Soon, the entire fleet was adjusted to a heading of 280. 24 15-inch, 20 6-inch and 20 4.5-inch guns were aimed at the Italian fleet heading 130. The gunner's finger had already pressed the firing trigger. At 22:27, it was completed.

The British fleet in preparation turned on the searchlight of the destroyer "Hound Dog" and covered the No. 3 ship of the Italian formation. The killing was about to begin.

Admiral Aquino didn't expect that his order would send his fleet to hell. Although Major General Cattanio obeyed the order, he still underestimated the danger because the Italian fleet did not do anything effective to deal with the night battle.

Preparation. They only equipped the torpedo tubes with flame suppression equipment, but not the artillery. It is said that the Italian officers believed that it was impossible to use the main gun in night battles. In addition, because they did not pay attention to the research of communication fire control equipment for night battles, their

These devices are not suitable for use at night. Why would such a fleet dare to return to a dangerous sea area at night to rescue friendly ships? This is because they believe that there is no possibility of the British fleet catching up, and even if it catches up, it will never be possible

Large ships such as battleships were sent to pursue at night. According to Aquino, he believed that the British army would only leave destroyers to move around. Therefore, when the British had already aimed their guns at the Italians, the Italians had almost no battle to begin.

Despite his mental preparation, Major General Cattanio was only worried about the actual situation of the "Pola".

In fact, as early as 21:55, the Cattanio Squadron was discovered. They were detected by the British light cruiser "Ajax" equipped with 279 radar. The radar screen of the "Ajax" showed

After there were three unknown ships 5 nautical miles in front of him, he immediately reported it to the police. Colonel Mike, who was commanding the destroyer fleet to pursue the "Veneto" at the time, received the report. At this moment, he was 10 nautical miles northeast of the Catanio fleet.

The navigation officer analyzed the messages and charts and found that the position of the unknown ship reported by the "Ajax" was only 4 nautical miles different from his own position at 21:55. Since the radar positioning accuracy at that time was not high, the difference was a few nautical miles.

It is a common thing. So Mike judged that the "Ajax" found him and ignored it. In fact, not only the radar had errors, but also the chart operations performed inside the shaking warship at that time also had errors. The radar and charts

The superposition of double errors caused the Cattanio Squadron, which was 10 nautical miles away from the Mack fleet, to be 4 nautical miles away at 21:55. This was really a mistake. The Cattanio Squadron seemed to have escaped this disaster.

But a greater disaster is waiting for it.

The unaware Cattanio squadron continued to advance in the dark night. At this time, the destroyer "Alfieri" led the queue, followed by the "Zara", "Fiume", and "Betty"

, "Carducci", "Oriani". At 22:26, ​​two red flares were raised in front of its bow. Major General Cattanio knew that it was launched by the "Pola", and was

to contact himself. However, not long after he saw the signal flare, a strong light suddenly shone from 3,000 yards away, covering the No. 3 ship "Fiume" in the formation. From his peripheral vision, the "Zara" and the "Zara"

The outline of the "Alfieri" was also extremely clear in the night sky. For a moment, the Italian navy officers and soldiers were stunned.

"Boom", the panicked Italians saw a row of flames rising from the British ship and heard a deafening sound. "Battleship!" the experienced people shouted. Major General Cattanio's hope was completely shattered - he originally thought

The attack on them may be the British destroyer fleet. In an instant, the will of the Italian naval officers and soldiers collapsed. Before they could wake up and find a hiding place, the first row of British shells roared and fell on the "Fiume" ship.

On the body. Because it was a close-range shooting of 2,900 yards, five of the six 15-inch armor-piercing shells fired by the "Warspite" in the first salvo were hit! Then, there was a series of explosions, and the entire rear turret was overturned.

Pressed on the side of the hull. 30 seconds later, the second salvo of shells from the "Warspite" followed. This time all eight main guns fired, and several more hits were hit. During this period, the front part of the "Warrior"

The first salvo of the four main guns was also aimed at the "Fiume". After receiving these shells, the "Fiume" turned into a ball of fire in just 2 or 3 minutes, and the hull tilted seriously to the right.

, quickly lost power and slowly broke away from the queue. Just 45 minutes later, the warship, which barely fought back, disappeared on the sea, leaving only countless life rafts and struggling people.

The destroyer "Alfieri" was attacked almost at the same time as the "Fiume", and the battleship "Barham" shot at it. The battleship "Barham" originally planned to shoot the "wave" that fired the red flare.

"La" received an order to change course when it was about to fire. Just as it was turning, the gunnery officer saw the outline of the destroyer "Alfieri" in the residual light of the searchlight. Because the artillery was ready and pointed in this direction, so

He ordered to open fire immediately. How could a destroyer like the "Alfieri" withstand direct fire from a 15-inch cannon at a distance of 3,100 yards? At least 2 of the 4 armor-piercing shells hit directly, and the entire ship was like a mantis blocking the car.

, a bright light burst out in a series of explosions, the flames jumped up, and then thick smoke billowed, and it also broke away from the queue.

