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The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply convoys that sustained the besieged island of Malta during the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War. Malta required military reinforcements, food for its military garrison and civilian population, and fuel for air and naval forces. The convoys bringing these men and supplies were strongly opposed by Italian and German naval and air forces during the Battle of the Mediterranean. Malta's significance was its position as a strategic base from which British sea and air forces could interrupt the flow of men and materiel to the Axis armies in north Africa, which in turn threatened Egypt, the Suez Canal and, potentially, British controlled oilfields in the Middle East. Its strategic importance was such that Britain took great risks and suffered severe naval losses〔British and allied losses included one battleship (), two aircraft carriers ( and ), cruisers, destroyers and smaller craft.〕 in order to keep possession.〔Jackson, p.121〕 Italy's failure to subdue Malta and military disasters in Libya and Greece led to German intervention in the Mediterranean. German bombers and submarines tightened the sea blockade and Malta's situation worsened. As well as set piece, heavily defended convoys, small quantities of important supplies and personnel were sent by fast warships (usually s) and by submarine. Fighter aircraft were critical to the island's defence and quantities of Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires were transported to within flying distance, known as "Club Runs". The critical period was during mid 1942, when the island desperately needed supplies such as fuel and food and it had temporarily ceased to be an effective offensive base. The situation eased later in 1942, particularly as Allied armies advanced from Egypt after El Alamein and from north west Africa after Operation Torch, allowing greater air protection to supply convoys. ==Background== Malta was an island of 117 square miles with a population of 275,000. Malta's agricultural production could feed only one-third of its population. The island's geographical position close to the Sicilian Channel between Sicily and Tunis was at the crossroads of Italy's sea route to Libya and the United Kingdom Suez canal sea route to India, East Africa, the Far East, and the major oil producers, Iraq and Iran.〔Iran would be occupied in 1941 to secure oilfields and obtain a supply route to the Soviet Union.〕 Either Italy or the United Kingdom could use Malta as a base to intercept the other nation's military and commercial access to colonial possessions.〔Bartimeus pp.42-47〕 Malta had been a British colony since 1814 when Italy declared war on the Allies on 10 June 1940.〔 Italy didn't immediately send the "Taranto Naval Squadron" to occupy Malta as suggested by Admiral Carlo Bergamini;〔Di Cirella, Arturo. ''Per l'onore dei Savoia. 1943-1944: da un superstite della corazzata Roma''. Mursia Editore. Milano, 2003〕 but, with Italian bases in nearby Sicily, maintenance of British control was more difficult from more distant British bases in Gibraltar to the west and Cyprus, Egypt, and Palestine to the east. Only two weeks after the Italian declaration of war, the Second Armistice at Compiègne ended British access to French Mediterranean Sea bases; and the 3 July 1940 attack on Mers-el-Kébir hardened French antipathy towards Britain. Axis support of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War caused concern about security of British Gibraltar.〔Potter & Nimitz pp.521-527〕 Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Libya dominated the central Mediterranean, and Italian conquest of Egypt would link Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland, and Eritrea. The September 1940 Italian invasion of Egypt resulted in loss of Cyrenaica during Operation Compass in December. In January 1941 Germany sent the ''Afrika Korps'' to Libya in Operation ''Sonnenblume'' ((英語:Operation Sunflower)) and the X. ''Fliegerkorps'' of the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe'') to Sicily in Operation Mittelmeer ((英語:Operation Mediterranean)) to protect ''Afrika Korps'' supply lines past Malta.〔 X. ''Fliegerkorps'' moved to Greece in April 1941, and the 23rd U-boat Flotilla was based at Salamis in September.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=23rd Flotilla )〕 Resources available to sustain Malta were reduced when Japan declared war in December and raided the Indian Ocean in April, 1942.〔Potter & Nimitz pp.654-661〕 Malta ceased to be an effective anti-convoy base in early 1942. Several warships were sunk in harbour and others were withdrawn. Supplies dwindled with the loss of convoys.〔(Operations )〕 Axis invasion of Malta was planned as (Operation C3 and Operation ''Herkules'') but never executed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Malta Convoys」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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