Cristiano D'Adamo

The Argento was a Class Platino (also known as “Metalli”, or metals), “600” series, Type Bernardis coastal submarine (displacement of 712 tons on the surface and 865 tons submerged). Laid down at the Tosi shipyard of Taranto on April 30^th, 1941, it did not enter service until May 16^th, 1942. Lieutenant Commander Giuseppe Vocaturo assumed command until July of the same year proving for initial crew training.

The submarine Argento
(Photo U.S.M.M.)

1942     

In September, 1942, the boat was sent out on its first war patrol, along with the Nichelio, under the command of Lieutenant  Giovanni Tarabini Castellani. The boat reached the assigned patrol area south of the Balearic Island where it remained until October 11th. Upon returning, it sighted two units estimated to be corvettes which could not be attacked since the Argento itself had been probably been spotted.

Another patrol followed in November when the Argento was deployed as part of a barrage of 16 submarines to contrast the Allies’ landing in North Africa near the Algerian coastline. The boat remained in the originally assigned area (B) until the 11^th. On the 14^th, it penetrated the Philippeville’s outer harbor, however it was not able to engage any target.   On the 18^th, the boat was ordered back to base.

1943

Engine repaired, the boat under the command of Lieutenant Renato Frascolla was again on patrol reaching the assigned area on January 22^nd along with the Dandolo to contrast Operation Torch. The assigned area, between Cape Carbon and Cape Bougaroni, was already being patrolled by the Avorio and Malachite. The night of the 21^st, the Argento was attacked by an enemy aircraft that attempted to strife the boat many a times, but it was repelled by the fire of the boat’s Breda antiaircraft guns. Soon after, at 04:00 AM of the 22^nd, in position 37°58’N, 06°15’E, another aerial attack followed and it included the dropping of bombs. This time, the enemy aircraft, repeatedly hit by the Bredas, was seen catching fire and crashing. On the 24^th, the boat was ordered back to base.

In February, the Argento was again sent out on patrol to fill in the gap left by the sinking of the Asteria which, on the 17^th, had fallen victim of H.M.S. Easton. On the 18^th, a convoy was sighted but the Argento could not attack.

In April, the boat was deployed as part of a barrage extending 80 miles along the 08°E meridian, between 38°40’N and 40°00’N. The barrage included the Brin, Platino, and Giada. However, that area did not see any enemy activity.

The Argento in port

In June, the boat was off the Algerian coastline arriving on the 20^th positioning itself near the Island of La Galite. The night of the 30^th, the boat entered the outer harbor of Philippeville without conducting any mentionable action.

In July, starting on the 11^th, the Argento was assigned to a barrage composed of 8 boats stretching from Cape de Fer and the Island of S. Antioco (Sardinia) along the 07°30E meridian.  However, a breakdown forced the vessel back to base. Issue solved, the boat was again on patrol to contrast traffic from Sirte and Malta to Sicily. On the 23^rd, while crossing the Strait of Messina, it was targeted by an enemy submarine with the launched of three torpedoes which were skillfully avoided.

With Operation Husky – the landing in Sicily – fully underway the Argento was moved from south of Catania to the southern part of Sicily possibly reaching all the way to the Gulf of Sirte. Without having been able to sight any enemy traffic, the commanding office, Lieutenant Leo Masina, began the return voyage to base. On August 2^nd, at around 10:55 PM, while navigating on the surface about 5 miles off the Island of Pantelleria, a destroyer and three other units were sighted at a very short distance.

USS Buck (DD420)

Seeking shelter in the depths of the sea, the Argento was immediately targeted by an intense drop of depth charges some of which caused serious damage. The resistant hull was compromised, and water started entering the boat.  Forced to the surface, the Argento was immediately targeted by intense gunfire and thus scuttling procedures were hastened. The American destroyer USS Buck (DD-420) rescued most of the crewmembers; a few had died during the attack.  The Argento dove one final time at around 00:30 Am of August 3^rd reaching its resting place.

