Battle of Cape Spada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Cape Spada Part of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II Bartolomeo Colleoni sinking Date July 19, 1940 Location Mediterranean Sea, near Crete Result Allied victory Belligerents United Kingdom Australia Italy Commanders John Collins Ferdinando Casardi Strength 1 light cruiser 5 destroyers 2 light cruisers Casualties and losses None 1 light cruiser sunk 121+ dead

v • d • e Battle of the Mediterranean Espero¹² – Mers-el-Kébir – Calabria¹² – Spada – Cape Passero¹ – Taranto – Spartivento¹ – Excess¹ – Abstention – Matapan – Tarigo² – Crete – Substance¹ – Halberd¹ – Duisburg² – Bon² – 1st Sirte¹² – Alexandria raid – 2nd Sirte¹ – Harpoon¹ – Vigorous¹ – Pedestal¹ – Agreement – Torch – Stone Age¹ – Toulon – Skerki² – Cigno² – Sicily – Sinking of Roma ¹ - Involved an Allied convoy • ² - Involved an Axis convoy

The naval Battle of Cape Spada took place on 19 July 1940 during World War II in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Spada, the north-western extremity of Crete.

[edit] Origins

The battle occurred when an Allied squadron patrolling the Aegean encountered two Italian cruisers transferring from Tripoli to Leros, at that time an Italian colony in the Dodecanese Islands. The Allied squadron was commanded by the Australian Captain John Collins in the light cruiser HMAS Sydney and included the destroyers Havock, Hyperion, Hasty, Ilex and Hero, while the Italian 2nd Cruiser Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Ferdinando Casardi and consisted of the high-speed light cruisers Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and Bartolomeo Colleoni.

[edit] Battle

When the Italians encountered the Allied destroyers at about 07:30, Sydney and Havock were 40 miles (64 km) to the north on a sweep for submarines. The other destroyers led the Italian cruisers on a chase northwards to give Sydney time to come to the rescue. Sydney sighted the Italians at 08:26, opened fire at 08:29, and the Italian cruisers turned away to the southwest.

In the running battle which followed, Bartolomeo Colleoni was hard hit by Sydney and after a shell hit the rudder (at 09:23) she stopped dead in the water. She fought on but was unable to manoeuvre and she was sunk by torpedoes from Ilex and Hyperion at 09:59. Sydney disengaged because she was short of ammunition and Giovanni delle Bande Nere returned to Benghazi. 555 survivors of Bartolomeo Colleoni were rescued; 121 died.

Probably the major historical interest in the battle was that it revealed the inflated nature of Italian official trial stats. On paper (on trial) both the Italian cruisers had been listed with a maximum speed of over 40 knots and should never have been overhauled by the 32-knot Sydney. The truth of the matter is that the Italian navy had been in the habit of running speed trials not only at light-weight (without ammunition and full fuel loaded) but also without much of their designed armament.

[edit] Order of battle

[edit] Regia Marina

• Rear Admiral Ferdinando Casardi
  • 2 light cruisers: Bartolomeo Colleoni (sunk), Giovanni dalle Bande Nere

[edit] Allies

• Captain John Collins
  • Royal Australian Navy: 1 light cruiser: HMAS Sydney (slightly damaged)
  • Royal Navy: 5 destroyers: Hasty, Havock (damaged) Hero, Hyperion, Ilex

[edit] References

• Action off Cape Spada
• Scontro di Capo Spada - Plancia di Comando