Attack on Convoy BN 7

{{see also|Red Sea}}

The Red Sea is an area of high temperatures and humidity, its coasts vary from desert to high mountain ranges and navigation is fraught with danger from offshore reefs and false horizons caused by atmospheric refraction.{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=133, 199}} From May to June 1939, French and British military officials met at Aden to devise a common strategy to retain control of the waters around Italian East Africa if Italy declared war. It was expected that Italy could close the Mediterranean to Allied traffic and that supplies to the Middle East would have to be transported via the Red Sea. Control of the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez at the northern terminus and the maintenance of the bases at Aden and French Somaliland (Djibouti) was equally important but a withdrawal from French and British Somaliland had also be contemplated.{{sfn|Gill|1957|p=133}}

The British-controlled Port Sudan, lay on the west coast of the Red Sea, about halfway [{{cvt|600|nmi}}] between Suez and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait ({{lang|ar| باب المندب}}, Gate of Tears). The Italian port of Massawa in Eritrea was about {{cvt|350|nmi}} north and Aden about {{cvt|100|nmi}} east of the Bab-el-Mandeb.{{sfn|Gill|1957|p=133}} The ports along the coast of Italian Somaliland and the entrance to the Red Sea were to be blockaded (Operation Begum) to prevent the Italians from receiving supplies and reinforcements. Allied merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea were to proceed in escorted convoys. Naval ships were to sweep mines, patrol the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb to isolate the Italian Red Sea Flotilla and protect Aden from sorties by Italian ships; the Italian naval bases in Eritrea were to be attacked.{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=134, 201}}

{{main|Red Sea Force}}

File:Red Sea topographic map-en.jpg

In April 1940 the Royal Navy established the Red Sea Force with the light cruisers {{HMS|Liverpool|C11|6}} and {{HMAS|Hobart|D63|6}} (Senior Naval Officer Red Sea, Rear-Admiral Murray); {{HMS|Leander|75|6}} (New Zealand Division) replaced Liverpool on 26 May.{{sfn|Playfair|1959|p=84}} By September the Force comprised the cruisers Hobart, Leander, {{HMS|Caledon|D53|2}} and the anti-aircraft cruiser {{HMS|Carlisle|D67|2}}; the destroyers {{HMS|Kimberley|F50|6}}, {{HMS|Kingston|F64|2}} and {{HMS|Kandahar|F28|2}}; the sloops {{HMS|Flamingo|L18|6}}, {{HMS|Auckland|L61|2}}, {{HMS|Shoreham|L32|2}} and {{HMS|Grimsby|U16|2}}; {{HMIS|Clive|L79|6}}, {{HMIS|Indus|U67|2}} and {{HMIS|Hindustan||2}}; and {{HMAS|Parramatta|U44|6}}. Aden was the base for two minesweepers, two small Armed Merchant Cruisers and two armed trawlers. Ships attached temporarily included the light cruisers {{HMS|Ceres|D59|6}} and {{HMS|Colombo|D89|2}}, the 8-inch cruisers {{HMS|Dorsetshire|40|6}} and {{HMS|Shropshire||2}}.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|pp=99–100}}

{{main|Red Sea Flotilla}}

The Italian naval and air bases in East Africa were convenient for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Massawa was the home port of the Red Sea Flotilla ({{lang|it|Flottiglia del mar rosso}}) commanded by Rear-Admiral [{{lang|it|Contrammiraglio}}] Mario Bonetti, from December 1940 to April 1941. Massawa had been fortified and lay behind numerous islands and reefs with mined approaches; there was a smaller base at Assab.{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=134, 201}} The scout cruisers ({{lang|it|esploratori}}, also {{sclass|Leone|destroyer}}s) {{ship|Italian destroyer|Pantera||2}} and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Leone||2}} (Commander Paolo Aloisi) had an unusually powerful armament of eight 120 mm Italian naval gun#45-calibre Schneider-Canet-Armstrong 1918/19, in four turrets on the centre line. Only two turrets could aim fore and aft but the eight-gun broadside was unique for destroyers.{{sfn|Campbell|1985|pp=335–338}}

