Editing Battle of Crete (section)

===22 May===
====Maleme====
The defending force organised for a night counter-attack on Maleme by two New Zealand battalions, the 20th Battalion of the 4th Brigade and the [[28th Maori Battalion]] of the 5th Brigade. A New Zealand officer present at the battle claimed a long delay ordering the planned counter-attack turned a night attack into a day attack, which led to its failure.<ref name=tdono/> Fears of a sea landing meant that a number of units that could have taken part in the attack were left in place, although this possibility was removed by the Royal Navy which arrived too late for the plans to be changed. The delayed counter-attack on the airfield came in daylight on 22 May, when the troops faced ''Stuka'' dive bombers, dug-in paratroops and mountain troops. The attack slowly petered out and failed to retake the airfield, which forced the defenders into withdrawals to the eastern end of the island, to avoid being out-flanked.<ref name=tdono/>

====Axis landing attempt, 22/23 May====
[[File:Sagittario at anchor.jpg|thumb|Italian torpedo boat {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Sagittario|1936|2}}]]

[[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Admiral Andrew Cunningham]] sent Force C (three cruisers and four destroyers, commanded by Rear Admiral [[Edward King (naval officer)|Edward Leigh Stuart King]]) into the [[Aegean Sea]] through the [[Kasos]] Strait, to attack a second flotilla of transports, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Sagittario|1936|2}}. The force sank an isolated ''caïque'' at 08:30, saving itself from an air attack that struck the cruiser {{HMS|Naiad|93|6}} as the German pilots tried to avoid killing their troops in the water. The British squadron was under constant air attack and, short of anti-aircraft ammunition, steamed on toward Milos, sighting ''Sagittario'' at 10:00. King made the "difficult" decision not to press the attack, despite his overpowering advantage, because of the shortage of ammunition and the severity of the air attacks.<ref>Cunningham, Section 1, paragraph 5.</ref> The transports were defended by a torpedo charge by ''Sagittario'', which also laid a smoke screen and traded fire with the British force,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> trying to lure them to a different direction. Indeed, King was unaware that a major enemy convoy was ahead of his force until 11:00.<ref name=":1" /> Eventually, the convoy and its escort managed to slip away undamaged. King's ships, despite their failure to destroy the German troop transports, had succeeded in forcing the Axis to abort the landing by their mere presence at sea. During the search and withdrawal from the area, Force C suffered many losses to German bombers. ''Naiad'' was damaged by near misses and the cruiser {{HMS|Carlisle|D67|6}} was hit. Cunningham later criticised King, saying that the safest place during the air attack was amongst the flotilla of ''caïque''s.<ref name=":2">{{harvnb|Greene|Massignani|1998|p=172}}.</ref><ref name=":3">{{harvnb|Beevor|1991|p=167}}</ref>

While Force C made its attack on the convoy, Force A1 (Rear Admiral [[Bernard Rawlings (Royal Navy officer)|H B Rawlings]]), Force B (Captain Henry A Rowley) and Glennie's Force D converged west of [[Antikythera]]. Concerned about the level of anti-aircraft ammunition available following repeated air attacks, the combined force was ordered to report on their stock of high-angle ammunition at 09:31. Of the cruisers, {{HMS|Ajax|22|6}} had 40 per cent, ''Orion'' 38 per cent, ''Fiji'' 30 per cent, {{HMS|Dido|37|6}} 25 per cent and ''Gloucester'' only 18 per cent. ''Ajax'', ''Orion'' and ''Dido'' were ordered to return to Alexandria with Glennie's Force D to rearm but ''Gloucester'' and ''Fiji'' remained with Rawlings' Force A1.<ref name="OtterC14">{{harvnb|Otter|2001|loc=Chapter 14}}</ref>

At 12:25 Force A1, stationed 20 to 30 miles west of Antikythera, received a request from King to support the damaged ''Naiad.'' Force A1 headed east into the [[Kythera]] Channel, rendezvousing with Force C between 13:30 and 14:00. As the more senior admiral, King took command, with air attacks now inflicting damage on both forces. A bomb struck {{HMS|Warspite|03|6}} and the destroyer {{HMS|Greyhound|H05|6}} was sunk. King sent {{HMS|Kandahar|F28|6}} and {{HMS|Kingston|F64|6}} to pick up survivors, while the cruisers ''Fiji'' and ''Gloucester'' were ordered respectively at 14:02 and 14:07 to provide anti-aircraft support. Writing in despatches after the battle, Cunningham stated that King was unaware of the shortage of anti-aircraft ammunition in ''Gloucester'' and ''Fiji''. At 14:13 King and Rawlings exchanged messages about the shortage of ammunition within both Force C and Force A1, with Rawlings expressing concern about the orders given to ''Gloucester'' and ''Fiji''. Following this communication, King issued an order to recall both ''Gloucester'' and ''Fiji'' at 14:57.<ref name="OtterC14"/><ref>Cunningham, Section 1, paragraph 8, and Section 2, paragraphs 30-35.</ref>

Between 15:30 and 15:50, while attempting to rejoin Force A1, ''Gloucester'' was hit by several bombs and had to be left behind due to the air attacks;<ref>Cunningham, Section 2, paragraph 35.</ref> the ship was sunk and 22 officers and 700 ratings were killed.<ref name="OtterC14"/>{{sfn|Roskill|1957|p=442}} The air attacks on Force A1 and Force C continued; two bombs hit the battleship {{HMS|Valiant|1914|6}} and another hit ''Fiji'', disabling her at 18:45. A [[Junkers Ju 88]] flown by Lieutenant [[Gerhard Brenner]] dropped three bombs on ''Fiji'', sinking her at 20:15.<ref>Cunningham, Section 2, paragraph 38.</ref> Five hundred survivors were rescued by ''Kandahar'' and ''Kingston'' that night. The Royal Navy had lost two cruisers and a destroyer but had managed to force the invasion fleet to turn round.<ref>{{harvnb|Beevor|1991|pp=166–168}}.</ref> Royal Navy AA gunners shot down five [[Junkers Ju 87]]s and five Ju 88s and damaged sixteen more, some of which crash-landed upon their return to base on the night of 21/22 May.<ref>{{harvnb|Shores|Cull|Malizia|1987|pp=357–9}}</ref>