In early April, British naval intelligence received a report that Albert Kesselring, the "Luftwaffe" (German air force) commander-in-chief for the Mediterranean, was setting up his headquarters at the Miramar Hotel in Taormina in Sicily. Simpson selected Wanklyn and "Upholder" for an operation to land commandos onto enemy-held coastland for an assassination attempt against Kesselring. The town lay 200 yards from a rocky coast cut into a hill side in the middle of an oil grove. "Upholder" was fitted with a fender to protect the hull from the rocks. 23 commandos were to be landed. They would destroy the hotel and its occupants with explosive and gunfire. Wanklyn gave them 40 minutes to complete the attack and return to the submarine under the cover of the deck gun. The day before the operation it was postponed, and submarines were deployed to intercept a convoy from Naples. Two weeks later intelligence reported Kesselring had left the area and the operation was abandoned.