Battle of Cape Spartivento - Definition and Overview

The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Teulada in Italy, was a minor engagement between naval forces of the British Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina on 27 November 1940, during World War II. The battle ended in a draw, but served to convince the Italians to continue attacks of this nature, which ended disasterously a few months later during the Battle of Cape Matapan.

Situation before the battle

On the night of 11 November the British had effectively destroyed half of the Italian fleet during the Battle of Taranto. Until this point the Italians had been happy leaving their fleet in harbor, using it as a threat against British shipping even if it never left port, the so-called "Fleet in Being". After the attack the Italians realized their fleet was no safer sitting still than in combat, and starting using their remaining units in actions. On the night of 17 November an Italian task force containing two battleships (Vittorio Veneto and Giulio Cesare) and a number of other units just missed the opportunity to intercept British ships on their way to deliver aircraft to Malta. The British immediately turned about and returned to Gibraltar.

This near-encounter seriously upset British plans for a further convoy to resupply the island. The convoy was then re-planned with significantly upgraded defenses, including ships from both Gibraltar, Force H, and Alexandria, Force D. The convoy from Gibraltar was spotted by the Italians, who once again set out to intercept it.

The battle

The British, aware of the Italian fleet's movements, sent their own forces northward to intercept them before they could come anywhere near the cargo ships. At 11:45 on the 27th the British were informed that the Italians were only 50 miles away and closing for battle, but at this point Force D had not yet arrived from Alexandria and the British were outgunned. Only 15 minutes later Force D was spotted, and the tables turned. Generally, however, the two forces were fairly even; although the Italian ships had better range and heavier fire, the British had an aircraft carrier, which had recently proven itself to be equal to a battleship at Taranto. However the Italians actually had a very serious drawback, their commander had been given explicit orders to avoid combat unless it was heavily in their favour, a decisive battle was out of the question.

The British re-deployed their forces into two main groups, with five cruisers in front, and two battleships and seven destroyers in a second group to the south. Much further south, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was preparing to launch a strike force of Fairey Swordfish on the Italian forces. The Italians were organized into three groups, two centered on six heavy cruisers and seven destoyers, and a third consisting of two battleships and another seven destroyers in the rear. At 12:07 it was clear a battle was about to start, and the Italian commander ordered the cruiser groups to re-form on the battleships and prepare to depart. However by this point the lead cruiser formation had already angled toward the British, and were committed to combat.

At 12:22 the lead groups of both cruiser forces had come into range, and Fiume opened fire at 23,500 meters. Rapid fire between the two forces continued as the distance between them dropped, but of the two groups the Italian forces outgunned the British. Older battleship HMS Ramillies evened the odds, but was too slow to maintain formation and dropped out of battle after a single salvo at 12:26. Four minutes later Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino, commander of the Italian cruiser group, received order to disengage, although at this point the battle was likely even or slightly in their favour. Iachino ordered an increase in speed to 30 knots, laid smoke, and started to withdraw. During this time the Italian destroyer Lanciere was hit by a salvo from Manchester and seriously damaged, although she was towed to port after the battle, and British heavy cruiser Berwick was hit by a single 8-inch shell on her Y Turret, which was knocked out, and a second hit which did little damage.

For the next few minutes the tables turned in favour of the British, when battlecruiser Renown closed the distance on the Italian cruisers, but this advantage was soon offset when Vittorio Veneto arrived at 13:00. Vittorio Veneto fired 19 shells in 7 salvos from long range, and that was enough for the now outgunned British cruisers. Both forces withdrew, the battle lasting a total of 54 minutes and causing little damage to either side.

Order of battle

See also [1] (http://users.swing.be/baten/bat/876.html#62239)

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Kingdom of Italy

Regia Marina

• admiral Angelo Iachino
  • 6 heavy cruisers: Bolzano, Fiume, Gorizia, Pola, Trieste, Trento.
  • 7 destroyers: Ascari, Carabiniere, Lanciere (damaged), Oriani, Alfieri, Carducci, Gioberti
• admiral Inigo Campioni
  • 2 battleships: Vittorio Veneto, Giulio Cesare
  • 7 destroyers: Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere, Dardo, Freccia, Saetta

Royal Navy

• admiral Holland
  • 1 heavy cruiser: Berwick (damaged)
  • 4 light cruisers: Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Southampton
• admiral James Sommerville
  • 1 battleship: Ramillies
  • 1 battlecruiser: Renown
  • 9 destroyers: Encouter, Faulknor, Firedrake, Forester, Gallant, Greyhound, Griffin, Hereward
• not entered in battle
  • 1 aircraft carrier: Ark Royal (carrying 12 fighters, 12 dive bombers, 40 torpedo planes)
  • 2 destroyers: Jaguar, Kelvin
• escort and convoy
  • 1 anti-aircraft cruiser: Coventry
  • 1 light cruiser: Despatch
  • 3 destroyers: Duncan, Hotspur, Wishart
  • 4 corvettes
  • 4 freighters