Adua class
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The submarines of Adua class were the fourth and penultimate series of the Italian submarine 600 model . Compared to the previous Perla class, they showed only minor technical improvements. 17 boats were built from 1936 to 1938 for the Regia Marina , which they mainly used in the Mediterranean during World War II . The Brazilian Navy ordered three more . They were submarines of medium displacement and range, with relatively low surface speed and good maneuverability. Their towers, which were too large, were rebuilt and reduced in size during the war. The boats were unofficially referred to as "Africans" because they were named after cities and places in Italian East Africa . The boats achieved some success in the Mediterranean, but all but the Alagi were lost by the end of the war .
Boats of the class
The class submarines were built in three groups at three different shipyards. 15 of the 17 boats of the class formed the submarine squadron 15 in La Spezia , 35 in Messina , 46 in Taranto and 71 in Cagliari in the summer of 1940 . Two boats were assigned to squadrons 62 in Tobruk and 82 in Massaua .
Adua
In CRDA in Monfalcone on 1 February 1936 on keel laid on 13 September from the stack overflowed and passed on 14 November 1936, the Navy. Operated in the summer of 1940 from Cagliari (71st Squadron) between Sardinia, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands. From October 1940 to March 1941 assigned to the Naval School in Pola for training purposes, then deployed in Taranto and in the eastern Mediterranean. Sunk on September 30, 1941 at 37 ° 10 ′ N , 0 ° 56 ′ W by HMS Gurkha and HMS Legion . There were no survivors. The boat made 16 patrols and 46 training trips and covered a total of 9,690 nautical miles.
Axum
Laid down at CRDA in Monfalcone on February 8, 1936, launched on September 27, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on December 2, 1936. Operated from Cagliari during World War II (71st squadron) initially unsuccessfully in the western and central Mediterranean. Attacked a British mine-layer near Malta on July 15, 1942 . During Operation Pedestal on August 12, 1942 at 37 ° 26 ' N , 10 ° 56' E, the British cruiser HMS Cairo was sunk and severely damaged the cruiser HMS Nigeria and the tanker Ohio . After the armistice handed over to the Allies in Malta on September 10, 1943, then used for special operations. Run aground on December 27, 1943 on the coast of Arcadia ( Peloponnese ) and was sunk by the crew. Axum carried out 27 enemy voyages and 22 transport voyages, covering 26,302 nautical miles.
Aradam
Laid down at CRDA in Monfalcone in March 1936, launched on October 18, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on January 16, 1937. Operated from Cagliari (71st Squadron) mainly off Tunisia and Gibraltar , at times also off Malta and on the Libyan-Egyptian coast. Attacked a French escort on June 23, 1940 at 42 ° 40 ′ N , 4 ° 25 ′ E, unsuccessfully. On April 6, 1942, near Cap Bon (Ras el Mirk, 36 ° 47 ′ N , 11 ° 5 ′ E ), destroyed the British destroyer HMS Havock . On November 16, 1943, attack on British convoy off Tunisia, with some merchant ships damaged with the on-board cannon after a failed torpedo attack. After the armistice in Genoa on September 8, 1943, sunk by the crew, lifted by the German Navy , and finally sunk by Allied bombs on September 5, 1944. Aradam covered 29,367 nautical miles in 50 missions.
Alagi
Laid down at CRDA in Monfalcone on March 19, 1936, launched on November 15, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on March 6, 1937. Operated from June 1940 to December 1941 from Cagliari (71st squadron) between Sardinia, Tunisia and Gibraltar, then also near Malta and in the eastern Mediterranean. Erroneously sank the Italian destroyer Usodimare on June 8, 1942 at 9:00 p.m. near Cap Bon . Unsuccessful attack on the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle on June 14, 1942 . Sank a tanker off the Syrian coast on July 9, 1942. Torpedoed and damaged the cruiser HMS Kenya on August 12, 1942 off Tunisia ( 37 ° 52 ′ N , 9 ° 21 ′ E ) and sank the British merchant ship Clan Fergusson . Handed over to the Allies in Malta in September 1943 and then used as a transport boat from Haifa . Back in Taranto in December 1944 and broken up there after the war. The boat undertook 36 patrols (mainly reconnaissance missions) and 19 transport trips and covered 36,729 nautical miles.
