"A Mediterranean Cruiser Action"
Report, Issue No. 93-3, November 1993 (Alnavco Distributors)

The following battle was fought with 1:2400 scale ships using Seapower II rules.

Following the British offensive that shattered the Italian army that had invaded Egypt, Italian forces continued to retreat west toward Tripolitania. They abandoned Tobruk, which the British captured January 22, 1941, and prepared to evacuate Benghazi as well. British mechanized formations pursued at the end of a lengthening and inadequate logistical tail.

The Italian fleet was ordered to intervene to reverse the most recent Italian downturn in fortunes. The bulk of the fleet shuttled between Italy and Tripoli escorting replacements, equipment, and ammunition to rebuild the remnants of the Italian army. While this operation proceeded, the Italians needed time; and to buy it, a raiding group was dispatched to shell Tobruk. The heavy cruiser Zara plus the destroyers Soldati and Corsaro set sail at 21 knots on a course east and roughly parallel to North Africa, with orders to expend at least 500 8" shells on British shipping and port installations at Tobruk.

Alerted to the Italian sortie by British intelligence, but unaware of the precise target or the sailing route, the British dispatched 3 small surface groups to hunt for the Italians. The British high command was unable to scrape together any aircraft to search the Mediterranean and so relied on intercepting the enemy force before it could descend on the North African coast. One group, composed of the light cruisers Southampton and Sussex, after proceeding along the coast for a day, changed course to the northwest maintaining a speed of 24 knots.

A little before 0925, the Southampton spotted the Soldati on the horizon, followed by the Zara. At a range of 21,500 yards, the Zara and Southampton exchanged salvoes. Thirteen 6" shells struck Zara, which in turn hit Southampton three times with her larger 8" guns.

Southampton heeled over as she swung 45 degrees starboard and accelerated to 36 knots, followed by Sussex, in order to bring full broadsides to bear on the Italians. Zara maintained her course but picked up speed while the two Italian accompanying destroyers began closing with the British flotilla in order to launch a torpedo attack. Zara could not afford to slug it out with two light cruisers and still carry out her primary mission of bombarding Tobruk, so the Corsaro and Soldati had to inflict substantial damage on the British warships.

All ships quickly became engaged, and all three Italian ships concentrated their fire on Southampton. Zara's shooting improved over her first barrage and she hit Southampton 8 times with her big guns and 12 times with her 3.9" guns. Soldati and Corsaro scored 8 hits combined, but their 4.7" shells only lightly damaged the British cruiser. British firing was erratic. Sussex scored against both Zara and Corsaro, but Southampton missed completely, merely showering the Italian cruiser and Corsaro with sea water.

The British task force turned 90 degrees to port hoping to close the range with Zara and force the Soldati to overshoot the British and waste time coming about for another torpedo run. Zara maneuvered to keep her distance to maintain her firing advantage over the more lightly armed and armored British while both destroyers continued to charge in from two different directions to launch torpedoes against the British. From 6,000 yards away, Southampton slammed shells into Soldati from both her main and secondary batteries. Corsaro also took a couple of 4" shells from her. Sussex, in the meantime, severely punished Corsaro from 8,000 yards and also hit Soldati three times.

The Italians inflicted the most damage in the next exchange. Zara continued her steady, if unspectacular, barrage against Southampton by dropping 3 more 8" shells on her. Her 3.9" guns peppered Southampton as well. Soldati's 4.7 inchers missed Sussex, and Corsaro's guns raked Southampton but caused little damage. Both Italian destroyers, positioned at the bow and starboard of Southampton, launched a total of 11 torpedoes at the British ship. The light cruiser turned away from Soldati's spread, whose 6 torpedoes all missed, only to succumb to 2 of Corsaro's fish which inflicted a crippling blow. Southampton slowed to a virtual crawl and could only manage to keep one of her 4" guns in action. The well-executed hammer and anvil attack by the Italians was too good to allow the British captain to completely evade all the torpedoes.

As her sister ship struggled to stay afloat, Sussex passed her on her port side and turned to a new course south-southwest. Zara also turned south while Soldati headed east to open the range between her and the still-deadly Sussex. Corsaro raced at her best speed to gain the cover of the burning and listing Southampton. Corsaro's luck was mixed over the next several minutes (though in the end, quite bad). At 3,000 yards away, every 6" shell fired at her by Sussex only managed to kill fish. Luckily for the British, her secondary battery put 36 shells into the Italian destroyer which ended her naval career. Southampton's shaken gunners missed the retreating Soldati. Corsaro, before shuddering to a halt, ablaze from end to end, only bounced a few shells off of the Sussex's hull, although her compatriots on both Zara and Soldati mercilessly pierced the already crippled Southampton with more than three score shells of 8" and 4.7" calibre.

With Zara sailing southeast, Sussex turned to the northwest to escape. Soldati retreated east shielded by the hulk of a British light cruiser. At 13,500 yards, the two remaining adversaries exchanged a few hits. Zara began to turn to port hoping to stay within range of Sussex who, in turn, ran flat out to the northwest. At 21,500 yards, Zara managed to drop one more 8" shell on the fleeing British vessel.

By 0955 hours, only a half hour after the action commenced, the British ship escaped over the horizon, unwilling to risk further battle with a heavier opponent with parity in speed. The Italians were unable to pursue Sussex and, with only 560 rounds of Zara's main battery remaining, could have continued on to Tobruk. The captain decided not to, given the state of Soldati and because of the need to rescue Corsaro's crew. The Italians also feared that the British, now alerted to their location, could send heavier forces to finish them off. The British had stopped the Italians, but at the cost of one of their light cruisers and its entire crew.