Cape Bon puts the cruiser-killer concept into practice

The destroyers used their knowledge of the Italian cruisers' position to manoeuvre between the enemy and the coast before launching a sudden close attack. HMS Sikh and HMS Maori did most of the immediate fighting with their heavy 4.7-inch batteries and torpedoes. The attack put a prewar Tribal concept into practice: concentrated gunfire would fix or expose a target, allowing a more accurate torpedo attack. At Cape Bon the Tribals supplied both parts of that combination themselves. Sikh's torpedoes destroyed one Italian cruiser; Sikh, Maori, and possibly HMS Legion contributed to the destruction of the second. HNLMS Isaac Sweers was too far away to contribute much, though her wider combat record was much stronger than this limited role suggests. Legion's exact part remains uncertain. The surprise attack demonstrated what the gun-heavy cruiser-killer design could do.