Operation Stoneage or Operation Stone Age (16–20 November 1942) was an Allied convoy operation to the Mediterranean island of Malta in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. To disguise the destination of the ships, some took on their cargo at
Port Sudan
Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...
in the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
. The four ships of Convoy MW 13 sailed from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
on 16 November, escorted by cruisers, destroyers and round-the-clock air cover from captured airfields in Egypt and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya).
A complementary convoy from Gibraltar was cancelled when the British and Allied
First Army, landed in Morocco and Algeria in
Operation Torch (8–16 November) and made less progress along the Algerian coast than expected. MW 13 sailed about from the African coast as far west as Benghazi, then turned north for Malta. The Axis retreat along the Libyan coast was monitored by the
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
code-breakers of the German
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
coding machine, which revealed the inability of to counter-attack the Allies.
At dusk on 18 November, an attack by Axis torpedo-bombers hit the 6-inch [] cruiser forward of the bridge and killed 156 members of the crew. ''Arethusa'' made a slow voyage back to Alexandria, being towed backwards at first and then continuing backwards on one engine. MW 13 arrived at Malta at on 20 November, breaking the Axis
Siege of Malta (11 June 1940 – 20 November 1942).
Background
Battle of the Mediterranean
Despite many naval losses and the Axis gaining control over the central Mediterranean in the summer of 1942, the British had held on to Malta. The surviving ships of
Operation Pedestal (3–15 August) including the tanker , had delivered sufficient fuel, stores and military equipment to revive British submarine and aircraft operations from the island. Submarines and
Bristol Beaufort
The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber. At le ...
torpedo-bombers escorted by
Bristol Beaufighters, regularly attacked Axis supply ships, concentrating on tankers known to the Allies through
Ultra
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...
intercepts from
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
. In September, the Axis in Egypt was denied of supplies, including of fuel.
![Littorio class battleship](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Littorio_class_battleship.png)
Axis shipping losses contributed to the decline of mobility that constrained at the
Battle of Alam Halfa
The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. '' Panzerarmee Afrika'' (''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel), attempted an envelopme ...
(30 August – 5 September) and the
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...
(23 October – 11 November). As the retreated, the Axis air forces had to keep pace by changing airfields frequently. The (Italian Royal Navy) was expected to be the most serious threat to another Malta convoy, with six battleships, three of them the modern
''Littorio'' class, available, with two heavy-, five light-cruisers and at least twenty destroyers. The three ''Littorio'' class battleships moved to Naples on 11 November but this still left them close enough to sortie against a Malta convoy; five of the cruisers were at Messina in Sicily.
Malta
![Malta in its region (special marker)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Malta_in_its_region_%28special_marker%29.svg)
In October, the submarines ''Parthian'' and ''Clyde'' from Gibraltar and ''Rorqual'', in two trips from
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
in the eastern Mediterranean, carried aircraft fuel, food, oils and torpedoes to Malta; Operation Train delivered 27
Supermarine Spitfire fighters to Malta (28–30 October). From 1 to 3 November, ''Parthian'' and ''Clyde'' delivered more stores and two attempts were made to get unescorted ships to Malta by ruse. ''Empire Patrol'' departed Alexandria on 1 November, loaded with fuel and food, escorted by to destroyers, to be disguised as a Turkish ship when east of Cyprus, then under an Italian flag when heading for Malta. Around noon on 2 November, when sailing alone, a
Dornier Do 217
The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II as a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bombe ...
bomber circled the ship, a submarine periscope was seen and the commander ordered a return to Famagusta.
Operation Crupper began when two ships in civilian guise sailed from Britain, with Convoy KMS 1 to Gibraltar, then detached for Malta in the hope that the Vichy French authorities would be incapable of preventing their passage. The ships were fired on by coastal artillery at Cap Bon and boarded; both captains tried to bluff their way through but the ships were interned at Bizerta. After the ruse failed, the fast
Abdiel-class minelayer sailed from Alexandria on 10 November and arrived two days later with powdered milk, cereals and meat, leaving for Gibraltar the same day, to collect mines and lay them off Cape Bon. left from a convoy bringing supplies to North Africa for
Operation Torch and arrived at Malta on 18 November.
Prelude
Allied air forces
A combined Navy and RAF operations room was set up at the HQ of
201 Naval Co-operation Group, which had three reconnaissance squadrons, three squadrons of anti-submarine aircraft, four of torpedo-bombers and a long-range squadron with twin-engined fighters. AHQ Egypt and the
Desert Air Force
The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 ...
