Hello, this is the first of a multi part series I plan to write about Italian operations on and around the island, so far these episodes have been briefly mentioned by the WW2 channel and I would like to shed a light on these lesser known facts.
Since the start of British intervention in the Greek campaign the Cretan naval base located in Souda bay had been a vital crossroad and logistical center for Allied shipping moving to and from Egypt.
A surprise attack was planned there by the 10th MAS flottilla using 6 explosive motorboats called MT (Motoscafo da turismo), these small and fast vehicles were characterized by a bow filled with explosive, their pilot would steer the assault craft on a collision course at his target ship, and then would jump from his boat before impact.
The raid on Souda bay was supposed to be their first major scale operation.
Mt model
During the night between 25 and 26 March 1941 the MTs were deployed by two destroyers about 16Km from their objective and then slowly creeped through the defences under the cover of darkness.
Once inside the bay the 6 boats patiently waited the first lights of dawn in order to properly identify their targets, at about 5 a.m. the port was shaken by explosions.
HMS York and norwegian oil tanker Pericles were severely damaged while HMS Coventry narrowly avoided collision while the MT aimed at it crashed on the docks, all six of the Italian commandos were captured afterwards.
HMS York was deemed irrecurable and was stranded on the beach becoming an easy target for German planes that caused further damage.
Oil tanker Pericles was towed towards Alexandria for repairs but sank on the way.
All in all this daring assault ended with a success and paved the way for future operations.