The class also carried two {{nowrap|40 mm}} pom-pom anti-aircraft guns, four {{nowrap|20 mm}} machine-guns, four {{cvt|533|mm|order=flip}} torpedo tubes and {{nowrap|60 mines.}} The {{sclass|Sauro|destroyer|1}}s had an armament of four 120 mm Italian naval gun#45-calibre Vickers Terni 1924, two {{nowrap|40 mm}} pom-poms, two {{nowrap|13.2 mm}} machine-guns, six {{cvt|53.3|cm}} torpedo tubes and {{nowrap|52 mines.}}{{sfn|Campbell|1985|pp=335–338}} Once war was declared, the fuel stored for the Italian ships based at Massawa could only diminish under the British blockade.{{sfn|Bragadin|1957|p=41}} The accumulation of mechanical faults, fuel depletion and the enervating effect of the climate exercised severe constraints on the operations of the Red Sea Flotilla.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=102}}

File:Gulf of Aden map.png

In June four of the eight Italian submarines based at Massawa were lost. The {{lang|it|Regia Aeronautica}} (Italian Royal Air Force) commenced operations over the Red Sea and on 11 June a Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 flew a reconnaissance sortie.{{sfn|Shores|1996|p=17}} On 16 June, the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Galileo Galilei||2}} sank the Norwegian tanker James Stove (8,215 gross register ton [GRT]), sailing independently about {{cvt|12|nmi}} south of Aden.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=101}} On 19 June, Hobart sent its Walrus amphibian to bomb an Italian wireless station on Centre Peak Island between Massawa and the Arabian coast.{{sfn|Gill|1957|p=201}} On 2 July, Convoy BN 1, comprising six tankers and three freighters, assembled in the Gulf of Aden.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=101}} On 8 July, an SM.81 of 10° {{lang|it|Squadriglia}} flew a long range reconnaissance sortie over southern Sudan and the Red Sea and was attacked by a Wellesley. The SM.81 was damaged hit an island trying to force land, bounced into the air and flew on at wave top height, with the Wellesley flying above and to one side for its gunners to keep firing. After ten minutes the Italian aircraft hit the sea and shed its wings.{{sfn|Shores|1996|p=33}}{{efn|Three survivors got into a life raft and the observer {{lang|it|Sottotenente}} (Sub-Lieutenant) Goffredo Franchini, in command of the sortie, climbed onto one of the wings. Franchini realised that if he joined the others, the life raft would be swamped and ordered the crew to make for the island nearby without him. The men in the raft decided to make for Dahlak Island and collected birds' eggs before setting off. The three men arrived after two weeks, were rescued by local civilians and collected by a destroyer, reaching Massawa three weeks after being shot down.{{sfn|Shores|1996|p=33}}}}

File:SM.81 pipistrello.png

From 26 to 31 July, Guglielmotti failed to find two Greek merchantmen and a sortie by the torpedo boats {{ship|Italian destroyer|Cesare Battisti||2}} and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Francesco Nullo|1925|2}} came to nothing. Guglielmotti sortied from 21 to 25 August, Galileo Ferraris (25–31 August), Francesco Nullo and Sauro from 24 to 25 August and the destroyers Pantera and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Tigre||2}} (28–29 August) failing to find ships, despite agent reports and sightings by air reconnaissance.{{sfn|Rohwer|Hümmelchen|2005|pp=34, 37}} On 4 September, Italian bombers attacked SS Velko, inflicted serious damage on it and on the next day, five SM.79s attacked Convoy BS 3A. A Blenheim IVF fighter on convoy patrol attacked the bombers and received damage by return-fire. On 6 September the convoy was attacked again by a SM.79.{{sfn|Shores|1996|pp=58, 73}} Convoy BN 4 was spotted by air reconnaissance and on the night of 5/6 September, Cesare Battisti, Daniele Manin and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Nazario Sauro||2}} sailed. The destroyers Leone and Tigre followed on 6/7 September but the destroyers found nothing.{{sfn|Rohwer|Hümmelchen|2005|pp=39}}

