the cruisers but the main attacking force on Malta was held back, in case the Italian battleships sailed from Taranto. Some of the Italian cruisers were ordered to return to port and the rest were sent through the Straits of Messina to join the 8th Cruiser Division against the MG 3 decoy convoy in the eastern Mediterranean.  had been waiting since 10 August  north of the Capo Milazzo lighthouse and after being attacked, moved close to Stromboli, arriving early on 13 August. The Italian cruisers were heard first by hydrophone and then seen through the periscope at 07:25, heading north between the islands of Filicudi and Panarea. The ships were making  with eight destroyer escorts and two CANT Z.506 aircraft overhead. Her commander raised the periscope for only short periods, to avoid being seen by the destroyers and the Cants, while manoeuvring into an attack position.

At 08:05, the cruisers slowed to  for Gorizia to fly off a seaplane and then the destroyer Fuciliere machine-gunned a periscope seen at . The Italian destroyers chased several sonar contacts and three sailed within  of Unbroken, which fired four torpedoes after they had passed by. Unbroken dived to  and after 2.15 minutes, an explosion was heard followed by a second after another 15 seconds. Observers on Gorizia and Bolzano had seen torpedo tracks and Gorizia was turned sharply but Bolzano was hit while beginning its turn. The deck crew of Muzio Attendolo had not seen the torpedo tracks or received the alert from Fuciliere and the ship took evasive action only after Bolzano was hit, which was too late. Unbroken descended to  and commenced silent running; Fuciliere (carrying sonar) and Camica Nera slowed to hunt the submarine. The destroyers detected Unbroken at 08:45 and accurately dropped 105 depth charges in the next 45 minutes but at too shallow a depth. Two destroyers escorted Gorizia and Trieste to Messina and five remained with Bolzano and Muzio Attendolo, periodically dropping depth charges as a deterrent.

Muzio Attendolo was hit forward and  of its bow was blown open but suffered no fatalities. The ship was towed towards Messina but when the bow fell off, the ship managed to sail on at , escorted by Grecale, Ascari and later Freccia, reaching Messina at 18:54. Bolzano was struck amidships, six engine rooms and a magazine flooded and a fire started, the commander of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla being ordered to tow the ship and run it aground on Panarea. Bolzano burned until the next day, watched over by Italian fighters and after a month of repairs, was towed to Naples. Muzio Attendolo was damaged for the duration of the war. After remaining submerged for ten hours, Unbroken surfaced and was recalled to Malta. (Supermarina had re-routed the cruiser force after a submarine (Unbroken) had been detected, which had been predicted by Mars, enabling him to forestall the Italians, who broke orders by not zigzagging and by slowing. After the incident, Supermarina assumed that the submarine had escaped because Italian depth charges were not powerful enough, rather than the sonar-equipped ships had been hampered by the turbulence of destroyer wakes and depth charge explosions.)

At 07:00 the convoy was about  from Malta and Axis reconnaissance accurately reported four freighters, two cruisers and seven destroyers but not five more destroyers. Trailing behind were Dorset and Port Chalmers with two destroyers and two more off to the west. Brisbane Star was in the Gulf of Hammamet and south of Pantelleria were six British submarines. Fliegerkorps II sent 26  in several waves and at 09:15, 16 Ju 87s escorted by eight Bf 109s and eight Bf 110s attacked. Ten  of II/LG 1 near missed Ohio and hit Waimarama which disintegrated; the aviation fuel on deck burst into flame and one of the bombers was destroyed in the explosion.  passed through the fires, rescuing 27 survivors of the ship's complement of 107 men.

The wreckage of Waimarama showered flaming debris on  and several of her crew abandoned ship prematurely, some of whom were later rescued by Ledbury. At 09:23, eight Italian Ju 87s with ten MC.202 escorts attacked and a Stuka was shot down and crashed onto Ohio, another was shot into the sea and a Spitfire was shot down, either by a MC.202 or navy anti-aircraft fire. Rochester Castle was damaged by a near miss from a  and Dorset was hit by Stukas of I/StG 3 and abandoned. The attackers lost two Ju 87s and a Bf 109 and a Beaufighter was shot down. Port Chalmers was hit and at 11:25, five SM.79 torpedo-bombers, with 14 MC.202 escorts, attacked and the crew found a torpedo caught in the starboard paravane, which exploded harmlessly. An SM.79 was shot down by a Spitfire and two destroyers were left behind with the disabled ships.

Afternoon

The remnants of the convoy steamed on to meet the four minesweepers and seven motor minesweepers of the 17th Minesweeper Flotilla of the Malta Escort Force at 14:30. Melbourne Star, Port Chalmers and Rochester Castle reached Grand Harbour at Valletta at 16:30, where Operation Ceres, the immediate unloading of the ships began. Another air attack at dusk by 14 Ju 87s, sank Dorset but when the main body was within  of Malta, 18  were recalled in the face of 407 Spitfire sorties from the island. Penn tried to tow Ohio but the tanker was listing and snapped the tow line; in a later attack, a bomb hit the same area as a previous torpedo hit and broke Ohios keel. The last ship to arrive, Brisbane Star evaded a U-boat and managed to steam at  despite the damage to its bows. Off Tunisia, Brisbane Star was attacked by two SM.79 torpedo bombers, whose torpedoes turned out to be duds. The ship evaded Italian MAS boats; it was then boarded by the Sousse harbour master, who tried to impound the vessel until persuaded to relent and let the ship sail on after dark. Ledbury was attacked by two SM.79s but shot them down. Force X had turned for Gibraltar at 16:00 with the cruisers Charybdis, Kenya and five destroyers; Fliegerkorps II made a maximum effort against the force, which made it easier for the remaining merchant ships to reach Malta. Force X was attacked by 35  and 13 Ju 87s, achieving only a near-miss on Kenya for a loss of a  and a Stuka. The Regia Aeronautica attacked with 15 bombers and 20 torpedo-bombers for no loss and during the afternoon, Force X met Force Z, the ships being attacked by aircraft, submarines and light craft; Foresight was scuttled by Tartar when it could no longer sail. Eskimo and Somali, carrying survivors from Manchester were the last to reach Gibraltar at 17:30 on 15 August.

Operations MG 3 and MG 4

In the eastern Mediterranean, the decoy operation MG 3 had begun when convoy MW12 with three freighters had sailed from Port Said after dusk on 10 August. The merchant ships were escorted by two cruisers, ten destroyers and two smaller escorts and another merchant ship escorted by two cruisers and three destroyers left Haifa at 03:00 the next day. The two forces rendezvoused early on 11 August and sailed west to the longitude of Alexandria, then turned back. U-83 had reported that four cruisers and ten destroyers were close to Crete and a message from a Sunderland was intercepted. Reconnaissance reports from Malta noted a smokescreen over Valletta, apparently to conceal two cruisers, but this was later taken to mean that the British were hiding the departure of ships heading west towards the convoy. The large size of the convoy was interpreted by Supermarina to imply an operation in the eastern Mediterranean and prepared to reinforce the 8th Cruiser Division at Navarino.

