Actions
Vittorio Veneto took part in the battle of Cape Teulada (27 November 1940), where a barrage of 19 shells from her main guns, fired in seven salvos, forced the seven-cruiser British squadron to disengage.
During a mission on 26–29 March 1941, Vittorio Veneto participated in the battle of Cape Matapan, fought along the south western coast of Crete, where she drove off a squadron of four Allied light cruisers and three destroyers near the island of Gavdos, inflicting minor splinter damage on them. She was in return damaged by a torpedo bomber and forced to sail back to Italy; the Italian fleet adopted an exceptional formation on five lines to protect the Vittorio Veneto, but a second aircraft attack — and a subsequent night battle — caused the sinking of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers to British battleship gunfire. Despite taking on 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of water due to the extensive torpedo damage, the battleship was able to reach Taranto, but remained out of service for about five months.
During the war in the Mediterranean Sea, Vittorio Veneto took part in 56 war missions, 11 of them sorties against enemy shipping.
1940
- 1 September: operation Hats;
- 29 September: operation MB 5;
- 11 November: Battle of Taranto;
- 17 November: operation White
- 27 November: Battle of Cape Spartivento or Battle of Cape Teulada;
1941
- 27 March: Battle of Gavdos island;
- 28 March: Battle of Matapan. The commander of the ship was Capitano di Vascello Giuseppe Sparzani and the commander of the Italian fleet, flagship Vittorio Veneto, was Ammiraglio di Squadra Angelo Iachino;
- 27 September: convoy Albert to Malta;
- 14 December: cancelled Italian convoys in the Mediterranean Sea;
1942
- 15 June: Vittorio Veneto also participated in the Battle of Mid-June, where she and her sister ship Littorio successfully fenced off a large British convoy from Alexandria by their mere presence at sea;
1943
- 9 September: surrender of the Italian fleet.
After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Vittorio Veneto was sent to Egypt, and was interned in the Great Bitter Lake, in the Suez Canal; a proposal to allow the battleship to fight side-by-side with the Allies in southern France and in the Pacific Ocean was dismissed because of political and operational considerations. After the war, she was taken by the U.K. as war compensation. Vittorio Veneto was eventually returned to Italy where she was dismantled, at La Spezia 1951-54.
Read more about this topic: Italian Battleship Vittorio Veneto
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