Operation Collar (12–29 November 1940) was a small, fast three-ship convoy sent from Britain during the Second World War on 12 November 1940. The three ships and their cruiser escorts passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 24 November. Two of the merchant ships were bound for Malta and one for Alexandria with military supplies. Numerous other operations were conducted by Force H, based at Gibraltar and by the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria in Egypt.

The (Italian Royal Navy) had not been deterred from challenging the British after the disaster of the Battle of Taranto (11/12 November 1940) that put three of its six battleships out of action. When aware that Force H was sailing eastwards, the Italian fleet sailed to attack the British ships, leading to the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento (Battle of Cape Teluada to the Italians) on 27 November. The two Malta-bound ships arrived on 26 November.

As the British and Italian battle fleets manoeuvred inconclusively, Force F made off towards the Sicilian Narrows with the anti-aircraft cruiser from Force D. the two freighters bound for Malta made port on 29 November. New Zealand Star continued to Alexandria with the cruisers and and the destroyers and .

After the Battle of Spartivento there were moves against senior commanders, before Somerville returned to Gibraltar, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and the Admiralty had despatched a court of inquiry. Somerville was exonerated but in Italy, Admiral Inigo Campioni was sacked and replaced by Admiral Angelo Iachino. The Mediterranean Fleet resumed operations in the eastern Mediterranean.

Background Malta, 1940 Malta, is a Mediterranean island of in an archipelago that has two other inhabited islands, Gozo and Comino. Malta had been a British colony since 1814. By the 1940s, the island had a population of 275,000 but local farmers could feed only one-third of the population, the deficit being made up by imports. Malta was a staging post on the British Suez Canal sea route to India, East Africa, the oilfields of Iraq and Iran, India and the Far East. The island was also close to the Sicilian Channel between Sicily and Tunis. After the Italian entry into the Second World War (10 June 1940), Malta was used as a base of operations by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA), sea and submarine operations by the Royal Navy against Axis supply convoys from Italy to Italian Libya. On 11 June 1940, Italy began the Siege of Malta, the first step in an Italian plan to gain control of the Mediterranean. The Italians intended to bomb or starve Malta into submission by attacking its ports, towns, cities, and Allied shipping supplying the island.

Force H

At the west end of the Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, the commander of Force H was less optimistic. Force H was smaller than the Mediterranean Fleet, having been improvised at Gibraltar as a substitute for the French after France defected from the Allies in late June. The redeployment of much of the to the west coast of Italy added to the vulnerability of Force H. The battleship was the only operational battleship, being in dry-dock for engine and boiler repairs, leaving Force H outnumbered three to one in battleships. The aircraft carrier was part of the force but the poor showing of the torpedo-bombers against left Somerville doubtful over the lack of training and inexperience of the aircrew in attacks on moving ships, shown again in operations during the Battle of Calabria (9 July 1940).

Force H had two 6-inch cruisers, the modern and the ageing , completed in 1922. and were to participate in the operation but carrying 1,370 RAF technicians would severely limit their ability to fight. The 8th Destroyer Flotilla comprised , , , with and of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla and the new arrivals and that brought Force H up to eight destroyers, the equivalent of one destroyer flotilla. was also at Gibraltar but was of limited value after ramming the Italian submarine in late October, losing its Asdic, having to run at a slower speed and needing to get to the dockyard in Malta for repairs. Four s, , , and were waiting to sail to Alexandria and carried anti-magnetic mine apparatus, limiting their speed to in theory, that turned out to be in practice.

Force H plan

Force H was to make an air attack on Alghero airfield in the north-west of Sardinia, transport 1,400 soldiers and naval personnel through the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Malta in the cruisers Manchester and Southampton that would meet Force D of the Mediterranean Fleet. The cruisers were to be part of the escort to Malta for the fast [] merchant ships Clan Forbes and Clan Fraser to Malta and New Zealand Star to Alexandria. On 15 November the ships and the destroyers , and sailed from the Clyde in Scotland for Gibraltar. Once the convoy entered the Mediterranean, it would be joined by the damaged Hotspur due for repairs at Malta. The corvettes Gloxinia, Hyacinth, Peony and Salvia were also to join the convoy, en route to Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Fleet. Somerville intended to join Force D at midday on 27 November south-east of Sardinia, continue to the Sicilian Narrows then turn for Gibraltar, Collar continuing towards Mata during the night.

Operation MB 9 Mediterranean Fleet

On the night of 11/12 November 1940, the Battle of Taranto was fought by aircraft from of the Mediterranean Fleet that attacked the Italian Fleet in Taranto harbour and damaged severely the battleships , and leaving the with only three operational battleships. After the success of the raid, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Andrew Cunningham, was willing to give credence to some of the more enthusiastic ideas circulating in Whitehall, in London. Operation Workshop, a plan to capture the island of Pantellaria, was rejected because it had no strategic significance and would saddle the navy with another onerous supply obligation. Operation Collar, a proposal to send a convoy of fast merchant ships carrying personnel and supplies from Gibraltar to Malta and Alexandria seemed feasible, with the drastic reduction in the fighting power of the .