German aircraft had spotted the movements and early on 12 August, Kesselring informed Fliegerkorps X that four merchant vessels, six cruisers and an unknown number of destroyers were at 33° 40' N, 28° 34' E, sailing north-east at . Kesselring thought that the convoy was a British wireless-telegraphy spoof but might also be a supply convoy for Malta and Fliegerkorps X was ordered to reconnoitre all of the eastern Mediterranean on the morning of 12 August but no aircraft were available to cover the Italian cruisers, operations against the convoy taking priority. During the night of 12/13 August, the cruisers  and  with four destroyers conducted Operation MG 4, a bombardment of Rhodes port on the island of Rhodes. During the day, the RAF attacked Maritsa airfield on Rhodes and a British submarine landed Commandos on the east coast of Sicily (a False Nose Job) at Simeto south of Catania, to sabotage electricity pylons. The Italian 8th Cruiser Division remained in port and the Germans detached a destroyer to reinforce the Italians; local traffic along the North African coast and shipping between Italy and Greece was suspended but MG 3 failed to divert Axis attention from Operation Pedestal.

14–15 August

On the afternoon of 14 August, Brisbane Star arrived at Valletta Harbour with Spitfires circling overhead. Ohio was surrounded by ships to nurse the tanker to Grand Harbour and several American volunteers from Santa Eliza manned anti-aircraft guns on Ohio during the tow. The weight of the tanker kept breaking the tow lines, while constant air attacks were made by 20 bombers that destroyed the rudder, made a hole in her stern and brought the decks awash. The tanker was towed in by the destroyers Ledbury and Penn lashed on either side, with the minesweeper  acting as a stabiliser at the stern. More air attacks disrupted the towing formation, until it was re-established with Bramham replacing Ledbury for the remainder of the journey.

Ohio was towed into Grand Harbour at 09:30 on 15 August, to cheering crowds and a band playing Rule Britannia. The crowd fell silent as the ships entered harbour, men removed their hats, women crossed themselves and a bugle sounded Still. The tanker discharged oil into two tankers and water was pumped in at the same time, to reduce the chance of structural failure. Ohio settled on the bottom just as the last of the fuel was emptied. The surviving ships' cargo was unloaded in Malta by about 3,000 soldiers before being transferred to guarded stores. Some supplies were looted in the process; the looters included police officers, watchmen, British soldiers and Maltese civilians.

Aftermath

Analysis

German reports on 17 August claimed that all the tankers in the recent Mediterranean convoy had been sunk and none of the transports had reached their destination (assumed to be Egypt). The Allies had lost thirteen vessels, including nine merchantmen, one aircraft carrier (Eagle), two cruisers (Manchester and Cairo) and a destroyer (Foresight) but the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy had saved Malta. The arrival of about  of general cargo, together with petrol, oil fuel, kerosene and diesel fuel, was enough to give the island about ten weeks' supply beyond the few weeks that the existing stocks would last. Axis propaganda broadcasts made extravagant claims but a Kriegsmarine report noted the incomplete and contradictory evidence, allowing only a provisional conclusion. The arrival of four merchant ships and a tanker was unsatisfactory, because the revival of Malta as an offensive base would affect Axis supply routes in what might be the "decisive phase of the struggle for North Africa".  reached the same conclusion and  Giuseppe Santoro, deputy chief of staff of the , wrote that the British had achieved a strategic success by bringing Malta back into action "in the final phase of the struggle in Egypt".

In August, with Malta still besieged, 35 per cent of Axis convoy shipping to North Africa was lost. Later that year, Admiral Eberhard Weichold summed up the  view,

In 1994, James Sadkovich wrote that Operation Pedestal was a tactical disaster for the British and that it was of a magnitude comparable to the German attack on Convoy PQ 17. In 2000, Richard Woodman called Operation Pedestal a strategic victory, raising the morale of the people and garrison of Malta, averting famine and an inevitable surrender. In 2002, Giorgio Giorgerini wrote that the operation was an Italian success; Italian submarines had adopted more offensive tactics and sunk a cruiser and two merchantmen, damaged two cruisers and the tanker Ohio. In 2002, Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani called the convoy operation the last Axis victory in the Mediterranean but that it was a tactical not a strategic success. The arrival of Ohio justified the convoy despite the loss of nine of the merchant ships (one in Valletta harbour). Axis shipping had been suspended during the operation, partly because the transport Ogaden had been sunk off Derna on 12 August, by  and after Ohio arrived, Axis ships had to make longer journeys. On 15 August, Lerici was also sunk by Porpoise and on 17 August, Pilo was sunk by aircraft and the tanker Pozarica was sunk on 21 August.

Casualties

In 2003, Ian Malcolm listed 160 men killed on Eagle, 132 on Manchester, 52 on Nigeria, 50 on Indomitable, 24 on Cairo, five on Foresight, three on Kenya. Merchant Navy casualties were 83 on Waimarama, eighteen on Clan Ferguson, 7 on Glenorchy, 5 on Melbourne Star, 4 on Santa Elisa, 1 on Deucalion, 1 on Ohio and 1 on Brisbane Star. In 2010, Milan Vego wrote that about 350 men had been killed, Ohio never sailed again and the British lost a carrier (Eagle), the cruisers Manchester and Cairo and the destroyer Foresight. The carrier Indomitable, the cruisers Nigeria and Kenya and three destroyers were damaged and under repair for some time. On the Axis side, the Italian cruisers Bolzano and Muzio Attendolo were damaged and not operational for the rest of the war, the Italian submarines Cobalto and Dagabur were sunk, the Italian submarine Giada and the German E-Boat S58 were damaged.

 II sent  against Pedestal from 11 to 14 August and claimed twelve aircraft shot down for eighteen losses. Total Axis losses were 62 aircraft, 42 Italian and 19 German, including losses on the ground and those shot down by their own side. Royal Navy gunners and FAA fighters claimed 74 aircraft shot down, but destroyed 42 Axis aircraft, 26 from the  and 16  aircraft. The FAA lost 13 aircraft on operations and 16 Sea Hurricanes when Eagle was sunk, the RAF lost a Beaufighter and five Spitfires; a Sunderland was shot down by Giada. The Allies could not risk such losses again and another large convoy to Malta was not attempted until November 1942, when the re-capture of airfields in Egypt and Libya after the Second Battle of El Alamein made it much easier to provide land-based air cover.

