The Battle of Cape Matapan
                     
A Scenario for SSG's 'Carriers at War II'

by Andy Ralls

INTRODUCTION

This is my second CAWII scenario, and the first one that is 
completely original, as PEDESTAL was inspired by earlier work 
that appeared in RUN 5. It is fairly small and plays quite quickly, 
especially the historical variant which was a fairly dramatic example 
of the superiority of the Royal Navy over the Regia Marina in 1941 
(although it's still possible to lose as the British). The non-historical 
variants are a little more involved, but as there are only ever a 
maximum of 2 CVs in play, it may be best 
to regard this as a teaser rather than a full-blown carrier battle. I 
have included all the necessary graphic files to permit plane, ship 
and combat graphics for all of the participants. In addition, I've 
included some revised versions of a few of the ships and aircraft 
supplied with CAW 2 as I was not happy with SSG's rendition of the 
appearance of these. The revised files are noted in the next section 
and may be left out if you are happy with the originals. If you wish 
to use them, you should back-up the SSG originals. Have fun, and, 
as ever, I'd appreciate any feed-back, positive or negative.

INSTALLING THE SCENARIO

This scenario requires CAWII. Installation of the CAW 
Construction Set or CAW I is not necessary.

When unzipped, the following files should be present, and they 
should be installed in the indicated sub-directories of your CAW 
directory:

MATSCEN.ZIP 	-   ZIPfile containing files for \CAW\SCENARIO 
MATCOMB.ZIP	-   ZIPfile containing combat graphics
MATPLAN.ZIP	-   ZIPfile containing aircraft graphics
MATSHIP.ZIP	-   ZIPfile containing new ship graphics
MATPICT.ZIP	-   ZIPfile containing files for \CAW\PICTS
MATAPAN.TXT   -   This text file

Each ZIP file should be copied to the appropriate directory as 
follows and unzipped:

MATSCEN.ZIP to \CAW\SCENARIO
MATCOMB.ZIP to \CAW\COMBAT
MATPLAN.ZIP to \CAW\PLANES
MATSHIP.ZIP to \CAW\SHIPS
MATPICT.ZIP to \CAW\PICTS

**** IMPORTANT NOTE ****

The following files in the MATSHIP.ZIP have revised versions of 
the SSG original files and will overwrite those files - if you do not 
wish to overwrite any SSG files, make sure that you unzip to a 
temporary directory and only copy the files you require, or back-up 
these files before you unzip:

ILLUSTRIOUS CLASS CV 		-	206BRCV.PCK
QUEEN ELIZABETH CLASS BB	-	220BRBB.PCK
LEANDER CLASS CL		-	239BRCL.PCK
G/H/I CLASS DD			-	261BRDD.PCK
 
When all the files are copied, you should find that 'Cape Matapan' 
has been added to the list of available scenarios and that there is a 
historical and 3 variant scenarios.

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY

In early 1941, Britain stood alone in Western Europe in opposition 
to Nazi Germany. The War Cabinet, attempting to juggle too few 
resources over much too wide an area, was celebrating the success of 
Archibald Wavell's offensive in Libya which had defeated the Italian 
10th Army and driven it from Cyrenaica. Lulled by this outstanding 
feat of arms into believing that North Africa was secure, 
Churchill was persuaded to divert forces from here and from East 
Africa to assist Greece, threatened with invasion by a German High 
Command anxious to restore Axis standing following Mussolini's 
embarrassing defeat on this front in 1940.

Operation LUSTRE, the movement of British forces to Greece, 
began in February 1941 and rapidly gained the attention of the 
Germans who were concerned that their own plans for invasion may 
be jeopardised by this build-up. Hitler prevailed upon Mussolini to 
launch a naval attack on the poorly defended convoys, but the 
Italians were reluctant to commit major surface units to attack the 
British in the absence of naval air power. Supermarina, the Italian 
Naval Command, agreed to a sortie provided both the Luftwaffe and 
Regia Aeronautica agreed to provide land-based air resources for 
search and strike operations in direct support of, and under the 
command of, the fleet commander, Admiral Iachino. Both air forces 
agreed to provide the assets, but did not permit the command 
handover demanded by the navy. Not at all convinced that the 
planned co-operation was realistic, Iachino sailed in his flagship 
Vittorio Veneto on 27 Mar to patrol an area off the west coast of 
Crete. 

