Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by a fleet consisting of HMS Malaya, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Renown and HMS Sheffield, screened by ten fleet destroyers including HMS Fearless, HMS Foxhound, HMS Foresight, HMS Fury, HMS Firedrake and HMS Jersey.
Armour-piercing shell fired by HMS Malaya, in the nave of Genoa Cathedral
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in late-June 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the naval chain of command. Normal British practice was to have naval stations and fleets around the world, whose commanders reported to the First Sea Lord via a flag officer. Force H was based at Gibraltar but there was already a flag officer at the base, Flag Officer Commanding, North Atlantic. The commanding officer of Force H did not report to this Flag Officer but directly to the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound.
Force H off Gibraltar in 1940 by Rowland Langmaid
HMS Renown and HMS Ark Royal operating at sea in Force H. Photo taken from HMS Sheffield.