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Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. One convoy, Operation Vigorous, left Alexandria. The other, Operation Harpoon, travelled in the opposite direction from Gibraltar. Both convoys met with fierce Axis opposition and only two of ''Harpoon''′s six merchant ships completed the journey, at the cost of several Allied warships. == Background == Until the French surrender and Italy's declaration of war, the Mediterranean had been an Allied "lake". The French Navy and the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet dominated the only potential and credible adversary, Italy's ''Regia Marina''. The French surrender and its consequences changed that. The French fleet became a potential threat in Axis hands and so was, in part, destroyed, adding to French antipathy toward the British. French bases in North Africa ceased to offer protection to Allied shipping. The ''Regia Marina'' possessed potent modern warships, particularly battleships and heavy cruisers, and Italian and Libyan territory provided centrally located naval and air bases that could cut British supply routes. The fall of Greece and Crete in 1941 extended the reach of Axis forces, which were consequently able to intercept Allied shipping from Alexandria and Suez by air. Italian and German armies in Libyan territory also threatened Egypt and control of the strategically important Suez Canal. A catastrophe for the Allies in Egypt might in turn lead to destabilisation of Britain's control of Middle Eastern oil supplies, or even worse, to the Axis gaining control of them. This scenario depended upon Axis forces in North Africa receiving adequate supplies from Italy. Malta threatened this Axis supply route, but itself needed regular resupply and reinforcement, in order to be effective and to resist Axis invasion. By mid-June, 1942, Malta's supply situation had deteriorated. The ''Luftwaffe'' had joined the ''Regia Aeronautica'' to isolate the island and starve its population, and it had become untenable as an offensive base. Axis armies had advanced into Egypt and Crete, thereby acquiring their own advance bases and denying the British safety over much of the eastern Mediterranean. Fresh aircraft were regularly flown into Malta, but food and fuel supplies were diminishing. In response, Britain made great efforts to ensure resupply the island. Two convoys, codenamed ''Harpoon'' and ''Vigorous'', were gathered, sailing simultaneously to split Axis forces. To contest the two Malta convoys, the Axis airforces had a total of 347 Italian and 128 German aircraft in the western Mediterranean, of which 175 Italian aircraft were based in Sardinia, with the rest in Sicily while 53 Italian and 122 German aircraft were based in the eastern Mediterranean; a total of 650 aircraft, although not all were operational.〔Sadkovitch, ''The Italian Navy in World War II'', p257〕 A series of naval air-sea battles led to sustained attrition of British naval strength〔See First Battle of Sirte and Luigi Durand De La Penne.〕 allowing the ''Regia Marina'' to gain naval supremacy in the east-central Mediterranean. The Italian Fleet and Axis air forces took advantage of the situation and moved onto the offensive, blocking or decimating at least three large British convoys bound for Malta. This led to a number of air-sea and naval engagements, such as the Second Battle of Sirte, the Battle of Mid-June or Operation ''Harpoon'' (plus Operation Vigorous) and finally to Operation Pedestal, all of them at least tactically favourable to the Axis, but ultimately leading to Allied strategic success with Malta's survival. 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「Operation Harpoon (1942)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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