August 20th, 1940
Ionian Sea - The French destroyers of the 6th, 8th and 10th DCT left Tripoli the day before at 22:55 GMT and set course for Antikythera. Making 28 knots, they arrive not far from the island at around 18:00 GMT. Standing to the west of the line between Cape Tenare (aka Matapan) and Cape Spada, the ships split into three groups to watch over the 42 nautical miles that separate the island of Kythira from Crete, to the southeast, with the small Antikythira in the middle. The 6th DCT (Mogador, Volta) patrols the south, between Antikythira and Crete. The 8th DCT (L'Indomptable, Le Malin) operates in the south-southwest of Kythera. Finally, the 10th DCT (L'Audacieux, Le Fantasque, Le Terrible) is in the west of Antikythira, so as to be hidden by the island.
18:49 (GMT+2) - A lookout on Le Fantasque spots the C14 on the starboard bow, as it passes the northern tip of Antikythira.
At first sight, the encounter looks relatively unbalanced: facing the 41 138 mm guns and 65 550 mm torpedo tubes of the seven French destroyers, the Italians only have 20 120 mm guns and 26 533 mm torpedo tubes for their five destroyers, plus 12 100 mm guns and 16 450 mm tubes for the four torpedo boats [1].
The first round is to the advantage of the destroyers of the 10th DCT. Having communicated to the 6th and 8th DCTs of the discovery of the enemy convoy, Admiral Lacroix immediately states: "I'm attacking. Follow me!" The three destroyers rush to the attack, taking the surprised Italians under their under fire. The Fantasque quickly hits the Sella several times, while Le Terrible (C.F. Bonneau) does the same to the Espero. On the other hand, L'Audacieux (C.F. Derrien) cannot do better than frame the Lupo.
The second round sees an Italian reaction as lively as it is effective. All the ships increase their pace and, including auxiliary cruisers and cargo ships, begin to emit smoke to make the task of the enemy gunners harder. Above all, two torpedo boats counter-attack without hesitation. The Libra points decisively at the Terrible, forced to abandon the Espero to deal with this new adversary. The small torpedo boat takes a 138 mm shell which destroys its forward 100mm gun, but manages to launch its two starboard torpedoes; it goes down to launch its port torpedoes when a new shell put the tubes out of action, mowing down the servants. The Terrible is forced to maneuver to avoid the two torpedoes and the Libra takes advantage of this to disengage. Meanwhile, the Lupo throws itself at the Audacieux and also launches her two starboard torpedoes; dodging a little late, the Audacieux is only able to avoid one of them, the other one hitting it at the extreme front. The blow is not fatal, but it forces Le Terrible to intervene to protect the injured ship and keep the Lupo at bay. Meanwhile, Le Fantasque, abandoning the Sella, which was hit five times, burning in three places but remaining maneuverable, shifts its fire to the Espero with the same precision. Already hit by Le Terrible, the Italian sees its speed reduced to 12 knots. The Fantasque, in order to finish it, tries to torpedo it, but it underestimates the speed that the Espero could still give and the three torpedoes launched miss their goal. However, one of them hits the Capo Faro in the stern! Nailed on the spot, the cargo ship immediately begins to sink by the stern.
Meanwhile, the 8th DCT joins the battlefield: L'Indomptable (C.V. Barthes) engages the Francesco Crispi while Le Malin (C.F. Deprez) faces the Ostro. Not engaged, the two other torpedo boats of the 8th Squadron (Lince and Lira) hurry to cover the rear port side of the convoy, where the 6th DCT has just intervened.
