Hello everyone, this is Showtime112. On the  evening of 10 January 1941, the heavily damaged   HMS Illustrious was towed into Malta’s Grand  Harbour and berthed at Parlatorio Warf at 22:15. The first thing the dockyard workers had to  deal with was the fire still raging in the hangar,   which they only succeeded in extinguishing at  about 3:00 a.m.

Even though the British carrier   made it to Malta, the besieged island was still  very far from a safe haven. Only the most urgent   repairs were to be made so that the ship could  be evacuated to Alexandria. Axis reconnaissance   aircraft soon confirmed the location of HMS  Illustrious. But fortunately for the British,   the German X.

Fliegerkorps based in Sicily had almost  run out of bombs in their attacks on Illustrious   and British convoys. So they were unable to  launch any large-scale attacks immediately.   General Geisler, the corps commander, frantically  arranged for the delivery of more bombs from   Germany, using the limited number of transport  aircraft at his disposal. On 13th January,   only a small attack was launched comprising a  formation of Ju-87 Stukas carrying 1,000 kilogram bombs.

The German dive bombers focused on HMS  Illustrious but were not able to achieve any hits. The British returned the favor by scrambling  their Hurricanes, but without achieving   any interceptions. Apart from RAF Hurricanes,  Gloster Gladiators and Illustrious’ own Fairey  Fulmars now operating from Malta’s airfields,  the defenders relied heavily on anti-aircraft   guns of various calibers, situated mostly around  the Grand Harbour.

The fighters were not supposed   to enter the AAA zone, but rather intercept  enemy bombers either before they reached it   or after they completed their attacks. The big  raid finally came on 16th January. The Germans   employed 17 Ju-88s escorted by 20 Messerschmitt Bf-110s and 44 Ju-87 Stukas escorted by 10 Italian Macchi C.200s, and ten Fiat CR.42s.

The largest raid against  Malta up to that date was detected by the   defenders at 1:55 p.m. Four Hurricanes and three  Fulmars were scrambled to meet the enemy raid.   The former were however directed to the  wrong area and failed to make any claims. James MacLachlin, who had claimed two Italian  fighters earlier that month, wrote an angry   remark about Malta fighter control in his diary  after watching the Stukas slowly depart for home   after their dives and not being allowed to  take off in a spare Hurricane to chase them.

The Fulmars, however, were successfully  vectored onto a formation of Ju-88s,   claiming four bombers shot  down and damaging two more. One Ju-88 piloted by Oberleutnant Kurt  Pichler was confirmed lost, while at least   three others crash-landed in  Sicily due to battle damage. One of the Fulmar pilots, possibly Sub Lt  Jack Sewel, is reported to have chased a Stuka   into the AAA barrage as it was trying to  get away from Grand Harbour at very low level.

The German plane had to pull up to clear a  breakwater at which point it was hit by the Fulmar. After landing, the Royal Navy pilot sent a message  to the anti-aircraft command saying he did not   think much of their accuracy, which had completely  missed the Stuka, but badly damaged his aircraft,   which was eventually written off.

The Malta  anti-aircraft artillery was credited with damaging   three bombers of each type, which might not seem  very much considering the sheer volume of fire.   However, the guns were nevertheless instrumental  in preventing the success of the German raid. Only one of the bombs hit Illustrious.  Sources do not agree about the size of   the bomb or the aircraft which dropped it,  but it was likely dropped by a Stuka and it   struck the aft flight deck, eventually  exploding in the captain’s day cabin.

Many of the bombs fell on the dock  installations and nearby civilian houses.   Two large bombs dropped by Ju-88s fell between  HMS Illustrious and the Australian light   cruiser HMAS Perth, while another hit the  ammunition ship Essex right behind it. Essex had brought additional Hurricanes in crates which fortunately escaped damage.

The raid of 16th January resulted in 53  killed and 36 injured. The next day gave   the British a chance to continue repairing  the crippled carrier.  On 18th January, the X. Fliegerkorps returned in strength, but  this time they focused on the airfields.   The alarm was sounded at 2:15 p.m. and over  50 Stukas soon began their dives on Luqa and Hal Far.

The latter was attacked first,   resulting in three Swordfish torpedo  bombers destroyed and hangers damaged. But the defenders managed to launch five  Hurricanes and four Fulmars to intercept the   attackers. The British pilots claimed heavily,  reporting seven Ju-87s shot down and two damaged. German records, however, only indicate  a single Stuka loss – the aircraft flown by   Feldwebel Richard Zehetmair. It’s unclear which of the  Hurricane pilots was the most likely shooter.

The Germans also lost the Ju-88 flown by Lt Horst Dünkel, but the exact reason remains unclear. The Italians lost a Macchi C.200  flown by maresciallo Persani.   The Italian pilot might have been the victim  of the Fulmar flown by Sub-Lt Arthur Griffith,   but he never returned from the mission  with the exact cause for his loss unknown.

Fliegerkorps returned again the next day. 19th  January 1941. The Junkers bombers escorted by the   Zerstörers and Italian fighters started to arrive at  about 8:30, and the defenders eventually scrambled   six Hurricanes, one Fulmar and one Gladiator.

Most British pilots flew at least four sorties  by the end of the day. During the first raid,  which comprised about 40 bombers of both types,   Sergeant Jim Pickering claimed  damage to a Stuka and a Ju-88. James MacLachlin was the most  successful British pilot that day,   claiming two German bombers and an Italian  float plane.

During his final sortie, MacLachlin spotted a lone Ju-88, which came out of a  dive and continued flying south towards Kalafrana. The Hurricane pilot approached, but the Ju-88  turned left, probably spotting the attacker. MacLachlin fired in a turn and damaged  one of the bomber’s engines. The RAF pilot attacked again, this  time approaching as close as 50 ft.

Barely evading the stricken bomber,   MacLachlin then spotted a single parachute  and the Ju-88 crashing into the sea. Altogether, the defenders claimed  nine Stukas, eight Ju-88s, one CR.42, and the   already mentioned Z.506 float plane. At least  ten of those by the fighter pilots. Naturally,   there are overclaims here as the German records  only show three Stukas and two Ju-88s being shot down.

Some more German aircraft were badly damaged. Axis  pilots claimed five Hurricanes shot down,   three by the Germans and two by the Italians.  British records admit losing one Hurricane   flown by Sergeant Eric Kelsey, who was last  seen chasing a Stuka into the AAA barrage.   Some German bombers nevertheless penetrated the  defenses and dropped their bombs on Illustrious.

Two bombs achieved near misses, one of  which caused additional damage and flooding. But once again, the attackers failed in their  objective – sinking HMS Illustrious. And just   like before, they depleted their stock of bombs  and made no further raids until 23rd of January   when the carrier was finally patched up enough  to sail to Alexandria and eventually to Norfolk,   USA, where it was repaired. It only  returned to service in early 1942.

The period covered in today’s video, in  which German and Italian forces attempted   to sink the British armored carrier  while it was being repaired in Malta,   is known historically as the ‘Illustrious  Blitz’. Malta’s defenders would soon face   even more difficult times, but that story might  be covered in future videos.

Let us know in the   comments if you want to see more of Malta’s  story, and of course, keep watching Showtime112.