Force K


Force K was the name of three British Royal Navy task forces during the Second World War. The first Force K operated from West Africa in 1939, to intercept commerce raiders. The second Force K was formed in October 1941 at Malta, to operate against convoys sailing from Italy to Libya. Axis air attacks on Malta led to Force K being reduced and on 8 April 1942, the last ship of the force was withdrawn. After Operation Stoneage was run to Malta Force K was re-established and began operations again against Axis convoys.

Force K (1939)

Force K was based in Freetown, Sierra Leone and consisted of the battlecruiser, the aircraft carrier and destroyers,, and. Force K was to track and destroy German commerce raiders in the South Atlantic, such as the pocket battleship. In December 1939, after the Battle of the River Plate, Force K was sent to the coast of Uruguay to prevent any sortie by Graf Spee, which was in Montevideo. After Graf Spee was scuttled, Force K was disbanded and Ark Royal escorted the cruiser, which had been damaged in the battle with Graf Spee, back to Britain.

Force K (1941)

Force K was re-created on 21 October 1941, with the light cruisers and and the L and M class destroyers and, to operate from Malta against Italian ships carrying supplies to the Axis forces in North Africa. On the night of 1941, in the Battle of the Duisburg Convoy, Force K destroyed the convoy, forcing the Italian high command to consider Tripoli "practically blockaded". Convoys to Tripoli were suspended, only Benghazi remaining in use. Soon after, Force K was reinforced at Malta by Force B, with the light cruisers and and two J-, K- and N-class destroyers. The combined force was so effective that in November 1941, the Axis supply line suffered 60 percent losses.
On 19 December, at about the time of the First Battle of Sirte, ships from both forces ran into a minefield while pursuing an Italian convoy, Neptune being sunk and Aurora damaged. The destroyer also struck a mine while attempting to assist Neptune and was scuttled the next day by the destroyer. Following this and with a resurgence of the aerial bombardment of Malta, the remaining surface ships were withdrawn, except for Penelope, which was too damaged to leave. Frequent air attacks while she remained in harbour earned her the nickname "HMS Pepperpot"; Penelope sailed for Gibraltar on 8 April 1942, terminating the second Force K.

Force K (1942)

, a convoy to re-victual Malta and was unloaded in record time. Force K was re-established on 27 November with the cruisers, and and four ships of the 14th Destroyer Flotilla.

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