This is the second part in MHM’s special feature. In the first part (read here), Graham Goodlad analyses the achievements of Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham.
The Battle of Cape Matapan, fought off the southern tip of Greece, was Admiral Andrew Cunningham’s most significant victory, and also the last major fleet battle in the history of the Royal Navy. It was not just that British forces had an outstanding commander. They possessed clear advantages over their Italian opponents in naval aviation, radar, and intelligence, too. They took the fascist navy, or Regia Marina, largely by surprise and inflicted a stinging defeat. Matapan effectively ended Benito Mussolini’s dream of turning the Mediterranean into an ‘Italian lake’.
The protagonists
In spite of the damage that it suffered at Taranto in November 1940, Italian sea power was far from negligible. The heavily armoured battleship Vittorio Veneto displaced more than 35,000 tons. Bristling with nine 15-inch guns, 12 smaller armaments and an array of anti-aircraft weaponry, it could make 30 knots, which made it some 6 knots faster than any of the battleships deployed by the Royal Navy at Matapan. Accompanying it were six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 13 destroyers. But the Italian fleet had some serious disadvantages. Mussolini had been reckless in taking his country to war in an unprepared state. The navy really needed two more years to make good its technical deficiencies, especially its lack of radar.
Pagans and folklore