Force C Force C covered Force D with the battleships and and the aircraft carrier Eagle, which was to attack Tripoli on 26 November. The Mediterranean Fleet left Alexandria with the battleships , and the aircraft carrier Illustrious, the 7th Cruiser Squadron comprising , and with destroyers to cover a convoy to Souda Bay in Crete. Aircraft from Illustrious attacked Rhodes on 26 November.

Force E Convoy MW 4 of , , and was to sail from Alexandria to Malta with Force E, a close escort of , , , , , , and . The distant escort consisted of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, , and .

Force D Force D, the slow battleship , the cruisers that was suffering from turbine problems and that had boiler trouble, were to depart Alexandria for Gibraltar across the Mediterranean, rather than round the Cape of Good Hope. The ships were to be accompanied by the anti-aircraft cruiser , with the destroyers , , , and . Force D was to rendezvous with Operation Collar (Force F) south of Sardinia. Convoy MW 4, the merchant ships Memnon, Clan Macaulay, Clan Ferguson and Breconshire were also at Alexandria, ready to be convoyed to Malta. The escorts would meet the merchant ship Cornwall which had been repaired and the four unloaded ships of Convoy MW 3 and escort them back to Alexandria. Part of MB 9 was for aircraft carriers of the Mediterranean Fleet to attack airfields in the Dodecanese Islands and Tripoli in Italian Libya. The Mediterranean Fleet was busy protecting convoys from Port Said and Haifa to Cyprus and Piraeus in Greece; the cruisers were transporting troops to the Aegean and under frequent attack by the .

Voyage Convoy MW 4, 23 November On 23 November, the Malta-bound Convoy MW 4, Breconshire, Clan Ferguson, Clan Macaulay and Memnon sailed with a close escort of the destroyers Hasty, Havock, Hero, Hyperion, Ilex, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager. The distant escort consisted of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, Glasgow, Gloucester and York. The convoy reached Malta unhindered at on 26 November.

24−25 November

During the night of 24/25 November the three merchant ships passed through the Strait of Gibraltar as Duncan led Hotspur and the corvettes Gloxinia, Hyacinth, Peony and Salvia out of Gibraltar at midnight on 24 November to rendezvous with the freighters. Velox and Wrestler were detached from the escort and put into Gibraltar. Around Army and RAF passengers began to embark on Manchester and Southampton from the liner completing the move shortly before dawn. At the cruisers sailed with the rest of the Force F destroyers and Force B. The convoy was met off Gibraltar by Force B, the battlecruiser Renown, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the cruisers Despatch and Sheffield and the destroyers Faulknor, Firedrake, Forester, Fury, Encounter, Duncan, Wishart, Kelvin and Jaguar.

26 November

Force F and Force B sailed eastwards in clear but gusty weather and at daybreak on 26 November, aircraft took off from Ark Royal for the usual anti-submarines and reconnaissance flights that soon found the convoy. Despatch was sent to join the convoy escorts as the ships came closer to Vichy North Africa. During the afternoon, the fleet turned southwards to steam closer to the merchant ships and two hours later Manchester, Wishart, Encounter and Fury joined the convoy. The speed of the corvettes caused concern and rather than try to alter the plan, during the evening of 26 November, the corvettes were detached from Force F to make their way independently, even though this meant Force F losing their anti-submarine and anti-minesweeping capacity. By dark on 26 November the merchant ships were sailing east at 37°37′N, 06°54′E north of with the cruisers Dispatch, Manchester and Southampton as close cover and with Force B at 37°48′N, 07°24′E making , to the north-east of the convoy, the corvettes having fallen back . Force D from the Mediterranean Fleet was on schedule, north-east of (Galita) steaming west but wireless contact had not been gained with the eastbound ships and Ark Royal sent an aircraft to look at

Convoy ME 4

The merchant ships Cornwall, Devis, Plumleaf, Rodi, Volo and Waiwera assembled in Grand Harbour and Marsaxlokk and departed Malta along the swept channel at with its escorts, the cruiser Calcutta and the Australian destroyers Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager. At on 29 November, Vampire and Vendetta covered Devis and Waiwera into harbour at Alexandria, Calcutta and Voyager sailed on with Volo and Rodi to Port Said on 30 November.

The departure of the ships from Gibraltar had been notified to and Force D, on its way from Alexandria, had been seen by the occupants of an Italian airliner on 26 November. The submarines , , and were sent to the south of Sardinia, and to stations off Malta. Admiral Inigo Campioni sailed from Naples with the battleships and , the 13th Destroyer Flotilla with , , and , the 7th Destroyer Flotilla with , and , the 1st Cruiser Division (Admiral Angelo Iachino) with , , and the 9th Destroyer Flotilla of , , and sailed from Naples, the 3rd Cruiser Division (Admiral Luigi Sansonetti) sailed from Messina with , and and the 12th Destroyer Flotilla with , and departed Messina. After dark, the 10th Torpedo Boat Flotilla sailed from Trapani in western Sicily for the Sicilian Narrows with , , and to attack Force D. The British ships were seen and Sirio fired torpedoes that had no effect and Force D sailed on.

Convoy ME 4