Operation White
Part of theBattle of the Mediterranean of theSecond World War
Skua L2987 after the crash-landing on Sicily
Date 15–18 November 1940 Location Strait of Sicily,Mediterranean Sea 37°12′00″N11°20′00″E / 37.20000°N 11.33333°E /37.20000; 11.33333 Result Italian victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders and leaders
James Somerville	Inigo Campioni
Strength
2 aircraft carriers 1 battlecruiser 2 cruisers 7 destroyers	2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 16 destroyers
Casualties and losses
9 aircraft lost 7 pilots missing 2 (POW)	None

Operation White (15–18 November 1940) was a British attempt to deliver fourteen aircraft, twelveHurricane Mk IIfighters and twoSkua fighter–dive bombers, toMalta from theaircraft carrierHMS Argus. White was one of what became known asClub Runs, that supplied fighters for the defence of Malta.

The operation was thwarted by the presence of the Italian fleet, which prompted the premature dispatch of the fighters; combined with bad weather and some poor navigation, this led to only five aircraft reaching Malta, all but one the other pilots and aircraft being lost at sea.^[1]

An enquiry blamed the Hurricane pilots for lack of familiarity with the constant-speed propeller on the Hurricane Mk II. Few people were convinced and Vice-Admiral SirJames Somerville, the commander ofForce H at Gibraltar, confided in his diary that the operation was "a frightful failure" and blamed himself for the tragedy.

After the entry of Italy in theSecond World War on 10 June 1940, the division of responsibility in the Mediterranean between the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the west and the British in the eastern Mediterranean ended. To compensate for the withdrawal of the French, theAdmiralty establishedForce H at Gibraltar. The British authorities designed a formal system of aircraft reinforcement to Malta, to assemble an adequate air defence and replace potential losses. Only two routes remained open after theBattle of France, via North Africa, by shuttling the fighters over theSahara or via theSuez Canal to Egypt and by delivering them by aircraft carrier from the westernMediterranean.^[2]

Force H (Admiral SirJames Somerville), comprised the fleet carrierHMS Ark Royal with theFleet Air Arm (FAA)808 Naval Air Squadron [NAS] (Fulmar),800 NAS (Skua),810 NAS,818 NAS and820 NAS (Swordfish).^[3] ThebattleshipsHMS Valiant andResolution, thecruisersHMS Arethusa,Delhi andEnterprise and the destroyersHMS Faulknor,Forester,Foresight,Foxhound,Fearless,Escapade,Active andWrestler. On 2 August, nineFairey Swordfish aircraft took off fromArk Royal to bombCagliari and three to lay mines.^[4] The first party to conduct aClub Run was 418FlightRoyal Air Force (RAF), comprising RAF pilots transferred from their squadrons and other pilots who had been attached to the FAA and trained for deck operations.^[5] On 2 August 1940, the aircraft took off fromHMS Argus south-west ofSardinia, sailing independently of Force H, with a destroyer escort comprisingHMS Encounter,Gallant,Greyhound andHotspur.^[4]

When the Italian naval headquarters (Supermarina) discovered the sailing of Force H, two lines of submarines,Scirè,Argo,Neghelli,Turchese,Medusa,Axum,Diaspro andLuciano Manara were assembled on 1 August to the north ofCap Bougaroûn but the move proved abortive, with no sightings by 9 August.^[4] ThreeRegia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air force)Savoia-Marchetti SM.79medium bombers attacked Force H but Skuas fromArk Royal shot down one of the SM.79s and drove off the other two. The British fighters reached the airstrip atLuqa at Malta but two of the aeroplanes crash-landed. The first engagement of the new aircraft took place on the night of 13/14 August, when they shot down another SM.79. By 16 August, 418 Flight and the original Malta units were amalgamated into261 Squadron.^[6]

