Battle of Cape Spartivento

Overview

The Battle of Cape Spartivento was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War, fought between naval forces of the Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina on 27 November 1940.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Cape Spartivento was a naval engagement fought between the Royal Navy, under James Somerville and Lancelot Holland, and the Italian Regia Marina, under Inigo Campioni and Angelo Iachino, as part of the broader contest for control of the Mediterranean. The engagement formed one episode in the sustained Battle of the Mediterranean, in which British and Italian naval forces competed for dominance over sea lanes critical to both powers' strategic positions in the theater. Beyond its place within that ongoing campaign, the recorded facts do not establish what the battle decided or shifted in terms of forces, casualties, or territorial control.

Commanders (4)