Battle of the Ligurian Sea Battle of the Ligurian Sea The Battle of the Ligurian Sea was a naval surface action of the Second World War fought on 18 March 1945, in the Gulf of Genoa in the Mediterranean Sea. A "Kriegsmarine" flotilla of two torpedo boats and one destroyer was conducting an offensive mine laying operation when it was intercepted by a British Royal Navy force. The British destroyers and sank two of the German ships and severely damaged the third; it was the last German naval surface action of the war. At the Malta Conference (30 January – 3 February 1945), it was
Custom of the sea Custom of the sea A custom of the sea is a custom that is said to be practiced by the officers and crew of ships and boats in the open sea, as distinguished from maritime law, which is a distinct and coherent body of law that governs maritime questions and offenses. Among these customs is the practice of cannibalism among shipwrecked survivors, by the drawing of lots to see who is to be killed and eaten so that the others might survive. After a whale rammed and sank the whaling ship "Essex" of Nantucket on 20 November 1820, the survivors