April 1942
| 9 | April | Fall of Bataan. |
| ca. 13 | April | The Royal Navy’s top ace, the submarine HMS Upholder (Lt. Cdr M.D. Wanklyn, VC, DSO, RN), disappeared without a trace off Tripoli. |
| 20 | April | Operation CALENDAR: The aircraft carriers USS Wasp and HMS Eagle reinforced Malta with aircraft. These were almost immediately destroyed on the ground. |
| 26 | April | The Tenth Submarine Flotilla began its evacuation to Alexandria. |
| 27 | April | The Royal Navy’s second-highest-scoring submarine, HMS Urge (Lt. Cdr. E.P. Tomkinson, DSO and Bar, RN), was mined as she sailed from Malta. |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during April 1942
| Narvalo (…1 April) | Aradam (…1 April) | Turchese (…2 April) |
| Dandolo (…3 April) | Mocenigo (…3 April) | Perla (…11 April) |
| Acciaio (…12 April) | Brin (…16 April) | Veniero (…18 April) |
| Argo (2-22 April) | Aradam (4-22 April) | Turchese (4-11 April) |
| Nereide (4-15 April) | Uarsciek (6-24 April) | Malachite (6-24 April) |
| Ambra (11-19 April) | Velella (13 April…) | Emo (14 April…) |
| Sirena (17 April…) | Ondina (17 April…) | Turchese (20 April) |
| Corallo (20 April…) | Onice (20 April…) | H.8 (21-22 April) |
| H.1 (21-23 April) | H.4 (21-23 April) | Rismondo (22-23 April) |
| H.8 (22-23 April) | Galatea (28 April…) | Mocenigo (29 April…) |
| Nereide (29 April…) | H.2 (30 April…) |
After midnight on 1 April, Aradam (T.V. Oscar Gran) was returning to Cagliari after a patrol off Cape Bougaroni when, about forty miles southwest of Cape Teulada, an unknown submarine was sighted on course 240°. Because of the possibility of encountering a friendly submarine, Gran elected to dive and could only hear the contact fade on his hydrophones. This was the Dutch O.23 (Ltz1. A.M. Valkenburg) on passage from Gibraltar to Alexandria but closing in on an attacking course. The Dutch submarine submerged and lost contact.
About an hour later, before dawn, Turchese (T.V. Pier Vincenzo di Domenico) was attacked north of Cape Bougaroni by Catalina ‘J’ (AJ160) of 202 Squadron, piloted by Flight Officer I.F. Edgar, who had also attacked Bagnolini in August 1941. The submarines dived immediately as seven depth charges were dropped (an eighth was hanged up). Turchese escaped with minor damage.
At 1800 hours on 2 April, Italian Intelligence observed the departure of a submarine at Algeciras. This was HMS Taku on her way to join the First Submarine Flotilla in Alexandria. Italian submarines were alerted, and Velella, returning to base, spotted an unknown submarine off the Algerian coast in the early hours of 27 April and made an enemy report. Emo attempted to intercept it but did not see or hear anything.
In the early hours of 6 April, Aradam (T.V. Oscar Gran), lurking near Kelibia (Tunisia), observed a destroyer proceeding close to the coast. This was HMS Havock, who had suffered damage during the Second Battle of Sirte. The previous evening, the destroyer had sailed from Malta for Gibraltar and was hugging the Tunisian coast to avoid the minefields laid outside the territorial waters. The presence of the Italian submarine in this area at this opportune time must have resulted from Italian Naval Intelligence. Gran estimated her speed at 16 knots and fired a single torpedo from close range, but no hit was heard; a second torpedo misfired. Havock was travelling at nearly 30 knots to be as far away as possible by daylight. The attack was unobserved as lookouts were probably more preoccupied with the close coast. The torpedo had most certainly missed astern, but a short time later, the destroyer was wrecked near Ras El Mirh. The British destroyer was hard aground, and with no hope of freeing herself, she was set afire by her crew, which were interned by the Vichy authorities. Shortly after, the submarine observed the smoking wreck of the destroyer and assumed –wrongly– that she was hit by the torpedo and beached. Gran made an enemy report which brought MAS-563 and MAS-564 from 17^ Squadriglia based at Pantelleria. They examined the wreck from a short distance but could only confirm her destruction.
Two days later, Malachite (C.C. Olinto di Serio) was sighted west of Crete by a Maryland of 203 Squadron, which strafed the submarine but did not drop any bombs. The aircraft had probably none left.