Subsequent operations

From 16 to 18 August,  made another Club Run from Gibraltar and dispatched  to Malta in Operation Baritone. In September and October, Malta was supplied by the submarines (,  on the Magic Carpet run and  sailed during the operation with ammunition, aviation fuel and torpedoes). The submarines , Clyde,  and  made more Magic Carpet runs and the fast minelayer Welshman made a dash from Gibraltar with  of food. In September, with Malta revictualled, Allied forces sank  of Axis shipping, including  of fuel destined for Rommel, leaving the Axis forces in Egypt consuming supplies faster than receipts, contributing to tactical paralysis during the Second Battle of El Alamein  and Operation Torch

Submarines and Beaufort torpedo-bombers, escorted by Beaufighters, regularly attacked Axis supply ships, concentrating on tankers, known to the Allies through Ultra intercepts. An attempt to run a disguised merchant ship to Malta early in November failed and then Operation Stoneage  a convoy of four merchant ships from Alexandria, arrived undamaged (the light cruiser Arethusa was torpedoed with 155 men killed and had to be towed back to port). Force K was re-established at Malta and in Operation Portcullis  five ships were dispatched and arrived safely. Chariot manned torpedoes began to operate from Malta that month and from late December to January 1943, four convoys, Quadrangle A, B, C and D, with pairs of merchantmen in each, delivered  of stores without loss; empty ships were retrieved from the island.

Commemoration
In recognition of their fortitude during the siege and air attacks during all of the Mediterranean campaign, Malta was awarded the George Cross in the months immediately preceding this operation. Vice-Admiral Syfret was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his "bravery and dauntless resolution in fighting an important convoy through to Malta in the face of relentless attacks by day and night from enemy submarines, aircraft, and surface forces." The master of the tanker Ohio, Dudley Mason, was awarded the George Cross for showing "skill and courage of the highest order and it was due to his determination that, in spite of the most persistent enemy opposition, the vessel, with her valuable cargo, eventually reached Malta and was safely berthed." Several other officers, crew members and commanders of both the Royal and Merchant Navies, including the commander of HMS Ledbury, Roger Hill, received military awards ranging from the Distinguished Service Order and Conspicuous Gallantry Medal to Mentioned in Despatches, for the bravery shown in ferrying the merchantmen to Malta. The United States' Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to Junior Third Officer Frederick August Larsen, Jr. and to Cadet-Midshipman, US Merchant Marine Academy, Francis A. Dales for "Heroism beyond the call of duty" for their conduct aboard the Santa Elisa and Ohio. Operation Pedestal was the subject of a 1953 black and white British film, Malta Story, that interspersed archive footage of Ohio with scripted studio scenes.

Order of battle
AlliesForce FConvoy WS.21S Freighters: MV Empire Hope, MV Dorset, MV Wairangi, MV Rochester Castle, , , MV Port Chalmers, , , MV Clan Ferguson, MV Glenorchy, , MV Deucalion
 Oil tanker:
 Destroyer escort from Britain to Gibraltar: , , , , Force Z – heavy ships, returning to Gibraltar before entering enemy aircraft range
 Battleships

 Aircraft carriers
 (6 Sea Hurricanes, 16 Fulmars, 12 Albacores)
  (16 Sea Hurricanes)(sunk)
  (damaged) (10 Martlets, 24 Sea Hurricanes, 16 Albacores)
 Total 74 fighters, 28 torpedo bombers
 Light cruisers
 , ,
 19th Destroyer Flotilla
 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Force X 10th Cruiser Flotilla (light)
  (damaged),  (damaged),  (severely damaged and scuttled),  (sunk)
 6th Destroyer Flotilla
 , , ,  (severely damaged and scuttled), , , , , , ,
 Ocean tug
 JauntyForce Y – two merchant ships with escort making overnight run from Malta to Gibraltar
 Freighters: Troilus, Orari
 Destroyers: , Force R Fleet oil tankers: RFA Brown Ranger, RFA Dingledale
 Corvettes
 , , ,
 Ocean tug
 Malta Escort Force 17th Minesweeping Flotilla
 , , ,
 Motor launches: ML 121, ML 126, ML 134, ML 135, ML 168, ML 459, ML 469
 10th Submarine Flotilla
 ,  (off Milazzo and Palermo)
 , , , , HMS P46,  (between Malta and Tunisia)Operation Bellows Aircraft carrier
  (38 Spitfires to 11 August)Reserve Escort Group Destroyers
 , , , , , , , Operation MG 3 Convoy MW 12 (Port Said section)
 3 merchant vessels: 2 cruisers, 10 destroyers as escort
 Convoy MW 12 (Haifa section)
 1 Merchant vessel: 2 cruisers, 3 destroyers as escortOperation MG 4 Rhodes attack force
 2 cruisers, 4 destroyersAircraft operational on Malta 9 fighter squadrons
 3 torpedo-bomber squadrons
 4 bomber squadrons
 2 reconnaissance squadrons
 38 Spitfires (ex-Furious) from 11 August

AxisNaval forces3rd Cruiser Division (Messina)
 Heavy cruisers
 , ,
 Destroyers
 , , , , , , 7th Cruiser Division (Cagliari)
 Light cruisers
 , ,  (severely damaged)
 Destroyers
 , , ,
 Minelaying destroyer
  (to mine Sicilian Narrows)8th Cruiser Division (Navarino)
 Light cruisers
 , ,
 Destroyers
 5Submarines Italian
 , , , , , , ,  (sunk), , , , , , ,  (sunk),  (damaged), ,
 German
 , , Light forces 2nd MS Squadron
 MS 16, MS 22, MS 23, MS 25, MS 26, MS 31
 15th MAS Squadron
 MAS 549, MAS 543, MAS 548, MAS 563
 18th MAS Squadron
MAS 556, MAS 553, MAS 533, MAS 562, MAS 560
 20th MAS Squadron
 MAS 557, MAS 554, MAS 564, MAS 552
 S-boats
 S 30, S 59, S 58, S 36Aircraft on Sicily and Sardinia Regia Aeronautica
287th, 146th, 170th, 144th, 197th squadriglie
(90 torpedo bombers, 62 bombers, 25 dive-bombers, 151 fighters)
 Luftwaffe
Fliegerkorps II
(328 dive bombers, 32 bombers, 96 fighters)

Axis aircraft total: 784 (328 Italian, 456 German)

See also
Bonner Fellers

Notes

Footnotes

ReferencesBooks

 Journals ReportsNewspaper articles Websites

Further readingBooks

 Theses Websites'

External links

 The Supply of Malta
 Operation Pedestal and SS Ohio save Malta
 Times of Malta: Sta Marija Convoy Surviving Crewmen for Malta Reunion, Fiona Galea Debono; 15 July 2002
 Times of Malta: Survivor from Sta Marija Convoy tells his experience by Fiona Galea Debono, 13 August 2006
 Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto: Plancia di Commando
 ADM 199/1242 Catalogue entry for the official reports on the operation, held by The National Archives
 ADM 199/1243 Catalogue entry for the official reports on the operation, held by The National Archives
 Newsreel: The Battle of the Convoys
 Newsreel: Malta Convoy – Further Pictures
 Newsreel: Malta Convoy Battle

 Operation Pedestal
 Documentary: Malta Convoy, courtesy of the IWM

1942 in Malta
20th century in Malta
Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom
Italian naval victories in the battle of the Mediterranean
Conflicts in 1942
Malta Convoys
Naval aviation operations and battles
Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II
Naval battles of World War II involving Italy
Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom
August 1942 events
WS (Winston Special) Convoys

Operation Pedestal


Clayton County is the name of two counties in the United States:

 Clayton County, Georgia in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area
 Clayton County, Iowa

It was also the former name of Clay County, Arkansas.

