During the evening of 15 August 1940, 11 Italian S.79 (6 bombers, 5 torpedo-armed) attacked the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria harbor. The torpedo planes attack failed completely but the bombers, belonging to the 10º Stormo and led personally by Col. Giovanni Benedetti, charged with creating a diversion, sank the Moorstone in shallow water. The ship was later raised and repaired. One member of the crew was killed in the attack.