Action off Calabria 
Part II

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Initial skirmish

At 12:00 hours Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, while still 90 miles east of the Italian Fleet, decided to leave the slower Malaya, Royal Sovereign and Eagle behind while he set forth in the Warspite at 24 knots. At 11:45 and at 15:45 hours the Eagle launched 15 Swordfish in the hope of hitting the Italian battleships; both sorties failed to achieve a hit. At the same time, Admiral Tovey's cruisers spread 10 miles in front of Warspite and at 1510 hours the Neptune sighted the Italian fleet (1).

According to the 1948 "official" British report the battle began when, at 15:15, the four Italian heavy cruisers opened fire at a range of 21,500 meters against the 7th Cruiser Squadron of Admiral John Towey. The Italian report differs, claiming that the first shot came from the 152/50 guns of the British cruisers at around 15:17. Considering that the Cesare kept the Italian records and that communication between ships was not instant, we should consider that the British might be correct. Nevertheless, the battle had begun.

The Italian fleet followed a textbook firing succession using high explosive shells to straddle the enemy ships. Despite the extreme distance, which was at times past the maximum allowed range, the Italian found their range in about three minutes. At 15:05, the VII Division had turned to 70 degrees, decisively pointing against the British cruiser squadron. At 15:12, Cunningham ordered the 7th Squadron to change course to 350 degrees and by 15:20 distance between the two groups was down to a bit more than 20,000 meters.
 

The 7th Italian Naval Division
(Eugenio di Savoia, Duca d'Aosta, Attendolo, Montecuccoli)
 USMM

The British cruisers fired at the VII Division and then at the oncoming IV Division, which included the light cruisers Da Barbiano and Di Giussano under the command of Admiral Alberto Marengo. The two Italian cruisers, mistaken by the British for the much feared "Zara" class heavy cruisers, received much of the attentions from the Australian cruiser Sydney and the British Orion. At the same time, Towey fired at the Italian destroyers of the IX Squadron, which was under the command of Lorenzo Dorsetti. The Italian destroyers were able to identify units behind the enemy cruisers and at the same time the Alfieri, Oriani, Gioberti and Carducci opened fire against the British cruisers. At 15:20 fire would cease and the destroyers would change course to reach their assigned tactical position.

During this first exchange, the British fire was not disperse, problem this always experience by the Regia Marina (2), but range was usually off. The British difficulty to accurately find range was an issue first noticed aboard the Espero during the action of June 28th. Between 15:22 and 15:23 the Italian fire became dangerously close to the British cruisers and Adm. John Towey decided to disengage. At this point a shell from the Garibaldi hit the Neptune causing damages to the catapult and the reconnaissance plane. At 15:12 even the IV Division began firing at a distance of about 24,100 meters. Here the British records talk of a hit against one of the Italian cruisers, which is not confirmed by the Italian records. The cruisers began drifting apart and at 15:30 fire ceased, ending the first part of the battle.

The battleships enter the fight

The Warspite opened fire against the Da Darbiano and the Di Giussano which, according to the British, were attempting a sortie against the Eagle and the damaged Gloucester. The Eagle and the Gloucester, along with a few destroyers, were left about 10 miles behind so that they would be properly protected. The Eagle did not have sufficient armor and was therefore very exposed. Furthermore, an aircraft carrier did not have any practical use during a ballistic exchange. The Gloucester, on the other hand, had been badly damaged by an aerial attack, which had devastated the bridge killing her captain and many officers. Admirably, the ship was been governed from her emergency station.

Once again, the British salvos were accurate, but did not score any hits. It is during this phase that the Warspite first complete a full loop and then a large S, thus allowing for the slower Malaya to catch up. The much slower Royal Sovereign will instead never be able to actively participate. Still, if Campioni had decided to continue fighting, the Royal Sovereign would have entered the picture within minutes and the Italian battle group would have been badly overpowered.