The "Fiume" had just been crippled, and then it was the turn of the flagship "Zara". The "Warrior" and the "Barham" opened fire on it almost at the same time, and the "Warspite" also quickly joined the battle.

The first two ships fired five salvos each, and the latter fired four salvos. All important parts of the "Zara" - the command tower, turret, main engine room, boiler room, etc. were directly hit by 15-inch armor-piercing shells.

The explosions stacked one after another. Those 8-inch guns that resisted were all silenced, and the barrels were twisted and pointed in all directions. The main engine had stopped, and the explosion caused by a boiler split the hull from the middle. There was even a front

The turret was blown away from the turret by the air waves, rolled across the deck full of flames like a toy, and fell into the sea. At this time, there were also numerous casualties in the command tower. Seeing that the situation was over, Major General Cattanio adjusted his uniform and calmly

He walked through the hell-like deck, walked to the stern of the ship, ordered the abandonment of the ship, and ordered the placement of slow explosives in preparation for sinking the flagship.

After enjoying the joy of a one-sided battle, the British battleship stopped firing and evacuated the chaotic battlefield at 22:38. Two minutes later, the British destroyer began to clean the battlefield. At 22:59, the burning "Zara" and "Zara"

The "Alfieri" was discovered by the British destroyers "Stuart" and "Havok". The "Stuart" launched a torpedo but missed. At 23:05, the "Zara" boarded the

The slow explosives were detonated and the flames became more intense, but it seemed that God intended to torture the "Zara" and it still did not sink. At 23:15, the "Alfieri" suddenly turned over and sank into the sea.

Two minutes later, the "Zara" suffered two more salvoes from the 4.7-inch gun on the "Stuart". Apart from a few explosions, it had no effect. At 23:30, it walked around the battlefield.

After witnessing the tragedy of the three ships "Zara", "Fiume" and "Alfieri", the "Havok" fired four more torpedoes at the Italians, but none of them hit.

It was not until 2 o'clock that the Mack Squadron arrived on the battlefield. They ignored the Italians struggling in the water and went straight to the place where there was fire. At this time, the "Zara" had probably burned almost everything it could, leaving only the

There were still a few fire points on the deck - this was enough. The "Zara" was hit by three torpedoes from the destroyer "Jarvis". After the huge explosion, the water column shot up dozens of feet high, and the fire ignited again, illuminating

The sea surface within a few nautical miles was now covered with warship wreckage, floating corpses, life rafts and helpless sailors. At 2:40, the "Zara" finally turned over its huge body with relief and took Kata with it.

Major General Neo - no one knew whether he was dead or alive at that time, gradually sank into the sea.

After the British bombardment started, other Italian destroyers realized that something was wrong and turned around and left the team to escape. The "Oriani" was damaged by the 6-inch secondary battery of the "Warspite" in the forward engine room, and the "Gioberti" was damaged by the "Warspite".

The 15-inch cannon of "Warpite" was able to fire, but they all escaped with the help of speed, cover of night and the chaos of the battlefield. Only "Carducci" suffered a shell from "Havok" at 23:08, and again at 7 minutes

Later, he was torpedoed by the opponent and died in the sea at 23:30.

At this moment, the "Pola" can almost be said to be a bystander. It floated motionless on the sea. When it was attacked, the damage to the electrical equipment caused the ship's artillery to point this way and that, and the entire hull was dark.

Although it was once discovered by the British ship "Barham", the sudden appearance of the Catanio squadron to rescue it distracted the British attention, so it did not receive the shells of the British battleship until

At 24:00, it was discovered again by the searchlight of the "Havok". Perhaps the "Havok" was too small compared to the huge hull of the "Pora", so it was thought by Captain Watkins of the "Havok"

It was the "Veneto". Half an hour later, the Mack squadron chasing the "Veneto" rushed over. Although the report was later corrected, it was too late, and Mack made the mistake of joining the battle.

At 1:40, the searchlight once again shined on the "Pola", this time on the destroyers "Hound Dog" and "Griffin". The embarrassed people crowded on the upper deck had to cover their eyes. However, the British

They did not attack immediately, they were waiting for Mike's squadron. At 3:25, the "Jarvis" that sank the "Zara" approached it. Some people on the "Pola" couldn't wait to get closer.

Jumped into the water. After that, the British kept shouting at the Italians in the water: "Catch this! Poor guy!" They threw the cables over one after another, and the Italians boarded the "Jarvis" with the help of the cables.

A total of 257 people were rescued from the water. While rescuing the Italians who fell into the water, the British also organized a group of gunners to rush onto the "Pola" with a strange scream and removed the small boats they lacked.

Guns and guns returned to their warship from another springboard. 15 minutes later, the cable was untied, and the "Jarvis" fired a torpedo at the "Pola" - there was no explosion. The "Nubian" next to it

The destroyer "Pora" added one missile. At 4:03, the "Pola" exploded and sank. At this point, the Italian 1st Cruiser Division was completely wiped out, leaving only the sailors struggling in vain on the sea. Finally, British Commander Cunningham
Chapter completed!