November 1943

General Events

6NovemberSoviet forces liberated Kiev.
12NovemberGerman forces landed on Leros Island (Aegean).
22 NovemberCairo Conference began (Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek).
23NovemberGerman forces landed on Samos Island (Aegean).
28NovemberTeheran Conference began (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin).

Mediterranean

Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during November 1943

Corridoni (…2 November) Pt.2Manara (…3 November)Atropo (…3 November)
Marea (3-9 November)Zoea (3-10 November)Nichelio (26 November…)
Axum (30 November…)

At the beginning of the month, the situation in the Dodecanese had become desperate. On 5 November, the Commander-in-Chief Levant requested that the large submarines Porpoise and Clyde and the Italian submarine Ammiraglio Cagni be made available to supply Leros. Cagni was on her way from South Africa, but the British submarines were refitting and not unavailable. The supply of the Dodecanese was now to rely mostly on Italian submarines. Based at Haifa, Zoea (T.V. Rodolfo Bombig) carried out her second supply mission to Leros (3-10 November). On 16 November, Atropo sailed for Leros, but the situation there had taken a turn for the worse, and she was recalled before reaching her destination. By 16 November, the Germans were fully in control of the island. She sailed again on the 22nd of the month, but this time for Castellorizo.

In the Adriatic, Marea (S.T.V. Attilio M. Russo) replaced the old Manara on special missions. An attempt to land six agents near Cortellazzo failed due to bad weather, but she managed to land them near Catolica (3-9 November); this was special operation GARNET. Nichelio (T.V. Claudio Celli) was also employed in the same capacity, landing two groups of agents at the end of the month (Special Operation HEADLAMP). The submarine claimed to have been missed by a torpedo on the 29th, but the attack appears to have been bogus.

Indian Ocean

Ammiraglio Cagni sailed from Durban on 8 November for the Mediterranean via Kilindini (16-18 November), Aden (25 November-8 December), Suez (13-14 December), and Port Said (14-17 December), finally arriving at Haifa on 18 December. However, she found that her service as a transport submarine was no longer required and was directed to Taranto for a long overdue refit.