The convoy was two days out of Alexandria, with supplies for unconquered Malta. So far the only enemy had been the choppy Mediterranean waves, making life miserable for the correspondents on one of Rear Admiral Philip L. Vian's light cruisers. Then, at dusk of the second day, birds of death appeared in the sky. Five swastikaed transport planes and a Messerschmitt flew overhead, winging from the Libyan front to German bases in Crete. They had sighted the convoy, and the British knew that the next dawn would bring enemy planes and warships.
Four torpedo planes came first. Heavy fire and Italian...