Clayton County


89664 Pignata este un asteroid din centura principală de asteroizi.

Descriere
89664 Pignata este un asteroid din centura principală de asteroizi. A fost descoperit pe  la Cima Ekar în cadrul programului Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey. Asteroidul prezintă o orbită caracterizată de o semiaxă mare de 2,71 ua, o excentricitate de 0,13 și o înclinație de 11,0° în raport cu ecliptica.

Vezi și
 Lista planetelor minore: 89001-90000
 Centura de asteroizi

Referințe

Obiecte astronomice descoperite în 2001
Centura de asteroizi

89664 Pignata


Isla Preparis es una isla situada entre la bahía de Bengala y el mar de Andaman, 77 km al noreste de las Islas Coco y 133 km al suroeste del punto más cercano en la costa de Birmania. La isla posee unos 7 km de largo y tiene una anchura máxima de 1,8 km. Está cubierta de un bosque denso con pendientes suaves subiendo a una altura máxima de 81 m.

Véase también
 Geografía de Birmania
 Geografía de Asia

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Mapa de localización de la Isla

Archipiélagos e islas de Birmania

Preparis


Crabtree Township ist der Name folgender Townships in den Vereinigten Staaten:

 Crabtree Township (Haywood County, North Carolina)
 Crabtree Township (Yancey County, North Carolina)

Crabtree Township


Montague John Druitt (15 de agosto de 1857 - 31 de diciembre de 1888) fue uno de los sospechosos en los asesinatos de Jack el Destripador, que tuvieron lugar en Londres entre agosto y noviembre de 1888.

Provenía de una familia de clase media-alta inglesa, y estudió en el Winchester College y en la Universidad de Oxford. Después de graduarse, ocupó un puesto en un colegio y siguió una carrera paralela en la ley; obtuvo el título de abogado en 1885. Su principal interés fuera del trabajo fue el cricket, que jugó con muchos jugadores importantes de la época, entre ellos Lord Harris y Francis Lacey.

En noviembre de 1888, Druitt perdió su puesto en la escuela por razones que se desconocen. Un mes más tarde su cuerpo fue encontrado ahogado en el río Támesis. Su muerte, que resultó ser un suicidio, más o menos coincidió con el fin de los asesinatos que se atribuyeron a Jack el Destripador. Sugerido en privado en la década de 1890 que pudo haber cometido los delitos de conocimiento público, con posterioridad, en la década de 1960, este indicio condujo a la publicación de libros proponiéndolo como el asesino. Las pruebas contra él parecieran ser totalmente circunstanciales, y muchos escritores de la década de 1970 lo han rechazado como un posible sospechoso.

Analizando posibilidades de que Montague Druitt sea el rostro de "Jack el Destripador"
Como ya se dijo, Druitt supuestamente se suicidó arrojándose al río Támesis. Se sugirió en privado en la década de 1890 que pudo haber cometido aquellos homicidios de conocimiento público del año 1888. La nominación de este hombre al cargo de haber sido el verdadero asesino de Whitechapel, surgió a partir de un reporte policial de circulación interna (memorándum) redactado en 1894 por el entonces jerarca de Scotland Yard, Sir Melville Leslie Macnagthen. En esas notas se señaló a tres personas como sospechosos plausibles, y entre ellos a Montague John Druitt.

En ese documento y en lo que a éste atañe, se mencionaba que (el posible sospechoso):

El reporte señalado con notoriedad contiene errores: Druitt falleció con treinta y un años y no con cuarenta y uno, y aunque provenía de una familia de reconocidos galenos, era profesor y abogado pero no médico. Otro punto a tener presente es que el policía no acusó directamente al por entonces fallecido. Conforme se ha destacado:

Con posterioridad, en la década de 1960, este indicio condujo a la publicación de varias obras proponiéndolo como el asesino. En especial debe destacarse el ensayo de Tom Cullen titulado Otoño de Terror y editado en 1964, así como la investigación de Dan Farson sencillamente titulada Jack the Ripper, obra publicada en 1972.

Además, las pruebas contra Montague Druitt eran totalmente circunstanciales, y muchos escritores luego de la década de 1970 lo han rechazado como un posible sospechoso. Al efecto se señaló:

Véase también
 Sospechas de la identidad de Jack el Destripador

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 The Druitt papers
 Cuthbert Druitt papers
 Montague John Druitt (suspect) en el sitio digital Casebook: Jack the Ripper

Jack el Destripador
Suicidas de Inglaterra

Montague Druitt


Demokratik Toplum Partisi (DTP), 9 Kasım 2005 tarihinde kurulmuş (Türkiye'de kurulan 49. siyasi parti) ve 11 Aralık 2009 tarihinde Anayasa Mahkemesi kararı ile kapatılmış olan siyasi parti. Genel merkezi Ankara'nın Çankaya ilçesinin Balgat semtinde olan partinin amblemi sarı zemin üzerine, yeşil yapraklı kırmızı güldür. Demokratik Toplum Partisi, Demokratik Toplum Hareketi'nin partileşmesi sonucunda kurulmuştur. Partinin kurucuları arasında Demokrasi Partisi eski milletvekillerinden Leyla Zana ve Orhan Doğan ile Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi eski milletvekillerinden Ahmet Türk bulunmaktaydı.

DTP, Sosyalist Enternasyonal'da ve Avrupa Sosyalist Partisi'nde gözlemci statüsünde idi.

Parti tüzüğü
Demokratik Toplum Partisi, parti tüzüğünde şu şekilde tanımlanmıştı:

Tarihçe
DTP, Türkiye'de ilk defa eşbaşkanlık sistemini uygulayan siyasi partidir. Buna göre Aysel Tuğluk ile Ahmet Türk partinin eşbaşkanları olarak belirlenmiş, YSK'nın aldığı karar doğrultusunda, eşbaşkanlık sistemine son verilerek, partinin genel başkanlığı görevine geçici olarak tek başına Ahmet Türk seçilmiştir. Demokratik Toplum Partisi'nin 2. Olağanüstü Büyük Kongresi'nde Nurettin Demirtaş Genel Başkanlığa seçilmiştir. 21 Temmuz 2008 tarihinde yapılan olağanüstü kongrede genel başkanlığa adaylığını ilk olarak partinin eski Kars İl Başkanı olan Mahmut Alınak koymuş Ahmet Türk'ün aday olması üzerine Alınak, Türk'ün lehine namzet olmaktan vazgeçmiştir.

