Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated central Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. Operation Vigorous was a west-bound convoy from Alexandria and Operation Harpoon was an east-bound convoy operation from Gibraltar.
Italian destroyers heading towards the stragglers of the Allied convoy
A Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1 of 252 Squadron based in North Africa
Light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia, flagship of Admiral da Zara
Mussolini visits a naval base and honours the participants in the Battle of Pantelleria, 25 June 1942. Il Duce is accompanied by Aldo Vidussoni the party secretary while reviewing a German contingent.
Operation Vigorous 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.
Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1, 252 Squadron; North Africa
RAF Martin Baltimore
HMS Centurion disguised as HMS Anson (A9982)
HMAS Nestor sinking, 16 June 1942