Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by a fleet consisting of , , and , screened by ten fleet destroyers including , , , , and .

Events

The operation was originally scheduled to start on 31 January 1941, but the ships didn't leave

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until 6 February. Four destroyers carried out an anti-submarine sweep while the heavy ships carried out a feint to deceive Italian and German observers into thinking they were supporting a convoy.

harbour was bombarded on 9 February, with the force sinking four cargo ships and damaging 18. A majority of Italian sources only reported heavy damage on the merchant ships ''Salpi'' and ''Garibaldi'' and the sinking of the old civilian training ship ''Garaventa''. Author Ermingo Bagnasco also reports the loss of fourteen lighters and the motor sailor ''Antonietta Madre''. According to the official files of the Italian Marina Militare, the ''Antonietta Madre'' was sunk during the Allied air bombing of Genoa on 23 October 1942. A salvo from HMS ''Malaya'' landed between 200 and 50 yards short of the battleship ''Duilio'', undergoing repairs in dry dock north of Molo Giano; no damage was reported on the Italian battleship. A targeting error by a gunnery officer on board HMS ''Malaya'' some thirteen miles offshore caused an

armour-piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many wars ...

round to hit

Genoa Cathedral Genoa Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Lawrence ( it, Duomo di Genova, ''Cattedrale di San Lorenzo'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Italian city of Genoa. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo), and is the seat of th ...

; the shell failed to explode and remains on display there. ''Ark Royal''s aircraft attacked Livorno and mined La Spezia. An attempt by the Italian fleet to intercept the British force failed, and all ships returned to Gibraltar on 11 February. There were 144 civilian dead and 272 wounded at Genoa as result of the shelling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grog Allied naval victories in the battle of the Mediterranean Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom Naval aviation operations and battles February 1941 events