The submarines Galileo Ferraris and Guglielmotti patrolling further to the north, also failed to find Convoy BN 4 but Guglielmotti torpedoed the Greek tanker Atlas (4,008 GRT) straggling behind the convoy south of the Farasan Islands. Air reconnaissance also found Convoy BN 5 of 23 ships but Leone, Pantera, Cesare Battisti and Daniele Manin, with the submarines Archimede and Gugliemotti failed to find the convoy. MV Bhima (5,280 GRT) had straggled and was damaged in an Italian air attack, one man was killed; the ship was towed to Aden and beached for repairs.{{sfn|Rohwer|Hümmelchen|2005|pp=39, 41}} On 19 September five SM.79s attacked a convoy and outpaced two Gladiator fighters which tried to intercept them. On the next day, Italian bombers were driven off by Blenheim fighters. On 15 October, three SM.79 bombers were prevented from attacking another convoy by two Gladiator fighters and a Blenheim. Five days later, individual SM.79s attacked Convoy BN 7.{{sfn|Sutherland|Canwell|2009|pp=55–56}}

File:HMAS Yarra (AWM 016263).jpg

Convoy BN 7 was northbound through the Red Sea and consisted of {{nowrap|32 British,}} Norwegian, French, Greek and Turkish merchant ships. The escort consisted of the light cruiser {{HMS|Leander}} (Commander James Rivett-Carnac), the destroyer Kimberley (Commander J. S. M. Richardson), the {{sclass|Egret|sloop}} Auckland, the {{sclass|Grimsby|sloop|1}}s {{HMAS|Yarra|U77|6}} and Indus and the {{sclass|Hunt|minesweeper|||1916}}s {{HMS|Derby|J90|6}} and {{HMS|Huntley||2}}.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=102}}{{efn|After joining the Red Sea Force, Yarra had escorted convoys in the Red Sea and intercepted blockade-running dhows.{{sfn|Gill|1957|p=227}}}} Convoy BN 7 was nearing Perim, a volcanic island off the south-west coast of Yemen in the Bab-el-Mandeb, on the afternoon of 19 October, when an aircraft dropped four bombs close astern of one of the merchantmen. Leander and Auckland opened fire on the aircraft as it flew off to the west; shortly before dark, an undercarriage wheel of an Italian aircraft was picked up {{cvt|15|nmi}} south of the island. Next morning, Italian aircraft dropped four bombs, two of which fell ahead of the convoy and two bombs harmlessly astern of the French liner {{lang|fr|Felix Roussel}}, carrying New Zealand troops to Suez. At dusk Leander took station on the port beam of the convoy between it and the Italian base at Massawa, which flanked the line of advance; the convoy zig-zagged through the night.{{sfn|Waters|1956|p=89}}

File:Destroyer Pantera.JPG

The Italian flotilla sailed on 20 October, the destroyers operating in pairs, Section I, comprised the faster Sauro (Commander Moretti degli Adimari) and Francesco Nullo (Lieutenant Commander Costantino Borsini). Section II, the slower, more heavily armed Pantera and Leone were to divert the convoy escort and then attack the convoy with torpedoes. At 21:15 the two sections separated and at 23:21, Pantera sighted smoke from the convoy. Pantera signalled Sauro and moved ahead of the convoy to intercept, with Leone following {{cvt|875|yd}} behind. The convoy was about {{cvt|35|nmi}} north-north-west of Jabal al-Tair Island at 02:19 on 21 October, when Leander sighted two patches of smoke bearing north.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=103}}

