Battle of the Bonifacio Strait, July 1938

 

The Find, Fix and Strike scenario for my Italian and French heavy cruiser action is now ready to go, based on the Battle of the Denmark Strait but relocated to the straits between Corsica and Sardinia. 

In this scenario, set in July 1938 at the start of a counterfactual Franco-Italian conflict, the heavy cruisers Bolzano and Pola have broken out of Naples at night and are attempting to slip through the Strait of Bonifacio at dawn, only to be intercepted by the French heavy cruisers Duquesne and Algerie.

The Italians have an average command and green crew, while the French have an inept command but average crew, so a fairly even match. As I don't have any spotter aircraft for the French, I've decided that their Loire 130 seaplanes are U/S due to fuel contamination, so only the Italians will be able to launch their Ro34 reconnaissance planes.

The Italians must attempt to escape while inflicting crippling damage on at least one of the French cruisers to prevent a further pursuit. The French must inflict at least heavy damage on both Italian cruisers to force them back to Naples, into the waiting French blockading forces and patrolling screen of submarines.