Operation AS (i)

'AS' (i) was the designation of British convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from Greece (generally Piraeus) to Alexandria, Egypt, and as such reciprocals of the 'AN' series (June 1940/May 1941).

Associated largely with the British effort to reinforce Greece at the time that country was under Italian threat and later under direct Italian and later German attack, this 'Aegean Southbound' series began with AS.1 of 28 June/2 July 1940 from the Dardanelles to Port Said with the 4,653-ton British African Prince, tug Britannia towing the Danube Shell II, 2,269-ton British Cavallo, 5,060-ton British Deebank, 3,553-ton British Destro, 4,267-ton British Eastlea, 3,490-ton British Egyptian Prince, 2,682-ton Dutch Ganymedes, 2,797-ton British Palermo, and 1,587-ton British Volo.

The series ended with AS.31 of 14/16 May 1941 from Souda Bay to Port Said with the 5,643-ton British Cape Horn, 5,627-ton British Lossiebank and 11,069-ton Dutch Nieuw Zeeland.