Operation Pedestal - Aftermath

Aftermath

The arrival of the four merchant ships, and the survival of the tanker Ohio ensured the arrival of enough materials to maintain the island, but it did not mean its siege was at an end. The ultimate result of Operation Pedestal was that it ensured that Malta stayed in the war. For the high price of nine merchantmen sunk, one aircraft carrier (Eagle), two cruisers (Manchester and Cairo), and a destroyer (Foresight) sunk, the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy had saved Malta, as roughly 32,000 short tons (29,000 t) of general cargo had reached the Grand Harbour, together with petrol, oil fuel, kerosene and diesel fuel, enough to give the island about 10 weeks more life beyond the existing stocks of only a few weeks. Royal Navy gunners and Fleet Air Arm fighters shot down 42 of the approximately 330 attacking Axis aircraft.

Operation Pedestal was a tactical disaster, of a magnitude comparable to the German attack on convoy PQ-17. The defeat, however, was turned into a strategic victory in that it served as a great uplift to the besieged island's morale and it delivered thousands of tons of needed food stores and eliminated the possibility of surrender due to famine. Indeed, for several months after this convoy, Malta was still dependent on essential stores and stocks being delivered by fast minelayers, like HMS Manxman, and of mine-laying submarines. From the moment the shield of Spitfires patrolled over the unloading battered ships, it became obvious that ships could now arrive and be protected, meaning that more ships would come in due course, thus sustaining the will to endure.

German reports on 17 August stated that all the tankers in the recent Mediterranean convoy were sunk and not one of the transports reached their assumed destination in Egypt. A revived Malta led to a shift in the North African balance immediately preceding the Second Battle of El Alamein. In August 1942, with Malta still besieged, 35% of Axis convoys to North Africa did not get through. In September, with Malta resupplied, Allied forces sank 100,000 long tons (100,000 t) of Axis shipping, including 24,000 tons of fuel destined for Rommel, leaving him desperately short of supplies during his assault at El Alamein on 23 October 1942. Hence, it was no longer a question of "How many days to Cairo?" for the Axis armies, but of whether Rommel could hold the Allied attack back when it would materialise. Submarines and torpedo-carrying Bristol Beauforts escorted by their variants the Bristol Beaufighters, regularly attacked Axis supply ships known to the Allies through Ultra intercepts received from Bletchley Park. This interdiction of sea-lanes from Malta, significantly contributed to the Axis’ worsening state of supply and lead to their eventual inability to compete with the British build-up for an offensive towards the end of the year.

For the Axis powers in general, and for the Italians in particular, the inability of the fleet to fully display its power and especially the inability of Axis air forces to provide for cover clearly demonstrated that the tide in this campaign had turned. Ultimately, Malta was still alive while any hope to maintain North Africa was quickly fading away, with the now looming possibility of having the Allies opening up a Third Front on the Italian mainland.

Operation Pedestal was the subject of a 1953 black and white British film, Malta Story, which interspersed archive footage of the SS Ohio with scripted studio scenes.