Macallè
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on March 1, 1936, launched on October 29, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on March 1, 1937. Macallè was assigned to the submarine squadron 82 in Massaua in the Red Sea in 1940 . During the first patrol to Port Sudan on June 11, 1940, Macallè (and other boats) had technical problems with the ventilation system. The escape of toxic gases led to the failure of parts of the crew. Macallè ran on June 15, 1940 due to a navigation error on the island of Barr Musa Kebir on a rock. Before the boat sank, the crew were able to get to safety and, almost dying of thirst, were rescued on June 22 by the Guglielmotti submarine . Three Macallè men had previously reached the Italian colony of Eritrea in an adventurous way . Macallè was the war's first Italian submarine loss.
Gondar
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on January 15, 1937, launched on October 3, 1937 and handed over to the Navy on February 28, 1938. In 1940 Gondar was initially under the 15th Squadron in La Spezia and was then assigned to a special unit ( Decima Flottiglia MAS ) together with the boats Scirè , Ametista and Iride . It was supposed to bring manned torpedoes to Alexandria . Gondar was badly damaged on September 30, 1940 by HMAS Stuart and HMS Diamond as well as by a Sunderland flying boat and sunk 110 nautical miles from Alexandria by the crew.
Neghelli
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on February 25, 1937, launched on November 7, 1937 and handed over to the Navy on February 22, 1938. The boat belonged to the 15th submarine squadron in La Spezia in 1940. On July 19, 1940, it damaged the British cruiser HMS Coventry 80 nautical miles north-northwest of Marsa Matruh ( 32 ° 37 ′ N , 26 ° 44 ′ E ) . After Neghelli attacked an escort south of Piraeus on January 19, 1941 and damaged the merchant ship Clan Cumming , the submarine was sunk shortly afterwards at 37 ° 15 ′ N , 24 ° 4 ′ E by the British destroyer HMS Greyhound . There were no survivors.
Ascianghi
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on January 20, 1937, launched on December 5, 1937, handed over to the Navy on March 25, 1938 and initially stationed in Leros . In 1940 it was under the 15th Squadron in La Spezia, but operated from Cagliari. On June 22, 1940, it damaged an armed British merchant ship in the Balearic Islands . On September 21, 1941, it sank the Polish tanker Antar, which was sailing under the British flag, off Beirut . At the beginning of November 1942, Ascianghi transported ammunition from Messina to Tobruk and saved 20 German soldiers whose aircraft had crashed into the sea. The boat sank the British minesweeper HMS Algerine on November 15, 1942 off Algeria . On March 3, 1943, it attacked a British escort in the Gulf of Sidra . During the Allied Operation Husky on July 23, 1943 off Augusta, together with U 407, it attacked the British cruiser HMS Newfoundland , which was badly damaged. Subsequent water bombing damaged Ascianghi so hard that the boat had to show up and then by the destroyers HMS Laforey and HMS Eclipse was sunk. There were 27 survivors. Ascianghi covered 28,923 nautical miles on 22 patrols and other voyages.
Scirè
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on January 30, 1937, launched on January 6, 1938 and handed over to the Navy on April 25, 1938. In 1940 it was first subordinate to U-Boot-Geschwader 15 in La Spezia and then operated together with the boats Gondar , Ametista and Iride as part of a special unit ( X. Flottiglia MAS ).
Durbo
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on March 8, 1937, launched on March 6, 1938 and handed over to the Navy on July 1, 1938. Durbo was subordinate to the U-Boot-Geschwader 35 in Messina in 1940 and made a total of five patrols. On October 18, 1940, it was badly damaged by the British destroyers HMS Firedrake and HMS Wrestler near Gibraltar and forced to surface. The crew sank the boat themselves, but the British had previously managed to steal secret Italian documents. This allowed the sinking of the Italian submarine Lafolè two days later (see below).
Tembia
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on February 6, 1937, launched on February 6, 1938, handed over to the Navy on July 1, 1938 and initially stationed in Leros . In 1940 Tembien was under the 35th Squadron in Messina, from where it initially operated near Malta, Crete and off the Libyan-Egyptian coast. On November 27, 1940, it attacked a British unit west of Malta, and on January 12, 1941, a merchant ship near Bardia , which the torpedoes missed. On June 29, 1941, Tembien torpedoed the Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen off the Libyan coast . The Italian torpedo did not explode, but flooded the destroyer's engine room , which was then attacked from the air and sunk. On August 2, 1941 reached Tembien northwest of Malta the British cruiser HMS Hermione to, but who managed to avoid the torpedoes and Tembien at '36 ° 31 N , 12 ° 40' O to ram and sink. There were no survivors. Tembien undertook ten enemy voyages and six transport and training voyages and covered 11,687 nautical miles.
