Three Italian Cruisers, Two Destroyers Sunk, Battleship Severely Damaged London, Mar. 31. ATER news of the big naval and air battle in the Mediterranean between British and Italian units shows that Britain has struck the greatest blow of the war at sea. Five Italian warships—three cruisers and two destroyers—it is now confirmed, were sent to the bottom without a single casualty or the slightest damage to the British Fleet.
The Italian vessels sunk were the 10,000-ton cruisers Fiume, Polo and Zai the large destroyer Vincenzo Gioberti and the destroyer Maestrale.
All the cruisers carried eight-inch guns.
The Fiume, which was heavily armed, had eight 8-inch guns among her armament, and her complement was 705 officers and. ratings The Vincenzo Globerti was completed in 1936, and had a displacement of 1,700 tons and a complement of 157.
The Maestrale had similar armaments, but a displacement of 1,500 tons.
The Admiralty also states that one six-inch gun cruiser and one other destroyer were almost certainly sunk in the engagement. Several other ships were also damaged.
News of the successful outcome of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham's operations is described brleay in the following communique issued by the Admiralty last evening: "The Commander-la-Chief in the Mediterranea reports that no casuales or damag were sustained by His Majesty's ships throughout the recent operation. Some of our aircraft are. however, not accounted for. Further details are awaited."—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.