Lacking radar and mindful of their defeat in the night action at the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italians wished to avoid night combat. The Italians fired for only 15 minutes before disengaging and returning westward to cover convoy M42. suffered the loss of one seaman and some damage due to a near-miss either from an shell, possibly fired by the Italian cruiser or by shell splinters fired by "Andrea Doria" and "Giulio Cesare", knocking down wireless aerials and holing the hull, superstructure and ship's boats. According to Italian sources, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyer was also damaged by near-misses from the . British reports tell of other warships punctured by splinters.