The commander of the North Atlantic Navy in Gibraltar, Admiral Dudley. Sir North could also request the assistance of the British Royal Fleet in preventing enemy ships from passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. Cunningham wanted to transfer his two slow-moving Senseless-class battleships and create a fleet of 2-4 Queen Elizabeth-class superbattleships equipped with radar, including two carriers.

In order to ensure his superiority over the strength of Italian heavy cruisers, he also demanded to increase the number of heavy cruisers in the fleet. During the deployment of troops, the British side was basically not interfered with by the Italian side, except for some air raids. In addition, Cunningham took advantage of this redeployment to send a small convoy of convoys to Malta.

Assault on Taranto

As the Italian Navy avoided a decisive battle with the British fleet at sea, Cunningham attempted to attack ships at the Italian naval base of Tarantone. The attack on Taranto was originally scheduled to take place on 28 February, the anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, but was delayed twice because of other urgent tasks and damage to one of the aircraft carriers. The postponement of the date of the attack proved fortunate for the British, because when the British finally attacked Taranto in the middle of the night on March 11, 44, all six Italian battleships were anchored in the harbor.

On the afternoon of 11 March, the latest aerial reconnaissance photographs were sent to the "Brilliant", which showed the positions of the various Italian ships. When the 12 planes of the first attack wave approached the target, 4 bombers broke away from the wave and flew to the inner harbor to pin down the enemy, and 2 other planes also left the plane. Flares were dropped to the east to search for enemy battleships for illumination by 6 torpedo planes.

The first attack went very well, and the flares clearly illuminated the target of the attack. Torpedo planes hit "Cavour" and "Litorio", the British lost only one aircraft. An hour later, 8 aircraft of the 2nd attack wave carried out an attack on the enemy ship with the same tactics. One torpedo hit the "Dulio", two hit the "Litorio". During this attack, the British side still lost only one aircraft.

This attack on Taranto left the Italian fleet with only "Giulio. Caesar, Vittorio. Veneto" and "Doria" and other 3 battleships. The "Cavour" has not been to sea since then, and the "Litorio" and "Dulio" have not been able to carry out combat activities for several months.

The surviving large Italian warships abandoned the Taranto base after the battle and immediately transferred to Naples. Before this attack. Italian aerial reconnaissance did not detect the actions of the British assault force in the slightest. Maltese convoys were also not found. The flotilla successfully took advantage of the assault on Taranto, completing the transport task. In the course of the assault on Taranto, the British also received additional gains. A light British formation annihilated a small Italian convoy of four ships heading west of Bryn.

Germany comes to the rescue of Italy

The British Mediterranean Fleet was tasked with transporting supplies from Egypt to the advancing forces of Wecil. In the vanguard of this task was a coastal squadron. During transportation. The small ships of the squadron were attacked by aircraft taking off from the Sicilian base. Heavy losses. But their activities have demonstrated the flexibility of the Navy's maneuverability in delivering vital supplies to land forces advancing along the coast. Then. They played a large role, as it was even possible for these necessary supplies to be transported along sandy roads or incomplete roads in the western desert of Egypt. That's also quite difficult.

In response to Italy's successive setbacks in Greece, North Africa, and at sea, the German High Command convened a series of meetings to study how to reverse the situation. As early as November 12, 40 of the twentieth century, Hitler decided that it was necessary to free Italy from the consequences of the "unfortunate mistake" of invading Greece. At the time, however, Germany was busy with other things, such as the fact that investigators were discussing the "Barbarossa" plan for the invasion of Russia. When the officers of the German High Command set out to solve the Mediterranean problem, they offered to use all necessary means to make the Mediterranean an internal lake of the Axis powers.

Germany's first plan was to send troops directly through Romania and Bulgaria to support Italian troops in Greece and Albania to ensure a steady flow of oil from Romanian oil fields to Germany. The second step of the plan, the "Felix" operation, was to involve Spain in the war against the British. If Spain did not take this action, it would be forced by diplomatic means to agree to allow the free passage of German troops through its territory in order to seize Gibraltar. One of the elements of this battle plan was the capture of the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands in order to control the entrance to the Mediterranean. If France was opposed to the German army taking Gibraltar through its territory, then the whole of France would be occupied. The third step was to send one of the Luftwaffe air corps to Italy to fight in tandem with the Italian Air Force. The final step was planned to send a mechanized force to Africa to form the African Army, under the command of General Rommel.