On the morning of 8 April, the submarines Argo (C.C. Giulio Contreas), Brin (T.V. Luigi Andreotti), and Veniero (C.C. Elio Zappetta), operating in the western Mediterranean, were alerted that the British steamer Baron Elgin had left Gibraltar for an eastward destination but nothing was seen. The following day, the same submarines were informed that a light cruiser of the Arethusa class had been spotted on the 10th. While cruising west of Cape Tenes (Algeria), Argo discovered a small cruiser or large destroyer. However, Contreas attempted a stern shot but was thwarted when he believed he had been detected. He prudently brought his boat down to 120 metres, but no counterattack materialised.
On 13 April, Ammiraglio Cagni (C.F. Carlo Liannazza), on passage from Fiume to Taranto, and Ametista (C.C. Virgilio Spigai), proceeding from Leros to Messina, were informed that an enemy submarine was lurking near Cape S. Maria di Leuca. This was HMS Ultimatum, which had been damaged by a mine. No submarine was sighted, but as Liannazza ordered two torpedo tubes to be readied, one was discharged accidentally, fortunately without fatal consequences.
On the 19th, Force W[1] sailed from Gibraltar to join the American aircraft carrier Wasp for Operation CALENDAR carrying forty-seven Spitfires for Malta. The submarines Argo, Emo, and Velella were operating in the western Mediterranean and were alerted that two cruisers had sailed from Gibraltar for an eastward destination. They were not aware that Wasp had entered the Mediterranean.
Before dawn on 20 April, about 60 miles southeast of Cartagena, Velella (T.V. Giovanni Febbraro) fired two torpedoes at a lone destroyer but obtained no hit. This was HMS Antelope trying to rejoin Force H after refuelling at Gibraltar during Operation CALENDAR. A torpedo track was sighted, and the destroyer attempted to locate the submarine without success.
At 0530A/20 April, the USS Wasp began flying off the Spitfire fighter planes from position 37°30’ N, 03°20’ E. A total of 61 aircraft were launched in 58 minutes. It was only at 1000 hrs the same day that a German aircraft reported a battleship, an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, and ten destroyers on an easterly course 35 miles northeast of Algiers. A few hours later, Corallo and Onice sailed from Cagliari to take up positions off Cape Bon and Ras Mustafa, respectively, while Turchese departed from Trapani for a patrol east of La Galite Island.
Following the severe bombardments of Malta, the Tenth Submarine Flotilla began its evacuation to Alexandria. HMS P31 was the first submarine to leave before dawn on 27 April. HMS Urge and HMS Olympus were lost, the former with all hands and the latter with only a handful of survivors after she was mined shortly after leaving the beleaguered island.
During the night of 28 April, Corallo (C.C. Gino Andreani) sank by gunfire the Tunisian schooner Dar el Salam (138 GRT) on passage from Djerba to Bone and rescued her crew of seven. Shortly after, the Tunisian fishing vessel Tunis (41 GRT) met the same fate; her crew of six was also picked up.
At about the same time, near Ras Mustafa, Onice (C.C. Bruno Zelik) sighted a large submarine. Two torpedoes were fired from 3-4,000 meters and—unsurprisingly—achieved no success. This was possibly her sister ship Corallo sinking the two schooners; nonetheless, it is surprising that Onice had not observed the gunfire. Neither could this target be HMS Una, who was operating farther to the southeast.
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during April 1942
| Tazzoli (…1 April) | Morosini (…4 April) | Calvi (…29 April) |
| Barbarigo (25 April…) | Bagnolini (26 April…) | Cappellini (27 April…) |
and Ugo Giudice (Finzi), photo probably taken on 1 April 1942, upon their
return from operation PAUKENSCHLAG (USMM)
Washington informed Gibraltar that twelve Italian submarines might enter the Atlantic in three groups of four at 24-hour intervals starting the night of 18/19 April. The Third Destroyer Flotilla and nine Motor Launches conducted an anti-submarine patrol; ASV-equipped (air to surface radar) Swordfish were also flown while Force H was put on alert. The report was bogus.
On 23 April, Captain Longanesi of Leonardo da Vinci, returning from a visit to Rome, informed Captain Polacchini that Maricosom would like to study the possibility of an attack on Brazilian ports in case this country entered the war. Rio de Janeiro and Bahia were both considered as targets, by torpedo attacks and by bombardments of at least seventy-five rounds. Landings of secret agents were also studied. Da Vinci sailed for Brazilian waters; however, the opportunity would not be there as Brazil did not declare war before August. By this time, the Italian submarine was undergoing preparations for an attack on New York.
