Leatham formed Force T with the carrier , the cruisers "Shropshire", "Hawkins", "Capetown" and "Ceres", with the destroyer "Kandahar" to support Operation Canvas, the invasion of Italian Somaliland from Kenya. About fifty Italian and German merchant ships had been stranded at Massawa and Kisimayu on the outbreak of war and few were seaworthy by the time of the British invasion of the AOI but about twelve ships made the attempt. On the night of 10/11 February, eight Italian and two German ships sailed from Kisimayu for Mogadishu or Diego Suarez (now Antsiranana) in Madagascar. Three Italian ships were scuttled in Kisimayu on 12 February as British troops reached the vicinity of the port which was captured with the support of "Shropshire" two days later. Five of the Italian ships were spotted by aircraft from "Hermes" and captured by "Hawkins", the German ship "Uckermark" was scuttled. The German "Askari" and Italian ship "Pensilvania" were seen off Mogadishu and destroyed by bombs and gunfire; two of the Italian ships reached Madagascar.