Operation Substance

Abstract

According to Italian official sources dealing with the Italian navy during the Second World War, Malta was only receiving a trickle of supplies and since May 1941, the only supply link open to the beleagured Island was by submarine and aircraft. It was rightly assumed that Malta needed very urgently adequate supplies of food, fuel and military hardware if she were to survive the ordeal. Taking advantage of the transfer of the Luftwaffe to the Eastern Mediterranean zone of operations, the British Command decided to send a heavily escorted convoy from the west through the Straits of Gibraltar. The convoy was to leave England escorted by Force X made up of the cruisers Edinburgh and Manchester, both armed with twelve 6-inch (152mm) guns as main armament, Arethusa, armed with six 6-inch guns, the 40-knot minelayer Manxman, armed with six 4-inch (102mm) guns, and ten destroyers. This force was under the command of Vice-Admiral Neville Seyfret. The convoy was made up of six merchant ships with 56,000 tons of supplies on board and one troopship. [excerpt]