Attack on Convoy BN 7

Attack on Convoy BN 7
Part of The Second World War
Eritrea, showing Massawa (Mitsiwa'e) and Harmil Island to the north-east
Date 20–21 October 1940 Location Red Sea, off Massawa, Italian East Africa 15°36′35″N 39°27′00″E / 15.60972°N 39.45000°E / 15.60972; 39.45000 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  British India  New Zealand  Australia	Italy
Commanders and leaders
James Rivett-Carnac J. S. M. Richardson H. E. Horan	Costantino Borsini † Adriano M. D. Adimari Paolo Aloisi
Strength
1 light cruiser 1 destroyer 3 sloops 2 minesweepers Convoy BN 7 (32 ships)	4 destroyers Shore battery on Harmil Island
Casualties and losses
3 wounded 1 destroyer damaged 1 merchant ship damaged	14 killed 1 destroyer sunk
Massawa class=notpageimage| Massawa (Mitsiwa'e), former Italian naval base in Eritrea on the Red Sea, west of the Dahlak Archipelago

The Attack on Convoy BN 7 (20–21 October 1940) was a naval engagement in the Red Sea during the Second World War between a British force defending convoyed merchant ships and a flotilla of Italian destroyers. The Italian attack failed, with only one merchant ship being slightly damaged. After a chase, the British destroyer HMS Kimberley torpedoed the Italian destroyer Francesco Nullo which was beached on Harmil Island. Kimberley was hit, disabled by Italian shore batteries on the island and towed to safety by the cruiser HMS Leander.

Manoeuvring in two groups to increase the chance of intercepting the convoy had succeeded for the Italians but sacrificed the benefits of concentration against the escorts and a destroyer was lost for no result. The British command at Aden criticised the escorts (excepting Kimberley) for a lack of aggression but leaving the convoy defenceless to chase ships at night and in misty weather would have been risky. The Italians made another fruitless sortie on 3 December, cancelled one in January 1941 after the destroyer Daniele Manin was damaged by a bomb and conducted an abortive sortie on 24 January.