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Andrew Cunningham
Person page: Andrew Cunningham →
Tag
(09)
1940
July
09
The Battle of Calabria
On 9 July 1940 the British and Italian fleets clashed off Calabria. Warspite hit Giulio Cesare at 24 km and the Italians withdrew. No ship was lost.
October
12
The Battle of Cape Passero
On the night of 11–12 October 1940 the cruiser HMS Ajax beat off an attack by Italian torpedo boats and destroyers east of Malta. The Italians lost three ships.
November
11
Key event
The attack on Taranto
On the night of 11–12 November 1940 twenty-one Swordfish from the carrier Illustrious torpedoed three Italian battleships at Taranto.
1941
March
28
Key event
The Battle of Cape Matapan
On 28 March 1941 Cunningham’s fleet, forewarned by Bletchley Park, damaged the Vittorio Veneto and that night sank three Italian cruisers and two destroyers.
April
16
The Battle of the Tarigo convoy
On the night of 15–16 April 1941 four British destroyers from Malta wiped out a convoy bound for Tripoli and its three Italian escorts off Kerkennah.
July
05
Swordfishes over Tobruk
On 5 July 1941 Auchinleck took command in Cairo. Swordfishes had sunk Italian destroyers at Tobruk a year earlier, on 5 and 20 July 1940.
November
25
The sinking of HMS Barham
On 25 November 1941 U-331 torpedoed the battleship Barham off Egypt. She capsized and blew up, and some 860 men were killed.
December
19
The human torpedo attack on Alexandria
On the night of 18–19 December 1941 Italian frogmen riding human torpedoes disabled the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in Alexandria harbour.
1943
September
10
The surrender of the Italian fleet
On 9–11 September 1943 the Italian fleet obeyed the armistice and sailed for Malta. En route German guided bombs sank the battleship Roma and Admiral Bergamini.