Raid on Souda Bay

Raid on Souda Bay
	Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
	; The hulk of HMS York with Sirio alongside
Date	26 March 1941
Location	Souda Bay, Mediterranean Sea35°29′0″N 24°08′17″E / 35.48333°N 24.13806°E
Result	Italian victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom; Norway	Italy
Commanders and leaders
Reginald Portal	Luigi Faggioni (POW)
Strength
3 cruisers; 1 destroyer; 5 tankers and fleet auxiliaries	2 destroyers; 6 MTM (motor assault boats)
Casualties and losses
2 killed; 1 heavy cruiser; 1 tanker	6 (POW)

The Raid on Souda Bay was an attack by the Decima MAS (X-MAS), a specialist unit of the Regia Marina that used unconventional weapons. X-MAS used explosive boats (MTM) against British ships lying in Souda Bay, Crete, during the early hours of 26 March 1941. The MTM explosive boats had been ferried from Astypalaia by the destroyers Francesco Crispi and Quintino Sella and launched at the approaches to the bay. After crossing the three boom defences, the MTM attacked the British heavy cruiser HMS York and the Norwegian tanker Pericles (8,324 GRT).

Two MTM hit York, which took on a list and was towed by the destroyer HMS Hasty and beached; Pericles was sunk in shallow waters. Most of its oil was recovered and the ship eventually was to be refloated, only to founder on tow to Alexandria, breaking up and being sunk by gunfire. The six MTM pilots, Luigi Faggioni, Alessio de Vito, Emilio Barberi, Angelo Cabrini, Tullio Tedeschi and Lino Beccati were taken prisoner and were later awarded the Italian Gold Medal of Military Valor (Medaglia d'oro al valor militare). A MTM was recovered undamaged by the British and studied.