The Italians knew that the British were coming
after them. They knew it all too well. But the thought of backing down was humiliating.
If they went the easy way, the Germans would mock them. The Regia Marina
had to prove to the Kriegsmarine that it could handle itself in combat.
What the Italian sailors did not know, however, was that the British had read the Italian
naval Enigma and were following their every move. Then, at 8:12am on March 28, 1941,
Admiral Angelo Iachino's task force spotted several Royal Navy warships off
Cape Matapan in Greece and went after them. Little did the Italians know that they
were being lured into a lethal trap… Italy Goes To War In June of 1940, Adolf Hitler’s highly
disciplined and trained soldiers had the essence of an invisible army.
The Blitzkrieg forces were sweeping through Northern France, rendering the indomitable
defenses of the Maginot line useless, and outsmarting the largest army in the world.
Norway, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and Poland had already faced the Germans,
and many more nations would soon follow. Meanwhile, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
was facing several dilemmas. He was a friend of Hitler but was still unsure about joining
him to engage the Allied forces. Still, Italy had some pending matters to settle with
England and France as far back as World War 1. Mussolini had to decide between joining
Germany to conquer new territories and extend Italy's influence, or to remain
neutral and risk a surprise attack from the British that would come sooner or later.
Time was pressing, and Italy had to do something. It all rested on El Duce's hands,
and his fascination with recreating a new Roman Army and Empire ultimately prevailed.
In joining Hitler in the conquest of France, he would become the new Caesar and go
against the will of the King and the Pope. The dictator then dispatched the Regia
Marina to take over the Mediterranean and make it the ancient Mare Nostrum
of the Roman Empire once again. To fulfill such a purpose, el Duce had
been building a powerful navy starting in the early 1930s to act as a deterrent against the
influence of the British and French in the region. However, the British had prepared for a possible
Italian resurgence and even developed secret plans to bomb the main Italian docks and shipbuilding
facilities if a confrontation broke out. While the Royal Navy was concentrated on
protecting merchant convoys in the Atlantic from the feared German U-boats, the British left the
Mediterranean unguarded with second-rate ships. In addition, the French fleet
was out of the equation after the Reich negotiated peace
with the Vichy Government. Mussolini was now ready to go to
war against the United Kingdom. Falling Into a Trap Mussolini got more than he bargained for
when he declared war on the United Kingdom and forgot to consult his naval officers
about Italy's scarce oil for his Regia Marina. It was a mistake that he would
continue to pay for months, as the British would be quick to cut off the
Italians from its valuable oil fields in Libya. After some setbacks in Greece and North
Africa, Mussolini called Germany for support. The result was the creation of the Afrika Korps
and the audacious Luftwaffe campaign in Crete. During these critical months, Mussolini
also launched Operation Gaudo, a master plan to sweep the Royal
Navy from the waters of Crete. Veteran officer Admiral Angelo Iachino
was put in charge of the operation, which intended to demonstrate to the world
that the Italian Navy was a worthy adversary. On March 26, 1941, the Regia Marina task
force set sail for the first time since the highly damaging British attacks on
the Italian fleet docket at Taranto. Morale was high among the Italians,
but Admiral Iachino remained skeptical. The Luftwaffe had told him that they had sighted
two British battleships that were severely damaged and easy prey for the Italian sailors.
Iachino smelled a trap, but he was not certain. In reality, the alleged damaged ships were
in pristine condition and waiting for them, led by ruthless Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham.
Clash at Cape Matapan Days before the Italian task force set sail,
a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park cracked the Italian naval Enigma for the first time and
intercepted messages from the Italian Navy. The British then realized that the Regia Marina
battle fleet ravaging merchant ships comprised one battleship, six heavy cruisers,
two light cruisers, and 13 destroyers. Admiral Iachino's flagship was Vittorio Veneto, a Littorio-class battleship and
Italy's most powerful vessel. With him were the Alpino, Granatiere, and
Bersagliere destroyers from the 13th Flotilla, the Zara, Fiume, and Pola heavy
cruisers from the 9th Flotilla, and the Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi and
Giuseppe Garibaldi light cruisers from the 16th. Although the Italian fleet was ready
to wreak havoc in the Mediterranean, it lacked air support and,
more importantly, radar. This made it highly vulnerable against a surprise
attack or an air assault from an aircraft carrier. One day before the Italians set sail, Admiral
Cunnigham secretly got aboard his flagship, HMS Warspite, and began gathering
his force to hunt down the Italians. His Mediterranean fleet consisted of the
aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, 3 battleships, 7 light cruisers, and 17 destroyers. The
Italians would be somewhat outnumbered and already at a disadvantage without air support.
