Operation Grog

Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by the Royal Navy's Force H, consisting of the battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (91), battlecruiser HMS Renown (1916), and light cruiser HMS Sheffield (C24) screened by ten fleet destroyers including HMS Fearless (H67), HMS Foxhound (H69), HMS Foresight (H68), HMS Fury (H76), HMS Firedrake (H79) and HMS Jersey (F72).

Events
The operation was originally scheduled to start on 31 January 1941, but the ships did not leave Gibraltar until 6 February.

Four destroyers carried out an anti-submarine sweep while the heavy ships carried out a feint to deceive Italian and German observers into thinking they were supporting a convoy.

Genoa harbour was bombarded on 9 February 1941, with the force sinking four cargo ships and damaging 18. A majority of Italian sources only reported heavy damage to the merchant ships Salpi and Garibaldi and the sinking of the old civilian training ship Garaventa. Author Ermingo Bagnasco also reports the loss of 14 lighters and the motorsailer Antonietta Madre. According to the official files of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare), the Antonietta Madre was sunk during the Allied aerial bombing of Genoa on 23 October 1942.

A salvo from HMS Malaya landed between 50 and 200 yd short of the Italian battleship ITALIAN BATTLESHIP Duilio, undergoing repairs in dry dock north of Molo Giano (Giano Pier); no damage was reported on Duilio. A targeting error by a gunnery officer on board HMS Malaya some 13 nmi offshore caused an armour-piercing round to hit Genoa Cathedral; the shell failed to explode and remains on display there. There were 144 civilian dead and 272 wounded at Genoa as result of the shelling.

Ark Royal's aircraft attacked Livorno and mined La Spezia.

An attempt by the Italian fleet to intercept the British force failed, and all ships returned to Gibraltar on 11 February 1941.