Italian Forces

Vittorio Veneto at Cape Matapan.

Republic of Italy (personal author unknown)

Italian battleship, "Vittorio Veneto" shows her teeth in the battle of Gavdos, first phase of the Battle of Cape Matapan, off the southern point of the Greek mainland coast, March 1941. An Italian battle fleet consisting of the Vittorio Veneto (flagship), along with 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and supporting destroyers, were moving to intercept British troop convoys to Greece when their movements and intentions were discovered by British electronic intelligence (ULTRA intercepts). This allowed the Royal Navy fleet in the eastern Med. to intercept them in the region of Cape Matapan with superior forces, including 3 updated WW1 battleships. The Gavros action was rather a stand-off, in which Vittorio Veneto drove off a force of British cruisers, but at the expence of suffering significant damage from an airborne torpedo hit. The second stage of the engagement - a night battle off Cape Matapan - proved disastrous for the Italians. The British had radar capable of locating the Italian ships at night; the Italians had no similar capacity. The result was that the Italians lost a whole heavy cruiser division - 3 heavy cruisers - to Royal Navy gunfire which they had no way of answering. The Italians also lost two destroyers. By contrast, the British lost one torpedo bomber - the one that had damaged Vittorio Veneto, but was shot down by the battleship's antiaircraft guns. As a result of Cape Matapan, both sides became aware of each others' strengths and weaknesses, somewhat limiting the operations of both until the Med. war turned decisively against the Axis. Best regards, JR.