military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (03/28/91)
Friday, 28 March, 1941 The Italian Navy suffers a devastating defeat off Cape Matapan, when a heavy cruiser squadron is detected by a Royal Navy battlegroup including the battleships Valiant, Barham, and Warspite and the carrier Formidable. An attack by torpedo bombers scores hits on the battleship Vittorio Veneto and the cruiser Zara. After dark, the British battleships close on the crippled Zara, which is being escorted by her sister ships Pola and Fiume. The cruisers are completely surprised, with turrets trained fore and aft; within a few minutes all three, together with 2 destroyers, are sunk. All told, some 3000 Italian seamen lose their lives; British losses are only two Swordfish bombers. The new Yugoslav government prepares to defend itself against German attack, and begins diplomatic overtures toward Britain. Britain releases figures for civilian casualties. Since the war's beginning, 28,859 have been killed and 40166 seriously injured in air raids against the island. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "One lesson is plain: ships count for much, but leadership counts more. Scorpion Cunningham (the Scorpion was a destroyer he commanded in the last war, noted for being where danger was greatest) is a two-fisted sailor man with guts and brains. It is a safe bet that if the British and Italians had swapped ships, the victory would still have gone to the British." - Admiral William V. Pratt, USN, Ret, on the Battle of Cape Matapan