On
the 1st January 1941, PERTH sailed for Crete
and then proceed to Piraeus, Greece. On the 8th
she left with a convoy bound for Malta. On the
way she was diverted to a position south of Sicily to
assist the cruiser HMS SOUTHAMPTON which had
been bombed . On arrival she was found to be beyond
help so she was sunk by torpedoes from HMS ORION.
PERTH arrived at Grand Harbour, Malta on the 14th
and moored opposite the carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS.
On the 16th January, Malta suffered an enormous air
raid. Two 1000lb bombs fell between PERTH
and ILLUSTRIOUS and another fell between PERTH
and the wharf , lifting the 7000 ton ship two feet
out of the water. At the same time another bomb
hit the ammunition ship ESSEX which was moored
40 yards astern of PERTH. ESSEX
caught fire and only quick action from some of PERTH's
crew prevented her from blowing up.
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German
and Italian aircraft in the Mediterranean
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Junkers
Ju-87 Stuka
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Dornier
Do-17
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Junkers
JU-88 (model)
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Heinkel-111
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Me 109
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Me 110
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Italian Cant.
Torpedo Bomber
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PERTH sailed that night to Alexandria for repairs
and the rest of the month was spent patrolling
off Crete and in the Aegean sea with the Battlefleet.
On the 27th after patrolling the Libyan coast
to Derna, she proceeded to the island of Kastelorizo
south of Turkey to land troops. She then
patrolled of Crete and on the 1st March , came
under heavy air attack in the Aegean from Italian bombers.
The rest of March was spent convoying troops from Alexandria
to Greece.
