July 18, 1940 1300 off of Calabria
The cruisers had stormed into each other and then backed off, throwing shells out of guns elevated at forty and fifty degrees. They danced between water spouts and shook as metallic hail pinged across their decks. Radios were blaring their location and more importantly the location of their enemies. They were fighting, they were willing to die and deal death to their enemies but neither the Italian nor British cruisers were the main event. They were a necessary preliminary as the battle wagons converged.
Warspite plowed through the seas at twenty three knots while her unmodernized sister, Malaya trailed behind her as she strained to make twenty knots. Behind her Royal Sovereign tried to clear eighteen knots. She would hold that speed for a few minutes and then ease back to seventeen knots. As the cruisers spat shells at each other, the supporting battleships closed.
Three Swordfish from Eagle circled the battleship. One biplane spotter per battleship and they talked to confirm their communication. The observers could see the battle spread out beneath them. A cruiser action had started when the six inch gun cruisers of the Royal Navy had crossed the T of a heavy cruiser division. The first three minutes of heavy fire had scored a pair of hits on the lead Italian cruiser before they were able to turn and present their broadside. Since then both squadrons had been content to hold the range open to seventeen to nineteen thousand yards with the hope of a lucky hit crippling a single opponent. But off to the south, three battleships were converging on the Italian cruiser course. Two were old veterans of the First World War, under-armed and armored but fast as the battlecruisers of Doggers Bank. It was the last ship that was the greatest threat, Littorio was coming to the engagement.
Nine Swordfish bore in on the most dangerous threat. 37mm cannons spat out defiantly at the low and slow torpedo bombers that had to ride through the Balaclavan valley of flames. First one, then another and a third torpedo bomber hit the water before they could launch. Six planes pressed closer. As they came to within thirteen hundred yards, the squadron leader’s craft nosed down into the water as a 37mm shell pierced the engine and then his torso. Five torpedoes entered the water. One hit just forward of the bridge, barely slowing the battleship as most of the warhead’s power was dissipated by the torpedo defense system. The other four missed.
Warspite continued to speed ahead of support. She turned when her fire control shack said the range to the closest battleship was twenty eight thousand yards. All four turrets shifted slightly and the forward two erupted as the first ranging salvo reached for Giulio Cesar. They missed but not by much. The second half salvo from the rear turrets were again misses, slightly short and forward.
By the time the second full broadside had been fired, Giulio Cesar returned fire. Her shells were short but on azimuth. They traded salvos for four minutes without success when Littorio turned and began to close the range on Royal Sovereign and Malaya. As the new, freshly worked up battleship trained her 15 inch guns on Malaya, Warspite scored her first hit. An armored piercing shell went through Giulio Cesar’s armored deck and exploded near the forward engine room. Two boilers had their flames extinguished and the light battleship slowed to nineteen knots.
Warspite could not move in for the kill as her sisters were endangered. 100 foot shell splashes coated the veteran of Jutland’s decks. Malaya fired at Littorio when the Italian behemoth had closed to twenty seven thousand yards. Her guns roared back at the extreme edge of their range, her shells falling short by a mile. As Warspite turned and closed, her rear turrets peppered Giulio Cesar with near misses. Her forward guns paused for a moment and then a minute and then two more as Malaya dodged the heavy fire that targeted her. Warspite roared. Four 1,938 pound shells arced skyward towards Littorio. As they arced, Malaya shuddered. An Italian shell hit her deck forward of the turrets. It exploded three decks deep and Malaya shook as smoke came through her deck.
Littorio could not pursue her kill. Warspite first salvo missed. However the miss was near enough as the shells landed in a tight circle two hundred yards in front of the battleship. She had already taken a torpedo and Warspite’s guns could penetrate her deck from long range.
As she turned and presented her strength to Warspite, another two salvos landed near Malaya. Eighteen shells landed and three straddled but most went long. Warspite’s batteries were firing rapidly at Littorio to no avail as her enemy opened the range. Pursuit was not pursued for both the pragmatic reason that Littorio had far more speed to flee than Warspite had to chase and her sisters were too weak and vulnerable to Littorio. Gulio Cesar edged west behind the shadow of protection offered by her more modern sister.
Instead, Royal Sovereign and Malaya formed up on Warspite and they pushed north to support the cruisers in action. As their heavy guns began to begin the process of ranging in on the Italian heavy cruisers, Italian destroyers laid down a thick smoke screen and the cruisers turned away. Two heavy cruisers had suffered moderate damage as Glouscester had an excellent string of salvos that placed half a dozen six inch shells into Trento while Liverpool opened up the rear of Zara with a pair of hits. Orion’s boats were smashed after an eight inch shell destroyed one of her anti-aircraft guns.
The two fleets prodded at each other for the next twenty minutes before the Italians turned to the northwest and declined to continue the action into the evening.