Crewmembers of the Argento aboard USS Buck performing the burial at sea of one of their fallen comrades
(US National Archives)

USS Buck glory would last only a few weeks, until October 9^th, 1943, when it fell victim of U-616 off Salerno.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
19		10,745	2,299	105	124.23	5.18

Crew Members Lost

Last Name	First Name	Rank	Italian Rank
Cacopardo	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Contaratto	Oscar	Naval Rating	Comune
Lomuscio	Ruggiero	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Orsi	Salvatore	Naval Rating	Comune
Sanzari	Michele	Naval Rating	Comune
Torrone	Filippo	Naval Rating	Comune

The Antonio Sciesa was a boat of the Balilla class built by the OTO shipyard of La Spezia and delivered to the Regia Marina on April 29^th, 1929.

La Spezia: the “Sciesa” and “Toti” return to base after completing the African circumnavigation

On 14 September 1933, along with her twin boat Toti, the Sciesa departed La Spezia under the command of Lieutenant Commander Carlo Savio for a demonstrative cruise through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea and continuing with the circumnavigation of Africa and then returning to the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar.

November 1933: submarines Toti and Sciesa at anchor in Dar es Salaam during the African circumnavigation mission ℗

The purpose of the trip was to verify the performance of these units in warm waters. The submarines stopped at Port Said, Massawa, Aden, Mogadishu, Chisimaio, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Diego Suarez, Lourenço Marques, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Lobito, São Tomé, Takoradi, Dakar, Porto Praia, Las Palmas, Gibraltar, and Barcelona, finally arriving at their destination on February 25th, 1934, with good overall performances.

In November 1936 it was one of the first Italian submarines sent clandestinely to support Franco’s forces in the Spanish war, however it did not achieve any results.

On Italy’s entry into World War II on June 10^th, 1940, it was sent on an offensive mission off the port of Kotor, returning on June 21^st, 1940. On 9 July 9th, she lay in wait north of Cape Passero, returning to base two days later.

On 14 August, it departed Augusta for a patrol off the North African coast, but two days later she had to abort her mission due to a breakdown and headed to Brindisi for repairs.

On 12 December it was sent north of the mouth of the Nile and six days later detected the sounds of other ships on the hydrophone but failed to spot them; The mission ended on December 21st.

In March 1941 she was under repairs up until May 1942.

On June 1^st, 1942, the Sciesa returned to operational duties, with Lieutenant Raul Galletti as the commanding officer. It was assigned, along with many other submarines, to transport missions to Libya.

On June 29^th, 1942, it left Taranto with 64 tons of fuel and 4 tons of provisions destined for Marsa el Hilal where it arrived on July 3^rd.

On July 24th, 1942, it left Taranto with a cargo of 71.6 tons of supplies and gasoline bound for Tobruk arriving at her destination four days later, unloaded the cargo and departed the next day, arriving back in Taranto on August 3rd.

On August 19th, 1942, it again left Taranto to transport 73 tons of food and ammunition to Benghazi arriving at the Libyan base on the 22nd and departing the same day after unloading the cargo, returning to Taranto on August 26th.

On October 1st, 1942, it left again Taranto, bound for Benghazi with 71.9 tons of provisions, ammunition and money from the Bank of Italy arriving in Benghazi on the 5th, unloading the materials and leaving the same day. The following day, at 9.15 PM, the boat launched a torpedo against a submarine spotted on the surface and apparently stationary, hearing a loud explosion and therefore believing that he had hit and sunk it while attempting to dive. Thereafter, it set out in an unsuccessful search for survivors However, there are no reports of losses or damage to British submarines in that area and in that period. The Sciesa docked in Taranto on October 8^th.

On October 30^th, it left Taranto but had to reverse course and return the next day, due to a mechanical breakdown.

On November 3rd, it left port with 85 tons of ammunition, arriving in Tobruk three days later. Around four o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, while unloading ammunition, it was attacked by planes and hit by three bombs: 5 officers and 18 non-commissioned officers and sailors were killed, the submarine was run aground to prevent its sinking. This was a sign of the desperate need for supplies since submarines were usually unloaded only at night.