Auckland reported two destroyers {{cvt|4|nmi}} off and Leander altered course to intercept, the captain assuming that they would run for home through the South Massawa Channel. After a challenge from Auckland, Pantera fired over Yarra at the convoy, inflicting some splinter damage to a lifeboat on the convoy commodore's ship. Auckland opened fire and the Italian ships separated and turned away at full speed, west-south-west, towards Massawa, firing their aft guns. The destroyers were broad on the port bow of Yarra when Pantera fired two torpedoes at 23:31 and another pair at 23:34.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=103}} Yarra avoided two torpedoes by turning towards them and combing their tracks.{{sfn|Waters|1956|p=89}} Observers in Yarra thought that the leading enemy vessel was hit by their fourth or fifth salvo.{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=227–228}}

Sauro and Nullo had been manoeuvring to a more favourable position after receiving the sighting report from Pantera, turned towards the convoy and spotted Leander at 01:48 (21 October). Sauro fired a torpedo at Leander which missed and Leander opened fire but lost sight of Sauro after two minutes. Sauro made another torpedo attack at 02:07 and turned away towards Massawa. (Nullo was not able to attack after its rudder jammed for several minutes and it went round in circles, losing contact with Sauro.){{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=103}} Borsini ordered Nullo towards the Italian batteries on Harmil Island off Massawa. When the gunfire ceased, Leander altered course to north-west to intercept the ships at the South Massawa Channel (the Harmil Island Passage) and at 02:45, opened fire with {{nowrap|6-inch}} HE and star shells on a ship that was firing red and green tracer. The range was increasing and the ship was lost to sight after the first salvos.{{sfn|Waters|1956|p=90}}

Leander altered course westwards to bring all guns to bear if the ships were making for the South Massawa Channel. At 02:20 Leander spotted Nullo by searchlight and exchanged fire for about ten minutes at about {{cvt|4600|yd|nmi+km}}, Leander scoring several hits which damaged Nullo{{'}}s gyrocompass and gunnery director. At 02:51, Leander lost contact in the haze and ceased fire (having fired a hundred and twenty-nine 6-inch rounds).{{sfn|Waters|1956|pp=89–90}} Nullo headed toward Harmil Island with Leander in pursuit and at 03:00, Leander challenged a destroyer which turned out to be Kimberley, also in pursuit. After five minutes, the cruiser altered course east to rejoin the convoy, since the Italian ship was drawing away at the rate of {{cvt|7|kn}} and the convoy would still be vulnerable to attack during a pursuit.{{sfnm|1a1=Waters|1y=1956|1p=90|2a1=O'Hara|2y=2009|2p=103}}

File:Dahlak reliefmap.png off Massawa}}]]

In the early hours of 21 October, Kimberley continued to sail at maximum speed and at 03:50 sighted smoke ahead, apparently from two ships retiring at high speed. At 05:40, off Harmil Island, lookouts on Kimberley and Nullo spotted each other at {{cvt|7|nmi}} distance. Borsini assumed that the ship was Sauro and when Kimberley opened fire at 05:53, Nullo was taken by surprise, not returning fire for four minutes. Kimberley closed the range to {{cvt|5000|yd|nmi+km}} and at 06:20, Nullo scraped a reef, which damaged a propeller and sprung a leak. As Nullo rounded Harmil Island at about 06:25, it was hit once in the forward engine room and once in the aft engine room.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=104}}

Nullo lost all power; Borsini gave the order to abandon ship and steered towards Harmil Island. The upper works were hit by shell splinters and the crew abandoned-ship, while Borsini tried to run Nullo aground on the island. Nullo was then hit by the second of two torpedoes at 06:35, which broke it in two.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=104}} (Borsini and his assistant declined to leave the ship and were drowned.){{sfn|Bragadin|1957|p=41}}{{efn|Borsini and his attendant Vincenzo Ciaravolo were awarded the Gold Medal by the Italian Navy, which then ordered that, captains were to abandon ship.}} At 06:15 the four 120 mm guns on Harmil Island engaged Kimberley and hit the engine-room, wounding three men and holing the steam pipes. While adrift {{cvt|10000|yd|nmi+km}} from the shore battery, Kimberley silenced two of the guns and wounded four gunners with 45 HE shells from No. 3 mount.{{sfnm|1a1=Waters|1y=1956|1p=90|2a1=O'Hara|2y=2009|2p=105}}