Between December 40 and January 41, about 500 aircraft of the German 10th Air Army, specially trained in ship attacks, were transferred from Norway to various airfields in Calabria and Sicily, with the task of defending the Axis sea transport to North Africa, preventing the passage of British convoys through the Central Mediterranean, and paralyzing Malta by air raids.

The Luftwaffe carried out an average of 3-4 attacks on Malta per day; At the same time, they did not ignore the eastern end of the Mediterranean. At the end of January 41 of the twentieth century, German planes took off from the Dodecanese Islands and began to drop a large number of mines on the Suez Canal. In February, the canal had to be closed to traffic frequently. Thanks to the intervention of the Luftwaffe, the situation in the Mediterranean was reversed after a short period of a month.

It was extremely dangerous for British ships to sail in the Mediterranean. The only route that could supply the British Army in the Middle East was through the Cape of Good Hope and then through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. But it's a very long route. These regular convoys, known as "Winston's Envoys," detour the Cape of Good Hope to transport troops, supplies, tanks, and ammunition exclusively to the Middle East Command. As a matter of fact. This route is also not safe. In addition to the obvious threat from the Germans in the Atlantic, Italy had a fairly strong presence in southeastern Suez, with 7 destroyers, 2 motor-torpedo boats and 8 submarines stationed in Kismayo in the Indian Ocean and Massawa in the Red Sea.

In January 41 of the twentieth century, the British, with the support of the fleet, began an offensive from Kenya and Sudan with a view to expelling the Italian army from East Africa. In February, Italy abandoned the port of Kismayo; In early April, the British captured Massawa. Two Italian destroyers were sunk by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier "Midway", and the other ran aground. The remnants of the Italian navy in East Africa were either scuttled or fled in a hurry. As a result, the President of the United States demanded that the Red Sea be opened to American ships in accordance with the Neutrality Act. So. The British convoy was also protected from enemy attacks when approaching its destination port.

In the months that followed. The British Mediterranean fleet withstood the most severe tests. As a result of the German armed intervention in Greece, the Greek government agreed to the British Army and Air Force to fight on Greek soil, and in order to aid Greece in the war, Wavell had to stop advancing before reaching the Tripolitanian border. Nevertheless. The British wartime cabinet still thinks. The political significance of aiding Greece is above all else. Thereupon. The task of escorting 3 infantry divisions and 1 armored brigade and their supplies fell to the Mediterranean Fleet, which had to devote a large amount of troops to the Aegean Sea. As a result, it had little strength to deal with the Italian convoy bound for Libya. Outcome. Britain's position in North Africa was precarious, as Italian ships carrying Rommel's Afrika Army through the Mediterranean Sea in March.

The first British convoy to aid Greece sailed to Piraeus on 5 March, and since then an average of one convoy has sailed there every three days. On the night of 26 March, Italian motorboats used for demolition sank a British cruiser in the Gulf of Souda. A few days later, an Italian submarine sank another British cruiser. However, in about 6 weeks, the British Mediterranean Fleet delivered 58000 troops and their equipment and supplies to Greece intact.

Battle of Cape Matapan.

Under the pressure of the Germans, the Italian Navy planned to use their last battleship capable of fighting, the Vittorio. Veneto", along with 8 cruisers and a number of destroyers, went to attack the British convoy bound for Greece.

According to the Luftwaffe's 10th Air Force, they had heavily damaged the British HMS Queen Elizabeth and one of the aircraft carriers. Therefore, the Italian navy thought that the British had only one battleship in this area to fight them. According to this erroneous judgment, the Italian fleet was in Angelo. Admiral Aquino, under the leadership of Admiral Aquino, set sail hastily.

On the morning of March 27, German and Italian shore-based aircraft conducted a search over the sea, but found no targets. Around noon, the Italian fleet was spotted and tracked by a British seaplane about 80 nautical miles east of Sicily. In view of this unfavorable situation, the command of the Italian Navy ordered the cruiser battle group on the northern flank to rendezvous with it before the attack of the main forces. On the morning of March 28, "Vittorio. The battleship "Veneto" was sailing in a southeasterly direction in the waters south of the western tip of Crete, under the alert of the destroyers. Seven nautical miles in front of it was a battle group of 3 cruisers and several destroyers; 25 nautical miles to the east of it is a battle group on the northern flank, consisting of five cruisers and several destroyers.