The wreck of the Sciesa in Tobruk ℗

On November 12th, in the run-up to the fall of Tobruk to the British, the wreck of the Sciesa was mined and blown up. In 1946, the wreck was resurfaced by an Italian salvage company and tugs moved the boat to Taranto where it was sent to the scrapyard.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
12		7,311	922	57	144.44	6.02

Actions

Date	Time	Captain	Area	Coordinates	Convoy	Weapon	Result	Ship	Type	Tonns	Flag
10/2/1942	19:15		Mediterranean			Torpedo	Failed	Unknown			Unknown

Crew Members Lost

Last Name	First Name	Rank	Italian Rank
Aquino	Gennaro	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Avallone	Giovanni	Naval Rating	Comune
Benvenuti	Ugaglio	Ensign	Aspirante G.M.
Cattani	Luciano	Sublieutenant G.N.	Tenente G.N.
Colvaro	Dino	Ensign Other Branches	Sottotenente Altri Corpi
D’addario	Cosimo	Naval Rating	Comune
D’alba	Antonio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Daziano	Giorgio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
De Gregorio	Roberto	Naval Rating	Comune
Donatucci	Rocco	Naval Rating	Comune
Galletti	Raul	Lieutenant	Tenente di Vascello
Iannone	Martino	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
La Motta	Francesco	Lieutenant Other Branches	Capitano G.N.
Melucci	Angelo	Naval Rating	Comune
Montesoro	Mario	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Mor	Mario	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Pelosi	Emanuele	Naval Rating	Comune
Pilolli	Dante	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Punzo	Giorgio	Sergeant	Sergente
Sbergo	Nunzio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Scerpa	Alfonso	Naval Rating	Comune
Squadrito	Sebastiano	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Terrenzi	Attilio	Naval Rating	Comune

The Antonio Bjamonti  was the former Yugoslavian submarine Smeli of the Osvetnik class. Built by the AC de la Loire shipyard of Nantes, France, it was lunched December 1^st, 1928. The Smeli was captured by Italian forces at the Bay of Kotor in April 1942. Initially designated N2, the armament was changed, and the conning tower modified.  Due to the advanced age, old design, and shallow diving depth, when commissioned into the Regia Marina as “Antonio Bajamonti”, service was limited to training and experimentation.

A picture of the Bajamonti around 1930, when it was the Smeli

On March 8^th, 1942

It carried out an ambush in the Gulf of Genoa along with the submarine H 6, another aging submarine, returning to La Spezia without having identified any enemy ships.

From November 8^th through 10^th, 1942

The Bajiamonti carried out another defensive mission in the Ligurian Sea and four days later it made another one off Ajaccio, but in both cases there was no sighting of enemy ships

At the proclamation of the armistice, it was under maintenance in La Spezia and therefore, unable to leave port; it was scuttled there 9 September 9^th, 1943 to avoid capture by the Germans.

The Ammiraglio Millo was an oceanic submarine of the “Ammiragli” class. Built by the CRDA shipyard of Monfalcome, it entered active service on May 1^st, 1941. From May to October 1941, it was engaged in crew training becoming fully operational on September 15th. Due to its large size, it was used to transport supplies rather than the original design as ocean rader. The “Ammiragli” class was designed to navigate from Italy to Italian Somalia around the African continent without stopping.

The submarine Millo

On November 21^st, 1941, it sailed from Taranto for the first mission to transport 138 tons of gasoline cans and 6.8 tons of anti-tank ammunition boxes to Derna. The Millo arrived in the Libyan port on the evening of November 23rd, unloaded, and departed on the morning of November 24th, arriving in Taranto two days later. Unloading took usually place at night to avoid British aerial attacks which were common and precise.

Other missions of this type took place on November 30th (Bardia and Benghazi), December 23rd (Tripoli) and January 26^th, 1942 (Tripoli). While returning from this last voyage and near the coast of Libya, the boat was the target of an air attack with bombs but escaped unscathed. In all, on these four transport missions, the Millo carried 365.2 tons of fuel, 167 tons of ammunition, and 91 tons of supplies.

On March 6^th, 1942, the boat was deployed southeast of Malta as part of Operation V5, protecting an Italian convoy carrying supplies bound for Libya. Millo, along with other submarines, was to attack any surface units that had departed from Malta to attack the convoy. Six days later, finding no enemy ships, it returned to base.

The MILLO in 1942 outside Taranto
(Photo courtesy Erminio Bagnasco and Achille Rastelli)

At 01.23 PM on March 14th, the Millo was navigating off Cape d’Armi (Motta San Giovanni, Calabria) and zigzagging on the surface heading towards Taranto to return to base. There, it was sighted by the British submarine H.M.S. Ultimatum (Lieutenant P.R.H. Harrison) under a waning moon. The British captain launched a spread of four torpedoes: two of the weapons hit respectively amidships and aft of the Conning tower, causing the sudden sinking of the Millo in position 38°27′ N and 16°37′ E. Images of the wreck, found in 2005, would suggest a single hit to the bow, not aft. The official report of Lieutenant Harrison reads:

1255 hours – Sighted the conning tower of a submarine bearing 270°. Range was about 8000 yards. Started attack.