(DAF) were to contribute single-engined fighters to a north–south line west of Benghazi, where they would hand over to aircraft from Malta; US
B-24
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
heavy bombers were also ready at Gambut in support. At Malta, the RAF maintained a composite photographic, reconnaissance and
Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) reconnaissance squadron, just under two squadrons of torpedo-bombers, three long-range twin-engined and five single-engined fighter squadrons for convoy protection and a night bomber squadron, which was due to raid Axis airfields on Sicily during the night of 19/20 October. Air defence of the convoy had to contend with threats from Crete and then Sicily but the threat of attack from Cyrenaica was much reduced after the Second Battle of El Alamein. As withdrew westward, the DAF was to take over the Axis air bases from which the and had attacked Malta convoys. Before sunrise on the third day of the voyage, the convoy was expected to be in range of Malta-based fighters.
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.
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Luftwaffe during World War II who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. In a military career that spanned both world wars, Kesselring beca ...
of the commanded German ground forces in the theatre as Commander-in-Chief South (,
OB Süd) 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 chain of command. Since November 1941, Kesselring had exercised some influence over the conduct of the German naval operations in the Mediterranean as the nominal head of Naval Command Italy () but this was subordinate to the chain of command. German service rivalries obstructed co-operation and there was little
unity of effort Unity of effort is the state of harmonizing efforts among multiple organizations working towards a similar objective. This prevents organizations from working at cross purposes and it reduces duplication of effort. Multiple organizations can achiev ...
between German and the Italian forces in the Mediterranean. Kesselring had the authority only to co-ordinate plans for combined operations by German and Italian forces and some influence on the use of the 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 (Italian Navy High Command) constantly over-ruled lower-level commanders.
Convoy plan
Convoy MW 13 consisted of the British ''Denbighshire'' (8,393
Gross register tonnage rt, Dutch (9,312 grt), the US ''Robin Locksley'' (7,000 grt) and ''Mormacmoon'' (7,939 grt). The escort was provided by the
15th Cruiser Squadron
The 15th Cruiser Squadron also known as Force K was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1940 to 1946.
History
The squadron was formed in May 1940 and was assigned to the Home Fleet. In 1941 it was transferred to the Medit ...
(Rear-Admiral
Arthur Power
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur John Power, (12 April 1889 – 28 January 1960) was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the First World War as a gunnery officer and saw action in the Dardanelles campaign. During the inter-war years he comma ...
) with the
Arethusa-class () cruisers and , with the
Dido-class () cruisers , and . The cruisers were accompanied by the
14th Destroyer Flotilla
The14th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from April 1916 to 11 February 1919 and again from 1 June 1940 to January 1944.
History World War One
The flotilla was first establishe ...
with , , , , , and . The ten
Hunt-class destroyer
The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They ...
s of the
12th Destroyer Flotilla
The British 12th Destroyer Flotilla, or Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from November 1915 to March 1919 and again from September 1939 to 2 July 1943.
History World War One
The flotilla was first formed in Nov ...
, comprising , , , , , , , , and the Greek provided support. For security reasons, ''Bantam'' and ''Denbighshire'' loaded cargo at
Port Sudan
Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...
and their bridges and gun positions were given extra sandbag protection. The ships met at Suez Bay and entered the Suez Canal on 15 November, touched at
Port Said on 16 November to embark more ammunition and entered the Mediterranean at The ships were to follow the
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
n shore, about out, within the range of Allied single-engined fighters for two days after leaving Port Said, until north of Benghazi at dusk for a turn north and a run for Malta.
Land campaign
![Ww2 map33](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Ww2_map33.jpg)
The
Eighth Army recaptured Mersa Matruh on 8 November, the day that Torch began; a convoy set sail from Alexandria to Matruh the same day. Convoy MW 13 was not due to sail until the landing grounds at Tobruk had been recaptured and it was hoped that
Martuba Air Base, near Derna, would be operational by 17 November. On 11 November, DAF reconnaissance aircraft uncovered Axis evacuations of Bardia and Tobruk, which were captured on 12 and 13 November; the first Allied convoy reached Tobruk on 19 November. Axis fuel shortages and the stocks available at Benghazi made it likely that the retreat would continue along the coast road () north of the
Jebel Akhdar and Ultra intercepts of Axis
Enigma machine cyphers by 11 November revealed that the Axis forces had only four or five days' fuel left. There was considerable apprehension among the Axis of a British outflanking move south of the Jebel Akhdar, made worse by the loss of a fuel tanker en route to Benghazi. The landing grounds at Gazala were open to the DAF by 17 November and Martuba was operational on 19 November, from which land-based aircraft escorted the convoy.