On 26 April, Rear-Admiral Bertoldi, Italian Naval liaison with the German Navy in Berlin, travelled to France for a visit to Gruppe West and Betasom. He met with Admiral Dönitz near Paris to discuss the German prospects of the war at sea. The BdU explained that new submarines were now undergoing a training period of four months, including twenty-five exercise sorties and an average of forty-three torpedo launches. He hoped to maintain a monthly sinking average of 600,000 tons of enemy shipping, excluding the tonnage sunk by Italian and Japanese submarines and other means. Although Dönitz conceded that the Allies could build 700,000 tons of shipping monthly, he believed that the figure was theoretical and would, in practice, fall short. He added that there were now 106 U-boats based in France, and this should soon be brought to 216. He favoured smaller submarines that would have their operational radius extended by ‘Milk cows’ (submarine tankers). In addition, two submarine bases were being developed in Norway, at Bergen and Trondheim, to attack traffic close to the British Isles and Murmansk.
Bertoldi then proceeded to Lorient where he visited the concrete bunkers being built to house the U-boats. The recent raid on St. Nazaire caused some alarm, and the 170mm coastal battery was supplemented at Quiberon by four railway 340mm guns of French origin. The Italian Admiral then proceeded to visit St. Nazaire, where he was impressed by the enormous concrete bunkers being built to shelter the U-boats. He examined a hole (75cm deep and 3.5m wide) made by a direct hit believed to be from a 500-kg bomb, which had failed to penetrate the structure.
At Bordeaux, Bertoldi met with C.C. Olivieri and his crew of the Calvi, who had just returned from an Atlantic patrol. He then visited the docked Da Vinci, who was due shortly to leave for a mission, and finally, the blockade runner Fusiyama, who had recently arrived from the Far East. He concluded his voyage with a visit to Admiral Saalwächter (Commander in Chief Gruppe West) at his headquarters near the Bois de Boulogne. Among other subjects, the German Admiral gave him an exposé of operation CERBERUS, the escape from Brest of the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen across the Channel.
As Giuliani (C.C. Adalberto Giovannini) was about to return to Bordeaux after a year of exercises in Gotenhafen, Admiral Legnani requested that Italian submariners continue their training on German units. On 22 April 1942, he informed Supermarina that Admiral Weichhold[2] had forwarded his request. Still, the Seekriegsleitung rejected it, citing language difficulties and the fact that no submarines were available for the time being.
For the best part of the month, Calvi (C.C. Emilio Olivieri) was the only Italian submarine operating in the Atlantic as the others were returning to base. Another wave made up of Barbarigo, Bagnolini, and Cappellini sailed during the last week of the month. Calvi continued her patrol by sinking the American tanker Eugene V.R. Thayer (7,138 GRT, built 1920) during the night of 9/10 April, but this required an expenditure of seven torpedoes and 123 rounds of 100mm ammunition. Eleven men were killed. The following day, two American PBYs of VP-52 Squadron found a lifeboat and alighted to pick up thirteen survivors. A second lifeboat with thirteen survivors reached the Brazilian coast. On 11 April, the Italian submarine disposed of the Norwegian Balkis (2,161 GRT, built 1939) with two torpedoes and a few rounds of machine gun fire to induce the crew to quickly abandon ship. Seven were killed, and twenty-four survivors were picked up by the Swedish Scania. The following night, three torpedo hits failed to sink the Panamian Ben Brush (7,691 GRT, built 1928). Fifty-seven rounds of her deck guns were required to send her to the bottom. One crew member was killed, and thirty-four were later rescued.
[1] Force W: the battlecruiser Renown, the aircraft carriers HMS Eagle and USS Wasp, the light cruisers Charybdis and HMS Cairo, the destroyers HMS Inglefield (D.3), Ithuriel, Echo, Partridge, and five destroyers of the 13th Flotilla (including Vidette but she was detached at 1900/19 as her speed would not allow her to keep up during the fast withdrawal), USS Lang (DD-399, leader Third Division) and Madison (DD-425).
See http://www.fold3.com/image/267924367
[2] Letter of Admiral Weichold of 18 April 1942. Admiral Eberhard Weichold was in charge of Naval Command Italy (Befehslhaber des Deutschen Marine-Kommandos Italien).