1319 hours – Fired four torpedoes from 2200 yards. Two hits were obtained and the submarine was seen to sink.

1325 hours – Surfaced and picked up fourteen survivors. These included four officers and ten ratings.

1402 hours – Dived and withdrew from the area. In the evening Lt. Harrison decided to return to Malta to land the Italian survivors.

The second explosion was probably one of the Millo’s own torpedoes going off. It should be noted that Ultimatum went undetected by the Millo for 24 minutes.

Officially, the Italian skipper, Commander Vincenzo D’Amato, two other officers and 52 non-commissioned officers and sailors were lost with the submarine (some sources indicate a total of 58 victims), while the second lieutenant commander Marcello Bertini (who after the war wrote important manuscripts on Italian submarines in the Mediterranean for U.S.M.M., the historical office of the navy) three other officers, two non-commissioned officers and eight sailors were rescued and captured by the Ultimatum. A last survivor, electrician Sergeant Lingua, was rescued by a boat which had witnessed the sinking.

As mentioned, the wreck of the submarine was found in September 2005, lying on its left side, at a depth of between 65 and 72 meters.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
10		8,045	532	40	214.43	8.93

Actions

No offensive actions reported.

Crew Members Lost

Last Name	First Name	Rank	Italian Rank
Agnoloni	Renzo	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Aimone	Antimo	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Alessandria	Lorenzo	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Almasio	Domenico	Naval Rating	Comune
Barbieri	Nino	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Bassi	Franco	Naval Rating	Comune
Benini	Paride	Chief 3rd Class	Capo di 3a Classe
Bonini	Luigi	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Bressan	Igino	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Buccolieri	Benedetto	Naval Rating	Comune
Buonanno	Vincenzo	Naval Rating	Comune
Buratta	Aldo	Sergeant	Sergente
Capadura	Giulio	Naval Rating	Comune
Cellai	Giorgio	Naval Rating	Comune
Cesarini	Mario	Naval Rating	Comune
Chiesa	Giuseppe	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Ciampa	Salvatore	Naval Rating	Comune
Colloredo	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Crocetta	Antonio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Cucinotta	Antonio	Naval Rating	Comune
D’amato	Vincenzo	Lieutenant Commander	Capitano di Corvetta
Dameri	Carlo	Ensign Other Branches	Sottotenente Altri Corpi
De Poli	Rino	Naval Rating	Comune
Del Mastro	Davide	Naval Rating	Comune
Di Biase	Giulio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Di Fonzio	Pietro	Naval Rating	Comune
Di Meglio	Salvatore	Naval Rating	Comune
Di Sebastiano	Giuseppe	Naval Rating	Comune
Diana	Desiderio	Naval Rating	Comune
Federigo	Mario	Naval Rating	Comune
Ferrandina	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Fioretti	Canzio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Fracchioni	Leiio	Chief 3rd Class	Capo di 3a Classe
Gallo	Francesco	Naval Rating	Comune
Garofalo	Eduardo	Naval Rating	Comune
Leotta	Salvatore	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Loffredo	Nicola	Chief 3rd Class	Capo di 3a Classe
Marigo	Antonio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Paci	Andrea	Ensign	Guardiamarina
Palumbo	Rocco	Naval Rating	Comune
Parati	Vittorio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Pasini	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Piccolroaz	Bruno	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Prati	Guido	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Prodigi	Civili	Naval Rating	Comune
Rogora	Luigi	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Rossanda	Francesco	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Saggiomo	Domenico	Naval Rating	Comune
Santese	Francesco	Naval Rating	Comune
Sebastio	Leopoldo	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Stefanini	Danilo	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Stilo	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Storani	Nazareno	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Vaccaro	Umberto	Naval Rating	Comune
Vianello	Walter	Junior Chief	Sottocapo

The Uebi Scebeli was a costal submarine of the Class Adua, “600” series, Type Bernardis, built by the Tosi shipyard of Taranto and delivered to the Regia Marina on December 21^st, 1937.