Having been warned in advance by British intelligence in Italy, Admiral Cunningham had taken steps to prepare for the Italian provocation. After the repatriation of the convoy of transports he ordered the British Crown. Vice Admiral S. Pridem-Wippel sailed out of Greece with his formation of cruisers and destroyers and joined him south of Crete on the morning of 28 March.

After dark on 27 March, Admiral Cunningham sailed from Alexandria aboard the battleship Queen Elizabeth with two old Senseless-class battleships and a newly arrived Midway-class aircraft carrier from the United States, the USS Midway, and nine destroyers.

In the early hours of March 28, search planes taking off from the British Royal Fleet spotted the Italian cruiser battle group. Almost at the same time, "Vittorio. A reconnaissance aircraft on board the "Veneto" also spotted the light formation of Pridem-Wippel. A few minutes later, Pridem-Wippel spotted another Italian light formation. As in the Battle of Jutland, the commanders of both sides did not know that the main formations of the other side were nearby.

And also like General Betty in the Battle of Jutland. Pridem-Wippel turned to direct the enemy light formations he had found to Cunningham's battleships. As a result, both sides fought and ran on the sea, and the battle lasted for almost an hour, but neither side hit.

At about nine o'clock in the morning, in view of the fact that the Italian ships were about to enter the combat radius of the British shore-based aircraft, Aquino ordered his light formation to stop fighting. Pridem-Wippel turned around and closely followed the retreating enemy ships so as not to lose their target. In order to prevent the British light formations from being ambushed by the enemy, Cunningham ordered the "Dreadnought" to carry out a torpedo attack on the Italian cruiser battle group that had not yet entered the battle. However, due to the distance, the situation of the battle changed dramatically before the torpedo planes reached the target.

11 o'clock. Vittorio was spotted by a lookout post on Pridham Wippel's flagship, the Orion. Veneto. Immediately after "Vittorio. "Veneto" accurately fired at the "Orion" with Chinese-made triple 406-mm guns. In "Vittorio. Flanked by the battleship "Veneto" and the Italian cruisers, Pridem-Wippel turned south under the cover of a smoke screen.

At this time, the torpedo planes on the Midway arrived at the scene and launched an attack on the Italian battleship. Although they did not hit enemy ships. But it stopped Aquino's pursuit. Subsequently. "Vittorio. The battleship "Veneto" was pursued by the British ships and headed for the base at a speed of 25 knots.

In order to slow down the advance of the enemy fleet. In order to allow the British battleships to catch up, the USS Midway made repeated attacks on the Italian fleet in the following hours. At 15:20, a torpedo hit "Vittorio. Veneto". Brought it to a temporary halt. But an hour and a half later, it continued at 19 knots. At the same time, Cunningham ordered Pridem-Wippel to intensify the pursuit with his cruisers at a speed of 30 knots, trying to maintain visual contact with the fleeing Italian fleet. And the battleship formation pursued closely at maximum speed (24 knots). As the British were interested in "Vittorio. The speed of the "Veneto" was underestimated by 4 knots, so the course of the British fleet's volley was far from the target. To remedy this unforeseen situation, Cunningham ordered the Midway's torpedo planes to attack the enemy again. As a result, the aircraft successfully intercepted the Italian cruiser "Bora", while the main Italian formations continued to flee to the base.

After the above-mentioned series of sea battles, the fighting tended to ease. Pridem-Wippel misjudged the course and speed of the enemy ship, and after passing the wounded "Pola", lost contact with the enemy ship. The British battleships, which arrived later, mistook the formation of Italian cruisers that had returned to the aid of the "Pola" for the British. However, the British fleet quickly corrected this mistake and engaged the Italian cruiser formation, sinking 3 cruisers and 2 destroyers, including the cruiser "Bora". The rest of the Italian warships later returned safely to the base.

In the battle of Cape Matapan, the British won a large tactical victory, and the British side suffered almost no losses. Despite the fact that "Vittorio. The "Veneto" narrowly escaped, but the British still sank 3 Italian cruisers and 2 destroyers. A British cruiser received minor damage, in addition to the loss of an aircraft and a pilot. Luftwaffe planes arrived belatedly, and although they attacked the British fleet, they did not inflict any damage on the British ships.

The situation in the Mediterranean, which seemed to be in a bleak period, was the result of such a great victory for the British fleet, which greatly boosted the morale of the Mediterranean fleet and the British people. This victory was of great strategic importance, as it prevented the Italian fleet from sailing out of port and wantonly interfering with the activities of the British fleet in the waters off Greece and Crete.

