The Battle of Cape Spada was a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

during the

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 to 2 May 1945. For the most part, the campaign was fought between the Italian Royal Navy (''Regia ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It took place on 19 July 1940 in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

off

Cape Spada A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

, the north-western extremity of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Prelude

The battle occurred when an Allied squadron patrolling the Aegean encountered two Italian cruisers transferring from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...

, at that time an Italian colony in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

Islands. The Allied squadron was commanded by the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Captain John Collins aboard the

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. Prior to thi ...

and included the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

H-class destroyers , , , and the similar . The Italian 2nd Cruiser Division was commanded by Vice Admiral Ferdinando Casardi and consisted of the high-speed light cruisers and .

Battle

When the Italians encountered the Allied destroyers at about 07:30, ''Sydney'' and ''Havock'' were to the north on a sweep for submarines. The other destroyers led the Italian cruisers on a chase northwards to give ''Sydney'' time to come to the rescue. ''Sydney'' sighted the Italians at 08:26, opening fire at 08:29, and the Italian cruisers turned away to the southwest. In the running battle which followed, ''Bartolomeo Colleoni'' was hit hard by ''Sydney'' and after a shell tore through her unarmored hull, the boilers and guns were disabled at 09:23, leaving her dead in the water. She fought on, but was unable to manoeuvre or use her main battery; despite the fire from her guns, she was sunk by three torpedoes launched from ''Ilex'' and ''Hyperion'' at 09:59. ''Sydney'' continued to fire against ''Bande Nere''. She was hit in the funnel by a single Italian shell, but managed to hit ''Bande Nere'' at least twice, killing eight in the bow and the hangar. Later, ''Sydney'' disengaged because she was short of ammunition and ''Giovanni delle Bande Nere'' returned to

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

, shadowed by the battleship HMS ''Warspite'' and a screen of destroyers. 555 survivors of ''Bartolomeo Colleoni'' were rescued; 121 died. Despite their speed advantage, the Italian cruisers failed to outrun HMAS ''Sydney'' because they had to steer south-southwest, instead of the most obvious route of escape to the south, in order to avoid being trapped between the enemy and the shores of Crete. This gave the Australian cruiser the chance to close the range, as she did. The light armour of ''Colleoni'' and ''Bande Nere'' was unable to withstand ''Sydney''s rounds. The lack of aerial reconnaissance was another factor contributing to the successful Allied chase.

Aftermath

The British destroyers were bombed by Italian aircraft in the aftermath, resulting in damage to HMS ''Havock'', whose no. 2 boiler was flooded. A floatplane from ''Warspite'', which was searching for ''Bande Nere'', ditched in the sea and was lost near

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

. The crew was captured by the Italians. Allied convoy AN.2 was ordered to sail back to

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

and remain there until it was eventually known that ''Bande Nere'' had reached Benghazi.Titterton, p. 48

Order of battle

Italy

* Rear Admiral Ferdinando Casardi - 2nd Cruiser Division ** ''Regia Marina'': 2

s: (sunk),

Allies

* Captain John Collins - 2nd Destroyer Flotilla ** 1 light cruiser: ** 5

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s: , , , ,

Notes

References

* * Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943''. Chatam Publishing, London. * * Titterton, G. A.(2002). ''The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean''. Volume 2. Routledge.

External links

Action off Cape Spada

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Spada

1940 in Italy

July 1940 events