Cape Bon offers an earlier resupply ambush

At Cape Bon, Italian light cruisers were carrying fuel and supplies on deck for North Africa when Royal Navy destroyers struck from an unexpected coastward direction. Murasame and Minegumo had already unloaded at Kolombangara before entering Blackett Strait, so American fire could not ignite their cargo. They were still combat ships caught on a routine logistics run without warning. In both actions, surprise made the nominal fighting qualities of fast supply carriers largely irrelevant.