Operation Vigorous

Operation Vigorous
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
Relief map of the Mediterranean Sea
Date 12–16 June 1942 Location Eastern Mediterranean, towards Malta 35°53′N 14°30′E / 35.883°N 14.500°E / 35.883; 14.500 Result Italian–German victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Australia	Italy  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Philip Vian	Angelo Iachino
Strength
8 light cruisers 26 destroyers 9 submarines 2 minesweepers 4 corvettes 2 rescue ships 4 motor torpedo boats 11 merchant ships 1 auxiliary ship	2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 2 light cruisers 12 destroyers 6 E-boats 2 U-boats c. 220 aircraft
Casualties and losses
1 light cruiser sunk 3 destroyers sunk 2 merchant ships sunk 1 MTB sunk 3 cruisers damaged 2 merchant ships damaged c. 200 killed[a]	1 heavy cruiser sunk 1 battleship damaged 21 aircraft shot down c. 600 killed[b]

Operation Vigorous (known in Italy as Battaglia di mezzo giugno 1942, "the Battle of mid-June 1942") was a British operation during the Second World War, to escort supply convoy MW11 from the eastern Mediterranean to Malta, which took place from 11 to 16 June 1942. Vigorous was part of Operation Julius, a simultaneous operation with Operation Harpoon from Gibraltar and supporting operations. Sub-convoy MW11c sailed from Port Said (Egypt) on 11 June, to tempt the Italian battlefleet to sail early, use up fuel and be exposed to submarine and air attack. MW11a and MW11b sailed next day from Haifa, Port Said and Alexandria; one ship was sent back because of defects. Italian and German (Axis) aircraft attacked MW11c on 12 June and a damaged ship was diverted to Tobruk, just east of Gazala. The merchant ships and escorts rendezvoused on 13 June. The British plans were revealed unwittingly to the Axis by the US Military Attaché in Egypt, Colonel Bonner Fellers, who reported to Washington, D.C. in "Black"-coded wireless messages; it was later discovered that the Black Code had been broken by the Servizio Informazioni Militare (Italian military intelligence).

The convoy and escorts sailed through "Bomb Alley" between Crete and Cyrenaica under attack from Axis bombers, dive-bombers, torpedo-bombers, E-boats and submarines and were then threatened by the sailing of an Italian battlefleet from Taranto. The British relied on aircraft and submarines to repel the Italian fleet in the absence of battleships and aircraft carriers but only one heavy cruiser was sunk. When the Italian battleships were within 150 nmi (170 mi; 280 km) the British convoy and escorts were ordered to turn back and wait for the Italians to suffer losses from torpedo-bombers, bombers and submarines but little more damage was inflicted and after several more turns towards and away from Malta, the convoy and escorts returned to Alexandria on 16 June. The Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June) was being fought in Libya during Operation Julius and beginning on 14 June, the British defeat forced the Eighth Army to withdraw eastwards, losing landing grounds from which aircraft could provide air cover for MW11.

Operation Julius and the subsidiary Operation Vigorous were failures; only two merchant ships from Operation Harpoon, the simultaneous convoy from Gibraltar, reached Malta to deliver supplies. In the absence of air cover and the suppression of Axis air power lining the routes to Malta, the central Mediterranean had been closed to British ships. Malta could not be revived as an offensive base and to provide some aviation fuel for the defending fighters, the British resorted to the expedient of running supplies through the blockade by submarine. No more convoys were attempted from the eastern Mediterranean until the Eighth Army conquered Libya in October. More Spitfires were delivered to Malta during July and increasing losses forced the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica to reduce the tempo of operations. A limited return to offensive operations was made against Axis convoys to Libya and Operation Pedestal in August delivered four merchant ships and an oil tanker from Gibraltar, which further revived Malta as an offensive base, despite the loss of most of the convoy and many naval ships.

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