Battle of the Campobasso Convoy
The Battle of the Campobasso Convoy was a naval engagement between three British Royal Navy destroyers and an Italian Regia Marina torpedo boat which took place off Cape Bon in the Mediterranean sea on the night of 3/4 May 1943. The Italians were escorting the 3,566 gross register ton (GRT) freighter Campobasso to Tunisia.
| Battle of the Campobasso Convoy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War | |||||||
HMS Petard photographed from HMS Formidable, December 1943 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Kingdom | Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Deric Holland-Martin | Saverio Marotta † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3 destroyers |
1 torpedo boat 1 merchantman | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
76 men killed (Italian merchant navy) 133 men killed (Italian Navy): Total: 209 103 men rescued 1 torpedo boat sunk 1 merchantman sunk | ||||||
The ships were illuminated by star shells, east of Kelibia in Cape Bon; Perseo attacked the British ships with torpedoes then turned to the north-west. Campobasso exploded under the British bombardment, which, with more star shells, lit up Perseo it being severely damaged; sinking an hour later. The 93 crew of Campobasso suffered 73 killed and of 133 crew on Perseo, 83 survived.
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