Warsim's Point

Battle of Marettimo (Italian Report)

On the 12th of June 2009 a naval engagement took place around the partition line between the two exclusive economic exploitation zones of Italy and Tunisia. According to the first reports, the incident was triggered by the decision of the Italian government to employ the Navy to deter the occasional harassment of Italian fishermen in the border area between the two zones.

The Italian Navy deployed considerable assets in the area under the command of Vice Admiral Fabrizio di Menton. The direct monitoring of the area of operation was given to a light frigate of the Artigliere class under the command of Captain Luca Vailatti. The task force included two AEW helicopters EH 101 and a flight of AV8B+, all at disposal of Commander Andrea Sforni. In addition, elements of the 5th Fighter squadron (of the Italian Air Force), equipped with F-16C multirole aircraft was redeployed to Sigonella. The air assets of the Italian Navy were deployed in Decimomannu (Sardinia).

This considerable mass of forces was activated on the 10th of June and tasked with the monitoring of the situation in the south western waters of Sicily in close proximity with the Tunisian EEEC, and to deter any intimidating activity by the Tunisian Navy. Rules of engagement: strictly defensive, permission to shoot only if attacked first.

The light Frigate Artigliere sailed from Naples, where she was temporarily attached to Task Force 60 of the American 6th Fleet. By sailing at 28 knots, this vessel was in sight of Sicily after 6 hours of navigation, and by the time she reached her station area, she was already in contact with the EH-101 flying an AEW patrol between Sicily and Sardinia. At 19:08, the Helicopters signaled air activity out of the Tunisian base of Bizerte: a slow Boogie moving south west - north east, at an altitude of approximatively 24 thousand feet. As soon as the AEW assets determined as certain that the air target was approaching the partition line, the Navy requested an interception mission to the planes based in Sicily. Two F-16 took off in 18 minutes and scrambled towards the target. This move was engineered to persuade the Tunisians that the Italian were serious about the enforcement of their EEEC. In 9 minutes, the F-16s approached the Boogie, which was identified as an Aeritalia G-222 transport plane, flying along the axis of the partition line (probably on a surface patrol mission). Very distanced from each other, at that moment, four Italian Fishermen were underway on the Italian side of the partition (according to the Italian Report). They were the Monte Albano, the Caterina, the Adopo, and the big oceanic trawler Sigulla. By 19:36 the Artigliere, was well within is patrolling station following an elliptical course roughly equidistant from the fishermen. At 19:52, the G-222 turned south and disappeared from the zone of operation. At 20:40, the AEW assets (once again before any other sensors) pinpointed a surface target moving at high speed with course 30 and linked all data to the Artigliere, where action stations were called at once. Only four minutes later the ESM antennas of both the Artigliere and of the EH-101 classified the radar emission from the target as belonging to a Combattante III fast attack vessel.

According to the Italian report, numerous attempts to contact the approaching vessel were made to no avail. At 20:52 the EH-101 gave the vampire alarm to all stations as pinpointed four surface to surface missiles detaching from the target in direction of the Artigliere and of the Fisherman Sigulla. Instantaneously, Captain Vailatti ordered a fire solution on the target using the data provided by the AEW, and shot a retaliatory salvo of two OTOMATs directed to the hostile FAC. At the same time he ordered flank speed to approach the Sigulla and possibly covering her with Chaffs and point defense.

By the time the Artigliere approached the Fisherman under attack, the vampires were on the target. Vailatti lauched a salvo of 4 Aspides to try and intercept the vampires, but the 40mm Dardo were not able to open fire in time. Also the chaff cloud, promptly released by the Frigate was not sufficient to cover the fisherman adequately. According to the Italian report, two enemy missiles (with all probability Exocet SSMs) were shot down by the Aspides, one lost its track, and one impacted on the Sigulla at 20:54:12. The Fisherman disappeared in a gigantic explosion, and its wreck, sunk in less than three minutes after the impact. No survivors were recovered by the Artigliere. Of the two OTOMATs launched by the Italian Frigate, nobody had further news; they obviously missed their target. This prompted the last desperate move by an enraged Vice Admiral di Menton. He ordered half a flight of AV8s to take off immediately and give chase to the enemy vessel which was still sailing at full speed towards Tunisia. At 21:24 the aircrafts reached their target and attacked it with laser guided bombs and low level stafing. The anti air reaction by the two OTO 76 Super Rapido embarked on the Tunisian FAC were more than a disturbance for the strafing runs, and the laser bombs could not be centered well enough on a fast moving and fast maneuvering target. At the limit of their combat endurance, the Harriers broke contact at 21:28 not without having risked some losses during their strafing runs.

The Tunisian Navy released a brief press communiqué after the action:
“Two days ago, the Tunisian Navy was forced to respond to grave provocations by the Italian Navy inside the Tunisian Area of Exclusive Exploitation. Both illegal fishermen and Italian military ships, staged an unprovoked violation of the Exclusive Tunisian Sovereign rights. The Italians responded to the invitation of a Tunisian warship to clear the area, with a military attack. The Tunisian Navy was forced to respond. The Italian Warships withdrew at high speed, and one of the illegal fishermen was sunk”.

Nice!

ciao
Claudio