Santa Isabel Harbour

Under Spanish colonial rule, the port of Malabo—then Santa Isabel—was the key harbour of Fernando Po and a strategic anchorage in the Gulf of Guinea. In the First World War, Spain’s neutrality made it a refuge for merchant vessels, including German ships evading Allied patrols, while the Allies kept the harbour under close watch.

In the Second World War its role became more dramatic. Neutral Spain again sheltered Axis vessels, among them the Italian Duchessa d’Aosta and the German Likomba. The port turned into a centre of espionage, with British agents monitoring shipping from the Vice‑Consulate. This culminated in Operation Postmaster in January 1942, when British commandos seized the Axis ships from the harbour and towed them to Lagos. The raid, though diplomatically risky, deprived the Axis of valuable shipping and showed Allied reach in West Africa.

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Source

• Text: TracesofWar
• Photos: Ipisking
• LETT, B.G., Ian Fleming and SOE's Operation POSTMASTER, Pen & Sword Military, 2012.