Taranto, October 3rd, 1937 – the launching of the Uebi Scebeli

At the beginning of the conflict – June 10^th, 1940 – it was dispatched to lie in wait off Cerigotto (Antikythera, Greece), but returned to base five days later with no sightings reported. It then carried out a second patrol, in an antisubmarine function, in the Gulf of Taranto along with the Settembrini.

On June 27^th, 1940, it left Taranto under the command of Lieutenant Bruno Zani, bound for a point 35 miles northeast of Derna (Libya), as the assigned area of operations. At 6:30 AM on June 29th, while on the surface on the approach route, she sighted three British destroyers: H.M.S. Dainty, H.M.S. Defender, and H.M.S. Ilex. These units were at sea as part of the British operation “MA 3” (to protect British convoy traffic between Egypt, Malta and Greece). Two days earlier, these destroyers had already sunk the submarine Console Liuzzi, after Uebi Scebeli they later attacked and sunk the Argonauta.

The Uebi Scebeli had to make the crash dive – it was in fact not in a suitable position to attack – and then tried, at periscope depth, to go to the attack. Detected by British destroyers, the submarine was heavily bombarded with depth charges which it was unable to avoid despite various evading maneuvers, thus suffering serious damage which caused waterways.

The crew of the Uebi Scebeli taken prisoner by the Royal Navy
(Australian War Memorial)

Forced to the surface, the Uebi Scebeli was  targted by cannon and machine-gun fire. It was abandoned by the crew, who in the meantime had started the self-scuttling maneuvers. Part of the secret documents (mostly maps and codes) were thrown into the sea and others locked inside the submarine now irreparably in the process of sinking, but a lifeboat from H.M.S. Defender boarded it before it sank. The submarine sank at 7:00 AM, at 35°29′ N and 20°06′ E finished off by the 4.7 inch guns of H.M.S. Dainty.

However, some of the ciphers thrown into the water did not sink immediately – even though these documents were equipped with weights specifically for this purpose – and thus fell into British hands. The salvage encryption material, including the latest codebook may have been responsible for the sinking of the submarine Argonauta on June 29^th as it was returned from Tobruk. The entire crew of the Uebi Shebeli was rescued – and taken prisoner – by the British destroyers.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
3		1,437	149	11	144.18	6.01

The Vettor Pisani was a coastal submarine of the Pisani class which also included the Des Geneys, Giovanni Bausan, and Marcantonio Colonna. It secretly took part in the Spanish War with a single patrol during which it unsuccessfully launched two torpedoes at a ship.

At the outbreak of World War II, under the command of Junio Valerio Borghese, it carried out only two offensive patrols. The first in the last ten days of June 1940 and the second in the middle of July. Both patrols took place west of Malta and were not successful in locating enemy traffic.

The Vector Pisani still on the slip in Monfalcone

The Vettor Pisani also conducted patrols along the Italian coast until the end of 1940. Thereafter, due to its operational state – the boat was quite old – it was assigned to the Submarine School in Pula, for which he carried out 286 training missions, as well as some anti-submarine patrols.

Following the armistice, at the time the commander was lieutenant Commander Mario Resio, it relocated to Taranto and from there, in October 1943, to Naples. In January 1944 the Vector Pisani moved to Augusta and two months later back to Taranto; It continued to train until the end of the war, when it was laid up. Decommissioned on 1 February 1948, the Vector Pisani was sent for scrapping.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
21		4,759	286	29	173.97	7.25

Volframio was a costal submarine of the Class Platino (also known as “Metalli”, or metals), “600” series, Type Bernardis. The boat, built by the Tosi shipyard of Taranto, was delivered to the Regia Marina on February 15^th, 1942. On August 7th, the boat was sent on patrol between Algeria, Ibiza, and Mallorca, in an area between the meridians 1°40′ E and 2°40′ E. Three days later, he was ordered to report any sightings and to attack only thereafter. The British operation “Pedestal” had begun, which later resulted in the Battle of Mid-August, and it was necessary for the enemy formation to be attacked by packs of submarines. However, the Volframio was unable to attack.