File:HMS Kimberley.jpg

Kimberley managed to get under way, its speed reduced to {{cvt|15|kn}} and the shore battery ceased fire when Kimberley was {{cvt|19000|yd|nmi+km}} away. Kimberley had fired 596 rounds of semi-armour piercing and 97 High Explosive shells. Leander left the convoy and at 06:54 increased speed to {{cvt|26|kn}}. By 07:34, Leander was making {{cvt|28.7|kn}} and soon after, Kimberley reported that it was steaming east at {{cvt|15|kn}} on one engine.{{sfnm|1a1=Waters|1y=1956|1p=90|2a1=O'Hara|2y=2009|2p=105}} At 08:25, Leander was {{cvt|16|nmi}} east by north of the Harmil South beacon and slowed to {{cvt|10|kn}}. Leander circled near Kimberley to keep freedom of manoeuvre, in case Italian bombers appeared. Kimberley had lost water in its boilers and Leander sent a boat with three shipwrights and an engine-room artificer; a wounded rating was transferred to the cruiser for medical attention. At about 10:00, Leander took Kimberley in tow.{{sfn|Waters|1956|pp=90–91}}

At 10:00 on 21 October, Leander opened fire on three aircraft at {{cvt|13000|ft}}, which bombed about {{cvt|200|yd}} ahead of the ship, two more bombs turning out to be duds. No damage was done and Leander and Kimberley re-joined Convoy BN 7 just after noon.{{efn|As they passed Felix Roussel they were cheered by hundreds of the New Zealand soldiers on board. In the afternoon, Leander transferred the tow to Kingston which left the convoy with Kimberley next morning for Port Sudan. The southbound Convoy BS 7 with {{nowrap|20 ships,}} was met by the convoy escorts in the afternoon of 23 October and after an uneventful passage, dispersed east of Aden on 28 October.{{sfn|Waters|1956|p=91}}}}

In August the British had run four BN (northbound) convoys and four southbound BS convoys, five in September and seven in October, the BN convoys comprising 86 ships and the BS convoys 72 ships. Despite agent reports and sightings by the {{lang|it|Regia Aeronautica}}, Italian submarines and ships had frequently failed to make contact with the convoys; only six air attacks were achieved in October and none after 4 November.{{sfn|Playfair|1959|p=248}} During the attack on Convoy BN 7, the British found that they were at a disadvantage in night fighting as they were temporarily blinded by the flash of their guns, while the Italian ships used flash-less cordite and had good tracer ammunition.{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=227–228}} The British convoy escorts were blamed for a lack of aggression, except for Kimberley, despite the danger of abandoning the convoy at night and in poor visibility. The Italians had managed to make two torpedo attacks as planned but to no effect; the division of the destroyers into two sections, after previous sorties had failed to find any ships, meant that neither section had the firepower to face the British escorts.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=105}}

Of the {{nowrap|120 crew}} of Nullo, Borsini declined to abandon ship and when his assistant, Seaman Vincenzo Ciaravolo, realised he jumped from his lifeboat to accompany his captain and both were drowned. Of the ship's company {{nowrap|12 men}} were killed and {{nowrap|106 were}} rescued by sailors of the Harmil Island coastal battery.{{sfnm|1a1=Bragadin|1y=1957|1p=41|2a1=O'Hara|2y=2009|2p=103}} Kimberley was out of action until 31 October, then returned to service capable of a reduced maximum speed, until fully repaired in the spring of 1941.{{sfn|Mason|2011}}

Later on 21 October, three Blenheim bombers of 45 Squadron bombed the wreck of Francesco Nullo.{{sfn|Playfair|1959|p=248}} The Italians made another fruitless sortie on 3 December, cancelled one in January 1941 after Daniele Manin was damaged by a bomb and on 24 January, sortied again with no result.{{sfn|O'Hara|2009|p=105}}

