A lokacin da Italiya ta shiga yakin a ranar 10 ga Yuni 1940, RAN tana da jirgin ruwa guda daya (Sydney) da kuma tsofaffi masu hallaka guda biyar na abin da ake kira 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' a Alexandria tare da British Mediterranean Fleet. A cikin kwanakin farko na yakin na Rumunan, Sydney ta nutsar da wani jirgin ruwa na Italiya da Voyager a jirgin ruwa na ruwa. Jirgin ruwa na Rumunan ya ci gaba da yin aiki sosai, kuma a ranar 19 ga Yuli, Sydney, tare da tawagar masu hallaka na Birtaniya, sun shiga cikin jirgin ruwa mai sauri na Italiya Bartolomeo Colleoni da Giovanni Bande dalle Nere a yakin Cape Spada. A cikin yakin da aka yi, Bartolomeo Colleoni ya nutse. Jirgin ruwa na Australiya sun shafe lokaci mai yawa a cikin teku na Sydney a 1940.
Italiyanci