HMA Ships HOBART NAPIER and NIZAM, (destroyers), supported the Battle Fleet in the bombardment of key German and Italian defences in the Halfaya Pass, Libya.
The cruiser HMAS SYDNEY, (CAPT J. Burnett, RAN), was lost with all hands, (41 RAN officer, 1 RAAF officer, 592 RAN ratings, 2 RN ratings, 4 NAAFI personnel, 5 RAAF aircrew), in an engagement with the German raider KORMORAN, approximately 130 miles off the coast of WA (26-34S, 111-00E). KORMORAN sank soon after the battle, but her captain and 314 other crew survived. Both wrecks were discovered in March 2008 off the WA coast.
SBLT R. J. Hardstaff, RAN, was serving in HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, (battleship), when she and HMS VALIANT were sunk by Italian frogmen-charioteers in Alexandria Harbour. He was serving in HMAS HOBART when she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943.