Recovering from their shock, the Italian destroyer crews attempted a torpedo attack on the British warships but were intercepted by the British destroyers. Two more Italian destroyers were lost, and one badly damaged but able to escape. Of the entire division, only the destroyer Gioberti escaped undamaged. Fiume sank at 2300, and Zara, torpedoed by the destroyer Jervis, at 0240.

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Pola, dead in the water, was witness to the catastrophe that befell her sister ships. Resigned to their fate, Pola’s crew abandoned all discipline. British sailors boarding Pola after the battle found empty wine bottles and drunken sailors. After Pola’s crew was evacuated, British destroyers torpedoed and sank her at approximately 0300.

The British then began picking up survivors of the ordeal. Some 3,000 Italian sailors had been lost, including the captains of Fiume and Zara and the division commander, Admiral Cattaneo. At daybreak, German bombers finally made their appearance and began to bomb the British ships involved in rescue operations. Cunningham wired Rome, advising Supermarina where it could find more survivors of the battle, then left the area after saving some 900 sailors. An Italian hospital ship that arrived later that day was able to rescue an additional 160 sailors.

For the Italians, the battle had been a disaster. They had lost three heavy cruisers and two destroyers. Supermarina now realized that if the fleet were to put to sea again it would need its own fighter protection. A crash program was initiated to modify existing passenger ships to serve as aircraft carriers. One of those ships was completed prior to the surrender of Italy in 1943.

While Taranto may have been a tremendous psychological defeat, Matapan was the military defeat that finished the Italian navy. The next time the Italian fleet came out in force was two years later, to surrender to Admiral Cunningham at Malta.

This article was written by Anthony M. Scalzo and originally appeared in the January 2001 issue of World War II. For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of World War II.

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