Battle of Grand Harbour

Battle of Grand Harbour
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
Site of the battle - Fort St Elmo with the new bridge at the forefront, replaced in 2012
Date 26 July 1941 Location Grand Harbour, Crown Colony of Malta 35°54′07″N 14°31′08″E / 35.9020°N 14.5188°E / 35.9020; 14.5188 Result British victory[1]
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders and leaders
Henry Ferro[citation needed]	Vittorio Moccagatta  † Teseo Tesei  †
Strength
Coastal fortifications 30 fighters	1 aviso 2 torpedo boats 9 explosive boats 2 manned torpedoes 2 support boats 10 fighter planes
Casualties and losses
1 fighter destroyed	10 boats destroyed 2 boats captured 1 manned torpedo lost 1 manned torpedo captured 3 fighters destroyed 17 killed 18 captured

The Battle of Grand Harbour, also known as Operazione MALTA-2, was an Italian raid against Allied shipping in the harbour of Valletta, Malta on the night of 25/26 July 1941 during the Second World War. Italian Regia Marina (RM) commando frogmen from the Decima Flottiglia MAS (X-MAS) attempted to penetrate the harbour to attack British shipping. The attackers destroyed the St Elmo Bridge trying to enter the harbour before being driven off by fire from coastal defences. The Italians suffered many casualties; the X-MAS group was killed or captured.