The Volta (C.F. Jacquinet) sends a few salvos on the Borea, putting its double 120 mm aft turret out of action. The French ship then abandons its adversary, convinced that it would sink [2]. As for the Mogador (C.F. Maerten), it engages the two auxiliary cruisers. It hits the Barletta with a shell, then immobilizes the Brindisi by placing two shells in its machine. It is then that the Lince and Lira go on the attack, at the same time as the Lupo and Libra (convinced that they had sunk one of their opponents - the Audacieux - and definitely repelled a second one - Le Terrible). The small ships launch their torpedoes on the port side - except for the Libra, whose tubes are out of order but which joins the attack anyway. Six torpedoes are heading towards the Mogador and Volta. The two large destroyers avoid five of them. The sixth (probably from the Lira) explodes in the wake of the Mogador, damaging its port propeller while it is hit by two 100 mm shells from the torpedo boats. The latter do not withdraw unharmed. All are shaken by the salvos of the Mogador and Volta, the most of which being the Lince, which bursts into flames in the middle, and the Libra, which loses its last two 100 mm guns and whose stern is ravaged by fire. The latter then gets rid of its depth charges and the successive explosions make the French believe they have sunk it.
However, they are urged to be cautious. In fact, the Lince (while managing its fire) and the Lira set out again on the starboard side of the convoy and launch a new attack, which is certainly unsuccessful, but which will allow the destroyer Crispi to free itself from the embrace of the Indomptable, forcing it to maneuver tightly to avoid four torpedoes. In return, the destroyer places a shell on the bridge of the Lira, where only the ship's commander remains unharmed, and hits the Lince twice more. There again, the French sailors believe, in good faith, that they have sent one of their small adversaries to the bottom, cleanly swallowed up by the smoke screens that had been stretched out since the beginning of the engagement.
The commander of the Crispi, in charge of the convoy, then gives the order to the ships that could still do so to seek their own salvation. In addition to his own ship and the Sella, the four torpedo boats, the Borea and the Barletta, forgotten for long enough, will to be able to get away at 14 knots. The auxiliary cruiser Brindisi, immobilized, scuttles itself after having saved its honor by firing a few salvos, and the destroyers Espero and Ostro, unable to disengage, sacrifice themselves to hold the attention of the French. The Espero launches its torpedoes on the Fantasque: this gesture of defiance earns it a hail of shells administered by the latter and the Volta. Stopped by further hits to his engines, his commander orders the evacuation and scuttling, but the two Frenchmen are slow to notice and fire new shots that increase the loss of life. The Ostro duels with Le Malin, the issue of which is uncertain for a long time, but then the superiority of the French ship's artillery speaks. The Malin finishes by launching three torpedoes at its slowed down opponent, thus avenging, without knowing it yet, the Actéon. Only one torpedo hits, but it is enough to send the Ostro to the bottom.
Still in control of the battlefield, the French are convinced that they had sunk the Brindisi and Capo Faro, three destroyers and two torpedo boats. In fact, their success is
less brilliant, since only two destroyers went to the bottom, but all the surviving Italian ships are more or less damaged. The night is not very old, the French take the time to collect the survivors before heading back to Tripoli at 24 knots, a speed that L'Audacieux can still make... in reverse, so as not to tear off its wounded bow.
On the Italian side, the defeat is obviously considered glorious, since (at least according to the communiqué) two French light cruisers are sunk! The four torpedo boats of the 8th Squadron are all rewarded for their valiant conduct: the Lupo and Lira, authors of a successful torpedoing, will receive the Silver Medal for Military Valor, the Lince and Libra will be awarded the Bronze Medal. As individuals, their four commanders will receive the Silver Medal.
On the French side, the subsequent analyses and the interrogations of the prisoners, even before the verifications made possible by the Italian surrender, lead to a downward revision of the result obtained. The need to reinforce the training for night combat will appear, as well as the interest of a rate of fire higher than that of the 138 mm guns equipping the destroyers. But, for various reasons, these problems were not all solved by December 1941...
[1] It is not necessary to take into account the two auxiliary cruisers, of very weak if not null military valuel.
[2] This tendency to overestimate the results obtained had already been encountered during the raid of the destroyers of the 8th DCT in the Skagerrak and during operation Vado.
