Friday, February 26, 2010
The opening act of Vigorous
The Vigorous convoy consisted of 11 British and 3 American merchant ships. One wsa the fast tanker Ohio, which could make 15 knots. The convoy entered the Mediterranean on 10 August 1942. Axis reconnaissance aircraft were constantly following the convoy. The Furious launched her Spitfires in the early afternoon. A major mishap occurred at 1:15pm when the Eagle was torpedoded by U-73. The Eagle sank in only 8 minutes, although most of the crew was rescued. After the Furious had launched all her Spitfires, she turned back to Gibraltar. The destroyer Wolverine rammed and sank an Italian submarine Dagabur while en route to Gibraltar. This is based on the account in VOl.III of the Official History.