military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (07/09/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 9 July, 1940 British and Italian naval units clash off Punta Stilo (Calabria). The Italian force includes the battleships Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare, opposed by the battleships Warspite, Malaya, and Royal Sovereign, with numerous cruisers and destroyers on each side. The battle is quickly broken off after the Cesare suffers a 15-inch hit, sustaining mild damage, and the Italians retreat to port behind smoke. Italian aircraft join in the fray, bombing the cruiser HMS Gloucester and narrowly missing several Italian ships. With the aid of Soviet icebreakers, the German merchant raider Komet leaves Bergen, taking the Northeast Passage to the Pacific. Marshal Petain is empowered by the French Parliament to alter that nation's constitution. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "At the close of the night the British squadron proceeded in a southerly direction, pursued by Italian naval forces." - Italian Stefania News Agency.