Lafolè
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on June 30, 1937, launched on April 10, 1938 and handed over to the Navy on August 31, 1938. In 1940 Lafolè was under the submarine squadron 62 in Tobruk, from where it undertook four enemy voyages. It operated near Tobruk, south of Crete, in the Gulf of Taranto and east of Gibraltar. On October 18, 1940, the British succeeded in capturing secret documents in the sinking Italian submarine Durbo (see above), from which the operational plans for Lafolè emerged . On October 20, 1940 at 6:30 p.m., the British destroyers HMS Gallant , HMS Griffin and HMS Hotspur launched a depth charge southeast of Alborán that seriously damaged the boat and forced it to surface. Lafolè was rammed and sunk in front of Cabo de Tres Forcas near Melilla . There were nine survivors.
Beilul
Laid down at OTO in La Spezia on July 2, 1937, launched on May 22, 1938 and handed over to the Navy on September 14, 1938. In 1940 Beilul was under the submarine squadron 35 in Messina. The boat attacked British destroyers at Leros on July 7, 1940 and narrowly missed HMS Whirlwind . On January 9, 1941, another unsuccessful attack on a British destroyer took place northeast of Crete ( 35 ° 25 ' N , 26 ° 28' E ). In July 1943, Beilul was operating off Syracuse during Operation Husky (landing in Sicily) . After the armistice, the boat fell into German hands on September 9, 1943 in Monfalcone . It was sunk by Allied aerial bombs in the port of Monfalcone in May 1944.
Dagabur
Laid down at Tosi in Taranto on April 16, 1936, launched on September 22, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on April 9, 1937. In 1940 it was under the 46th Squadron in Taranto and initially operated primarily in the eastern Mediterranean. At damaged Dagabur on March 30, 1941 British cruiser HMS Bonaventure , then the following day by the Italian submarine Ambra before Sollum was sunk. On December 14, 1941, Dagabur attacked the cruiser HMS Galatea off the Egyptian coast . On August 12, 1942, Dagabur dared to attack the aircraft carrier HMS Furious south of the Balearic Islands in heavy seas , but was rammed and sunk by the destroyer HMS Wolverine .
Dessiè
Laid down at Tosi in Taranto on April 20, 1936, launched on November 22, 1936 and handed over to the Navy on April 14, 1937. In 1940 it was under the 46th Squadron in Taranto. On November 28, 1940 torpedoed Dessie at 36 ° 30 ' N , 12 ° 59' O the British cruiser HMS Glasgow , but missed him. On August 12, 1942, the boat operated against the Pedestal convoy , with the merchant ship Brisbane Star was badly damaged. The sinking of the merchant ship Deucalion was erroneously attributed to Dessiè . The boat was sunk on November 28, 1942 off Annaba ( Algeria ) by the destroyers HMS Quiberon and HMS Quentin .
Uarsciek
Laid down at Tosi in Taranto on December 2, 1936, launched on September 19, 1937 and handed over to the Navy on December 4, 1937. In 1940 Uarsciek was under the 46th Squadron in Taranto. It carried out some ammunition transports to Tobruk. Uarsciek launched on 14 June 1942 at 38 ° 2 ' N , 5 ° 6' O a futile attack on the Harpoon convoy . Operated on August 10, 1942 against the Pedestal convoy it first reported. Missed on August 11, 1942 at 37 ° 52 ' N , 10 ° 34' O the aircraft carrier furious . On December 15, 1942, Uarsciek attacked the destroyer HMS Petard south of Malta , but it missed. It was forced to surface after a depth charge. In the following overwater battle against Petard and the Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga , 18 Italian seamen were killed. After a collision, Petard took the badly damaged boat in tow, but it sank shortly afterwards.
Uebi Scebeli
Laid down at Tosi in Taranto on January 12, 1937, launched on October 3, 1937 and handed over to the Navy on December 21, 1937. In 1940 the boat was under the 46th Squadron in Taranto, from where it carried out two patrols in the eastern Mediterranean. On June 29, 1940, it was chased southwest of Crete by five British destroyers with depth charges and badly damaged, forced to surface. Uebi Scebeli was sunk by the British destroyers HMS Dainty and HMS Ilex . There were survivors.
Brazilian Navy
Three Adua- class submarines were delivered to Brazil , which remained in service there under the names Tupy , Tamoyo and Tymbira until the 1950s.
See also
literature
- Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 5th edition 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9 .
- Robert Jackson: Submarines . Gondromverlag, Bindlach, 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1874-3 .
Web links
- General information ( memento of April 29, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) at regiamarina.net (English)