Operations   M.B.8

November 4th - November 14th, 1940 
by Cristiano D'Adamo

Mike-Bravo-Eight included several concurrent activities, amongst which figured the transfer of  war ships from Gibraltar to Alexandria, a convoy from Alexandria to Malta, one from the island back to Egypt, and convoys from Greece and Turkey back to Egypt. In all, it was a very complex initiative which, as we shall see, also included two military operations, the attack against Taranto and a diversionary raid in the Strait of Otranto.
 

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British naval forces were divided into six groups:

Force A 

included the battleships Warspite, Malaya, Valiant, the aircraft-carrier Illustrious, the cruisers Gloucester and York and 13 destroyers. This force would protect, from a distance, convoy MW3 going to Malta, rendezvous with Force F (coming from Gibraltar), and then detach the Illustrious and 4 cruisers for the Taranto attack.
 
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H.M.S. Illustrious

Force B 

included two cruisers (Ajax and Sydney) which would transport troops and supplies from Port Said in Egypt to Suda Bay in Crete. First Sydney and thereafter the Ajax would then join Force A.

Force C 

included one cruiser (Orion) which would take RAF supplies and personnel to the Greek port Piraeus (Athens) and then continue on to Suda Bay.

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H.M.S. Ajax

Force D 

included the battleship Ramilles, two anti-aircraft ships (Coventry and Calcutta) 13 destroyers, two armed trawlers and 1 minesweeper. Part of this force would help escort convoy MW3 to Malta and later ME3 back to Alexandria.

Force F 

included the battleship Barham, the cruisers Berwick and Glasgow and 3 destroyers. This force constituted a permanent reinforcement for the Mediterranean Fleet.

Force H 

included the aircraft-carrier Ark Royal, the cruiser Sheffield and 5 destroyers which would escort Force F as far as the island of Malta.
 

British merchant ships were organized into four convoys:

Convoy AN6 

was a smaller convoy of three ships transporting gasoline and fuel oil from Alexandria to Greece while another convoy (AS5), composed of several empty ships, returned from Greece and Turkey back to Egypt.

Convoy MW3 

included five merchantmen laden with artillery, ammunitions, and other material directed from Alexandria to Malta to which had been piggybacked AN6, a smaller convoy directed to Suda Bay.

It left Alexandria on the 4th of November, the day after MW3 had left, and it reunited with the other convoy near the strait of Coso. After having navigated just north of the island of Crete, part of the convoy turned south toward the Bay of Suda, while the remaining continued on to Malta.

On the 6th, the main battle force, including the battleships Valiant, Malaya and Ramillies, the aircraft carrier Illustrious, the cruisers Gloucester and York and several destroyers left Alexandria. Two days later the force was halfway between Crete and Malta where it reunited with MW3.

On November 8th, at 12:30, MW3 was intercepted by Italian airplanes which were chased away by the Illustrious' Fulmars. Another Italian plane was spotted at 15:20, and once again forced away. At 16:20, seven Savoia Marchetti S.79 came close enough to be intercepted by the Illustrious' fighter planes who, according to British sources, shot down two while the remaining five ran away.
 
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Fulmar
At 9:00 on the 9th, the Ramillies, along with the cruisers and some destroyers, continued on towards Malta while the remaining ships were left at a distance. Due to poor weather conditions, the cruisers were sent north of the convoy to provide early warning in case of an Italian naval attack. During this phase, several Italian planes were spotted and at 16:04 a Cant 506 was shot down by one of the Fulmars.


Convoy ME3: Four empty, fast transports returning from Malta to Alexandria.

Convoy AS5: Several empty merchantmen returning from Greece and Turkey to Egypt.

 
The complexity of the operation might appear too daring, but it succeeded in completely confusing the Italian High Command. Several factors contributed to the Italian inability to challenge the British forces at sea, but amongst them the most noticeable was the general failure of aerial reconnaissance. Despite a few detentions, in many cases the aircraft defensive forces were able to destroy Italian reconnaissance planes even before the signal could be sent back to base. The limited aerial resources given to the Regia Marina paid a disproportionately high strategic cost.

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