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Honour - Calabria 1940 Date - 9-July |
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| Description |
The battle was the first capital ship action of the war in the Mediterranean
and took place off Calabria in the south-west of Italy. Escort for two convoys from Malta at Alexandria comprised the battleships Malaya, Warspite and Royal Sovereign (each 8 x 15" guns), the aircraft carrier Eagle, plus escorting cruisers and destroyers. The Italian battleship Guilio Cesare (10 x 12.6" guns) first fought off an air attack from Eagle's aircraft. But when she and the cruiser Bolzano were hit by shells from Warspite, the Italians withdrew. This established Royal Navy ascendancy over the Italian Navy for the rest of the war.
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| HM Ships | ||||
| Dainty | Decoy | Defender | Eagle | Gloucester |
| Hasty | Hereward | Hero | Hostile | Hyperion |
| Ilex | Janus | Juno | Liverpool | Malaya |
| Mohawk | Neptune | Nubian | Orion | Royal Sovereign |
| Stuart | Sydney | Vampire | Voyager | Warspite |
| FAA Squadrons | ||||
| 813 | 824 | |||
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This page last edited -
20 March, 2013.
Copyright © Ian M King, except where otherwise indicated. |
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