The action off Cape Bougaroun (Cap Bougaroûn), or the Attack on Convoy KMF-25A was a Luftwaffe action against an Allied naval convoy off the coast of Algeria during World War II. The convoy of American, British, Greek and Dutch ships was attacked on 6 November 1943 by 25 German land-based aircraft. Six Allied vessels were sunk or damaged and six German aircraft were destroyed. German forces achieved a tactical victory, though the Allied warships involved received credit for defending their convoy and reacting to their losses quickly. The quick response led to the rescue of over 6,000 servicemen and civilians without further loss of life.
Background
Convoy KMF-25A consisted of 26 transports escorted by 15 warships. It sailed from Liverpool to Naples. The 26 transports carried roughly 28,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers as well as war supplies and nurses. Most, if not all of the vessels were armed with small naval and anti-aircraft guns; the American and Dutch ships had armed guards aboard who manned the weapons. The convoy was designated Task Group 60.2 and was under the command of United States Navy Captain Charles C. Hartman in his flagship . Task Group 60.2 included the British light cruiser and the destroyers USS Mervine, , , , , , and HMS Haydon with two other vessels. There were also four destroyer escorts, two Greek and two American, including and .
On 27 October 1943, convoy KMF-25A left Great Britain for Egypt and ultimately to Italy. After passing Gibraltar, the ships received air support from the Royal Air Force, but these aircraft squadrons could only help so much as each was constantly being rotated out with another. The rotation left the convoy without support for several minutes at a time while the Royal Air Force sent new planes. It was during one of these periods that a force of nine Luftwaffe torpedo planes and 16 bombers intercepted the convoy.
Action
The convoy sailed in columns of seven to nine ships each from Mers-El-Kebir to Naples. USS Laub was alone and ahead of the fleet to provide a radar screen. USS Mervine led the warships in a circular course around the three columns. Beatty and Tillman were astern in the rear and Mervine was ahead. Just after sunset, at about 17:45 on 6 November, the convoy was sailing in overcast weather, away from Philippeville off Cape Bougaroun when USS Laub detected six enemy aircraft attacking from the north. Laubs commander radioed Captain Hartman who signalled the destroyers to make smoke and prepare for action. The thousands of soldiers and civilians were also ordered to go below deck and remain there until the threat was over. A moment later, USS Tillman picked up an enemy aircraft and opened fire at a range of , too far to be accurate but the shots served as a warning to the other nearby escorts.
German forces included Heinkel He 111s with F5B torpedoes, Dornier Do 217s with Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs and Junkers Ju 88s. They were separated into small groups and attacked at a low altitude, around above the surface of the sea. First, the Americans sent out friend or foe signals to the approaching enemy, but when one of the aircraft was identified as German, Hartman was informed and he ordered the escorts to open fire. As the German planes came within range, both the escorts and the transports opened fire toward the sky with a massive hail of machine gun, anti-aircraft and naval gunfire. Seconds later, the Germans began firing their missiles and launching torpedoes. The battle last under 30 minutes but in that time thousands of pounds of ordnance were expended. USS Beatty, under Commander William Outerson, first observed machine gun fire at 18:03 and picked up five incoming planes followed by a bomb explosion at 18:04. At 18:05, she opened fire on two more incoming Ju 88 torpedo planes, away, which were trying to pass themselves off as friendly.