Discussion of the impending operation was intercepted and decoded 
by the ULTRA organisation and placed in the hands of Admiral Sir 
Andrew Cunningham, C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet, on the evening 
of 26 Mar as the fleet steamed home to Alexandria having just 
escorted a convoy to Malta. Armed with 
this vital intelligence, Cunningham cancelled the sailing of 2 
convoys and recalled one that had just sailed. In order to deceive 
enemy intelligence, Cunningham went ashore on his return to play 
golf and stood the fleet down while secretly giving orders to leave 
port on the evening of 27 Mar. The ruse worked and on the morning 
of 28 Mar, Iachino's ships steamed into a rendezvous with the 4 CLs 
and 4 DDs of V/Adm Pridham-Whippell's (Vice-Admiral, Light 
Forces (VALF)) Force B, just south of Gavdhos Island. In a running 
battle, the outgunned British cruisers fled south-eastwards, towards 
Cunningham's Force A consisting of the CV Formidable, the BBs 
Warspite, Valiant and Barham plus 10 DDs. 

Cunningham ordered his 3 aged BBs to full speed to pursue his 
quarry. However, knowing that the newer Italian ships had much 
longer legs than his WW 1 veterans, he launched a torpedo strike 
against the Italian main body to slow it down. Swordfish and 
Albacores from Formidable managed to score a single hit on 
Vittorio Veneto and Iachino at once ordered his ships to retire. 
Reduced to 16 knots, Iachino expected to be overhauled, but 
extremely good damaged control on the part of the Italians managed 
to have the battleship up to 25 knots within an hour. Meanwhile, 
torpedo aircraft from Crete and Blenheim bombers from the Greek 
mainland continued to attack the fleeing Italians all day. During the 
last attack at 1925 hrs, a torpedo hit was scored on the CA Pola, 
taking out all her electrical power and leaving her dead in the water. 
Iachino ordered the remainder of her division to return to assist her. 
As the Italian cruisers made their way through the murk, without 
radar, they blundered into the pursuing, and radar-equipped, British 
battleships. At a range of 2,000 yds, Cunningham's 15" guns fired 
salvo after salvo into the helpless Italians with taking a single shot 
in return. Within the space of 10 minutes, 3 CAs and 2 DDs were 
sunk, effectively ending the battle.

Now that the threat was obvious, search aircraft from the Italian 
mainland were diverted to assist Iachino, but much too late. Had the 
air co-operation that had been promised to Iachino materialised, it is 
likely that he would have avoided the ambush. The Vittorio Veneto 
managed to limp into Brindisi for repairs 
and Cunningham returned to Alexandria, although the Axis air 
units in Rhodes attacked the Mediterranean Fleet on it's way home. 

The British were able to complete the reinforcement of Greece just 
in time for the Germans to rout the defenders a month later. But at 
sea, at least,  Cunningham's victory at Matapan served to dissuade 
the Axis powers from confronting the Mediterranean Fleet in force 
again.

DESIGN NOTES

Having laboured long on the production of the graphics for the 
Regia Marina for my Op PEDESTAL scenario, I looked for another 
engagement that would enable me to use them once again (I guess 
I'm just lazy). Matapan was the first occasion when carrier air power 
was used to oppose an enemy battle fleet, and although the small 
size of Formidable's air group precluded a more decisive impact, it's 
presence served to convince Iachino that further risk to his force was 
pointless. Thus, as an example of the importance of naval air power, 
Matapan predates Coral Sea by over a year. In the same way that 
Taranto served to presage Pearl Harbour by demonstrating the 
vulnerability of ships in port to a surprise naval air attack, Matapan 
may be seen as a fledgling rehearsal for the climactic carrier battles 
of the Pacific. 

The Historical scenario is a pretty one-sided affair, I'm afraid. The 
Axis air power is largely quiescent until the Italian fleet is 
threatened and then they wake up - but by then, it's usually too late. 
Prior to that, a human Axis player will fully appreciate the fumbling 
nature of Iachino's blind thrust into the trap sprung by Cunningham. 
However, the computer has managed to win as the Italians on 
several occasions; although Italian radar is non-existent, the British 
sets ain't much better so it sometimes happens that VALF get's 
caught far from home and help. The Italian ships are FAST and it's 
very difficult to outrun them. Play the first variant and you'll find 
that Cunningham's task becomes a lot more difficult if the promised 
Axis air support materialises.