Volframio alongside the Bronzo

Thereafter, the Volframio was deployed in Cagliari, with Lieutenant Giovanni Manunta as commander. The boat was then chosen for some special operations. The Volframio sailed from the Sardinian base on the evening of February 2^nd, 1943, with a group of 11 saboteurs on board to be disembarked between Cape Carbon and Cape Sigli, Algeria. It arrived in the area set for the landing of the saboteurs on the night of February 6th but was unable to disembark the team immediately due to rough seas. On February 8th, the Volframio was detected by enemy units and bombarded with depth charges, however it managed to evade the hunt. On February 9th, unable to land the raiders because the weather and sea conditions had not improved, Captain Manunta was forced to return to Cagliari.

On March 30th, in the afternoon, the boat left La Maddalena to attempt again the failed prior mission. It was expected to arrive between Capo Carbon and Capo Sigli between April 5^th and 8^th and disembarked the eleven raiders. Again, the landing of the saboteurs had to be abandoned due to bad weather.

The armistice surprised the Volframio in maintenance in La Spezia. Unable to leave port, it was scuttled on September 9^th, 1943, to avoid capture. Recovered by the Germans, in 1944 it was hit during an Allied air raid and sank again in the port.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
15		9,040	1,733	79	136.37	5.68

The boat was built by the Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico in the Monfalcone shipyard and was launched on February 23^rd, 1943, with delivery to the Regia Marina on June 21^st of the same year. Under the command of Lieutenant Marco Revedin, it was transferred to Taranto, where it was engaged in crew training until September.

A rare photo of the Vortice

On 7 September 1943 the submarine, by then under the command of Lieutenant Giovanni Manunta, left Taranto for its first offensive mission, as part of the “Zeta Plan” in contrast to the imminent Anglo-American landing at Salerno: it would lie in ambush east of Sicily, in the Ionian Sea.

Lieutenant Giovanni Manunta

The next day, following the announcement of the armistice, Captain Manunta surrendered to the Allies at Augusta. On September 16th, at sunset, the Vortice left port with five other submarines, and, sailing submerged to avoid being accidentally attacked by Allied aircraft or ships, headed for Malta where she arrived the next day.

Italian submarines in Malta, September 1943

On October 6^th, 1943, the Vortice left the island along with various other units (6 submarines, two torpedo boats, a destroyer and two auxiliary units) to return to Italy; the following day it arrived in Naples, where it was used to produce electricity for port facilities.

Due to its very late entry into the conflict, the Vortex had carried out just one patrol and two transfer missions. In February 1944 the unit was sent to Bermuda, with base in New London, and utilized in dangerous exercises for Allied antisubmarine units until the end of hostilities. Returning to Taranto in 1945, the Vortice was supposed to be handed over to France under the terms of the peace treaty, but France refused the transfer and ordered the unit to be scrapped. On 1 February 1948 the Vortice was decommissioned along with the rest of the Italian submarine fleet.

However, in the period 1953-54, it was subjected to radical modernization works. After modernization, the Vortex returned to service in 1954 as a training unit, and for antisubmarine training of surface ships and aircraft, operating intensively until its final decommissioning on 1 July 1967. The boat was finally decommissioned on 1 August, and then scrapped.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
3		939	231	9	130	5.42

At Italy’s entry into World War II, the Zaffiro was based in Leros, part of the Dodecanese island, and at the time occupied by Italy. The boat completed the first war mission from June 10th to 14^th, 1940, patrolling off the Island of Rhodes, but did not encounter any enemy ships.

The Zaffiro
(Photo U.S.M.M.)

Between the end of July and the beginning of August 1941 the Zaffiro was sent between Pantelleria and Malta, along with other submarines, to counter the a British operation consisting of sending a convoy of supplies to Malta, but failed to intercept any British units.

The Zaffiro, under the command Lieutenant Commander Giovanni Lombardi,  was chosen to recover the operators of the SLCs who had carried out the Alexandria attack: from December 24th to 26^th, 1941, Lombardi surfaced every night off Rosetta (fifteen miles north of the mouth of the Nile), and stationed there from midnight to three in the morning. This turned out to be useless because the operators who had managed to get away from the port of Alexandria (the captain of the Naval Engineers Antonio Marceglia and the sub-chief diver Spartaco Schergat) had already been captured while trying to reach Rosetta. Finally, on December 26th, the submarine had to return to Leros.

