Battle of the Duisburg Convoy

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Duisburg Convoy
partof=World War II


caption=HMS "Aurora", the British flagship
date=November 8 – November 9 1941
place=Mediterranean, southwest off Calabria
result=British victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
combatant2=flagicon|Italy|1861 Kingdom of Italy
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom|naval Captain W.G Agnew
commander2=flagicon|Italy|1861-state Captain Ugo Bisciani
strength1=2 light cruisers 2 destroyers
strength2=2 heavy cruisers 10 destroyers 7 merchant ships
casualties1= none
casualties2=1 destroyer sunk, 7 transport ships and tankers sunk

The Battle of the Duisburg Convoy was fought on the night of 8-9 November 1941 between an Italian convoy sailing to Libya with supplies for the Italian Army, civilian authorities in Libya, and the Afrika Corps and a British Naval squadron which intercepted it. The convoy was named "Beta" by the Italian naval authorities, but is now often referred to as "Duisburg Convoy" after the German steamer "Duisburg" which was the largest ship in the convoy. The Royal Navy's Force K annihilated the Convoy sinking all the merchant ships and the destroyer "Fulmine" with no loss and almost no damage ("Lively" suffered some splinter damage). The destroyer "Libeccio" was sunk the next day by British submarine HMS "Upholder" while picking up survivors.

Italian Forces

*Convoy
**Two German ("Duisburg" and "San Marco") and three Italian ("Maria, Sagitta" and "Rina Corrado") cargo ships, (carrying 389 vehicles, 34,473 tons of munitions, 223 soldiers)
**Two tankers ("Conte di Misurata" and "Minatitlan", carrying 17,281 tons of fuel)

*Close Escort under command of Captain Ugo Bisciani
**Destroyers: "Maestrale", "Grecale", "Fulmine", "Euro", "Libeccio", "Oriani"

*Distant Escort under command of Rear Admiral Bruno Bronovesi
** Heavy Cruisers: "Trieste" and "Trento"
** Destroyers: Soldati class destroyers, "Granatiere", "Fuciliere", "Bersagliere" and "Alpino"

British Forces

Force K under command of Captain W.G. Agnew
** Cruisers: HMS "Aurora" (flagship) and HMS" Penelope"
** Destroyers: L Class destroyers HMS "Lance" and HMS "Lively"

Battle

The British discovered via ULTRA cryptography that the Axis were about to send a convoy to Libya. The presence of the convoy was confirmed by air reconnaissance (piloted by Adrian Warburton). Force K left Malta to intercept the convoy. The British had the advantage of radar which the Italians lacked. The convoy was surprised at night and attacked. The distant covering force, despite being only 17 km away, did not interfere due to confusion, firing ineffectively some rounds in the dark. Force K sank all the merchant ships and the destroyer "Fulmine" as well as damaging the "Maestrale", "Euro" and "Grecale". The British retired to Malta at high speed with ineffective pursuit by the covering force.

Convoy Load

From pp. 49-50 of USMM referenceOn S/S "Duisburg" (7,889t):Italian forces:2,495t various materials78t ammunitionGerman Forces:1,426t various materials170 motor vehicles and trailersTotal 4,741tItalian Army personnel 21German army personnel 57

S/S "San Marco" (3,113t)Italian forces:487t various materials528t ammunition and artillery materialGerman Forces:1,602t various materials470 motor vehicles and trailersTotal 2,852tItalian Army personnel 10German army personnel 21

M/S "Rina Corrado" (5,180t)Italian forces and civilian administration:4,167t various materials621t ammunition and artillery material3 motor vehicles807t Fuel in barrelsTotal 5,598tItalian Army personnel 5

S/S "Sagitta" (5,153t)Italian forces:667t various materials67 motor vehicles and trailers1,754t Fuel in barrelsGerman Forces:614t Fuel in barrels6t various materialsTotal 3,338Civilians 21

M/S "Maria" (6,339t)Italian forces:3,107t various materials360t ammunition and artillery material102 motor vehicles1 MotorboatTotal 3,788tItalian Army personnel 109

Tanker "Minatitlan" (7,599t)Italian forces6,692t Liquid fuelsLuftwaffe2,254 Gasoline

Tanker "Conte di Misurata" (5,014t)Italian Navy5,160t Bunker

Total Convoy load 34,47321 Civilians145 Italian Army78 Wehrmacht

References

*J Green and A Massignani - The Naval War in the Medditerranean 1940-1943, Chatham Publishing 1998 - ISBN 1-86176-057-4
* [http://www.regiamarina.net/engagements/duisburg/duisburg_us.htm Regia Marina.net]
*USMM La Difesa del Traffico con L’Africa Settentrionale dal 1 ottobre 1941 al 30 settembre 1942
*USMM La Bataglia degli Convoy