Operation MB8 was a British

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 ...

operation in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

from 4 to 11 November 1940. It was made up of six forces comprising two aircraft carriers, five battleships, 10 cruisers and 30 destroyers, including much of Force H from Gibraltar, protecting four supply

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s. It consisted of Operation Coat, Operation Crack, Convoy MW 3, Convoy ME 3, Convoy AN 6 and the main element,

Battle of Taranto The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and Italian naval forces, under Admiral Inigo Campioni. The Royal Navy launched ...

(Operation Judgement).Stephen, p. 38.

Operation Coat

Operation Coat was a reinforcement convoy from Britain to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, carrying troops and

anti-aircraft guns Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

. The convoy was made up of the battleship ,

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

s and and three escorting destroyers. It was covered by the aircraft carrier ,

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

and three more destroyers, all from Force H, out to mid-Mediterranean; three Force H destroyers would remain, the rest turning back from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Convoy MW 3

Convoy MW 3 was made up of three empty merchantmen bound for Malta 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 ...

, plus an Australian destroyer and the

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

bound for the base at

Suda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri ...

in Crete.Greene & Massignani, p. 101 The convoy was escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser , accompanied by three destroyers. The convoy left Alexandria on 4 November and reached Malta on 10 November.Hague, p. 192

Convoy ME 3

Convoy ME 3 comprised four merchantmen sailing in ballast from Malta to Alexandria, under escort of the battleship , ''Coventry'', and two destroyers. The convoy sailed from Malta on 10 November and arrived in Alexandria on 13 November.

Convoy AN 6

Convoy AN 6 consisted of four slow

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

bound for

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, in support of the British expedition there, escorted by a slow trawler. Shaping a similar course were reinforcements for

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, embarked in the light cruisers and as Force B, while Force C, the light cruiser (Vice Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell) transported RAF supplies to Greece and inspected Suda Bay. All three would rejoin to form

Force X The Force X was a squadron of the French Navy, assembled on 29 April 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, to deter Italy from striking in the Levantine Sea. It was constituted of the old battleship ''Lorraine'', of the three modern hea ...

for an 11/12 November raid on the

Otranto Strait The Strait of Otranto ( sq, Ngushtica e Otrantos; it, Canale d'Otranto; hr, Otrantska Vrata) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The str ...

Operation Crack

Operation Crack was an attack on Cagliari by aircraft from ''Ark Royal'', ''en route'' to Malta, branching off from Operation Coat.

Operation Judgement

Operation Judgement, under the command of Admiral Andrew Cunningham, was executed by aircraft from the carrier , escorted by battleships ''Ramilies'', , and . They met the heavy cruisers and and three destroyers, then escorting Convoy MW 3, and provided cover. A rendezvous with the ''Barham'' group from Operation Coat was to be met, with ''Illustrious'', ''Gloucester'', ''York'' and ''Berwick'' detaching to attack Taranto, coincident with the Force X raid. The Italians were aware of sorties from Alexandria and Gibraltar by 7 November and sent nine submarines to attack a Malta convoy (MW 3) detected on 8 November. Bombers (unsurprisingly) failed even to pinpoint the Judgement force and when Force H was detected headed back toward Gibraltar on 9 November, the Italians presumed MW 3 had turned around, too.Stephen, p. 36. Italian confusion arose when ''Barham'', ''Berwick'', ''Glasgow'' and their destroyers were detected 10 November off

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

. The correct deduction, they had detached from the Gibraltar-bound force, was not accompanied by a correct guess they would join with Cunningham.Stephen, p. 39. The same day, ''Ramillies'', ''Coventry'' and two destroyers protecting ME 3 were detected and again, bombers failed even to locate them. The complexity of Operation MB8, with its various forces and convoys, deceived the Italians into thinking only normal convoying was underway. While Italian

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

was characteristically bad, in the end, the Italians had only failed to keep track of ''Illustrious''. That the Italians expected the British to behave in what was, at the time, their usual way was the root of the mistake.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:MB8 Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II MB8 MB8 Naval aviation operations and battles Conflicts in 1940 1940 in Italy November 1940 events