Battle of Cape Matapan

27–29 March 1941, South of Cape Matapan, Greece

British victory; three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers sunk

Pressed by the Germans to attack the convoys carrying British troops to Greece, Admiral Iachino took Vittorio Veneto and eight cruisers into the waters south of Crete. Cunningham knew they were coming from codebreakers at Bletchley Park and sailed from Alexandria after dark, having gone ashore that afternoon with his golf clubs to fool the Japanese consul. On the morning of 28 March the Italian cruisers chased Pridham-Wippell's light cruisers towards Vittorio Veneto's guns, and only an attack by Formidable's torpedo planes got them out of trouble. In the afternoon an Albacore torpedoed Vittorio Veneto; her pilot was killed, but she was stopped for a time and slowed for the rest of the day. At dusk another torpedo stopped the heavy cruiser Pola. Iachino, not knowing the British battleships were close, sent Admiral Cattaneo back for her with Zara, Fiume and four destroyers. Valiant's radar found them in the dark, and at 10.27 pm Warspite, Valiant and Barham opened fire at under two miles with searchlights. Zara and Fiume were wrecked in minutes, their guns still trained fore and aft. The destroyers Alfieri and Carducci were sunk, and Pola was boarded and then torpedoed. About 2,300 Italian sailors were killed, Cattaneo among them. The British lost one aircraft. Vittorio Veneto got home, but the Italian fleet did not come so far east again.