Battle of the Duisburg Convoy
Part of World War II
Date November 8 - November 9, 1941 Location Mediterranean, 30 south-west off Calabria in approximate position 37.08° N 18.09° E Result Decisive Allied victory
Combatants
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders
Captain W.G Agnew	Captain Ugo Bisciani
Strength
2 light cruisers 2 destroyers	2 heavy cruisers 10 destroyers
Casualties
none?	2 destroyers sunk, 5 merchant ships sunk, ?? lost

The Battle of the Duisburg Convoy was fought on the night of 8-9 November 1941 between an Italian convoy sailing to Lybia with supplies for the Afrika Corps and a British Naval squadron which intercepted it. The convoy was named after the German steamer Duisburg which was the largest ship in the convoy. The Royal Navy's Force K anhialated the Convoy sinking all the merchant ships and the destroyer Fulmine with no loss. The destroyer Libeccio was sunk the next day by HMS Upholder while picking up survivors. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ... Image File history File links Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned. ... Battle of Mediterranean Conflict World War II Date Place Mediterranean Sea Result Allied victory The Naval Battle of the Mediterranean was waged during World War II, to attack and keep open the respective supply lines of Allied and Axis armies, and to destroy the opposing sides ability to wage... Combatants United Kingdom France Commanders James Somerville Marcel-Bruno Gensoul Strength 3 battleships, 1 carrier, 2 cruisers, 11 destroyers 4 battleships, 6 destroyers, 1 seaplane tender Casualties — 1 battleship sunk 2 battleships damaged 1,297 killed The Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, French North Africa (now... The Battle of Calabria, also known as the Battle of Punta Stilo, was a naval battle between ships of Italian Regia Marina on one side and the British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy on the other. ... The battle of Cape Spada was a naval battle of World War II fought in the Mediterranean off Cape Spada, the north-western extremity of Crete on 19 July 1940. ... Combatants United Kingdom Italy Commanders Lumley Lyster Inigo Campioni Strength 21 bombers 6 battleships Casualties 2 bombers destroyed 1 battleship sunk 2 battleships damaged 1 cruiser damaged The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11 November – 12 November 1840 during World War II. The Royal Navy... Combatants United Kingdom Italy Commanders James Somerville Inigo Camponi Strength 1 carrier 1 battleships 1 battlecruiser 1 heavy cruiser 5 light cruisers 1 anti aircraft cruiser 4 destroyers 4 corvettes 4 freighters 2 battleships 6 heavy cruisers 14 destroyers Casualties 1 heavy cruiser damaged 1 destroyer damaged The Battle of... Combatants United Kingdom, Australia Italy Commanders Andrew Cunningham Angelo Iachino Strength 1 carrier 3 battleships 7 light cruisers 17 destroyers 1 battleship 6 heavy cruisers 2 light cruisers 17 destroyers Casualties 1 torpedo plane destroyed 1 battleship damaged 3 cruisers sunk 2 destroyers sunk The Battle of Cape Matapan was... Combatants Greece New Zealand Australia United Kingdom Germany Italy Commanders Bernard Freyberg Kurt Student Strength 43,000 25,000 Casualties 3,500 dead 1,900 wounded 17,500 captured 6,200–16,100 dead, wounded, or captured The Battle of Crete (German Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta; Greek Μάχη της Κρήτης) began on the morning... The Battle of Cape Bon was a Second World War naval action off Cape Bon, Tunisia. ... Combatants United Kingdom Australia Netherlands Italy Commanders Andrew Cunningham Angelo Iachino Strength 6 light cruisers 10 destroyers 4 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 3 light cruisers 19 destroyers 1 torpedo boat Casualties 1 light cruiser sunk 1 destroyer sunk 2 destroyers damaged 767 killed None ? The First Battle of Sirte was... The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina during the World War II. It took place on 22 March 1942, in the Mediterranean, north to the Gulf of Sirte, west of Malta. ... In World War II, Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942. ... British shells fall astern of the Italian light cruiser Muzio Attendolo during the battle Operation Pedestal was a British attempt to get vital supplies to the island of Malta during World War II in mid-1942 during the height of the Axis siege of Malta. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Free French Forces Germany Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower Andrew Cunningham Erwin Rommel François Darlan Strength 73,500 - Casualties 479+ dead 720 wounded 1346+ dead 1997 wounded Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World... Husky was also the codename of Australian military support to Sierra Leone ending in February 2003. ... A convoy is a group of vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support. ... The Deutsches Afrikakorps (often just Afrika Korps or DAK) was the corps_level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in Libya and Egypts Western Desert during the North African Campaign of World War II. Since there was little turnover in the units attached to the corps the term is commonly... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... HMS Upholder (P37) was a U-class submarine of the Royal Navy. ...

Italian Forces

• Convoy
  • 2 German (Duisburg and San Marco) and 3 Italian (Maria, Sagitta and Rina Corrado) cargo ships, (carrying 389 vehicles, 34,473 tons of munitions, 223 soldiers)
  • 2 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

The Italian Regia Marina (literally: Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. ... Trento class was an Italian heavy cruiser design of the Regia Marina from the late 1920s. ... The Soldati Class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy during World War II. The ships were named after military professions e. ...

British Forces

Force K under command of Captain W.G. Agnew The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

• • Cruisers: HMS Aurora (flagship) and HMS Penelope
  • Destroyers: L Class destroyers HMS Lance and HMS Lively

HMS Aurora (12) was the Arethusa class cruiser for the Royal Navy. ... H.M.S. Penelope was built by Messrs. ... HMS Laforey The L and M class was a class of sixteen destroyers of the Royal Navy, launched in 1939–1942. ...

Battle

The British found out via ULTRA cryptography that the Axis were about to send a convoy to Lybia. The presence of the Convoy was confirmed by air reconnaisance (Pilot 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 17 km away did not interfere due to confusion. 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. Ultra (sometimes capitalized ULTRA) was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of German communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources. ... Wing Commander Adrian Warby Warburton (10 March 1918 in Middlesborough - approximately 12 April 1944 over Germany) was an RAF pilot during the Second World War. ...

References

• J Green and A Massignani - The Naval War in the Medditerrenean 1940-1943, Chatham Publishing 1998 - ISBN 1 861760574
• Regia Marina.net