The Battle of Cape Matapan was a World War II naval battle fought off the Peloponnesus coast of Greece from March 27 to March 29, 1941 in which British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces under the command of the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham intercepted those of the Italian Regia Marina, under Admiral Angelo Iachino .

The Allied forces were centred on a main battle fleet, consisting of the aircraft carrier Formidable, the World War I battleships Barham, Valiant and Warspite (flagship). The main fleet was accompanied by two flotillas of destroyers: the 10th Flotilla comprised by the British Greyhound and Griffin and the Australian HMAS Stuart and the 14th Flotilla (Jervis, Janus, Mohawk and Nubian ), as well as Hotspur and Havock.

A second force, under Admiral Sir Henry Pridham-Wippell , consisted of the British light cruisers Ajax, Gloucester and Orion, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth, and the British destroyers Hasty, Hereward and Ilex — the Australian Vendetta had returned to Alexandria.

In addition, the Allied vessels Defender , Jaguar and Juno waited in the Kithira Channel; Decoy , HMAS Vampire, HMS Carlisle , Calcutta and HMS Bonaventure were nearby.

The Italian fleet was led by Iachino's vessel, the modern battleship Vittorio Veneto. It also included almost Italy's entire heavy cruiser force: Zara (under Vice-Admiral Carlo Cattaneo ), Fiume and Pola; four destroyers of the 9th Flotilla (Alfredo Oriani, Giosue 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.

Other Italian destroyers involved in the battle were: were Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere, Grecale, Libeccio, Maestrale, Scirocco, and Gradisca, organised into the 10th and 13th Flotillas.

The interception was made possible by cryptanalysis and efforts were also made to ensure there was a plausible alternative reason for the Allies to intercept the Italian fleet; in this case it was a carefully directed scout plane. Admiral Cunningham is said to have made a surreptitious exit from a club in Egypt, to avoid being seen going aboard ship.

The Allies sank the heavy cruisers Fiume , Zara and Pola and the destroyers Vittorio Alfieri and Giosue Carducci, and damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto. The British lost one torpedo plane and suffered light damage to some ships.

Order of Battle

From [1]

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
• 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
• from Italy
  • hospital ship: Gradisca

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

• [2]
• Royal Navy