Quote:
Originally posted by Kai-Petri:
The German Vice Admiral E. Weichold, writing about Matapan, said:
"The unhappy result of this action, the first offensive operation which the Italian Fleet had undertaken through German pressure after nine months of war, was a shattering blow to the Italian Navy and it's prestige. If they attributed blame to the false German report of the torpedoeing of Battleships, and failure of Aircraft support, there at any rate remained an inner reaction, a more stubborn refusal to undertake offensive operations against a superior British sea power."
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a sad post-script to this story;
At daylight the British sent a couple of their ships to pick up Italian survivors , but they were forced to withdraw from the scene when they came under attack from the Luftwaffe, leaving many Italian sailors still in the water.