Название: British Battleship vs Italian Battleship: The Mediterranean 1940-41
Автор: Mark Stille, Alan Gilliland, Paul Wright
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Серия: Osprey Duel 101
ISBN: 9781472832269
Год издания: 2020
Язык: English
Cтраниц: 81
Формат: True PDF
Размер: 14,7 MB
On 9 July 1940, the two navies met in the central Mediterranean, as two Italian battleships faced off against three of their British counterparts. Christened the Battle of Calabria, the action allowed the ships to play to their strengths, engaging in a long-range gunnery duel, the very thing they had been designed for. Though both sides shot well, the only hit was scored by Warspite on the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare. The Italians were forced to withdraw, and the action ended up being indecisive, but it was the largest fleet action fought in the Mediterranean during the war. As well as this battle, there were other occasions during the war when both British and Italian battleships were present and influential, but during which they never engaged each other directly - the Battle of Spartivento on 27 November 1940, and the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28-29 March 1941.