The fun really starts with the second and third variants. The fact 
that the ENIGMA codes were broken is a relatively recent 
revelation. Read any account prior to 1970 and you'll get the 
impression that Cunningham put to sea on a blind hunch that the 
Italians were about sortie - a hunch based reports of increased radio 
traffic and air activity. This myth has served to bolster the reputation 
of Cunningham, not that it really needs it. The truth is a bit of a let-
down, but at least he used the intelligence information quickly and 
decisively. If the British are deprived of the advantage of ULTRA 
(second variant), the Italians really do get a chance to put one over 
on the RN. The convoys mostly consisted of the scrapings of the 
Greek merchant barrel; the ships are small and slow and the Brits do 
not have enough ships to escort them properly. Consequently, if the 
Italian 15" and 8" guns can get among 'em, it's going to take some 
serious efforts by the Brits to drag a marginal victory out of the fire.

As a last resort, our old friend the CV Aquila makes another guest 
appearance (third variant). Now, we actually get a carrier battle, but 
the proximity of Allied land-based air power so close to her patrol 
area is a threat that the Axis player cannot ignore and will probably 
prevent her from cleaning up. You'll find that the AI is fairly 
conservative as the Axis - these are Italians remember! - but Aquila 
carries 3 squadrons of JU-87s which are pretty damn accurate when 
they heave-to over your flight deck. Incidently, using Aquila as a 
variant is even more far-fetched in Mar 41 than it was for 
PEDESTAL. Built as the SS Roma, the original conversion was 
planned for completion in Feb 41 as an auxilliary carrier (pretty 
much like an escort carrier, but still looking like a passenger liner 
with a half-flight deck). The change of mind for conversion to an 
armoured-deck fleet CV meant that work did not start on the 
conversion until Jun 41 - 3 months after Matapan! You'll have to 
suspend your disbelief a bit here, folks...still, it makes for a fun 
game.

NOTES ON SOURCES

Matapan is not a terribly easy battle to research. There isn't one 
handy modern reference on the battle as there was with PEDESTAL, 
so it's a question of sifting through various sources. The official 
battle summary is a UK RESTRICTED document (now 
declassified), but I was able to obtain it from the MOD library and it 
is very useful for OB data, particularly for the Italians (it even has 
lat and long for the Italian sub patrol areas!). Air OBs are from the 2 
Cull and Shores books which I can't recommend highly enough. The 
S W C Pack book is written from the point of view of a participant 
(Pack was the meteorologist on board Formidable) and, as such, 
provides some useful insghts into Cunningham's performance 
during the battle. However, it is obviously biased, as is Bragadin's 
book on the Italian Navy in WW2. He's so biased he believes the 
Italians covered themselves with glory and were only let down by 
those perfidious Luftwaffe chappies. It's a great read...honest.

Hope you enjoy this scenario; there's a couple more in the works.

Cheers

Andy Ralls (100116,361)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B.R. 1736(35) Naval Staff History (WW2) Battle Summary No. 44 
"The Battle of Cape Matapan 28th March, 1941" 

Night Action off Cape Matapan - S W C Pack, 1972.

British Offical History - The Mediterranean and the Middle East - 
Vol 2 - Maj Gen I S O Playfair

War at Sea Vols 1&2 - Capt S W Roskill

Malta 1941 - The Hurricane Years - Cull, Shores and Malizia, Grub 
Street. 1987.

Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete 1940-41 - Cull, Shores 
and Malizia, Grub Street, 1987.
 
All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921 and 1922-1945, Conways.

Combat Aircraft of the World - Bill Gunston 

World Aircraft of WWII Part 1, Angelucci and Matricardi - 
Sampson Low Guides, 1978.

Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II, David Mondey - 
Temple Press Aerospace, 1978.

L'Aeronautica Italiana Nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Vol 2. - 
General Santoro.

La Marina Guerra Mondiale, Vol V - G Fioravanzo

Le Navi di Linea Italiane, Giorgio Giorgerini, Roma 1973 (Only 
accurate 3-view drawings and performance data for Aquila).

Royal Air Force 1939-1945 - Richards/Saunders 

Ultra Goes to War, R Lewin, Hutchinson, 1978.

The Italian Navy in WWII - Bragadin

The Ciano Diaries - (Trans)
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