Following the success of Hurry, another mission was planned for November. The aircraft were to be delivered byArgus again, escorted by Force H fromGibraltar, with thebattlecruiserHMS Renown, the carrierArk Royal, the cruisersHMS Despatch andSheffield and the destroyersFaulknor,Fortune,Fury,Wishart,Forester,Firedrake,Duncan andFoxhound.^[7] The convoy departed Gibraltar at dawn on 15 November. Earlier that day, a report was passed to Somerville that the Italian fleet was at sea south of Naples, to confront Force H. He decided to launch the fighters as soon as possible.^[8][9]

Supermarina, the Italian naval headquarters, was informed of the operation by its spies in Gibraltar four hours after Force H had sailed.^[10] Ships of theRegia Marina sailed fromNaples andMessina commanded by AdmiralInigo Campioni. By the morning of 17 November, the battleshipsVittorio Veneto andGiulio Cesare that had survived theBattle of Taranto (11/12 November 1940) the British air attack on Taranto Harbour were at sea.^[11] With two heavy cruisers and several destroyers the battleships lay in wait 35 nmi (65 km; 40 mi) south-west of Sardinia.^[12]

At dawn on 17 November, the first six Hurricanes were brought on deck.^[13][a] The navigating Skua (L2882) was crewed by Sub- Lieutenant (A) Nowell, who had flown on Operation Hurry and Sub-Lieutenant (O) P. Gordon-Smith. lt was about 400 mi (640 km) to Malta; if flown at optimum speed, revs and altitude, the Hurricanes were expected to reach Malta with 45 minutes' of fuel left. Engine start was at6:15 a.m. and it took 15 minutes to get the seven aircraft airborne and formed up into two sections, which used a third of the safety margin.^[13] The fighters flew at 150 mph (240 km/h) at a height of 2,000 ft (610 m), far from the optimum height and speed for the distance to be covered.^[14]

The 510 mi (820 km)-range of theHurricane Mk II was achieved at 10,000 ft (3,000 m), not the denser air lower down. The formation unexpectedly encountered a headwind, for which no allowance had been made.^[14] The wind backed from south-west to south-east, hampering the eastward flight of the aircraft. Near theGalite Islands, 50 mi (80 km) north of Tunisia and 93 mi (150 km) south of Sardinia, the wave made rendezvous with aShort Sunderlandflying boat which lead the formation to Malta. A Hurricane ran out of fuel at9:08 a.m. 45 nmi (83 km; 52 mi) from Malta and another at9:12 a.m. One of the pilots was rescued by the Sunderland but the other was lost at sea. The four remaining Hurricanes and the Skua landed at Luqa at9:20 a.m.^[9]

The second flight of Hurricanes followed an hour later, their navigating Skua (L2987) flown by Petty Officer (A) W. E. J. Stockwell and Sub-Lieutenant (O) R. C. Neil.^[15][b] The flight went wrong from the start, the Sunderland escort from Gibraltar failing to take off from Gibraltar. The headwind increased and the flight missed its landfall at Galite Island, failed to rendezvous with aMaryland sent from Malta and became lost.^[15] The Skua navigator radioed for help but his receiver was unserviceable. As the Skua crew searched for land, the Hurricanes dropped out of formation one-by-one and landed in the sea. The Skua was 75 nmi (86 mi; 139 km) off course, and just before it ran out of fuel, the crew saw the southern coast of Sicily through the mist.^[14] Anti-aircraft fire damaged the Skua, which crash-landed on the beach at Punta Palo on theIsola delle Correnti, nearSyracuse, Stockwell and Neil being taken prisoner. A Maryland from Malta sent to search for survivors found nothing, the six Hurricane pilots having died in the sea.^[15]

