to Libya increased between the months of October 1940 – January 1941 to an average of 49,435 tons per month, up from the 37,204-ton average of the previous four months. Moreover, rather than change the balance of power in the central Mediterranean, British naval authorities had "failed to deliver the true knockout blow that would have changed the context within which the rest of the war in the Mediterranean was fought." Battle of Cape Matapan The Battle of Cape Matapan was an Allied victory. It was fought off the coast of the Peloponnese in southern Greece from 27–29 March 1941 in which Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces—under the command of the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham—intercepted those of the Italian Regia Marina under Admiral Angelo Iachino. The Allies sank the heavy cruisers , and and the destroyers Vittorio Alfieri and Giosue Carducci, and damaged the battleship . The British lost one torpedo plane and suffered light splinter damage to some cruisers from Vittorio Venetos salvoes. The factors in the Allied victory were the effectiveness of aircraft carriers, the use of Ultra intercepts and the lack of radar on the Italian ships. Crete The effort to prevent German troops from reaching Crete by sea, and subsequently the partial evacuation of Allied land forces after their defeat by German paratroops in the Battle of Crete during May 1941, cost the Allied navies a number of ships. Attacks by German planes, mainly Junkers Ju 87s and Ju 88s, sank eight British warships: two light cruisers ( and ) and six destroyers (, , , , and ). Seven other ships were damaged, including the battleships and and the light cruiser . Nearly 2,000 British sailors died. It was a significant victory for the Luftwaffe, as it proved that the Royal Navy could not operate in waters where the German Air Force had air supremacy without suffering severe losses. In the end, however, this had little strategic meaning, since the attention of the German Army was directed toward Russia (in Operation Barbarossa) a few weeks later, and the Mediterranean was to play only a secondary role in German war planning over the following years. The action did, however, extend the Axis reach into the eastern Mediterranean, and prolong the threat to Allied convoys. Two attempts were carried out to transport German troops by sea in caïques, but both of them were disrupted by