American naval attaché at Rome, Italy reported in April 1941 that during the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March Italian ships fired on the own forces. The superficial damage was due to poor gunnery. Admiral Jachino was relieved his command. The feeling among senior officers was that the fleet never was trained as a combat unit leaving no possibilities to achive that yet. Confidence disappeared and the general naval morale was described as very low.(1)
Note
1. Battle of Matapan found place 27-29 March between the British and Italian navies, the latter loosing 3 heavy cruisers (Pola, Zara and Fiume) and 2 destroyers (Alfieri and Carducci) and the battleship (Vittorio Veneto) heavily damaged.
Source
National Archives USA. Record Group 38: Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Series: Secret Naval Attaches Reports. Estimate of potential military strength (pt.). Summaries. Reports from London, Paris, Brussels, Rome and Berlin. Roll M975-001.
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