 Italian ships had no night fighting equipment like low-light rangefinders and torpedo boats (escort destroyers in British parlance) could not engage targets further out than .In a report to Berlin, Weichold blamed a lack of training and accused Brivonesi of incompetence.In retrospect the Italians had erred in assuming that a night attack by ships was unlikely; merchant ships should have been instructed to scatter or sail away from an attack.