Force H, based in Gibraltar, took the opportunity to raid Elmas airfield in Sardinia and conduct a deception operation with HMS Enterprise.

A squadron of Hurricanes had reinforced Malta, Elmas airfield had been bombed and Italian bombers had been deterred by anti-aircraft fire and the Skuas of Ark Royal.

The Italians intended to bomb or starve Malta into submission, by attacking its ports, towns, cities and Allied shipping supplying the island.

[3] After over a month of bombardment, the troops on Malta were beginning to run low on supplies and equipment, including aircraft, to help fight off the attackers.

Operation Spark, a wireless deception carried out by the cruiser Enterprise, was to distract the Italians by reporting a suspicious boat off the coast of Menorca.

Supermarina had sent the submarines Argo, Axum, Diaspro, Manara, Medusa, Neghelli, Scirè, Turchese in two patrol lines off Cap Bougaroûn in eastern Algeria, which remained until 9 August.

Flight-Lieutenant Duncan Balden, the commander of 418 Flight, refused to take off so far west of Malta and eventually the captain broke radio silence to consult the authorities in Britain who supported the Hurricane pilots.

The Skua began its take-off run, bounced on the ramp at the end of the flight deck and sank below the bows, skimming the sea, building up flying speed.

The Skuas and Hurricanes avoided Pantelleria and arrived at Malta after a flight of two hours and twenty minutes, having flown 380 nmi (700 km; 440 mi).

[11] The Mediterranean Fleet sailed early on 27 July to cover Convoy AS 2 (Aegean South, Alexandria to Piraeus) from the north which was escorted by two cruisers and four destroyers.

The deception was repeated on 26 July before Convoy AS 2 sailed, when the armed boarding vessels Chakla and Fiona also made spurious preparations for a landing on Kastellorizo.

The intention was to give the impression of operations in the central Mediterranean, deterring the Italian navy based in Sicily and southern Italy from voyaging westwards.

[9] A Greek ship, Ermione, transporting aviation fuel to the Dodecanese Islands for the Italians, was sunk when Neptune and Sydney sailed into the Gulf of Athens.

The battleship and aircraft carrier sortie had to be cut short when Malaya had engine trouble, returning with Eagle to Alexandria on 30 July.

[13][b] The activity in the eastern Mediterranean was thought to have created indecision in the minds of Supermarina, the Italian naval staff, who kept most of its ships in harbour.

After failing to find the French ship Somerville ordered Enterprise to return direct to Gibraltar rather than risk being caught isolated.

Late in the morning the radar apparatus on Valiant detected bombers to the north, which turned away, 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) short of Force H. By the afternoon of 4 August the ships were back in Gibraltar.

[19] A squadron of Hurricane aircraft had reinforced Malta, Elmas airfield had been bombed and Italian bombers had been deterred by anti-aircraft fire and the Skuas of Ark Royal.

[19] Operation Hurry, the first Club Run to reinforce the RAF on Malta, had succeeded..[20] The British suffered the loss of two Swordfish aircraft, one crew being killed and the other taken prisoner.

Four Italian aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Elmas airfield near Cagliari in Sardinia and two bombers were shot down by the Skuas of Ark Royal, with no survivors.