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Battle
of Cape Teulada
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Strategies |
| Admiral Campioni had already decided that
eventual contact with the enemy would have taken place in
conditions not too favorable to the Italians. Sommerville had
different issues on hand; his mission was to defend the convoy,
but an attack against the incoming Italians would be the only
possible way of achieving his goal. At 11:45 Sommerville was
informed of the position of the Italian fleet, which at that point
was about 50 miles away. |
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| The British squadron had the Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton in front with the Renown in tail. At around 12:00, time in which Force D was finally sighted, Sommerville’s fears lifted. From a defensive posture, the British suddenly found themselves ready for an offensive action. The 810 Squadron (Swordfish) was launched from the Ark Royal with the task of seeking and destroying the Italian battleships. The battle had begun. |
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British |
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At this point Sommerville prepared for
battle; the slower Ramilles was left behind, coasting at a
speed slightly over 20 knots in a course parallel to the rest
of the formation. The Berwick and the Newcastle were ordered
to move in with the 18 Cruiser Division under the command of
Adm. Holland. Four of the cruisers were armed with 152mm guns,
while the Berwick was the only one matching the Italian's
203mm. During this phase, Sommerville received contradictory
reconnaissance reports about the location of the Italian
fleet. Sommerville
decided to move on. His mission report clearly shows that he
thought he had an advantage over the Italians; the sun was
behind his ships, the Ark Royal's plane could have reduced the
speed of the enemy (See Matapan) and the Renown and Ramillies
could match the two Italian battleships. |
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Holland's cruisers were ready; the
Sheffield led the Southampton, Newcastle, Manchester and
Berwick. According to battle reports, the last two were
slightly further away from the rest of the formation. At 12:07
the Italian fleet was sighted; first the smoke, then the masts
and finally the now familiar silhouettes of the Trentos and
Zaras. The Renown, steaming at about 27.5 knots 5 miles from
Holland's cruiser,s experienced technical problems with her
main shaft and had to reduce speed. Not too far away, the
Ramillies and 10 destroyers were already in formation ready to
defend against a possible attack from Italian destroyers. The
Ark Royal, with her small escort, the destroyers Jaguar and
the Kelvin, was instead further south. |
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The battle map shows that the various formations were arranged in groups. Two cruisers led the formation, to their south one battleship and 4 destroyers. A few miles back, three more cruisers, 1 battle cruiser and 5 destroyers. Further back, more to the south, the aircraft carrier with her escort and even further south the convoy. The convoy was still being escorted by the two cruisers, Despatch and Coventry, three destroyers (Hotspur, Duncan, Wishart) and the four corvettes. |
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Italians |
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After the change of course, which had
taken place around 11:45, the Italian fleet was laid out
as follows: 1st group (Pola, Fiume and Gorizia) with its escort (9th Squadriglia) 30 miles from Cape Teulada at 206 degrees. |
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The other cruisers, Trieste, Trento and Bolzano and the 12th destroyer Squadron were 3 miles from the Pola group at 270 degrees. The battleship group, along with the 13th and 7 th destroyer Squadron, were 12 miles from the Pola at 75. |
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| On to Part II |
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