fleet would be supported by the Regia Aeronautica and the German Fliegerkorps X (10th Air Corps). This operation resulted in the Battle of Cape Matapan; the engagement began when the Italian 3rd Division—comprising the two heavy cruisers and and commanded by Vice Admiral Luigi Sansonetti—encountered the British 15th Cruiser Squadron. Iachino attempted to maneuver Vittorio Veneto to the east of the British cruisers while they were distracted with Sansonetti's cruisers, but spotted the battleship before she could close the trap. Vittorio Veneto immediately opened fire and quickly found the range, but only inflicted splinter damage on Orion, which fled to the south, back toward the main British fleet. Misfires in Vittorio Venetos forward-most turret forced her to cease firing temporarily. The Italian gunners quickly returned the guns to action, however, and resumed their bombardment of the British cruisers. Poor visibility and smokescreens hampered the accuracy of Vittorio Venetos gunners and they scored no hits, though they straddled the cruisers several times. In the course of this phase of the battle, she had fired 92 rounds from her main battery. During this period of the battle, torpedo bombers from the carrier arrived on the scene, and their attack forced Vittorio Veneto to break off the engagement with the British cruisers to take evasive action. She evaded the torpedoes, but the attack convinced Iachino that the Mediterranean Fleet was at sea, which prompted him to end the operation and return to port. The British launched several air attacks against the Italian fleet in an attempt to slow down Vittorio Veneto, including land-based Blenheim bombers from Greece and Crete. Later in the afternoon Formidable launched a second strike, and at 15:10 one of her Swordfish hit Vittorio Veneto on her port side, aft. The Italian anti-aircraft gunners shot the plane down after it launched its torpedo. The hit sheared off the port side propeller, damaged the shaft, jammed the port rudder, and disabled the aft port pumps. It also caused severe flooding—some of water entered the ship—which gave her a 4–4.5 degree list to port, and forced her to stop for about ten minutes. While she was immobilized, a Blenheim bomber dropped a bomb that landed near her stern; the blast caused further, minor damage to stern. The damage control parties had great difficulty in controlling and reducing the flooding, as they could use only emergency hand pumps. Some forward and starboard voids