Demokratik Toplum Partisi ilk seçim deneyimini 2007 Genel Seçimleri'nde yaşadı. %10'luk seçim barajını aşamama kaygısıyla bu partiye mensup üyeler ve bu partiyle birlikte hareket eden EMEP, ÖDP, SDP ve bazı sivil toplum örgütlerine mensup kişiler Bin Umut Adayları adıyla bu seçime bağımsız olarak katıldılar. Seçim sonunda milletvekili olan halihazırda DTP üyesi olan 19 kişi ve SDP Onursal Başkanı Akın Birdal DTP'ye geçerken, seçimlere bağımsız aday olarak girmek isteyen ve bu sebeple partisinden istifa eden Ufuk Uras ise tekrar ÖDP'ye geçti. Hakkâri bağımsız milletvekili Hamit Geylani siyasi partilere üye olamama cezasından dolayı, seçimlerden bir yıl sonra yapılan DTP Olağanüstü Kongresi'nde, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi'nde grubu olan bu partiye geçerek milletvekili sayısının 21 olmasını sağlamıştı.

Her ne kadar DTP'nin 3 senelik geçmişi olsa da DTP çizgisinin Türk siyasi hayatında 20 senelik bir geçmişi bulunmaktadır. DTP'den önce açılan HEP, DEP, HADEP ve DEHAP çeşitli gerekçelerle kapatıldılar.

DTP, 26 Ekim 2008 tarihindeki Hakkâri mitinginde PKK'nın kurucusu ve lideri Abdullah Öcalan için özgürlük talep etmiştir.

PKK bağlantısı iddiaları
2009 Türkiye yerel seçimleri öncesinde Almanya'nın Ankara Büyükelçisi Eckart Cuntz, Mardin'e yaptığı gezi sırasında "DTP'nin yerel seçimlere giderken terör örgütü PKK'ya karşı tavır ve mesafe koyması gerekir." yorumu yaptı.

Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinin Ankara büyükelçileri, 24 Ekim 2007'de DTP Genel Başkanı Ahmet Türk ile Portekiz'in Ankara Büyükelçiliği konutunda toplantı gerçekleştirdi ve bu toplantıda, AB'nin PKK'ya yönelik tutumu hatırlatılarak, DTP'nin PKK ile arasına  mesafe koyması gerektiği mesajı verildi.

Avrupa Parlamentosu Türkiye Raportörü Ria Oomen-Ruijten tarafından Kasım 2008'de hazırlanan raporda DTP'ye "PKK ve terör eylemleriyle aralarına açıkça mesafe koyması" çağrısı yapıldı.

Parti içi açıklamalar
Eski DTP Van İl Başkanı Veysi Dilekçi aynı ilden Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi İl Başkanı Mustafa Bilici'yi ziyaretinde PKK ile ilgili bir açıklama yaparak

 demiştir.

DTP'nin eski eş başkanlarından Emine Ayna partisinin PKK ile ilişkisi iddialarını şöyle açıklamışı:

Kapatma davası

Yargıtay Cumhuriyet Başsavcısı Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, DTP'nin PKK'yı desteklediği gerekçesiyle kapatılması için 16 Kasım 2007 tarihinde Anayasa Mahkemesi'nde dava açtı. İddianamede partinin 8 milletvekili ile 221 DTP'linin siyasetten yasaklanması istendi. Haklarında siyasi yasak istenen milletvekilliler şunlardı: Mardin milletvekili Ahmet Türk, Diyarbakır Milletvekili Aysel Tuğluk, Van milletvekili Fatma Kurtulan, Şanlıurfa Milletvekili İbrahim Binici, Siirt milletvekili Osman Özçelik, İstanbul Milletvekili Sebahat Tuncel, Diyarbakır milletvekili Selahattin Demirtaş ve Şırnak milletvekili Sevahir Bayındır. Anayasa Mahkemesi, partinin kapatılmasıyla ilgili davanın 4. gününde yapılan 9 saatlik görüşmenin ardından kararı açıkladı ve parti, 11 Aralık 2009'da kapandı. Anayasa mahkemesi ayrıca 37 kişiye 5 yıl siyaset yasağı getirirken, Genel Başkan Ahmet Türk ve Aysel Tuğluk'un milletvekilliliğinin düşürülmesini kararlaştırdı.

DTP lideri Ahmet Türk, karar açıklanmadan önce partinin kapatılması durumunda sine-i millete döneceklerini açıkladı. Partinin kapatılmasından sonra Türk yaptığı açıklamada DTP'nin meclisten çekileceğini açıkladı.

Ardılı

DTP'nin kapatılması ihtimaline karşı 2 Mayıs 2008 tarihinde Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi (BDP) kuruldu. Partinin amblemi sarı zemin üzerinde yeşil meşe ağacından oluşmaktadır. Parti, 29 Mart yerel seçimlerine katıldı ve Türkiye genelinde yüzde 0.06 oy aldı.

Genel başkanlar

Ahmet Türk: Demokratik Toplum Partisi'nin son genel başkanıdır.

Aysel Tuğluk: 9 Kasım 2007 tarihindeki DTP Olağanüstü Kongresi'nde eşbaşkanlık görevinden ayrılmıştır.

Nurettin Demirtaş: Büyükhanlı Park Otelde gerçekleştirilen 2. Olağanüstü Büyük Kongredeki seçimlerde ilk iki turda yeterli çoğunluğu sağlayamayan Demirtaş, 3. turda partinin Genel Başkanlığına seçildi.

Nurettin Demirtaş'ın cezası sebebiyle başkanlık görevi düştü. Bunun üzerine göreve 23. Dönem Mardin milletvekili Emine Ayna getirildi.

Seçim performansı
Parti, Türkiye'de yapılan 2007 Türkiye genel seçimleri'ne % 10 seçim barajını aşamama kaygısıyla bağımsız adaylarla katıldı. DTP, seçimlerin ardından TBMM'de 21 milletvekili ile seçmenlerini temsil etmekte idi.. 11 Aralık 2009 tarihli Anayasa Mahkemesi kararıyla partinin kapatılmasından dolayı, partiye bağlı Ahmet Türk ve Aysel Tuğluk haricindeki milletvekilleri bağımsız milletvekili olarak yer almaya devam etti.

2009 Türkiye yerel seçimlerinde Türkiye genelinde %5,7 oranında oy alarak Türkiye genelinde 99 belediye başkanlığı kazandı.

Kaynakça

Dış bağlantılar

 Demokratik Toplum Partisi Resmi Sitesi (Ağustos 2008 arşivi)

2005'te kurulan siyasi partiler
2009'da kapatılan siyasi partiler
Sosyalist Enternasyonal
Bölgesel siyasi partiler
Demokratik Toplum Hareketi

Demokratik Toplum Partisi


Belfast Township ist der Name folgender Townships in den Vereinigten Staaten:

 Belfast Township (Minnesota)
 Belfast Township (Pennsylvania)

Belfast Township


Masaurhi es una ciudad de la India, en el distrito de Patna, estado de Bihar.

