Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb II significant presence of Royal Navy in the Red Sea. With the start of Operation Compass in North Africa and the defeat of the Italian troops at Sidi Barrani on 9-12 December 1940, it became clear that it would be impossible for Italian troops in Libya to reach Italian East Africa to break its isolation. The fuel supplies were dwindling and were projected to be exhausted by June 1941. In anticipation of the inevitable fall of the colony, a plan was developed to send as many ships as possible to Japan or occupied France and to destroy all other ships that
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. Although it was formally created in 1890, the first Italian settlements in the area were established in 1882 around Assab. In 1936, the region was integrated into Italian East Africa as part of the Italian Empire. The colony officially lasted until 1947. The leading figure of the early history of Italian enterprises in the Red Sea was Giuseppe Sapeto. When a young monk, preparing himself in Cairo for missionary work, he had been dispatched in 1837 into Abyssinia. Afterward, he became an