Battle of the Tarigo Convoy 1941
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 April 1941 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1941 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Africa) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Battle of the Mediterranean | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Italy, United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 35.1575, 11.5137 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy (sometimes called the Action off Sfax) was a naval battle of the Second World War, part of the Battle of the Mediterranean. The battle was fought on 16 April 1941, between four Royal Navy destroyers and three Italian destroyers of the Regia Marina that were escorting a convoy near the Kerkennah Islands off Sfax, on the Tunisian coast.
Control of the sea between Italy and Libya was important to both sides to protect their convoys and attack those of their opponent. Axis convoys to North Africa supplied Italian colonists and Axis military forces. British attacks came from Malta, also dependent upon convoys for supplies.
The five ships in the convoy were sunk or run aground, along with their three destroyer escorts, one being refloated later in the year, for the loss of a British destroyer. The British success alleviated the pressure from Winston Churchill and the Admiralty in London on Admiral Andrew Cunningham to do more about Italian supply convoys.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Tarigo Convoy (revision 1370602457), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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All 19 battles of the Battle of the Mediterranean →
Browse more: battles at sea · Africa · World War II era battles