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MEDITERRANEAN LIFE 1940-1942: HMAS PERTH, HMS AJAX and ORION from GLOUCESTER, first phase of the Battle of Matapan, March 28, 1941 - Photo AWM.
4529. These 6-inch cruisers of the RN's 7th Cruiser Division were to have a hot time in the first phase of the Battle of Matapan, which opened just after 8 a.m. when they were sighted and came under out-ranging fire from the Italian 8-inch heavy cruisers BOLZANO, TRIESTE, AND TRENTO.
The Italian fire was accurate and their ships were closing until the Allied cruisers replied and ORION began making smoke to attract Admiral Andrew Cunngingham's battle fleet nearby. The Italians broke off at 9 am and they began shadowing the Italian cruisers until they ran into a dangerous encounter with the Italian battleship VITTORI0 VENETO which brought them under 15-inch fire and was threatening to trap them against the full Italian cruiser force. The hard-press Allied cruisers were forced to hide behind a heavy smoke screen until an attack by aircraft from HMS FORMIDABLE caused the battleship to turn away.
Vice Admiral H. Pridham-Wippell's cruisers subsequently shadowed the Italian battleship throughout the day, and the 10,000 ton heavy cruiser POLA was brought to a stop by an attack by FORMIDABLE's aircraft, which were in action once again. Just after 10 that evening POLA'S sister ships ZARA and FIUME, sent to assist her, blundered into the gunsights of the british capital ships HMS WARSPITE and HMS VALIANT, the former hitting the lead Italian cruiser with a full broadside later describe as 'the most devastating salvo of the war.'
The night phase of the battle of Matapan, a disastrous one for the Reggia Marina, had begun.
Photo: Naval Historical Collection, Australian War memorial, image ID NO. 128083, listed copyright expired, public domain. This photo also appears on Bruce Constable's Perthone.com website, along with others not previously seen.
MEDITERRANEAN LIFE 1940-1942: HMAS PERTH, HMS AJAX and ORION from GLOUCESTER, first phase of the Battle of Matapan, March 28, 1941 - Photo AWM.
4529. These 6-inch cruisers of the RN's 7th Cruiser Division were to have a hot time in the first phase of the Battle of Matapan, which opened just after 8 a.m. when they were sighted and came under out-ranging fire from the Italian 8-inch heavy cruisers BOLZANO, TRIESTE, AND TRENTO.
The Italian fire was accurate and their ships were closing until the Allied cruisers replied and ORION began making smoke to attract Admiral Andrew Cunngingham's battle fleet nearby. The Italians broke off at 9 am and they began shadowing the Italian cruisers until they ran into a dangerous encounter with the Italian battleship VITTORI0 VENETO which brought them under 15-inch fire and was threatening to trap them against the full Italian cruiser force. The hard-press Allied cruisers were forced to hide behind a heavy smoke screen until an attack by aircraft from HMS FORMIDABLE caused the battleship to turn away.
Vice Admiral H. Pridham-Wippell's cruisers subsequently shadowed the Italian battleship throughout the day, and the 10,000 ton heavy cruiser POLA was brought to a stop by an attack by FORMIDABLE's aircraft, which were in action once again. Just after 10 that evening POLA'S sister ships ZARA and FIUME, sent to assist her, blundered into the gunsights of the british capital ships HMS WARSPITE and HMS VALIANT, the former hitting the lead Italian cruiser with a full broadside later describe as 'the most devastating salvo of the war.'
The night phase of the battle of Matapan, a disastrous one for the Reggia Marina, had begun.
Photo: Naval Historical Collection, Australian War memorial, image ID NO. 128083, listed copyright expired, public domain. This photo also appears on Bruce Constable's Perthone.com website, along with others not previously seen.