Mombo #5
Mid July 1940
Vice Admiral Tovey sat on the bridge of his flagship HMS Orion with a cup of tea and a lovely biscuit his steward had just handed him. There was an Italian convoy somewhere ahead or so the Intel types had told him. It was noon and a bit early for tea but a sailor took his comfort when he could.
The wind was a Force 4 Easterly at 15 knots. The sky only had one layer of clouds and it was otherwise clear. Visibility was 29,000 yards without a squall in sight.
Radar reported planes from the North. That would be the Regia Aeronautica coming to make life interesting.
1400 hours
The Regia Aeronautica had level bombed the Allied force for almost two hours without managing to straddle. Now they were bearing off to the West. The masthead reported enemy in sight, bearing 270 degrees. Tovey watched as the Regia Aeronautica now swooped and bombed what could only be the Regia Marina. The rumor was true. The Regia Aeronautica was fighting every fleet in the Mediterranean including their own. But it did not appear that their accuracy had improved.
1500 hours
Tovey had given the Regia Aeronautica its chance, but it was his turn now.
Tovey’s Cruiser Squadron 7 (Orion, Neptune & HMAS Sydney) led Cruiser Division 2 (Suffren flag, Duquesne n& Tourville) of Force X under Vice Admiral Godroy. DesFlot 2 followed, trailed by DesDiv 9 of Force X.
Tovey increased his speed to flank and launched his FPs to spot and he could see that the Regia Marina was doing the same.
1506 hours Tovey was at 30 knots and increasing when he ordered a 45 degree turn to port to open his arcs on a new heading of 225 degrees. The Regia Marina likewise turned to starboard to a rough heading of 135 degrees. It would appear that the Regia Marina was in the mood to dance. With both sides steaming at or near 30 knots the range was coming down quickly.
1512 hours
Spotter a/c for both sides was reporting on what either side had. There was a Zara class cruiser leading three other Trento/Bolzano class cruisers followed up by 2 light cruisers and 12 Soldati class destroyers. Tovey had his work cut out for him.
The range was over 18,000 yards but the spotter a/c helped with that. Orion opened on the lead cruiser (later identified as Pola) and hit her once, bouncing off her fore turret. Pola’s return fire missed. Neptune and Sydney missed Trento and Bolzano and they returned the favor. Suffren however hit Trieste once and caused hull damage that limited her to 32 knots. Trieste missed her return fire. Then Duquesne hit Giovanni delle Bande Nere thrice, knocking out her fore PS SB and hitting her in the hull twice, that limited her to 21 knots. Bande Nere returned the favor by damaging a bulkhead on Duquesne and limiting her to 30 knots. Tourville fired at Bartolomeo Colleoni and missed her. Colleoni’s return fire missed also.
1518 hours
Duquesne fixed her bulkhead. Tovey ordered DesFlot 2 to go to flank and over take the cruisers to port on their unengaged side. Tovey intended to deliver a torpedo attack at the first opportunity. The Regia Marina slowed to 21 knots and both sides made two point turns towards each other to close the range.
Both sides engaged as before with the range now under 18,000 yards. Orion scored a hit on Pola and caused minor hull damage. Pola hit Orion twice, knocking out her SS TT and jamming her rudder amidships. Neptune hit Trento once, knocking out a PS SB. Trento missed. Sydney missed Bolzano, but Bolzano hit Sydney once, damaging her FP facilities and starting a minor fire. Suffren hit Trieste once, damaging her hull and limiting her to 28 knots. Trieste now hit Suffren once, damaging her hull and limiting her to 28 knots. Duquesne hit Band Nere once, damaging her engines and limiting her to 21 knots. Bande Nere missed. Tourville hit Colleoni once, knocking out a SS TT. Colleoni hit back once, damaging Tourville’s FP facilities and starting a minor fire.
1521 hours
The wind backed to the North.
Orion failed to fix her rudder. Sydney failed to put her fire out and suffered minor hull damage. Tourville also failed to put her fire out and suffered minor hull damage. Bande Nere failed to repair her engine hit.
Tovey unable to turn continued as before. The Regia Marina had picked up on Tovey’s move with DesFlot 2 and reacted by sending its first two DesRons (8 destroyers) to flank on its unengaged side to mirror DesFlot 2. But with the Regia Marina cruisers at 21 knots, DesFlot 2 at 35 knots was already almost even with the cruisers.
Meanwhile the range had dropped to 15,000 yards. Orion fired rapidly at Pola and hit her twice, knocking out a SB and bouncing off her fore turret. Pola hit Orion once, damaging her hull and limiting her to 27 knots. Neptune fired rapidly at Trento and hit her 7 times! Trento took 2 hits to her FP facilities that started 2 minor fires, lost her TT, bounced of her fore turret, damaged her hull and her engines, limiting her to 23 knots. Trento fired back and hit Neptune thrice, knocking out a TT, SB and damaging her engines limiting her to 21 knots. Sydney fired rapidly at Bolzano and whiffed. Bolzano fired back and hit Sydney once, damaging her engines and limiting her to 21 knots. Suffren fired at Trieste and hit her once, damaging her hull and limiting her to 23 knots. Trieste hit Suffren 6 times, knocking out her fore turret, a SB, damaging her hull twice and her engines twice, knocking her DIW. Duquesne fired at Bande Nere and missed. Bande Nere fired back and missed also. Tourville fired at Colleoni and hit her twice, damaging her bridge and her engines that limited her to 21 knots.