On March 27, Vice Admiral Pridham-Wippell set sail from the south of Crete to meet with Cunningham's
force and prepare the attack against the Italians. Meanwhile, Iachino's force steamed around the same
area hoping to catch any British merchant ship. Unfortunately for the Italians, no Axis aircraft
made further reconnaissance flights over Alexandria to let them know that the British
had just left the harbor to meet them at sea. Then, at 6:35am on March 28, Iachino launched
a small scout plane from Vittorio Veneto and spotted the British squadron. The Italian
admiral knew there was no turning back. If the British were there, it was
because they knew the Italians’ location. Still, the Italian task force decided to
engage and avenge the disaster at Taranto while showing the Germans their will to fight. The Air Attacks Begin
At 7:55am, Trento encountered Admiral Pridham-Wippell's force south of
the Greek island of Gavdos. Iachino then opened fire at 8:15am and went after them.
After failing to catch up with the British and firing over 400 rounds that
caused little damage to the enemy, the Italians broke the chase and regrouped. Meanwhile, the 7th cruiser squadron
turned back and started to follow them. The colossal Vittorio Veneto waited for them
to get within shooting range and fire at them. Veneto then fired over 90 accurate shots
with an excessive dispersal of her salvos, resulting in light damage.
When the rest of the British ships arrived at the scene with Cunningham,
he immediately ordered an air attack. Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers left HMS Formidable
at 9:38am and went directly for Veneto. Although the attack failed, the maneuvering broke
off the Italian formation. Admiral Iachino then ordered his fleet to set course for the port
of Taranto, where he could call in air support. However, at 3:00pm, Cunningham
ordered another air attack. In the hellish firefight between the
small Albacores and the Italian guns, Lieutenant-Commander John Dalyell-Stead
managed to approach Veneto and release a torpedo that hit her outer port.
Dalyell-Stead and his crew did not survive the counterattack, but the damage was done. The
torpedo had caused 4,000 long tons of flooding. Iachino stopped Veneto to perform
repairs and adopted a defensive position while the British ships closed in. Then, an hour later, the formation began moving
again at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour. Knowing the extent of the damage the British
had caused, Cunningham ordered another violent air attack two hours later. At 7:30pm,
a dozen Albacores and Fairey Swordfish went after the capital ship once again.
Iachino then ordered a three-column formation and made use of smoke and searchlights to fight
the aircraft. It worked, but a torpedo hit Pola, causing the ship to lose power.
Her sister ships Zara and Fiume then approached to provide cover while Veneto and
the rest of the formation made way to Taranto. Final Stroke
At 10:00pm, the British task force spotted Fiume, Zara, and Pola in the middle
of the darkness. As the Italians lacked radar, they could only detect enemy ships visually.
The British battleships immediately opened fire at a distance of 3,500 meters, and minutes later,
Fiume and Zara were torn to pieces from all sides. As both ships began to sink, the Vittorio Alfieri
and Giosuè Carducci destroyers sailing nearby were also eliminated. Gioberti and Oriani
managed to escape, albeit with heavy damage. The British tried to rescue as many sailors
as they could before leaving the scene, and transmitted the location of the remaining
sailors to the Italian high command. Ultimately, they managed to save 1,020 survivors. The total Italian casualties amounted to over
2,300 sailors, most of them from Zara and Fiume. As for Vittorio Veneto, she managed
to reach the base at Taranto with the rest of the surviving ships. The Italian Navy would not perform any other
offensive operation for the rest of the war. Thank you for watching our video! Please like
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don’t forget to leave us a comment with your thoughts on the confrontation between the British
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