Signals intelligence guides the Cape Bon interception

Decoded Italian C38 wireless traffic gave the British warning of the supply operation, and a Wellington located the convoy. The 4th Destroyer Flotilla was already moving from Gibraltar towards Alexandria before the Italian ships sailed. Commander G. H. Stokes led a force including Sikh, Maori, Legion and the Dutch Isaac Sweers. Italian reconnaissance also detected the destroyers, but their reported speed encouraged the assumption that these were smaller vessels incapable of reaching Cape Bon in time. The actual fleet destroyers closed at 30 knots, while an extra hour's delay to the cruisers undermined the arrival calculation. A radar-equipped Wellington then refined the interception position. Italian action stations concentrated attention towards the sea, leaving the inshore approach outside the expected direction of attack.