1524 hours
Orion repaired her rudder. Neptune repaired her engine hit. Sydney repaired her engine but her minor fire caused more hull damage that limited her to 27 knots. Suffren repaired and engine and got back up to 20 knots. Tourville put her fire out. Bande Nere broke her engine beyond repair. Trento failed to put her fire out and the two minor fires caused damage to her hull limiting her to 15 knots. Colleoni failed to repair her engine hit and the entire cruiser line slowed to 15 knots.
Tovey in an effort to keep the pressure on the enemy cruisers turned two points to starboard to close the range. Hyperion leading DesFlot 2 turned 45 degrees to starboard to close the range for a torpedo attack. The Regia Marina destroyers were over taking their cruisers but were still a few minutes out of place.
The range had closed to 12,000 yards. Orion fired rapidly at Pola and hit her 6 times. Pola suffered 2 hits to her FP facilities that started 2 minor fires, a bounce off her fore turret, 2 hits to her hull and damage to her engines, she failed to flood a magazine hit and exploded taking Vice Admiral Paladini with her. Pola’s return fire hit Orion once, damaging her FP facilities and starting a minor fire. Neptune fired rapidly at Trento and whiffed. Trento fired back and missed. Sydney firing rapidly hit Bolzano twice, damaging her hull and a bulkhead that limited her to 28 knots. Bolzano’s return fire hit Sydney thrice, knocking out her fore turret, damaging her hull and a bulkhead limiting her to 14 knots. Suffren fired at Trieste and missed. Trieste fired back and missed. Duquesne fired at Bande Nere and missed. Bande Nere fired back and hit Duquesne twice, damaging her FP facilities, starting a minor fire and damaging her hull limiting her to 30 knots. Tourville fired at Colleoni and hit her once, knocking out a SB. Colleoni’s return fire missed. The Regia Marina cruisers fired at DesFlot 2 with every surviving SB without effect.
Rear Admiral Casardi (Cruiser Division 2) checked morale (over the loss of the flagship) and passed.
1530 hours
Orion failed to repair her fire and took minor hull damage. Sydney repaired her bulkhead but took minor hull damage from her fire. Suffren fixed an engine bringing her back up to 20 knots. Duquesne put out her fire. Bolzano failed to repair her bulkhead and suffered hull damage that limited her to 21 knots.
DesFlot 2 (Hyperion, Havock, Hero, Hereward, Hostile, Hasty, Ilex & Imperial) fired all their TT at the Regia Marina cruisers. The range was 8,000 yards. The Allied cruisers fired their surviving TT at the Regia Marina cruisers. The range was 9,000 yards.
DesFlot 2 turned away under smoke. The Allied cruiser line made a 2-point turn to port to straighten up the line in preparation to turning away.
The Regia Marina destroyers over took their cruisers.
Orion and Neptune fired rapidly at Trento and hit her 7 times, damaging her FP facilities and starting a minor fire, damaging her hull twice, knocking out 3 of her turrets before a flooded magazine took out the last and limiting her to 5 knots. Trento fired back and hit Orion thrice, damaging her bridge and killing Tovey, knocking out a turret and damaging her hull limiting her to 21 knots. Sydney fired rapidly at Bolzano and hit her 6 times, damaging her FP facilities, starting a minor fire, knocking out a TT, a SB and 3 turrets. Bolzano’s return fire hit Sydney once, damaging her hull and limiting her to 10 knots. Suffren fired at Trieste and missed. Trieste fired back and hit Suffren 6 times, damaging her FP facilities, starting a minor fire, knocking out a SB, 2 turrets, damaging her hull and a bulkhead that limited her to 9 knots. Duquesne hit Bande Nere 9 times, damaging her bridge and killing Rear Admiral Casardi, knocking out a SB, damaging her hull and a bulkhead, knocking out a turret and hitting her last engine thrice, completely destroying it and knocking her DIW. Bande Nere’s return fire hit Duquesne thrice, knocking out a SB, a turret and damaging her hull, limiting her to 28 knots. Tourville fired at Colleoni and hit her thrice, knocking out a SB, a turret and damaging her hull that limited her to 15 knots. Colleoni return fire missed.
Vice Admiral Godroy checked morale (over Tovey) and passed. Vice Admiral Cattaneo checked morale (over Casardi) and failed.
1536 hours
Orion failed to repair her minor fire again and took hull damage that limited her to 10 knots. Sydney repaired her fire. Suffren failed to fix her bulkhead and suffered hull damage that reduced her to 4 knots. Trento failed to put her fire out sinking her and taking Vice Admiral Cattaneo with her. Bolzano failed to put her fire out and took minor hull damage. Bande Nere failed to repair and sank.
The leading Regia Marina destroyers fired their torpedoes at the Allied cruiser line. The range was 8,000 yards.
Godroy wanted to turn away but Orion’s bridge hit prevented the action. The Regia Marina cruisers and destroyers turned away under smoke as best they could.
The Allied torpedoes arrived amongst the Regia Marina cruisers, who were not able to evade as they were all under 18 knots. Bolzano took two hits that damaged her hull 4 times, knocked out her last turret and started a minor fire, sinking her. Trieste took 2 hits that caused 5 hull and aft turret as well as jamming her rudder amidships and sinking her. Colleoni took 2 French torps that caused 4 hull, knocked out a turret and started a minor fire.
All firing ceased as smoke blanked all targets.
1542 hours
Colleoni put her fire out and limped away at 4 knots. Suffren repaired her bulkhead and was also crawling along at 4 knots. Godfroy withdrew the Allied cruisers and sent the destroyers after the convoy but only the three French destroyers had torpedoes and they found the convoy escorted by 4 light cruisers and 4 destroyers and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. The convoy got through to Tripoli.
WMC
