SIDRA, GULF OF

or Gulf of Sirte

Inlet of the Mediterranean Sea, north-central coast, Libya.

It extends 275 mi (443 km). In August the gulf's water temperature reaches 88 °F (31 °C), the warmest in the Mediterranean. It was the scene of the Battle of Sirte in World War II (1939–45), during which a British naval convoy thwarted attacks by Italian warships and German bombers. In the early 1980s Libya laid claim to the entire gulf, prompting minor clashes with U.S. naval forces in the area.