Battle of the Messina Convoy | |||||||
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Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Greece | Italy | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Tony Pugsley Georgios Blessas | Marino Fasan † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
HMS Jervis Vasilissa Olga 1 Wellington bomber |
Castore merchant ships Vragnizza, Postumia | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Castore sunk 2 steamers damaged |
The Battle of the Messina Convoy was a naval action fought on the night of 1/2 June 1943 off the Calabrian coast, near Cape Spartivento between the Allied destroyers HMS Jervis and the Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga of the 14th Destroyer Flotilla and an Italian convoy of the merchant ships Vragnizza and Postumia escorted by the Italian torpedo boat Castore. The merchant ships managed to slip away but Castore, sank a couple of hours after the engagement.
On the fast return of the destroyers towards Malta, to get inside the range of Allied fighter cover, Vaasilissa Olga suffered a mechanical failure and was stopped for an hour while effecting repairs but the destroyers returned undamaged. The merchant ships, Castore and another torpedo boat (which was not present) were claimed sunk.