​The German-Italian army is in El Alamein. One last attack and the war in Africa will be over. The Middle East Command is cornered. And yet, the British command decide to carry out an amphibious operation against the Italian post in Tobruk, whose port is vital to provide supplies to the troops positioned in Egypt.

According to the plan, the town and the port must be occupied for 24 hours, while the naval units moored at the port are sunken or seized, and storehouses and installations must be destroyed. The whole raid had been deviced considering that the defence only comprised "less than a regiment of inefficient Italian soldiers."  

The operation begins on September 13, 1942, at night. Three hundred and eighty Royal Marines land north of Tobruk from destroyers Sikh and Zulu (Force "A"); at the same time, 83 Commandos (Force B) will attack by land; and 180 raiders will land from 15 torpedo boats and 3 motor-launches (Force C); while a group of signalers disembarked from a submarine (Force E) will indicate the beaches to be attacked.

The first to take action is Force B at 22.00 hours, the commandos in disguise, wearing German uniforms and weapons, reach the western ridge of Tobruk peninsula, their target is to destroy quietly and ruthlessly two coastal batteries, one Army battery and one Navy battery. Nevertheless, the men from the first position manage to sound alarm so that the seamen from S.P. 5 battery can stop the British raiders. The Italian Navy Commander, Admiral Giuseppe Lombardi, former head of the Intelligence Service, takes the lead of the operation and orders to deploy some men from the 3^rd Battalion of the San Marco Regiment, "the inefficient Italian soldiers" to repel the landings. During the night, illuminated by the light of fire shots and hand-grenades, the Italian Battalion destroys the Commandos.

At 01:00 hours the Navy Command receives a communication from Landing Craft MZ 733 – deployed at sea with MZ 759 as guard ships. "Enemy motor launches are trying to breach the blockade. I'm attacking." Soon after, from MZ 756 arrives a brief confirmation that they have repelled a group of enemy boats. These motor boats are small 200 ton units originally designed for a raid to Malta (which never took place), and deployed to grant local exchange with the first lines to contrast day and night the enemy aircraft. Iron hulls, cement protection and steel men. They were well armed thanks to a rich booty of non-regulations machine guns seized in June, in addition to a regulation 76 cannon and a 20 heavy machine-gun. Every sailor, unless engaged at the rudder or the engine, is holding a gun. Under the command of young, newly graduated officers, or experienced steersmen, or longtime seamen, these vessels can be dangerous, not only for the aircraft, but also for the unlucky "Force C."

Now it's time for "Force A" to act. The operations have been jeopardized from start by a wrong signaling of the landing areas. Artillerymen of the Italian King's Navy, after stopping the Commandos, have gone back to their duties, and when at 5.00 am destroyers Sikh and Zulu approach the coast disguised as Italian ships, flying false flags, (legitimate ruse de guerre until you open fire), is hell. The 120/50 and 102/35 cannons from ship Dandolo (which still had not tested her weapons) and Tordo, aim at the target taking 7 head shots on the Sikh, which bursts into flames and sinkd. Another 6 shots hit the Zulu. The rest of the British troops are counterattacked on the mainland by a makeshift company composed of Italian (Miscellaneous Services), 30 German comrades and 90 Carabinieri who volunteered to Admiral Lombardi. All the Marines surrender and are captured.

The mission is accomplished after sunrise by an old group of Italian Mc. 200 fighter bombers routinely deployed to escort services. But today, at last, things are different. A 50 kg bomb is fatal for the Sikh; then they sink torpedo MTB 312 and motor launches ML 352 and 353, and damage MTB 308, 310 and 313. Also, during the same day, the Luftwaffe sinks cruisers Coventry and the Zulu, already crippled and unable to go faster than 25 knots; as well as MTB 308 e 310, also previously damaged by the small Mc. 200. MTB 314 would be later rescued undamaged from a sandbank. At the end of the round-up operations on the ground and rescuing of the shipwrecked, the prisoners will be 625, most of the them rescued by the landing crafts, including the Sikh's commanding officer and an unfortunate US journalist. The secret archives of the Sikh, sunken in shallow waters, is retrieved and the British will find out about this other misfortune only a year later. The flag of the Royal Marines is also seized by the Italians; and it still is part nowadays of the trophies of our Navy.

A thorough reconstructions of this Italian victory was written by author Mino Milani and illustrated by Maestro Attilio Micheluzzi. It has been recently published on our Notiziario della Marina by gracious concession of publisher Ivaldi and courtesy of the illustrator.

Upd 18 Sept. 2015 - COC