Operation Spotter II

'Spotter II' was a British naval undertaking to deliver Supermarine Spitfire fighters to Malta (6/8 March 1942).

With Malta’s force of Hawker Hurricane single-seat fighters reduced to a mere 32 operational aircraft, another attempt to bolster the island was imperative. The defective Spitfire single-seat aircraft from 'Spotter I' were repaired after one of the aircraft had been cannibalised for spares and an expert had been flown out to Gibraltar from the UK, and the ships departed once again on 6 March with the carriers Argus and Eagle escorted by the battleship Malaya, the light anti-aircraft cruiser Hermione and the destroyers Active, Anthony, Laforey, Lightning, Whitehall and Wishart, and escort destroyers Blankney, Croome and Exmoor.

Some 15 Spitfire fighters were flown off on 7 March and guided to Malta by seven Gibraltar-launched Bristol Blenheim light bomber reinforcements, all arriving safely, while the ships returned to Gibraltar, which was reached on 8 March.