Operation Tifone

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'Tifone' was an Italian convoy across the Mediterranean Sea from the Sicilian port of Trapani to Tunis in North Africa (4 May 1943).

Undertaken in the aftermath of the 'Cigno' convoy, the 'Tifone' convoy was named for its primary escort, the 'Ciclone' class torpedo boat Tifone. In this last Axis convoy to North Africa, where the Axis forces were on the verge of total defeat, Tifone had much of her bunkerage filled with aviation fuel to be offloaded at Bizerte, and escorted the 4,200-ton merchant ship Belluno, which had been the French Fort de France until seized by Italy in 1940.

Tifone and Belluno departed Trapani at 05.45 hand headed to Tunis, witnessing the destruction of the 'Campobasso' convoy as they headed to the south. The two Italian ships managed to evade s the British destroyers, and reached North Africa on the same day.

Another Italian convoy composed by the Italian lighter MZ 724 and the water supply ship Scrivia, which sailed on 4 May and evacuated 200 Italian troops from Bizerte, reaching Cagliari undetected on the following day.