PoW secondary 5.25inch - 133mm guns at DS

[dunmunro]

@Dunmunro:
hi Duncan, you "intentionally" removed from my above examples Adm Cunningham who followed the same traditions and..... did not die in battle....
Of course to be a hero in war, means always to take some risks out of the "immunity zone".....

e.g. Adm Cunningham at Cape Matapan was suggested by his staff NOT to engage a possible Italian battleship (Vittorio Veneto) and her destroyers in a night battle turning away with a "blue 4" signal to his squadron when the heavy cruiser Pola was sighted.
He was very angry with them and said he would have sunk whatever was there that very night, ordering a "4 blue" instead and.... getting the most impressive victory at sea in the Mediterranean sinking our poor three heavy cruisers. Who knows what would have happened, had he listened to his "timid" staff.....

Bye, Alberto

To give but one example, Cunningham, in his despatch regarding the Battle of Calabria, stated:

10. Our cruisers—there were only, four in
action—were badly outnumbered and at times
came under a very heavy fire. They were
superbly handled by Vice-Admiral J. C. Tovey

The idea that Cunningham wanted suicidal attacks at all cost is complete nonsense. Tovey handled his outnumbered cruisers very cautiously at Calabria, with Cunningham's full approval. Tovey consistently withdrew and opened the range when faced with superior concentrations of force, and he was fully supported in this by Cunningham.

[Alberto Virtuani]

@Dunmunro:
hi Duncan, we can discuss endlessly about the battle of Calabria and its strategic background and development. When Tovey disengaged in Calabria, Cunningham was not far from him even if not yet able to join due to the low speed of Malaya and Royal Sovereign. There was a battleship force that could intervene in the battle. More, the purpose of the British force was to allow their own convoy to reach Alexandria, and the mission was successfully achieved.

At DS PoW was alone against a dangerous threat to British commerce in the Atlantic. The ship was hitting BS and Capt. Leach decided to break off the action without having sustained serious damages and without the evidence of having damaged BS: therefore he gave up his mission orders.

Bye, Alberto

P.S. No incorrect dispatches, missing reports and shameful "plots" were produced after the battle of Calabria to cover the disengagement. I'm also not aware of any medal given to Adm.Tovey for his actions there.....