[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Juha,

From the book Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in the Battle for Sicily by Morten Jessen and myself:

16 June 1943
Seven Fw 190s of III./SKG 10 took off at dawn under Lt. Bruno Schäfer for an armed reconnaissance mission in the area between Cap Licata and Pantelleria, searching for enemy gunboats. Pantelleria harbour was the secondary target. Despite haze at low-altitude, the pilots spotted a cargo ship and a destroyer north of Pantelleria. This was the British destroyer HMS Petard, which was escorting merchant ships with food and supplies into the harbour. The Fw 190s carried out their attack at 05:55, and HMS Petard was badly damaged by near misses, but the crew controlled the flooding, and the destroyer later made it to Bizerta for much-needed repairs. The attack was witnessed by six patrolling Spitfires of the 309th FS/31st FG, but they failed to engage the Fw 190s due to the haze.


There was no evening attack by FW 190s on 5 June 1943, but there was one on the evening of 6 June.

Cheers,
Andrew A.

Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com