 The Germans were outraged and wanted to foist German naval officers onto "Supermarina" and even Italian ships.Grand Admiral Erich Raeder told Hitler that

"Supermarina" tried smaller, dispersed and convoys, sailing at the same time, to mislead the British but their code breakers exposed the ruse.When four ships sailed from Naples on 20 November with an escort of heavy and light cruisers, British submarines from Malta torpedoed two cruisers, forcing the convoy to turn back.