Force K ambushes an Italian convoy

9th November 1941: HMS Penelope leads a moonlight attack on a convoy bringing supplies for Rommel

The light cruiser HMS Penelope accompanied her sister ship HMS Aurora which led the attack.

The sea war in the Mediterranean was becoming ever more intense, being crucial to the supply of both armies engaged in North Africa. Almost all the British supplies for Egypt now came around Africa and up through the Suez canal, a route that was comparatively safe…