AT SEA: Sydney v. Colleoni

North of Crete—the island where the Minotaur in his labyrinth used to devour sacrificial Greek virgins—6-inch naval gunfire bellowed over the blue Mediterranean one morning last week. The 6,830-ton Australian cruiser Sydney had engaged two Italian cruisers of the 5,06g-ton Condottieri class—the Bartolomeo Colleoni and the Giovanni delle Bande Nere.* These ships can make 38 knots to the Sydney'?, 32.5. They have the same fire power (eight 6-inch guns each) but the Italians are lightly armored, designed especially to catch and destroy destroyers. Two British destroyers spotted them first and flashed word to the Sydney, which was coming down...