Battle of the Espero Convoy

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Battle of the Espero Convoy Part of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II HMS Liverpool, Vice-Admiral Tovey's flagship. Date June 28, 1940 Location Mediterranean, southwest of Crete Result Allied tactical victory Two-thirds of the Italian reinforcements reached destination Two Allied convoys from Malta postponed Belligerents United Kingdom Australia Kingdom of Italy Commanders Vice-Admiral John Tovey Captain Enrico Baroni  † Strength 5 cruisers 3 destroyers Casualties and losses 1 cruiser lightly damaged 1 destroyer sunk 150–180 dead

v • d • e Battle of the Mediterranean Espero¹² – Mers-el-Kébir – Calabria¹² – Spada – Cape Passero¹ – Taranto – Strait of Otranto² – White¹ – Spartivento¹ – Excess¹ – Abstention – Souda Bay – Matapan – Tarigo² – Crete – Substance¹ – Halberd¹ – Duisburg² – Bon² – 1st Sirte¹² – Alexandria raid – 2nd Sirte¹ – Harpoon¹ – Vigorous¹ – Pedestal¹ – Agreement – Torch – Stone Age¹ – Toulon – Skerki² – Algiers¹ – Cigno² – Sicily – Olterra's campaign¹ – Sinking of Roma ¹ - Involved an Allied convoy • ² - Involved an Axis convoy Mediterranean U-boat Campaign (World War II)

The Battle of the Espero Convoy was one of the very first naval battles fought during World War II between vessels of the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) and vessels of the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The engagement took place southwest of Crete on June 28, 1940, when a force of seven cruisers and sixteen destroyers escorting three Allied convoys headed for Alexandria spotted a small Italian convoy. The Italian convoy consisted of three destroyers bound for Tobruk from Taranto.

[edit] Background

On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. The Italian High Command (Comando Supremo), foreseeing a British Army push into Cirenaica led by armoured forces, decided that an antitank unit should be deployed at Tobruk as soon as possible. The unit comprised ten antitank guns, one-hundred-and-twenty tons of ammunition, and one-hundred-and-sixty-two servicemen.

[edit] The two forces

The Italians chose three destroyers of the Turbine class to deliver the antitank unit. These vessels were chosen due to their high speed and loading capabilities. The destroyers chosen were the Espero (flagship), the Zeffiro and the Ostro. This class of warships could reach 36 knots if needed. The commander of the Italian squadron was Captain Enrico Baroni.

At the same time, three Allied convoys (two from Malta and the other from Greece) were heading towards Alexandria under the escort of seven cruisers (two light cruisers, HMS Capetown, HMS Caledon, the other five from the 7th Squadron: HMS Liverpool, HMS Orion, HMAS Sydney, HMS Gloucester and HMS Neptune) and sixteen destroyers. All twenty-three vessels were under the command of Vice-Admiral John Tovey. Reconnaissance planes from Alexandria and Malta also gave support to the Allied operation.^[1][2]

[edit] The engagement

The Italian destroyers were spotted at noon by two Sunderland flying-boats some 50 miles west of Zante island.^[3][4] They were at striking range of Tovey’s 7th Squadron, so the Vice-Admiral ordered the cruisers to intercept the enemy force with a two wings formation.

Sketch of the Battle

At 18:30, the first 6” salvoes from the five Allied cruisers began to fall on the surprised Italian convoy from a distance of 16,000 meters. Baroni, realizing that despite the best speed of his ships they were hopelessly outgunned, attempted to cover the remaining destroyers using smokescreens and faced his formidable adversaries with evasive maneuvers. Unable to escape this force, he elected to sacrifice his ship, the Espero, to save the others.^[5] While Commander Baroni remained behind in his flagship to fight an unequal battle, the Zeffiro and Ostro headed safely to the southwest at full speed.

It was not until 19:20 that the first British broadside struck home, when the range had closed to 12,800 meters. By this time, Tovey had given up the chase of the other two destroyers. The 7th Squadron spent about 5,000 rounds before the Espero was sent to the bottom, after two hours and ten minutes of fierce fighting.

The destroyer Espero at anchor

A single Italian 4.7" shell hit the Liverpool, but caused little damage. The battle resulted in such a shortage of ammunition that the planned Malta convoys were suspended for two weeks.^[6] HMAS Sydney rescued 47 men from the Italian destroyer, and six others were later found alive by an Italian submarine almost twenty-days later.^[7] Captain Baroni was lost with his ship, and was posthumously awarded the Medaglia d´oro al valor militare. Zeffiro and Ostro both reached Bengasi the next day and arrived at Tobruk shortly after. Two-thirds of the convoy had been saved.

[edit] Aftermath

There were two main lessons learned by both sides after this battle. For the Allies, the lesson was that a daylight naval action at long range was unlikely to be decisive when the enemy units outmatched one's own speed. For the Italians, this was a grim forecast about the importance of well-coordinated air surveillance. Had Italian aircraft spotted the Allied cruisers before they reached the firing line, the three destroyers would have escaped unscathed.^[8]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro: The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943, Chatam Publishing, London, 1998. ISBN 1861760574.
• Miller, Nathan: War at Sea: A Naval History of World War II, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995. ISBN 0-19-511038-2 (Pbk.).
• De la Sierra, Luis: La Guerra Naval en el Mediterráneo, Editorial Juventud, Barcelona, 1976.
  ISBN 84-261-0264-6. (Spanish)

Coordinates: 35°08′16.36″N 20°36′37.27″E / 35.1378778°N 20.6103528°E / 35.1378778; 20.6103528