Battle of Cape Spartivento
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle
Naval battle
A naval battle is a battle fought using boats, ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers. The earliest recorded naval battle took place in 1210 BC near Cyprus...

 during the Battle of the Mediterranean
Battle of the Mediterranean
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940-2 May 1945....

 in the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was fought between naval forces of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and the Italian
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

 Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

on 27 November 1940, during the Second World War.

Origins

On the night of 11 November 1940, the British incapacitated or destroyed half of the Italian battleships during the Battle of Taranto
Battle of Taranto
The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea...

. Until then, the Italians had left their battlefleet in harbour, using it as a threat against British shipping, even if it never left port, as a fleet in being
Fleet in being
In naval warfare, a fleet in being is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. Were the fleet to leave port and face the enemy, it might lose in battle and no longer influence the enemy's actions, but while it remains safely in port the enemy is forced to...

. The Italian Navy, however, didn't decline battle if given the opportunity.

On the night of 17 November, an Italian force consisting of two battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s ( and ) and a number of other units were about to intercept British cruisers and two aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s, and , on their way to deliver aircraft to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 (Operation White
Operation White
Operation White was a British attempt to deliver 14 aircraft—12 Hawker Hurricane fighters and two Blackburn Skua dive bombers—to Malta from the aircraft carrier , on 17 November 1940. The operation was thwarted by the presence of the Italian Fleet at sea, which prompted a premature take-off of the...

). The British convoy was warned of their approach and immediately turned about and returned to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

, sending off their aircraft (two Blackburn Skua
Blackburn Skua
The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of a dive bomber and fighter. It was designed in the mid-1930s, and saw service in the early part of the Second World War...

s and 12 Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

s) prematurely. One Skua and eight Hurricanes were lost at sea, as they ran out of fuel well before they could reach their destination. Seven airmen were lost.

This Italian success in disrupting the aerial reinforcement of Malta seriously upset British plans for a further convoy to supply the island (Operation Collar). The convoy was then rerun, with much more support, including ships from Gibraltar, Force H
Force H
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....

 and Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, Force D. The convoy from Gibraltar was spotted by the Italian intelligence service, and once again the Italian fleet sailed out to intercept it. The first Italian naval unit to make visual contact with the convoy was the torpedo boat Sirio
Spica class torpedo boat
The Spica-class were a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 tons could be built in unlimited numbers...

 on the night of 27 November. After launching two torpedoes from long range, which missed their target, Sirio sent a report of seven enemy warships heading to the east.

Battle

The British, aware of the Italian fleet's movements, sent their forces north to intercept them before they could come anywhere near the cargo ships. At 09:45 on 27 November, a IMAM Ro.43
IMAM Ro.43
|-Newsreel clip:An Italian newsreel footage of a Ro.43 launching from a catapult aboard the Italian light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia can be viewed at YouTube as .-References:...

 reconnaissance floatplane
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...

 from the heavy cruiser Bolzano discovered a British squadron steaming to the east, 17 nmi (32 km) north of Chetaïbi
Chetaibi
Chetaïbi is a small fishing port located in Annaba Province, at approximately 70 km west of Annaba, Algeria.-External links:...

.

Shortly after, at 9:56, Sommerville received the report of his own aircraft from the carrier HMS Ark Royal about the presence of five cruisers and five destroyers. The British Admiral assumed that these were Italian units closing for battle. Force D had not yet arrived from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

 and the British were outgunned, but only 15 minutes later, Force D was spotted and the tables turned. The two forces were fairly even; although the Italian ships had better range and heavier fire, the British had an aircraft carrier, which had recently proven itself to be equal to a battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 at Taranto. However, the Italian commander had been given orders to avoid combat unless it was heavily in his favour, so a decisive battle was out of the question.

Admiral Somerville deployed his forces into two main groups, with five cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s under Rear Admiral Lancelot Holland
Lancelot Holland
Vice Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, CB commanded the British force in the Battle of Denmark Strait in May, 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck. Holland was killed during the battle.-Early life:...

 in front and two battleships and seven destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s in a second group to the south. Much further south, HMS Ark Royal was preparing to launch a force of Fairey Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...

. The Italians were organised into three groups, two from six heavy cruisers and seven destroyers and a third of two battleships and another seven destroyers in the rear. At 12:07, after a report received from s floatplane, it was clear a battle was about to start with evenly-matched forces, so the Italian commander ordered the cruiser groups to re-form on the battleships and prepare to depart. However, by this point, the lead cruiser formation had already angled toward the British and was committed to combat.

At 12:22, the lead groups of both cruiser forces came into range and opened fire at 23,500 m. Rapid fire between the two forces continued as the distance between them dropped, but the Italians outgunned the British. The battleship helped even the odds, but she was too slow to maintain formation and dropped out of battle after a few salvoes at 12:26. Four minutes later, Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino
Angelo Iachino
Angelo Iachino was an Italian admiral during World War II.-Early life and career:Born at Sanremo, Liguria, Iachino entered the Italian Naval Academy at Livorno in 1904, and graduated in 1907....

, commander of the Italian cruiser group, received order to disengage, although the battle was slightly in their favour. Iachino ordered an increase in speed to 30 kn (36.5 mph; 58.8 km/h), laid smoke and started to withdraw. At this time, the Italian destroyer was hit by a broadside from and seriously damaged, although she was towed to port after the battle. The heavy cruiser was hit at 12:22 by a single 203 mm (8 in) shell, knocking out her "Y" turret and killing seven men. A second hit at 12:35 did little damage.

For the next few minutes, the tables turned in favour of the British when the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

  closed the distance on the Italian cruisers. This advantage was soon negated, however; at 13:00, Vittorio Veneto opened fire from 27,000 m. Vittorio Veneto fired 19 rounds in seven salvoes from long range and that was enough for the now outgunned British cruisers, which turned back at the fourth salvo. Both forces withdrew, the battle lasting a total of 54 minutes and causing little damage to either side.

Regia Marina

  • Admiral Angelo Iachino
    • 6 heavy cruiser
      Heavy cruiser
      The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...

      s: Bolzano, , , , Trieste, Trento.
    • 7 destroyer
      Destroyer
      In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

      s: Ascari, Carabiniere, (damaged), Oriani, Alfieri, Carducci, Gioberti
  • Admiral Inigo Campioni
    • 2 battleship
      Battleship
      A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

      s: ,
    • 7 destroyers: Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere, Dardo, Freccia, Saetta

Royal Navy

  • Admiral Lancelot Holland
    • 1 heavy cruiser: (damaged)
    • 4 light cruiser
      Light cruiser
      A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

      s: , , ,
  • Admiral Sir James Sommerville
    • 1 battleship:
    • 1 battlecruiser
      Battlecruiser
      Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

      :
    • 9 destroyers: , , , , , , , ,
  • not entered in battle
    • 1 aircraft carrier
      Aircraft carrier
      An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

      : (carrying 12 fighters, 12 dive bombers, 40 torpedo planes)
    • 2 destroyers: ,
  • escort and convoy
    • 1 anti-aircraft cruiser:
    • 1 light cruiser:
    • 3 destroyers: , , Wishart
    • 4 corvettes: Peony, Salvia, Gloxinia and Hyacinth
    • 4 freighters
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