Prince Philip Breaks the Silence on His Role Against Italian Warships at Battle of Cape Matapan

From the April 16, 2012, Mirror (UK) News.

Prince Philip, 90, describes his role in the Battle of Cape Matapan against Italian ships and destroyers off the coast of Greece in 1941.

He operated a battleship's search light. and they caught the Italians by surprise, picking out their targets and sinking 3 cruisers and 2 destroyers.

Prince Philip joined the Royal Navy at the age of 17 in the spring of 1939 and was a midshipman on the British World War I battleship Valiant.  Prince Philip recounted: that he was "ordered to 'open the shutter.'  The beam lit up a stationary cruiser, but we were so close by then that the beam only lit up half the ship.

"At that point all hell broke loose, as all our eight 15-inch guns, plus those of the flagship and Barham's started firing at the stationary cruiser, which disappeared in an explosion and a cloud of smoke.

His ship then destroyed another cruiser.

Later in the war, Prince Philip became one of the youngest officers to make first lieutenant and second in command of a ship.

--GreGen