Turn 9. Jan/Feb 1941. Allied #15. RN/French Naval.
Western Med.
Initially the RN, who didn't add any additional naval or air units to the West Med, was going to elect "No Combat" for this sea area. Also, the plan was to return to base at the end of the turn the aircraft carrier Formidable in the 4-box, who's unescorted except by (his implicit) 2 destroyers. After more careful consideration it was estimated that the Italians BB Guilo Ceasre would likely remain at sea and with no RN ships or planes left in the area the British would suffer a -1 MP for in the presence of the enemy. Furthermore, the 3 CP's in the 0-box would be all alone (i.e., no ASW escorts or patrols) except for any planes in position to react. So, the Admiralty decide that an "Initiate Combat" was in order which would allow the British to react a Blenheim Air Group to the 3-box. One issue with all this (re)consideration was that it was done post naval air in which a Sunderland nav air group was put into the 4-box off the Italian Coast. The regret now was that it wasn't put into the 4-box of the West Med, which would have increased the 4-box search number from 4 to 5 and added air to any (potential) naval air combat.
So with the risk that the CV Formidable might be surprise and caught in a surface battle with the Italian battleship the RN Initiates Combat. The result was that the Italians did manage to surprise the RN but lack enough points to force a surface battle against the Formidable. And, though at an advantage, a surface battle with the RN force in the 0-box could easily result in damage to the Guilo Caesar.
