"7light cruisers" . "1 destroyer sunk" . "Tactical Axis victory" . . "Operation Pedestal (referenced in Italian sources as the Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto) was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies in North Africa. In 1941\u201342, Malta was effectively under siege, blockaded by Axis air and naval forces."@en . "3heavy cruisers" . "15motor torpedo boats" . "14merchant ships" . "550+ killed" . "1 aircraft carrier sunk" . "11submarines" . "1 aircraft carrier damaged" . . "Strategic Allied victory" . . "2battleships" . "9 merchant ships sunk" . "1942-08-15Z"^^ . "285bombers" . "4aircraft carriers" . "3 merchant ships damaged" . "32destroyers" . . "34 aircraft" . . "2 light cruisers sunk" . "2 light cruisers damaged" . "304fighters" . . . "3 light cruisers" .