Talk:Zara/@comment-24093250-20160215090101/@comment-24093250-20160215155627

True, it's very easy to speak now. But even when considering the context of those years, some choices seem rather short-sighted.

The Regia Marina wasn't exactly a "coastal navy". True, it was confined to the Mediterranean, but it's still a pretty big sea. So, either one confines the fleet's movements inside a set area (which was what happened after Matapan), or takes into consideration other possibilities and therefore other scenarios that deviate from the optimal circumstances thought before.

While the Germans did push the Regia Marina somewhat into Matapan, they were already considering the idea, mainly to prove to their allies that they were "doing something". And even if they weren't, they have the responsibility of going along with it.

Iachino was an intelligent and competent officer; some say that he was merely at the wrong place, and would have been more suited to force a more offensive doctrine in the Staff. Still, it's true to say that many things were beyond his control, but in all honesty his handling of the things that were under his control is not beyond critique.