MacLachlan wrote in his diary, "Today has been one of the most tragic in my life. Nine [sic] chaps who were alive and well twelve hours ago are dead, and I might easily have been one of them".^[15] MacLachlan did not know the fate of the missing Skua and its crew. A few days later, he and Sub Lieutenant (O) Gordon-Smith were summoned to attend aCourt of Inquiry at Gibraltar, which found that the loss of the aircraft was "mainly due to a lack of knowledge on the part of the Hurricane pilots as to how to fly their aircraft when fitted with constant speed airscrews" and "bad navigation on the part of the observer of the second Skua".^[15] Somerville privately assessed the operation "a frightful failure" and blamed himself.^[14] Somerville wrote on the day after the loss of the aircraft, "I feel now that in spite of the risk of meeting superior Italian surface forces, it would have been better if I had proceeded 40 miles further east ..."^[15]

The inquiry blamed the unfamiliarity of the Hurricane pilots with the Hurricane Mk II, with a constant-speed propeller. Poor weather and the use of a navigator in the Skua who was a volunteer reserve officer, on his first operational sortie, which Somerville called "a positive scandal" contributed to the loss of the Hurricanes.^[14] Later it was tacitly acknowledged that there had been inadequate weather forecasting and a lack of liaison between Navy and RAF as to the true range of the Hurricane. The pilots were instructed to fly at 2,000 ft (610 m) where the air is "heavier" than at the height prescribed in the handling notes available to the Air Operations Officer aboard Argus. A Hurricane Mk II (tropical) in still air, at 130 kn (240 km/h; 150 mph) could fly 521 mi (838 km) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m). Caution in the handling of the fleet played a much greater part in the tragedy than aircrew error and the loss of the pilots was made worse because of their experience gained in England. A Skua navigator and some of the Hurricane pilots made mistakes but these were lesser errors than others in the disaster.^[16]

The loss of experienced fighter pilots was particularly painful and before later Club Runs, attempts were made to give pilots some practice in long-range flight over the sea.^[17] The Hurricane pilot on Argus, Sergeant C. S. Bamberger, returned to Gibraltar with the carrier, whence he was taken to Malta by the destroyerHotspur, disembarking on 28 November.^[15] Bamberger wrote,

FIight Lieutenant MacLachlan, whom I got to know well in Malta, would not have taken off from the Argus if he had anticipated a flight lasting three hours. On any long-distance flight, particularly if it were over the sea, it would be against the very nature of any fighter pilot not to economise on petrol. To my mind the Navy did not take them close enough.^[15]

The Prime Minister,Winston Churchill, wrote that "Never again were the margins cut so fine, and though many similar operations took place in the future never did such a catastrophe recur".^[15]

Sergeant Pickering wrote of the survivors, "When the reinforcement arrived, partially, the pilots brought in ideas that had evolved in the Battle of Britain. Apart from air tactics, these included the selection of air leaders other than by seniority in rank". Shortly after midnight on the morning of 22 November an Italian bomber emerged from thick cloud and dropped bombs, which caused little damage and no casualties, while escaping from a Hurricane manoeuvring to intercept. As the bomber flew low over Malta, a machine-gunner opened fire, machine-gun belts fell out of the aircraft and were recovered by troops nearby.^[18]

Force H^[4]

Ship	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS Ark Royal	Royal Navy	Courageous-classaircraft carrier	Bombing raid on Alghero airfield,Sardinia (cancelled)[19]
HMS Valiant	Royal Navy	Queen Elizabeth-classbattleship
HMS Resolution	Royal Navy	Revenge-classbattleship
HMS Arethusa	Royal Navy	Arethusa-classcruiser
HMS Delhi	Royal Navy	Danae-classcruiser
HMS Enterprise	Royal Navy	Emerald-classcruiser
HMS Newcastle	Royal Navy	Town-classcruiser	Independent to Malta[c]
HMS Active	Royal Navy	A-class destroyer
HMS Escapade	Royal Navy	E-class destroyer
HMS Faulknor	Royal Navy	F-class destroyer
HMS Fearless	Royal Navy	F-class destroyer
HMS Forester	Royal Navy	F-class destroyer
HMS Foresight	Royal Navy	F-class destroyer
HMS Foxhound	Royal Navy	F-class destroyer
HMS Wrestler	Royal Navy	W-class destroyer

HMSArgus and close escorts^[4]