On June 8^th, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Carlo Mottura, the Zaffiro departed from Cagliari heading south of the Balearic Islands; he was then ordered to move to an area between Cape Falcon and Cape Ferrat (off the coast of Oran), where, together with three other submarines, it would form a barrage to counter the British operation “Harpoon” as part of the Battle of Mid-June, which would develop in a few days. However, it is probable that this order never reached the boat, since after his departure contact was lost and the radio messages continuously sent until 22 July were in vain.

There is a report that the Zaffiro may have been sunk by a PBY Catalina seaplane of the Royal Air Force’s 500th Squadron on June 9^th, 1942. However, the 500th Squadron did not relocate from the RAF St Eval, Cornwall base to Gibraltar until November 1942 and, at the time, the squadron was operating Bristol Blenheim and received Lockheed Hudson in November; it never flew Catalinas.

The Zaffiro under attack. To these days, this photograph is often described as a U-Boat being attacked by a Catalina.
(Photo Imperial War Museum)

More credible is the report that on that day a Catalina Z2143/J of No. 240 Squadron RAF, then attached to No. 202 Squadron based in Gibraltar, sunk the Zaffiro near the Balearic Islands. While flying a sortie from Gibraltar, Flt. Lt. Desmond Ernest Hawkins, the squadron’s Flight Commander, and his crew spotted the submarine from an altitude of 2000 ft. The submarine turned to bring its surface guns to bear. The plane descended to 100 ft., and while exchanging gunfire with the submarine, dropped four 450 lb. depth charges. The submarine then started to dive.  Approximately four minutes later, the Zaffiro (probably severely damaged) resurfaced, and its crew went to man the guns. The Catalina fired upon the boat until a white flag was raised. The crew started to abandon ship. Seeing that the submarine was sinking, Hawkins tried to land his plane to pick up survivors, but the condition of the sea did not allow it. As the Catalina hit water the hull was split open, injuring members of the plane’s crew. Flt. Lt. Hawkins, subsequently, received a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross for this action. He would retire as an Air Vice-Marshal in 1974.

Operational Records

Patrols (Med.)	Patrols (Other)	NM Surface	NM Sub.	Days at Sea	NM/Day	Average Speed
22		12,919	2,629	128	121.47	5.06

Actions

No offensive actions reported.

Crew Members Lost

Last Name	First Name	Rank	Italian Rank
Aldinucci	Enrico	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Aprile	Roberto	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Areggi	Giulio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Arich-Tich	Tristano	Ensign	Guardiamarina
Bertini	Bruno	Sublieutenant	Sottotenente di Vascello
Bertolini	Bruno	Naval Rating	Comune
Bona	Giovanni	Sergeant	Sergente
Bonaldo	Giovanni	Naval Rating	Comune
Bonliccelli	Alfirio	Chief 3rd Class	Capo di 3a Classe
Borra	Bruno	Sergeant	Sergente
Bugetti	Vincenzo	Sergeant	Sergente
Burgato	Giovanni	Chief 3rd Class	Capo di 3a Classe
Cadario	Cesare	Ensign	Guardiamarina
Carboni	Mario	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Coluccio	Giuseppe	Naval Rating	Comune
Corio	Guido	Naval Rating	Comune
Dellarieri	Ignazio	Chief 1st Class	Capo di 1a Classe
Dente	Carlo	Naval Rating	Comune
Di Somma	Felice	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Finto	Raffaele	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Fonseca	Cosimo	Naval Rating	Comune
Gadeschi	Giovanni	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Gay	Mario	Naval Rating	Comune
Gerardi	Antonio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Guidone	Marcello	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Loni	Antonio	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Mezzenzanica	Rino	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Mira	Agostino	Sergeant	Sergente
Noviello	Francesco	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Pacifico	Antonio	Naval Rating	Comune
Paracalli	Vincenzo	Naval Rating	Comune
Pedicini	Antonio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Quaglia	Arnaldo	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Rana	Gualtiero	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Ribuoli	Gigetto	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Rossakola	Renato	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Ruvolo	Orazio	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Santoni	Pierino	Naval Rating	Comune
Scukovit	Stanislao	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Taccone	Giuseppe	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Tartara	Luciano	Junior Chief	Sottocapo
Trentin	Paolo	Chief 2nd Class	Capo di 2a Classe
Uva	Sergio	Naval Rating	Comune
Vakgiu	Armando	Naval Rating	Comune
Zanna	Corrado	Sublieutenant G.N.	Tenente G.N.