Geografía
Se encuentra a una altitud de 62  a 34 km de la capital estatal, Patna, en la zona horaria UTC +5:30.

Demografía
Según estimación 2011 contaba con una población de 58 297 habitantes.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Localidades de Bihar

Masaurhi


Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard,  T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, The Nice, Paul McCartney & Wings, the Alan Parsons Project, Yes, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Electric Light Orchestra, Rainbow, Styx and Al Stewart.

Hipgnosis consisted primarily of Cambridge natives Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, and later Peter Christopherson. The group dissolved in 1983, though Thorgerson worked on album designs until his death in 2013. Powell has worked with Paul McCartney and The Who in film and video production, and is the creative director for both Pink Floyd and lead guitarist David Gilmour. Christopherson went on to produce music videos for many bands and shot some of the earliest promotional photography for the Sex Pistols, but worked primarily as an electronic musician in the bands Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV and Coil until his death in 2010.

History
In 1968, Thorgerson and Powell were approached by their friends in Pink Floyd to design the cover for the group's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. This led to additional work for EMI, including photos and album covers for the Pretty Things, Free, Toe Fat and the Gods. Being film and art school students, they were able to use the darkroom at the Royal College of Art, but when they completed school, they had to set up their own facilities. They built a small darkroom in Powell's bathroom, but shortly thereafter, in early 1970, rented space and built a studio located at 6 Denmark Street.

When first starting out, Powell and Thorgerson adopted their name from graffiti they found on the door to their apartment. Thorgerson said they liked the word, not only for punning on "hypnosis", but for possessing "a nice sense of contradiction, of an impossible co-existence, from Hip = new, cool, and groovy, and Gnostic, relating to ancient learning."

Hipgnosis gained major international prominence in 1973 with their cover design for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. The final design was one of several versions prepared for the band to choose from, but according to drummer Nick Mason, the 'prism/pyramid' design was the immediate and unanimous choice. The record itself became one of the biggest-selling and longest-charting albums of all time, and the cover has since been hailed as one of the best of all time (VH1 rated it as No. 4, in 2003). After that, the firm became highly sought-after, and did many covers for high-profile bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, Genesis, UFO, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, the Alan Parsons Project, and Yes. They also designed the cover for the original UK paperback edition of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams would describe Thorgerson as "The best album designer in the world"), as well as the original UK hardcover edition of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron.

Peter Christopherson joined Hipgnosis as an assistant in 1974, and later became a full partner. The firm employed many assistants and other staff members over the years, including freelance designers and illustrators Richard Evans, George Hardie, and Richard Manning.

Hipgnosis did not have a set fee for designing an album cover but instead asked the artists to "pay what they thought it was worth". According to Thorgerson, this policy only occasionally backfired.

Style

Hipgnosis' approach to album design was strongly photography-oriented, and they pioneered the use of many innovative visual and packaging techniques. In particular, Thorgerson and Powell's surreal, elaborately manipulated photos (utilizing darkroom tricks, multiple exposures, airbrush retouching, and mechanical cut-and-paste techniques) were a film-based forerunner of what would, much later, be called photoshopping. Hipgnosis mainly used Hasselblad medium format cameras for their work.

Hipgnosis covers were noted for their quirky humour, such as the cover for the Pink Floyd double-LP compilation A Nice Pair, which featured an array of visual puns. Another example was the album There's the Rub for Wishbone Ash using a picture of cricketer and ball.

Such humour once angered Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, when Hipgnosis created a visual pun based on "(tennis) racquet"/"(noise) racket" for the album Houses of the Holy. Hipgnosis almost lost Led Zeppelin as a client as a result.

Another trademark was that many of their cover photos visually related to the album's lyrics, often depicting puns or double meanings of words in the album title. Since both Powell and Thorgerson were film students, they often used models and staged the photos in a highly theatrical manner. Hipgnosis covers rarely featured artists' photos on the outside, and most were in a gatefold cover format to provide ample space for their imagery.

Many of Hipgnosis' covers also featured pen and ink logos and illustrations designed to appear high-tech (often by graphic designer George Hardie), stickers, fancy inner sleeves, and other packaging bonuses. One of the extras created by Hipgnosis was the specially printed inner sleeve for Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door LP, which was black and white but turned to colour when dampened with water (tying in with the main cover's photographic theme).

Work

References

External links
 [ AllMusic album credits]

 Unofficial Hipgnosis website

Graphic design studios
Pink Floyd
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Design companies established in 1968
Design companies disestablished in 1983
1968 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England

Hipgnosis


Anke Birnie () este o sculptoriță olandeză cunoscută pentru bronzurile sale figurative.

Referințe

Legături externe
 Official Anke Birnie website
 Galerie Terbeek
 Curriculum vitae

Nașteri în 1943
Artiste din secolul al XX-lea
Artiste din secolul al XXI-lea
Oameni din Elburg
Neerlandezi în viață
Sculptori

Anke Birnie


أسواق السلام، هي شركة مغربية مختصة في توزيع المواد الاستهلاكية، أنشئت سنة 1998 بمدينة الرباط العاصمة فلقيت إقبال الزبناء مما مكنها من توسيع شبكتها بمختلف جهات المملكة، وهي تتوفر الآن على 7 أسواق ممتازة بكل من : الرباط - مراكش - القنيطرة - تمارة - طنجة - أكادير - وجدة

تتبع السلسلة مجموعة ينا هولدينغ المملوكة من طرف رجل الأعمال المغربي ميلود الشعبي. من أبرز منافسيها أسواق مرجان وأسواق أسيما وهي فرع من شركة أونا، ومترو المغرب التابعة لشركة مترو الألمانية.

تختلف السلسلة عن باقي الأسواق المغربية الأخرى بكونها رافضة لتجارة المشروبات الكحولية. وابتداء من يناير 2014 أقدمت المجموعة على إغلاق أبواب جميع المتاجر، خمْسا وأربعين دقيقة، من أجل تمكين الموظفين العاملين في المتاجر من أداء صلاة الجمعة.

الأسواق

الأسواق الحالية

 أسواق السلام الرباط - حي الرياض (1998-3500 م2).
 أسواق السلام مراكش - باب دكالة (2002-3000 م2).
 أسواق السلام القنيطرة (2004-6200 م2).
 أسواق السلام تمارة (2006-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام طنجة (2007-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام أكادير (2007-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام مراكش2 - كليز(2008-3000 م2).
 أسواق السلام وجدة (2008-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام المحمدية (2011)
 أسواق السلام الصويرة (2011-3500 م2).

الأسواق في طور البناء

 أسواق السلام أكادير2 (2009-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام الدارالبيضاء - الحجر الأسود(2009-5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام الدارالبيضاء2 - أولاد زيان(2009-3000 م2).