• Red Sea Flotilla
• Costantino Borsini
• Attack on Convoy AN 14
• List of classes of British ships of World War II

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|20em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Bragadin |first=Marc' Antonio |title=The Italian Navy in World War II |translator-last=Hoffman |translator-first=G. |year=1957 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis Maryland |oclc=924029600 |lccn=57-6515}}
• {{cite book |first=David |last=Brown |title=Warship Losses of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1995 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55750-914-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=John |title=Naval Weapons of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-87021-459-2}}
• {{cite book |last=Gill |first=G. Hermon |series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 2 |title=Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942 |chapter=Chapter 5, R. A. N. Ships Overseas June–December 1940 |pages=140–246 |year=1957 |chapter-url=https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070340--1-.pdf |volume=I |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra, ACT |edition=online scan |oclc=848228}}
• {{cite web |last=Mason |first=G. B. |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=G. |title=HMS Kimberley (F 50) K-class Destroyer including Convoy Escort Movements |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-39K-Kimberley.htm |website=World War 2 1939–1945 |publisher=Naval-History.Net |date=3 August 2011 |access-date=28 April 2020}}
• {{cite book |last=O'Hara |first=Vincent P. |year=2009 |title=Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940–1945 |chapter=Chapter 6: The Red Sea, 1940–41 |pages=99–107 |publisher=Conway |location=London |isbn=978-1-84486-102-6}}
• {{cite book |ref={{harvid|Playfair|1959}}|first1=I. S. O. |last1=Playfair |author1-link=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |first2=G. M. S. |last2=Stitt |first3=C. J. C. |last3=Molony |first4= S. E. |last4=Toomer |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941) |volume=I |publisher=HMSO |year=1959 |orig-year=1954 |edition=4th impr. |oclc=494123451 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-Med-I/index.html |access-date=3 September 2015}}
• {{cite book |first1=Jürgen |last1=Rohwer |first2=Gerhard |last2=Hümmelchen |title=Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |year=2005 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=Chatham |location=London |edition=3rd rev. |isbn=1-86176-257-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Shores |first=Christopher |title=Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iran, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940–42 |publisher=Grub Street |year=1996 |location=London |isbn=978-1-898697-37-4}}
• {{cite book |title=Air War East Africa 1940–41: The RAF Versus the Italian Air Force |last1=Sutherland |first1=J. |last2=Canwell |first2=D. |year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword Aviation |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-84415-816-4}}
• {{cite book |series=Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45 |title=The Royal New Zealand Navy |last=Waters |first=S. D. |year=1956 |publisher=War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs |location=Wellington, NZ |edition=online scan |via=New Zealand Electronic Text Centre |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy.html |access-date=27 February 2016 |oclc=11085179}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite encyclopedia |author=O'Hara, Vincent P. |chapter=Red Sea, Naval Operations in |editor-last=Tucker |editor-first=Spencer C. |title=World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-59884-458-0}}
• {{cite book |series=History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945 |title=The Defensive |volume=I |last=Roskill |first=S. W. |author-link=Stephen Roskill |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |year=1957 |orig-year=1954 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |edition=4th impr. online |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-RN-I/index.html |via=Hyperwar |access-date=28 February 2016 |oclc=881709135}}
• {{cite book |last=Waters |first=S. D. |title=Leander |year=1950 |publisher=Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Government of New Zealand |location=Wellington, NZ |series=The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945 |access-date=28 February 2016 |chapter=Protection of Red Sea Convoys |pages=1–7 |chapter-url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-2Epi-c3-WH2-2Epi-d.html |edition=online |via=New Zealand Electronic Text Centre |oclc=1003719}}

{{World War II}}

BN 7

Category:History of the Red Sea

Category:Conflicts in 1940

Category:East African campaign (World War II)

Category:Regia Marina

BN 7

BN 7

BN 7

BN 7

Category:October 1940 in Africa

Category:Eritrea in World War II

Category:Maritime incidents in October 1940