Events at sea prior to the Greek operation

<p>Once the decision had been made to send forces to Greece, the first steps were to increase the air power available. Two British squadrons (a wing) were sent to aid the Greeks in Albania. Three complete squadrons and parts of two more were at Athens, "under Air Vice-Marshal D'Albiac's command". A few Swordfish aircraft arrive with the role of attacking Italian supply lines to Albania.</p>

<p>The first movement of British troops to Greece was pretty much unapposed. Admiral Cunningham expected that at some point, the Italians would send larger surface warships to attack the troops at sea. On 27 March, a report listed three Italian cruisers and a destroyer "80 miles south of Sicily". Admiral Cunningham took the British Mediterranean fleet to sea from Alexandria. A convoy on the way to Greece was told to reverse course at dusk. A scout aircraft from the Formidable "reported seeing four Italian cruisers and six destroyers", at dawn on 28 March. Four British cruisers sighted the Italian ships. "They put out in pursuit. The British battleships followed them". At 11am, the British cruisers saw an Italian battleship. The ship was attacked by aircraft from the Formidable. "The next sighting was of five Italian cruisers and five destroyers. They were some one hundred miles north". They realized that the Italian battleship was the Vittorio Veneto. Attacks apparently caused damage which reduced its speed. The Italian heavy cruiser Pola was bombed by British aircraft. Darkness fell with British battleships far away still. This is based on the account in "Greece Crete and Syria" by Gavin Long.</p>