| Battle of the Campobasso Convoy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War | |||||||
 HMS Petard photographed from HMS Formidable, December 1943 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Deric Holland-Martin | Saverio Marotta † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3 destroyers |
1 torpedo boat 1 merchantman | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
76 men killed (Italian merchant navy) 133 men killed (Italian Navy): Total: 209 103 men rescued 1 torpedo boat sunk 1 merchantman sunk | ||||||
The Battle of the Campobasso Convoy was a naval engagement between three British Royal Navy destroyers and the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) Spica-class torpedo boat Perseo which took place off Cape Bon in the Mediterranean Sea on the night of 3/4 May 1943. The Italians were escorting the 3,566-gross register ton (GRT) freighter Campobasso to Tunisia.
The ships were illuminated by star shells, east of Kelibia in Cape Bon; Perseo attacked the British ships with torpedoes then turned to the north-west. Campobasso exploded under the British bombardment, that, with more star shells, lit up Perseo, which was severely damaged, sinking an hour later. The 93 crew of Campobasso suffered 73 killed, and of 133 crew on Perseo, 83 survived.