"Operation Pedestal was a British Wartime convoy
Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of MaltaMalta
Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
in August 1942, during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked AxisAxis Powers
The Axis powers were those countries that were opposed to the Allies of World War II during World War II. The three major Axis powers - Nazi Germany, Kingdom of Italy , and Empire of Japan - were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers....
convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies in North Africa. In 1941 and 1942, Malta was effectively under siegeSiege of Malta (1940)
The Siege of Malta was a military campaign in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II of World War II. From 1940 to 1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta pitted the air forces and navies of Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy....
, blockaded by Axis air and naval forces. To sustain Malta, Britain had to get convoys through at all costs. Malta narrowly survived. Despite serious losses, just enough supplies were delivered for Malta to survive, although it ceased to be an effective offensive base for much of 1942. The most crucial supply was fuel delivered by the American-built tanker with a British crewOhioSS Ohio
The SS Ohio was an oil tanker built for the Texas Oil Company ; she was the largest oil tanker in the world at the time of construction. The tanker was launched on April 20, 1940 at the Sun Shipbuilding Yard in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA....
. The operation started on 9 August 1942, when the convoy sailed through the Strait of GibraltarStrait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is the strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic language Jebel Tariq meaning mountain of Tariq....
.

The convoy is also known as the "Battle of Mid-August" in Italy and as the "Konvoj ta' Santa Marija" in Malta. The arrival of the last ships of the convoy on August 15 1942 coincided with the Feast of the Assumption (Santa Marija) and the name "Santa Marija Convoy" or "Sta Marija Convoy" is still used. That day's public holiday and celebrations, in part, celebrate the arrival of the convoy. The attempt to run some fifty ships past bombers, E-boatE-boat
The Schnellboot or S-boot was a type of Germany torpedo boat that saw service during World War II. The S-boote were approximately twice as large as their PT boat and Motor Torpedo Boat counterparts, were better suited for the open sea, and had a substantially longer range, at approximately 700 nautical miles....
s, minefields, and submarines has gone down in military history as one of the most important British strategic victories of the Second World War - though at a cost of more than four hundred lives, with only five of the original fourteen merchant ships reaching the Grand HarbourGrand Harbour
Grand Harbour is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times. The natural harbour has been greatly improved with extensive Dock and wharves, and has been massively fortified...."

.My thanks to the people of the Astrology Encyclopaediae,
BrianD