Although the British were forced to withdraw from Greece, they were determined to hold on to Crete. Given that Crete was a strategic point for controlling shipping in the Eastern Mediterranean, the British wartime cabinet decided to hold Crete at all costs. They used a large number of troops withdrawn from Greece to strengthen the defenses of Crete. However, with the exception of those aircraft for which the fleet was able to provide spare parts, the vast majority of British aircraft were withdrawn to the mainland due to the loss of spare parts. Crete, on the other hand, is only 60 nautical miles from the newly built German air base in Greece and 45 nautical miles from the Italian airfield on the island of Karpatos to the east. It is very vulnerable to enemy air strikes.

At dawn on 31 March, the expected German offensive finally took place. The main attack was 530 troops of the 11th Air Army, transported by 100 aircraft and 16000 gliders. The 7,000-strong reserve was then transported by sea to Crete. At 8 o'clock, the glider, towed by a transport aircraft, transported the troops to the west of the Malim airfield. After 15 minutes, the paratroopers began to land east of the airfield. By the end of the day, all 5,000 airborne troops of the 7th Airborne Division had landed. Although the airport was still under British fire, it had partially fallen into German hands. The airports of Rethymnon and Heraklion were also attacked by the Germans, but the offensive was not so violent, and the British troops there held their positions. The next day, the Germans used the Malim airfield to increase their forces, but many planes crashed into the crater-riddled airfield as they landed.

To defend against the enemy's attack on Crete from the sea, Admiral Cunningham divided his forces into three battle groups. Two battle groups of cruisers and destroyers, anchored during the day in the waters east and west of Crete, respectively, in order to patrol the northern side of Crete at night or when enemy ships go to sea. The main British battle group consisted of the battleships Midway and Queen Elizabeth, one cruiser, and eight destroyers, who were responsible for providing full support.

On the night of 9 April, a group of cruisers was patrolling the waters near the western tip of Crete when it encountered an invading German small boat flotilla 20 nautical miles north of the island. The British ships sank 15 of them in one fell swoop, and all 4,000 troops on board were drowned in the sea. Due to lack of ammunition, the British cruiser formation withdrew to the west to join the battleship formation. At the same time, another formation of British cruisers, patrolling in the northwest direction, sank several small boats of another German transport flotilla and drove this convoy away.

In view of the fact that it was already dawn, the British ships were short of ammunition, and the enemy planes were under heavy attack, the commander of the British fleet was satisfied with the retreat of the enemy transport convoy, so he stopped the pursuit, retreated to the southwest, and requested the support of the battleship formation. However, before the two British formations could meet, the two cruisers were damaged.

At 13:30, Axis planes hit the battleship Queen Elizabeth and sank a destroyer. The British formation sent two cruisers to the aid of the wounded destroyers, one of which was sunk by enemy aircraft in the Strait of Kithira at 15:50. About an hour later, another battleship was damaged. In the ensuing two-and-a-half-hour battle, the other cruiser was hit twice and finally sank. During this day and night of fierce fighting, not a single German soldier reached Crete by sea. However, although the British Mediterranean Fleet effectively countered the invasion of Crete from the sea, on May 22, the German airborne forces repaired the Malim airfield and began to deliver troops to the island at an average rate of 20 transport aircraft and towed gliders per hour.

However, after the Battle of Crete, the situation with the British Mediterranean Fleet was not rosy. Although a reinforcement consisting of one battleship, two cruisers and six new destroyers arrived in the Mediterranean in early May, in early June the British Mediterranean Fleet had only two battleships, three cruisers and 17 destroyers at its disposal. The northern flank of the British supply line from Alexandria to Malta was threatened by the Luftwaffe on the island of Crete. Malta's power was weakened by a lack of supplies, while the Axis supply routes to North Africa were more secure.

After more than a month of naval battles, the Allies did not get the desired results, however, the matter was not over, and when the American Atlantic Fleet arrived belatedly, things finally took a great turn.

American-made artillery and warplanes went straight into the Mediterranean and joined up with the British Royal Fleet. Although Germany has worked hard, and Italy has also tried hard, the situation of the war has not changed.

The Italian Navy eventually cowered in the harbor and became a fixed battery, "protected" by shore-based fighters from the menacing American Atlantic Fleet.

Constrained by the control of the Mediterranean in the hands of the Allies, the Axis powers were constantly cut off from the sea lines of communication with China, and the European and African battlefields were also cut off by the Allies, and the situation of the war began to take a new turn. (To be continued......)