Ship	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS Argus	Royal Navy	aircraft carrier	12 Hurricane fighter reinforcements for Malta, 2 Skua guides[8]
HMS Encounter	Royal Navy	E-class destroyer	Close escort
HMS Gallant	Royal Navy	G-class destroyer	Close escort
HMS Greyhound	Royal Navy	G-class destroyer	Close escort
HMS Hotspur	Royal Navy	H-class destroyer	Close escort

Italian surface ships^[21]

Ship	Flag	Type	Notes
Vittorio Veneto	Kingdom of Italy	Littorio-classbattleship
Giulio Cesare	Kingdom of Italy	Conte di Cavour-classbattleship
Bolzano	Kingdom of Italy	Trento-classcruiser
Trento	Kingdom of Italy	Trento-classcruiser
Trieste	Kingdom of Italy	Trento-classcruiser
—	Kingdom of Italy	Destroyers	14 Destroyer escorts[22]

Italian submarines^[4]

Ship	Flag	Type	Notes
Argo	Kingdom of Italy	Argo-classsubmarine
Axum	Kingdom of Italy	Adua-classsubmarine
Diaspro	Kingdom of Italy	Perla-classsubmarine
Luciano Manara	Kingdom of Italy	Bandiera-classsubmarine
Medusa	Kingdom of Italy	Argonauta-classsubmarine
Neghelli	Kingdom of Italy	Adua-classsubmarine
Scirè	Kingdom of Italy	Adua-classsubmarine
Turchese	Kingdom of Italy	Perla-classsubmarine

• Operation Collar
• Battle of Cape Spartivento

• Bragadin, M. (1957) [1948]. Fioravanzo, G. (ed.).The Italian Navy in World War II. Translated by Hoffman, G. (Eng. trans. ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.OCLC 602717421.
• Cameron, Ian (1975) [1959].Red Duster, White Ensign: The Story of Malta and the Convoys (pbk. repr. ed.). London: Futura.ISBN 0-8600-71731.
• Cull, Brian; Galea, Frederick (2001).Hurricanes over Malta June 1940 – April 1942 (rev. ed.). London: Grub Street.ISBN 1-902304-91-8.
• de la Sierra, Luis (1976).La guerra naval en el Mediterráneo 1940–1943 [The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940–1943] (in Spanish). Barcelona: Juventud.ISBN 84-261-0264-6.
• Greene, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (2002) [1998].The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943. Rochester: Chatham.ISBN 978-1-86176-057-9.
• Hobbs, David (2013).British Aircraft Carriers: Design, Development and Service Histories. Barnsley: Seaforth (Pen & Sword Books).ISBN 978-1-84832-138-0.
• O'Hara, Vincent P. (2009).Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940–1945. London: Conway.ISBN 978-1-84486-102-6.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972].Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 1-86176-257-7.
• Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1999).Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940–41. London: Grub Street.ISBN 0-948817-06-2.
• Smith, Peter C. (2011).Critical Conflict: The Royal Navy's Mediterranean Campaign in 1940. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation.ISBN 978-1-84884-513-8. First published asAction Imminent: Three Studies of the Naval War in the Mediterranean Theatre during 1940 (1980) William Kimber, London.ISBN 978-0-7183-0277-1
• Sturtivant, Ray (1982).Fleet Air Arm at War. London: Ian Allan.ISBN 978-0-7110-1084-0.
• Sturtivant, R. (1990).British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-026-2.
• Woodman, Richard (2003) [2000].Malta Convoys 1940–1943 (pbk. repr. ed.). London: John Murray.ISBN 978-0-7195-6408-6.

• Dannreuther, Raymond (2005).Somerville's Force H: The Royal Navy's Gibraltar-based Fleet, June 1940 to March 1942. London: Aurum Press.ISBN 1-84513-020-0.
• Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954].Butler, J. R. M. (ed.).The War at Sea 1939–1945: The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO.OCLC 881709135. Retrieved20 September 2021.

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