Battle of Cape Matapan
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Template:Battlebox The Battle of Cape Matapan was a World War II naval battle fought off the Peleponnesian coast of Greece from March 27 to March 29, 1941. A combined force of British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships under the command of the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham intercepted and severely damaged those of the Italian Regia Marina, under Admiral Angelo Iachino.
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Forces
The Allied forces were centred on the Mediterranean fleet, consisting of the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, the modernised World War I battleships HMS Barham, Valiant and Warspite (as flagship). The main fleet was accompanied by two flotillas of destroyers:
- 10th Flotilla
- HMS Greyhound , Griffin and HMAS Stuart
- 14th Flotilla
- HMS Jervis, Janus, Mohawk and Nubian
Also present were HMS Hotspur and Havock.
A second force, under Admiral Sir Henry Pridham-Wippell, consisted of the British light cruisers HMS Ajax, Gloucester and Orion, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth, and the British destroyers HMS Hasty, Hereward and Ilex — the Australian Vendetta had returned to Alexandria.
In addition, Allied warships attached to convoys were available: HMS Defender, Jaguar and Juno waited in the Kithira Channel and HMS Decoy, Carlisle, Calcutta Bonaventure and HMAS Vampire were nearby.
The Italian fleet was led by Iachino's vessel, the modern battleship Vittorio Veneto. It also included almost the entire Italian heavy cruiser force: the Zara (under Vice-Admiral Carlo Cattaneo), Fiume and Pola; four destroyers of the 9th Flotilla (Alfredo Oriani, Giosué Carducci, Vincenzo Gioberti and Vittorio Alfieri). The heavy cruisers Trieste (carrying Vice-Admiral Luigi Sansonetti), Trento and Bolzano were accompanied by three destroyers of the 12th Flotilla (Ascari, Corazziere and Carabiniere), plus the light cruisers Luigi di Savoia Duca Degli Abruzzi (Vice-Admiral A. Legnano) and Giuseppe Garibaldi and nine destroyers of the 6th Flotilla (including Emanuel Pessagno and Nicolosa de Recco). None of the Italian ships had radar, although several British ships did.
The 10th and 13th Flotillas of Italian destroyers: the Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere, Grecale, Libeccio, Maestrale, and Scirocco were also involved.
Background
The interception was made possible by Ultra (cryptanalysis of intercepted signals) but as ever this was concealed from the enemy by ensuring there was a plausible reason for the Allies to have detected and intercepted the Italian fleet. In this case it was a carefully directed reconnaissance plane. As a further deception Admiral Cunningham is said to have made a surreptitious exit from a club in Egypt, to avoid being seen going aboard ship.
At the same time, there was a failure of intelligence on the Axis side. The Italians had been wrongly informed that the Mediterranean fleet had only one operational battleship. In fact there were three and a lost British aircraft carrier had been replaced.
The British force was well served with radar and had night fighting experience which would tell against the Italian ships which had neither equipment nor experience.
Battle
Night Action
Unaware of Cunningham’s pursuit, a squadron of cruisers and destroyers were ordered to return and protect Pola. The British detected the Italians on radar shortly after 2200, and were able to close without detection. The battleships Barham, Valiant and Warspite were able to open fire at only 3500 metres. The British searchlights illuminated their enemy. In five minutes two Italian heavy cruisers, Fiume and Zara, had been utterly destroyed.
The Italian destroyers moved to attack the battleships but were intercepted by the British destroyers. Two Italian destroyers (Vittorio Alfieri and Giosué Carducci) were sunk and the heavy cruiser (Pola) finished with torpedoes after her crew had been taken off.
The British ships took on survivors but left the scene in the morning when German bombers appeared and attacked them. The location of remaining survivors was broadcast and a hospital ship the Italian Gradisca came to recover them.
Result
- The Allies sank three heavy cruiser and two destroyers and damaged the battleship.
- The British lost one torpedo bomber and suffered some light damage.
Order of Battle
From [1] (http://users.swing.be/baten/tg/1248.html#1248)
Missing image
Regia_Marina_Ensign.png
Kingdom of Italy
Regia Marina
- Admiral Angelo Iachino
- 1 battleship: Vittorio Veneto (damaged)
- 2 light cruisers: Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi
- 10 destroyers: Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere, Grecale, Libeccio, Maestrale, Scirocco, Emanuele Pessagno, Nicoloso da Recco
- Vice-Admiral Sansonetti
- 3 heavy cruisers: Bolzano, Trento, Trieste
- 3 destroyers: Ascari, Carabiniere, Corazziere
- Vice Admiral Carlo Cattaneo
- 3 heavy cruisers: Fiume (sunk), Pola (sunk), Zara (sunk)
- 4 destroyers: Vittorio Alfieri (sunk), Giosué Carducci (sunk), Vincenzo Gioberti, Alfredo Oriani
Missing image
Royal-Australian-Navy-Ensign.png
Royal Australian Navy Ensign
Allies
- Admiral Andrew Cunningham
- 3 battleships: Barham, Valiant, Warspite
- 1 aircraft carrier: Formidable
- 9 destroyers: Greyhound, Griffin, HMAS Stuart, Jervis, Janus, Mohawk Nubian, Hotspur, Havock
- Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell
- 4 light cruisers: Ajax, Gloucester, Orion, HMAS Perth
- 3 destroyers: Hasty, Hereward, Ilex
- AG 9 convoy (from Alexandria to Greece)
- 2 light cruisers: Calcutta, Carlisle
- 3 destroyers: Defender, Jaguar, HMAS Vampire
- GA 8 convoy (from Greece to Alexandria)
- 1 anti aircraft cruiser: Bonaventure
- 2 destroyers: Decoy, Juno
- 1 merchant ship: Thermopylæ (Norwegian)
External links
- Anthony M. Scalzo World War II January 2001 at HistoryNet.com (http://www.thehistorynet.com/wwii/blitaliannavalmassacre/)
- Royal Navy Website (http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/static/pages/5798.html)