Convoy MW 13
16–18 November
![450 Sqn (AWM 024694)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/450_Sqn_%28AWM_024694%29.jpg)
MW 13 began passage through the Suez Canal and on 16 November reached Port Said in the afternoon. During the evening, the convoy left Port Said with the 15th Cruiser Squadron and the 14th Destroyer Flotilla. Off Alexandria on 17 November, the ten Hunt-class destroyers of the 12th Destroyer Flotilla joined the convoy and the cruisers and fleet destroyers refuelled at Alexandria. Anti-submarine sorties were flown around-the-clock by
Bristol Bisley
The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...
s of
15 Squadron South African Air Force
"Through hardships to the stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment ...
,
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...
s of
439 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) and the
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...
of
815 Squadron Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
. The twin-engined Beaufighters of
252 Squadron Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
patrolled nearby at dawn and twilight.
Just before noon, a formation of
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...
bombers attacked the convoy but was seen off by the
Curtiss Kittyhawks of
450 Squadron RAAF; no more attacks were made on the convoy for the rest of the day. As dark fell and the cruisers and fleet destroyers, except for ''Euryalus'', separated from the convoy for the night, both groups of ships were attacked by torpedo-bombers. No damage was done to the convoy but the cruiser ''Arethusa'' was torpedoed forward of the bridge and took a list to port under a plume of smoke. The crew suffered 156 men killed and more wounded, many badly burned. ''Petard'' took the ship in tow from the stern, watched over by ''Jervis'' and ''Javelin'' and began the voyage back to Alexandria.
19–20 November
At dawn the cruisers and fleet destroyers rejoined the convoy, which received air cover from Malta Beaufighters and Spitfires; six
Martin Baltimore
The Martin 187 Baltimore was a twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States as the A-30. The model was originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then ...
reconnaissance bombers from
203 Squadron RAF from
Kambut
Kambut, sometimes is known as Gambut, is a village in eastern Libya, some east of Tobruk. It is a site of an old military airfield in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a worl ...
(Gambut) in Libya, flew ahead of the convoy as it made its way northwards. Co-ordination between the ships and aircraft was much improved by better training and the availability of
VHF radiotelephones, which gave longer range and better reception between sea and air. At when from Malta, the 15th Cruiser Squadron and the fleet destroyers detached and turned for Alexandria. ''Euryalus'' and the 12th Destroyer Flotilla were escorted by the minesweeper and other local boats into Grand Harbour at on 20 November, to the cheers of the population and garrison. Unloading began at and the siege of Malta had been considerably alleviated by 26 November. Axis aircraft had attempted to bomb the ships but a petrol vapour fire on ''Denbighshire'' was more dangerous.
Aftermath
Analysis
Stephen Roskill, the official historian of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, wrote in 1962 that the arrival of Stoneage ended the two-year siege of Malta. Submarines were transferred from Magic Carpet rides to offensive operations and at the end of November,
821 Naval Air Squadron
821 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the transferral and amalgamation of the Fairey III aircraft from 446 and half of 455 Flight (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flights Royal Ai ...
(
Fairey Albacore
The Fairey Albacore is a single-engine biplane torpedo bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation. It was primarily operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and was heavily used during the Second ...
s) transferred to Malta, as did
Force K with the cruisers ''Dido'' and ''Euryalus'' and four fleet destroyers; a
Motor Torpedo Boat flotilla arrived soon after. Another cruiser and destroyer force began to operate from
Bône
Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...
in Algeria, which from 1 December, enabled the Navy to attack Axis convoys to Tunisia from both directions. In 2003, Richard Woodman wrote that Stoneage delivered of supplies, which advanced the deadline at which Malta would be compelled to surrender for lack of supplies to mid-December. The Eighth Army had expelled the Axis forces from Egypt and Cyrenaica, having entered Benghazi on 20 November. In Tunisia, the
First Army was about from Bizerta, preparing for its next advance. Allied success on land made convoy operations much safer and
Operation Portcullis, the next Malta convoy, arrived safely on 5 December.
Casualties
The torpedoing of ''Arethusa'' killed 156 men and more were seriously injured, many by burns. The RAF lost five aircraft, three of them Spitfires.
See also
*
Battle of the Mediterranean
*
Malta Convoys
The Malta convoys were Allied supply convoys of the Second World War. The convoys took place during the Siege of Malta in the Mediterranean Theatre. Malta was a base from which British sea and air forces could attack ships carrying supplies ...
Notes
Footnotes
References
Books
*
*
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*
Journals
*
Further reading
*
External links
Chronology of the siege of Malta, 1940–43: Merlins over Malta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoneage
Battle of the Mediterranean
Malta Convoys
Mediterranean convoys of World War II
Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom
November 1942 events