Operation White

Operation White
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
Skua dive bomber forced to crash-land on Sicily
Date 15–18 November 1940 Location Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea 37°12′00″N 11°20′00″E / 37.20000°N 11.33333°E / 37.20000; 11.33333 Result Italian victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders and leaders
James Somerville	Inigo Campioni
Strength
2 aircraft carriers 1 battlecruiser 2 cruisers 7 destroyers	2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 16 destroyers
Casualties and losses
9 aircraft lost 7 pilots missing 2  (POW)	None

Operation White (15–18 November 1940) was a British attempt to deliver fourteen aircraft, twelve Hawker Hurricane fighters and two Blackburn Skua dive bombers, to Malta from the aircraft carrier HMS Argus. White was one of what became known as Club Runs, that supplied fighters for the defence of Malta.

The operation was thwarted by the presence of the Italian fleet, which prompted the premature dispatch of the fighters; combined with bad weather and some poor navigation, this led to only five aircraft reaching Malta, all but one the other pilots and aircraft being lost at sea.^[1]

An enquiry blamed the Hurricane pilots for lack of familiarity with the constant-speed propeller on the Hurricane Mk II but few people were convinced and Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, the commander of Force H at Gibraltar, confided in his diary that the operation was "a frightful failure" and blamed himself for the tragedy.