Operation AP (i)

'AP' (i) was the designation of British troopship convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from the UK to Egypt very soon after Italy’s entry into the war and during the start of the Western Desert campaign (August/October 1940).

The first of these convoys was AP.1 of 22 August/23 September 1940 from Liverpool to Suez via the Cape of Good Hope with three British transports (8,983-ton Denbighshire, 20,123-ton Duchess of Bedford and 11,090-ton Waiotira) escorted by the heavy cruiser York, light cruisers Ajax and Australian Hobart, light anti-aircraft cruiser Coventry, and destroyers Diamond and Kandahar.

The last of the three convoys was AP.3 of 10 September/22 October 1940 also from Liverpool to Suez, but this time with 10 British transport vessels (25,564-ton Athlone Castle, 12,791-ton Brisbane Star, 26,943-ton Britannic, 7,255-ton Clan Campbell, 10,528-ton Clan MacArthur, 27,155-ton Dominion Monarch, 17,388-ton Durban Castle, 7,596-ton Glaucus, 3,791-ton commissioned Ulster Prince and 12,427-ton Imperial Star) escorted at various times by the heavy cruiser Shropshire, light anti-aircraft cruiser Carlisle, destroyers Defender, Harvester, Highlander, Hurricane, Kandahar, Kingston, Volunteer and Wolverine, sloop Flamingo, and four armed merchant cruisers in the form of the 15,784-ton Canton, 20,122-ton Carnarvon Castle, 14,182-ton Carthage and 11,137-ton Cilicia.