The Battle of Matapan

New York: Macmillan, 1961 Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st.US Ed... Description of the encounter in 1941 between the Royal Navy and the Italian Fleet off Cape Matapan, Greece during WW II. "In March 1941 Britain faced the Axis powers alone. Her army was still in disarray after Dunkerque, her fleet was stretched to the uttermost. It was in this context that, 100 miles off Cape Matapan in Greece, there was fought an action in which the Italian fleet was so signally defeated that it never voluntarily offered battle again so long as the war lasted. The engagement, the first major fleet action since Jutland a quarter of a century earlier, was of historical significance for two reasons; it was the first time carrier-borne aircraft had played a vital role, and the first time that the use of radar was of preponderant importance in a large-scale fleet action. Here is an account of Matapan which, illustrated by unfamiliar action photographs, will satisfy the expert no less than it will engross the general reader." 183p. plates.index.