الأسواق المستقبلية

 أسواق السلام الناظور - بن انصار 2010.
 أسواق السلام فاس - 2011.
 أسواق السلام طنجة2 - مولاي يوسف (2011-3000 م2).
 أسواق السلام سلا (2011-4500 م2).
 أسواق السلام خريبكة (2013- 5000 م2).
 أسواق السلام القنيطرة2 - الحدادة طريق مهدية (2011-3000 م2).

وصلات خارجية
 موقع أسواق السلام.
 موقع ينا هولدينغ.

مراجع

سلسلة متاجر
شركات المساحات التجارية الكبرى
شركات أسست في 1998
شركات مغربية في الرباط
محلات سوبر ماركت في المغرب

أسواق السلام


Rıza Külegeç, kaligraf ve Avanak Avni karakteri için Oğuz Aral'a, Bezgin Bekir karakteri için Tuncay Akgün'e esin kaynağı olmuş karikatür-adam.

On altı yaşındayken ofisboy olarak Gırgır dergisinde çalışmaya başlamış, balon çizeri olarak çalışmayı sürdürmüştür. Bir süre tiyatroculuk yaptı ve reklam filmlerinde oynadı. Gırgır'a gidişini ve Avni tiplemesinin doğuşunu şöyle anlatır:

"16 yaşındaydım ve lise öğrencisiydim, derslerim de pek iyi değildi. O dönemlerde çocukların yaz tatillerinde çalışması gibi bir âdet vardı. Ev sahibimiz gazeteci Ergin Konuksever o zamanlar Günaydın gazetesinde çalışıyordu. Beni aldı Cağaloğlu'na götürdü ve Oğuz Aral'ın yanına bıraktı. Gırgır henüz dergi olmamıştı. Günaydın gazetesinin bir sayfasında yayımlanıyordu. Bir yıl sonra dergi formatında çıkmaya başladı. Serde gençlik var. Ergenlik ve başında kavak yelleri esiyor hâlimi yaşıyorum. O dönemde bütün avanaklıklarımız da ortada duruyordu. Oğuz Aral'ın zekâsı bunu yakaladı ve 'Avanak Avni' tipi böyle doğdu.

2003-2004 yılında oğlu Dağhan Külegeç'in ilk dizisi olan Lise Defteri dizisinde Sinem Kobal'ın canlandırdığı İnci karakterinin babası Rıza'ya hayat verdi.

Ergün Gündüz ile beraber çalışmışlardır. İlerleyen yıllarda Lombak, Penguen ve Leman gibi dergilerde de çizimler yapmıştır. Ayrıca Külegeç, 2004 yılında Tarkan, Serkan Keskin ve Sinan Çalışkanoğlu ile beraber Opet reklamında oynamıştır.

Altan Erbulak'ın kızı Ayşe Erbulak ile evliliğinden Dağhan Külegeç dünyaya gelmiştir.

Kaynakça

Türk karikatüristler

Rıza Külegeç


Zmijin kamen je kulturno-povijesno mjesto u mjestu Podstrani, na adresi Poljička ulica.

Opis
Vrijeme nastanka je od 9. do 15. stoljeća.

Zmijin kamen se nalazi spodno brda Perun s obje strane postojeće prometnice ŽC 6142 u Podstrani uz lijevu obalu rijeke Žrnovnice na predjelu zvanom Žminjača. "Zmijin kamen" je velika prirodno oblikovana stijena koja je dio brda Perun. U povijesnim izvorima, prvi put se spominje u ispravi iz 1178. kao Zmij kamik (Zmijin ili Zmajev kamen) koji se nalazi na rijeci Žrnovnici pod Perunom. U slavenskoj mitologiji ovaj naziv označava mjesto pod kojim obitavaju zmije, budući da je prema istoj Perun, bog gromova, onaj uz kojega je uvijek prisutan i njegov protivnik zmija ili zmaj. Poganski Slaveni su u svojim predajama ovako zamišljali odvijanje mitskog božanskog boja: Perun razbija kamen na kojem leži zmija na crnom runu i ubija je. "Zmijin kamen" je sastavnica autentičnog praslavenskog mitskog kazivanja koje još živi u sjećanju starijih stanovnika Žrnovnice.

Zaštita
Pod oznakom Z-6817 zaveden je kao nepokretno kulturno dobro - pojedinačno, pravna statusa zaštićena kulturnog dobra, klasificirano kao "memorijalna obilježja i mjesta".

Izvori

Zaštićena memorijalna obilježja i mjesta u Splitsko-dalmatinskoj županiji
Podstrana

Zmijin kamen


Le Championnat des Pays-Bas de hockey sur gazon, actuellement connu sous le nom de Tulp Hoofdklasse Men pour des raisons de parrainage, est la première division masculine du hockey sur gazon aux Pays-Bas. La ligue se classe au troisième rang du classement de la ligue européenne.

La ligue a été créée en 1973, et avant que la ligue n'existe, les champions de plusieurs districts jouaient dans une poule de championnat pour déterminer le champion national.

Bloemendaal est le champion actuel, après avoir remporté la saison 2018-2019 en battant les champions en titre Kampong en finale du championnat. Amsterdam a le plus de titres avec 21 suivi de Bloemendaal avec 20.

Format
La saison commence en août ou septembre de chaque année et est interrompue par la saison de hockey en salle de novembre à février. À partir de mars, la saison extérieure se poursuivra. La ligue est jouée par douze équipes qui s'affrontent deux fois et qui se disputent quatre places dans le championnat play-offs. Les numéros un et quatre et les numéros deux et trois s'affrontent en demi-finale et les vainqueurs se qualifient pour la finale où le vainqueur sera sacré champion. La dernière équipe classée est reléguée en deuxième division, la Promotieklasse. L'équipe classée onzième joue dans un barrage de relégation contre les finalistes de la Promotieklasse et l'équipe classée dixième joue un barrage de relégation contre la troisième place de la Promotieklasse. Les vainqueurs de ces matches joueront la saison prochaine dans la Hoofdklasse.

Clubs

Hébergement et emplacements

Liste des champions

Champions nationaux (1897-1973)

Ère Hoofdklasse (depuis 1973)

Références

Hockey sur gazon
Pays-Bas
Compétition de hockey sur gazon aux Pays-Bas


Mjällby er en by i Sölvesborgs kommun i Blekinge län i det allersydligste Sverige, som havde 1.254 indbyggere i 2010. Mjällby ligger på halvøen Listerlandet.

Byen har traditionelt levet af fiskeri, og den nærliggende havn i Nogersund er den tredjestørste fiskerihavn i Sverige. Fiskeriindustrien er dominerende på halvøen Listerlandet som også er et centrum for pelsdyravl i Sverige.

Mjällby er kendt for sit fodboldhold, der har spillet flere gange i den svenske nationale fodboldliga. Blandt fodboldfans i Sverige er Mjällby AIF kendt som "holdet, der altid kommer igen". I september 2009 kvalificerede holdet sig igen til den øverste division og spillede fem sæsoner i Allsvenskan indtil slutningen af 2014-sæsonen.

