Talk:Greek cruiser Elli (1912)

Motive
Did the Italian government admit responsibility for the attack? What was the motive for it? Drutt (talk) 17:09, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
 * This source suggests that it was to punish the Greeks for being pro-British. Drutt (talk) 17:19, 16 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, Mussolini always claimed in his discussions with Ciano and his generals that he would attack Greece because it was following an anglophile course; and in truth, Greece was doing so. The main reason however is that Musso simply wanted to expand his empire, and in July-August 1940, he had began preparing the ground for an attack against Yugoslavia or Greece, although it was postponed due to German pressure and other reasons (Musso expected the Germans to invade Britain in September- to October. As to the submarine attack on Elli, IIRC it was ordered by Cesare Maria De Vecchi, the then-governor of the Dodecanese, who was fervently anti-Greek and supported a war against Greece. It was not the only such incident during the summer of 1940: Italian planes bombed Greek destroyers on 12 July, for instance. These attacks were provocation mostly, mixed with attempts at intimidation. The attack against Elli was probably due to De Vecchi's over-eagerness. AFAIK, the Italians have never officially admitted the attack. At least until the 1970s, even semi-official sources claimed ignorance as to the identity of the sub. Constantine  ✍  18:15, 16 December 2010 (UTC)


 * There is more information on the affair here. Drutt (talk) 14:34, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

on the classification
this ship has steam turbines so the right classification is light cruiser, like the british Bristol class — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.238.234.17 (talk) 15:57, 30 April 2013 (UTC)