Battle of the western Med

With the Russians pushing through the Dardanelles in the eastern Mediterranean, Winston Churchill ordered that the Italians be cleared from the Western Med, at any cost. Churchill suspected Stalin was playing power politics over the future of Europe, and he was determined to show the Russian dictator the British resolve to keep the Mediterranean under British influence. To support this, the Royal Navy would have to clear the Italians out of the way.

Admiral Cunningham was determined to use every advantage he had over the Italians to the fullest. With Ark Royal refitting, air power could not be the deciding factor in the battle to come, but radar and night fighting ability could. Cunningham therefore resolved to attack at night. The second problem would be luring the Italians to battle, so the British made the decision to sail in force past Malta with a force of battleships. They would bombard first the African coast and if that failed to rouse their enemy, shell Taranto itself if necessary. The British stripped their other areas of control of all but the most vital assets. Cunningham now had Duke of York, Nelson, Resolution and Revenge, as well as three cruisers and a flotilla of destroyers. On 25th May 1942 this force sailed into Axis controlled waters, daring the Italian navy to come out and fight.

As it turned out the Italian Navy, despite their losses to the US fleet earlier on in the year, were spoiling for a fight and had already sent a powerful force to sea to face the Russians. This force now turned to intercept the British, but as planned Cunningham dodged the Italian fleet until night had fallen. Worse still an unseasonal gale blew up in the region, making conditions particularly difficult for both sides. Knowing his force had radar and were better trained in night fighting, Admiral Cunningham now attacked the Italian fleet.

The Italians soon detected the lead elements of the British fleet, and sent their light forces to investigate. The cruisers London, Dorsetshire and Norfolk were soon fighting a furious action against the italian cruisers Trento and Bolzano, and the arrival of the Italian battleship Ciao Dullio spelled disaster for the british vessels. Norfolk and London were sunk by a combination of gunfire and torpedoes, although the trento was reduced to a wreck by determined torpedo attacks from the British vessels.

Hearing these reports the Italian admiral felt that he had isolated a portion of the British fleet and would now eliminate it with his superior forces. The super dreadnoughts Littorio and Roma, accompanied by the modernised Guilio Cesare rushed to join the action, oblivious to the presence of the British battleship Nelson, which had kept her guns silent. Suddenly the italian searchlights played along the squat structure of the British battleship. Alarmed, the Italians launched a torpedo run by their destroyers, but to their dismay most of the torpedoes missed or failed to explode. Nelson suffered two hits, neither causing significant damage. Despite this setback the Italians still had four battleships to the British one, or so they thought. The Italians engaged Nelson and the Dorsetshire for around twenty minutes, before they were rudely awoken by lines of gun flashes along the horizon. The remaining British battleships had arrived, and took up station line astern of Nelson.

The Italian admiral now had a stark choice. Facing four British ships similar to his own, but with more destroyers who had yet to loose their torpedoes, at night and in bad weather knowing the British had radar, the Italian chose to run. In a well executed manouvre he ordered the about turn of Littorio, Roma and Guillio Cesare. The Littorio suffered a torpedo run from Cunningham's destroyers, but the giant ship was able to evade them by making wild turns. The Ciao Dullio was still fixated on the British cruisers however, which would cost her dearly.

The Ciao Duillio belatedly realised the Italian fleet was fleeing the battle and turning for home. She also turned for home, but by now the old battleship was facing the combined gunfire of five British dreadnoughts. Nelson. Duke of York, Revenge and Resolution poured fire into the ageing italian warship, and within one hour the vessel had rolled over and sunk. The remaining Italian vessels had escaped, the Roma having recieved no hits at all, and returned to port.

Having sunk one battleship and one cruiser for the loss of two cruisers, the British were able to claim victory. More importantly the Italian navy had fled rather than face the British guns, and now the Western mediterannean was firmly under the control of the allies.