At around 15:23, following the cruiser action, the two Italian battleships and the heavy cruisers had changed course pointing decisively against the British capital ships. The Italians launched a RO 43 from the Eugenio di Savoia that was, shortly after, followed by a Sea Gladiator flown by the Eagle to oppose it. This British plane was the only fighter available on the aircraft carrier. Immediately after, the Warspite launched her hydroplane, which was to assist with the firing control. At around 15:45, and through 15:52, the destroyer screen around the Warspite clear out moving to the starboard of the battleship (3).

At 15:52 the Cesare finally opened fire against the Warspite at a range of 26,400 meters. The Italian followed a capital ruled learned from the reports following the battle of the Jutlund and each battleship was assigned a single target. The Cesare would engage the Warspite while the Cavour would aim at the incoming Malaya and eventually the Royal Sovereign. Following the battle, many would critique this strategy claiming that a combined fire from both Italian battleships against the Warspite would have had a better chance of scoring a hit. Unfortunately, these critics forget that during a combined action it is difficult for the firing control personnel to identify their own shells and therefore make the necessary adjustment.

At 15:53 the Warspite began firing without realizing that only the Cesare was engaging her. Fire was split in what is commonly known as volley firing with the aft turrets trained at the Cesare and the stern ones at the Cavour. During this exchange a "long" shot from the Cesare overshot the Warspite and landed (in the water, of course…) near the destroyers Hareward and Decoy, causing some minor damage. These fortuitous hits were also confirmed by Cunningham, but the fact that repair work was not completed until the end of August might suggest that damage might have been a bit more than just "minor".

At 15:54 the Malaya also opened fire and kept it on until 15:58. Her distance was too great to reach the target but still it was giving the Italians the impression that she was attacking the Cesare. Campioni hoped that the 203mm guns of the Italian heavy cruisers could assist, but they were not yet in formation. Since Admiral Palladini, the commander of the cruiser group, was aboard the last cruiser in the formation, Admiral Cattaneo, on the leading Pola, commanded the action.

At 15:55 the Trento opened fire against the Warspite, firing three salvoes. The Bolzano could not join her since she was already engaging Towey’s cruisers which were returning to the scene. At 15:59 two shells from the Cesare were clearly seen fall near the Warspite. In 1948 Cunningham would confirm it judging the distance at about two "cables"; this is a very old unit of measurement, which correspond to about 360 meters. Some historians have placed the hits much closer.
 

Cesare's funnel, USMM

The damage was actually less than immediately feared. The ship had retained all of her fighting capabilities, but it had lost speed which, would soon after be restored with the activation of two of the four boilers. From here on, the Italian and British records are quite contradictory. The Australian records seem to confirm the Italian theory that both the Cesare and the Warspite disengaged almost at the same time. As a matter of fact, one minute after the hit, the Warspite altered course to port side in a tight turn, which decreased speed from 24.5 knots down to 17. The maneuver was immediately detected by the Italian range finders, and by the RO 43 launched by the Da Barbiano. This sudden change of course caused the British guns to be temporarily silenced and the last salvo was fired by the aft upper turret at about 16:04 (16:03 according to the Italians).

Damage aboard the Cesare, USMM

Probably, considering that between 15:52 and 15:58 the Cesare had properly found her target and that her shots were getting dangerously closed to the Warspite, Cunninghman had decided to disengage or wait for the Royal Sovereign. The sinking of the Warspite, or any serious damage to her, so far from home would have placed the whole fleet in the most dire straits.

The battle between the capital ships was over; and only seven minutes had passed since the beginning of the exchange!

(1) For the Royal Navy, this was the first sighting of an enemy fleet in the Mediterranean since the Napoleonic era.
(2) Dispersion takes place when several projectiles fired at the same time land far apart. It is usually caused by different weight in the charge and or the projectile themselves. Italians admirals often complaints about the poor quality of their ammunition, problem this shared by the U.S. Navy.
(3) behind the Warspite to the Italian prospective