The following is a brief report of a fictional naval encounter set in the Mediterranean on the 17th of June 1940 south-east of the Filfoletta Island, itself south of Malta.
On 10th June 1940 Italy entered the war. An immediate focus was the movement of supplies to Libya. On the 13th of June a convoy of four merchant ships left Naples on route to Benghazi. The convoy's escort consisted of two groups. The first consisted of cruisers and destroyers and was in direct support of the convoy. The covering force was some 35 miles to the north-east consisted of two battleships (Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour), three heavy cruisers (Zara, Fiume and Pola) and six destroyers, three each from the 9th and 13th Destroyer Squadrons. Below, Conte di Cavour in 1938 clearly showing here aft turrets.
Simultaneously the Royal Navy was also attempting to deliver a convoy, but rather than to Libya the British convoy had been dispatched from Alexandria and was destined for Malta. The Malta convoy was itself escorted by a number of destroyers. An additional covering force was at sea. This consisted of two battleships (HMS Warspite and HMS Barham), three cruisers (HMS Gloucester, Orion and Ajax), and three destroyers (HMS Hasty, Hereward and Ilex). Admiral Cunningham, commanding all forces, was aboard HMS Warspite.
On the afternoon of the 17th of June Admiral Inigo Campioni was alerted to the British force detected on the horizon to the north. Campioni ordered his forces to engage. The Italians were positioned in four groups. The battleships, under Vice Admiral Bruto Brivonesi were directly supported by three destroyers of the 9th Squadron (Alfredo Oriani, Giosuè Carducci and Vincenzo Gioberti) who formed off the battleships port beam. Off the starboard beam were the three cruisers of 1st Heavy Cruiser Division under Vice-Admiral Pellegrino Matteucci. The 1st Heavy Cruiser Division normally comprised the heavy cruisers Zara, Fiume and Gorizia. However, with Gorizia unavailable due to mechanical issues, Pola supplemented her for the operation. In support of the cruisers were three destroys of the 13th Destroyer Squadron, specifically the destroyers Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere.
Cunningham meanwhile had deployed his covering force into three groups. The battleships formed the centre with HMS Warspite as the flag and HMS Barham to her stern. The cruisers, under command of Vice Admiral John Tovey were some 4,000 yards to the north-west while the destroyers were 2,000 yards south of the battleships and nearer the Italians.
The cruisers of both fleets immediately began to close the range while the Italian battleships held their original north-westerly course. Cunningham, aware HMS Barham would need to close the range, due to her lack of modernisation, moved his battleships in a southerly direction.
Ignoring the approaching battleships Admiral Campioni ordered his battleships to engage the Royal Navy cruisers. Soon after opening fire Conte di Cavour, firing at extreme range, managed to score no less than three hits on HMS Gloucester causing damage in the engine room which reduced her speed. In addition a fire near her engine room threatened to spread uncontrollably, had it not been contained quickly.
Above, HMS Gloucester is hit by three shells from Conte di Cavour, while HMS Orion suffers near misses from Giulio Cesare. Soon Zara added her weight to the exchange as both Zara and Gloucester began to trade blows. Soon HMS Gloucester would be forced out of the line and play no further part in the action.
With the ranges closing the HMS Warspite, despite being unable to fire a broadside, began to direct her fire at Conte di Cavour. causing the loss of B turret and a fire. This was soon followed by further hits resulting in Cavour losing speed.
Above, a view of the Italian fleet with Conte di Cavour (left) under fire by HMS Warspite. Also shown are the destroyers of the 9th Destroyer Squadron (lower left). To the right of the battleships are the heavy cruisers of the 1st Heavy Cruiser Division and astern three destroyers of the 13th Destroyer Squadron.
Below, another view of the destroyers of the 9th Destroyer Squadron. The "E" marker denotes the ships are conducting evasive manoeuvres.
As with HMS Gloucester a fire on Conte di Cavour was quickly bought under control, However, HMS Warspite had her range and damage mounted. As a result Cavour was ordered to a less exposed position while Giulio Cesare began to engage Warspite.
Above, HMS Warspite is engaged by Giulio Cesare who shifted her fire from the Royal Navy Cruisers while below a view of both HMS Barham and HMS Warspite. In the distance of both photos are the Royal Navy cruisers.
For the next 15 minutes, as Giulio Cesare and Warspite traded blows, HMS Warspite’s gunnery proved effective and soon Giulio Cesare had suffered the loss of both a forward and rear triple main gun turret which further limit her gunnery. She carried ten 12.6" guns so the loss of six was a significant blow.
Meanwhile the the Italian heavy cruisers had decreased the range to the Royal Navy cruisers in an effort to overwhelm HMS Orion and Ajax. As the range to the cruisers decreased so too did that to the British battleships. HMS Barham, now in range of Zara, opened fire. Hits by Barham's heavy guns would have been catastrophic for Zara, but fortunately Barham’s fire was completely ineffective. Below, Zara is subjected to several near misses from HMS Barham. The fire from the HMS Ajax and HMS Orion was also largely ineffective.
As the cruiser actioned played out the destroyers of the Italian 13th Destroyer Squadron pressed the advancing British destroyers. Below, the British destroyers with HMS Hasty in front while astern are HMS Ilex and HMS Hereward. Again the "E" marker denotes the ships are taking evasive manoeuvres to lessen the change of being hit.
In the ensuing destroyer action the Royal Navy destroyers were at some disadvantage as each of the Italian destroyers carried five guns compared to four of HMS Hasty, Hereward and Ilex. Further the Italian guns had a slightly longer range. While Alpino would suffer minor damage HMS Hasty, and then HMS Ilex, were lost. Now outnumbered HMS Hareward would retire on the battleships.
The action had so far lasted around 30 minutes. During this time HMS Warspite had pummelled both the Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour. With both his battleships damaged Campioni was unable to effectively engage Warspite, never mind both Barham and Warspite. Admiral Campioni therefore ordered the fleet to break-off. Blocked by a strong force Italian cruisers and destroyers, and with his own cruisers and destroyers badly damaged, Admiral Cunningham was in no position to pursue.
As the fleets disengaged the destruction was only too apparent. The cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Gloucester were crippled and near sinking while the destroyers HMS Hasty and Ilex had been lost. The Italians had not lost any ships but both Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour would need several months of repair.
Our game involved five players, three commanding the elements of the Regia Marina while two commanded Cunningham’s covering force. Finally, the models are all from Navwar’s 1/3000th range and are from my collection.
The rules used were "Naval Thunder Battleship Row". The historical Battle of Calabria fought on the 9th of July 1940 provided some inspiration for this encounter though the forces differed in several respects. Perhaps most interestingly was the impact of HMS Barham in our game which had many similarities to HMS Malaya at Calabria. With Barham unable to engage at the same range as Warspite, and outranged by the Italian battleships, HMS Warspite did much of the heavy lifting in our game, as she did at Calabria. This suggests the rules model some of the differences between all the battleships reasonably well.
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