Matematikeren Lars Hörmander var født i Mjällby.

En forstad til byen, opført af et lokalt boligselskab, var i omkring 40 år uofficielt kendt af lokalbefolkningen som Negerby på grund af de sorte skorstene på husene. I 2012 blev brugen af dette navn omtalt af en journalist, og efter et offentligt ramaskrig besluttede boligselskabet sig for at benytte Slottsstaden.

Kildehenvisninger

Byer i Sölvesborgs kommun

Mjällby


Die Niederländische Badmintonmeisterschaft 1958 war die 17. Austragung der nationalen Titelkämpfe im Badminton in den Niederlanden.

Sieger und Finalisten

Weblinks
badminton.nl

1958
Badminton 1958


ඒබල් ත්‍යාගය  () යනු,  සංගණ්‍ය ගණිතඥයින් එක් අයෙකු හට හෝ වැඩි දෙනෙකු හට හෝ නෝර්වේහී රජතුමා විසින් වාර්ෂිකව පිරිනැමෙන නෝර්වේජියානු ත්‍යාගයකි.

නෝර්වේ

ඒබල් ත්‍යාගය


Huércal-Overa, İspanya'nın on yedi özerk bölgesinden en kalabalık ikinci bölge olan Endülüs'e bağlı; İspanya'nın güneyinde bulunan Almería eyaletine bağlı belediye. 2009 yılındaki nüfusu; 19,844 kişidir. Belediye, 318 km²'lik bir alanı kaplamaktadır.

Nüfus

Kaynak: INE (Spain)

Dış bağlantılar
  Huércal-Overa - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía
  Huércal-Overa - Diputación Provincial de Almería
   Villa de Huércal-Overa - Visita toda su gastronomía, fotos, foros deportes

Almería belediyeleri

Huércal-Overa


Fridrik VIII. (Kopenhagen, 3. lipnja 1843. – Hamburg, 14. svibnja 1912.), danski kralj od 1906. do 1912. godine iz dinastije Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Tijekom duge vladavine svoga oca, kralja Kristijana IX. (1863. – 1906.) nije bio uključen u političke poslove. Sudjelovao je u dansko-njemačkom ratu u kojem je Danska izgubila vojvodine Schleswig, Holstein i Lauenburg.

Kao kralj osnovao je komisiju koja je trebala donijeti zakon o autonomiji Islanda, ali cilj nije bio ostvaren.

Oženio se princezom Lujzom od Švedske (1851. – 1926.) s kojom je imao osmero djece:
 Kristijan X. (1870. – 1947.) - prijestolonasljednik i danski kralj (1912. – 1947.)
 Haakon VII. (1872. – 1957.) - danski princ i norveški kralj (1905. – 1957.)
 Louise od Schaumburg-Lippe (1875. – 1906.) - princeza; udala se 1896. godine za princa Fridrika od Schaumburg-Lippe
 Harald (1876. – 1949.) - danski princ; general bojnik
 Ingeborg od Västergötlanda (1878. – 1958.) - princeza; udala se 1897. godine za princa Karla, vojvodu od od Västergötlanda
 Thyra (1880. – 1945.) - danska princeza; nije se udavala i nije imala djece
 Gustav (1887. – 1944.) - danski princ; nije se ženio i nije imao djece
 Dagmar (1890. – 1961.) - princeza; udala se 1922. godine za Jørgena Castenskjolda

Vanjske poveznice

 Fridrik VIII., danski kralj - Britannica Online

Danski kraljevi
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Danski masoni

Fridrik VIII. Danski


Shesh i Bardhë (dansk oversættelse: "Hvidt felt") er en albansk hvidvin. Det anbefales at servere den ved 10 °C.

Referencer

Hvidvin
Kultur i Albanien

Shesh i Bardhë


Carlos Alonso del Real Ramos (Madrid, 2 de mayo de 1914 - 11 de enero de 1993), periodista, ensayista y arqueólogo español. Su obra abarca un gran número de temas desde la prehistoria hasta la historia de las religiones, la América precolombina o África y se interesa también por la reflexión epistemológica, la problemática antropológica y sociológica.

Biografía
Licenciado en Filosofía y Letras (Sección Filología Clásica) por la Universidad Central de Madrid (1931-1936). Discípulo de Julio Martínez Santa-Olalla; se doctoró en 1940 en dicha universidad con la tesis «Las ideas de los antiguos sobre la humanidad primitiva». Participó en El crucero universitario por el Mediterráneo de 1933. Su diario de viaje, que resultó ganador del concurso que se convocó entre todos los participantes, se publicó en 1934 junto con los de los estudiantes de filosofía Julián Marías y Manuel Granell, en el libro Juventud en el mundo antiguo; quince años después escribió Revisión de un viaje donde afirmaba: «casi me parece que no tengo nada que ver con él». El 8 de febrero de 1955 obtuvo por oposición la cátedra de «Prehistoria e Historia universal de las Edades Antigua y Media y de Historia general de la Cultura (antigua y media)» de la Facultad de Filosofía y letras de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. En 1981 se trasladó a la Universidad Complutense, donde sucedió en la dirección del Departamento de Prehistoria a Martín Almagro Basch.

Obras
 Juventud en el mundo antiguo. Crucero universitario por el Mediterráneo, Espasa Calpe, Madrid 1934; junto con Julián Marías y Manuel Granell.
 Evocaciones: Barcelona - Sevilla y sus Exposiciones 1929-1930, por un estudiante, Madrid 1930 (Martín Treceño)
 Cuestionarios de etnología (J. Pérez de Barradas), lingüística (Carlos Alonso del Real) y Arqueología (J. Martínez Santaolalla), Edición provisional, Alta Comisaría de España en Marruecos [Investigación Científica de Marruecos, 1], Tetuan 1940.
 Sociología Pre y Protohistórica, Instituto de Estudios Políticos, Madrid 1961.
 Realidad y leyenda de las amazonas, Espasa-Calpe [Colección Austral, 1396], Madrid 1967.
 Superstición y supersticiones, Espasa-Calpe [Colección Austral, 1487], Madrid 1971.
 Esperando a los bárbaros, Espasa-Calpe [Colección Austral, 1512], Madrid 1972.
 Nueva sociología de la prehistoria, Pico Sacro [Biblioteca de bolsillo Pico Sacro, 11], Santiago de Compostela 1977

Referencias externas

Bibliografía
 Gonzalo Pasamar e Ignacio Peiró (Coordinadores) Diccionario akal de historiadores españoles contemporáneos (1840-1980), Ediciones Akal, 2002, 699 pp ISBN 8446014890, 9788446014898

Periodistas de España del siglo XX
Crucero universitario por el Mediterráneo de 1933
Nacidos en Madrid

Carlos Alonso del Real