February 1941
General Events
| 6 | February | Benghazi fell to British forces. |
| 9 | February | Force H bombarded Genoa (operation RESULT/GROG), and the Italian Fleet and Air Force were unable to react effectively. |
| 12 | February | Rommel and the first elements of the Afrikakorps arrived at Tripoli. |
| 13-14 | February | Naval Conference of Merano attended by Admiral Riccardi and Admiral Raeder. |
| 24-25 | February | Operation ABSTENTION, the British attempt to capture Castellorizo failed. |
| 25 | February | British forces seized Mogadishu (Italian Somaliland). |
During the month, Admiral Falangola toured the bases of Bordeaux and Lorient, where he met Admiral Dönitz. He then proceeded to Germany, where he visited the submarine training school at Pillau. Falangola boarded U-62 during a training exercise on 21 February before returning to Rome three days later. He noted the youthfulness of the German crews, and Dönitz imparted his belief that the peak of a U-boat commander was between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty-two when he had enough experience and yet still retained the required aggressiveness. The comment was well-noted, as it was not uncommon in the Regia Marina for Italian submarine commanders to be near 40. They would have to gradually be replaced by younger officers.
Mediterranean
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during February 1941
| Anfitrite (…1 February) | Dessié (…1 February) | Colonna (…2 February) |
| Salpa (…5 February) | Turchese (…10 February) | Uarsciek (…12 February) |
| Corallo (1-5 February) | Manara (1-5 February) | Santarosa (1-5 February) |
| Delfino (1-6 February) | Tembien (2-13 February) | Ascianghi (2-5 February) |
| H.4 (2-3 February) | H.1 (2-3 February) | Scirè (2-5 February) |
| Zaffiro (3-9 February) | Malachite (4-18 February) | Corridoni (7-8 February) |
| Beilul (8-15 February) | Santarosa (8-11 February) | Corallo (8-9 February)x |
| Diaspro (9-11 February) | Topazio (10-21 February) | Speri (11-23 February) |
| Dagabur (12-24 February) | Manara (12-22 February) | Corridoni (12-13 February) |
| Ambra (15-27 February) | Corallo (15-18 February) | Sirena (16-19 February) |
| Ascianghi (16-18 February) | Turchese (21 February…) | Nereide (22 February) |
| Menotti (22 February…) | Zoea (23-28 February) Pt.1 | Capponi (23 February) |
| Settimo (23 February…) | Galatea (25 February…) | Nereide (26 February…) |
| Serpente (26 February…) | Micca (28 February…) Pt.1 | H.6 (28 February…) |
Italian submarines experienced a blank month in this theatre.
On 6 February, Force H sailed from Gibraltar and managed to reach Genoa three days later, undetected. The harbour was bombarded, and a few ships were damaged or sunk. The attack came as a complete surprise, and the Regia Marina failed to act effectively. Although aware of the departure of Force H, Supermarina had assumed that it was covering a new convoy to Malta. Maricosom had ordered two submarines from Cagliari to patrol north of Tunisia. Corallo (C.C. Loris Albanese) and Diaspro (C.C. Junio Valerio Borghese) departed during the night of 8/9 February; after a few hours, the former turned back because of defects. No submarine was at sea in the Ligurian Sea, and early in the morning of 9 February, Force H shelled the harbour facilities of Genoa with impunity. There were eighty-five killed and 231 wounded, including many civilians. The mist prevented the Regia Aeronautica from locating the enemy, who withdrew without interference. The bombardment was a great shock and underlined the vulnerability of the Italian coastline. From now on Maricosom would carry out submarine defensive patrols in this area.
Tragedy was averted when Delfino (C.C. Alberto Avogrado di Cerrione), on passage from Brindisi to Pola, met the Italian freighter Stamira on 9 February. The submarine made repeated recognition signals, but the merchant vessel turned away after opening fire. Supermarina admonished Marina Ancona for failing to warn the merchant ship of the submarine’s presence.
On the 10th of the month, the old submarine Vettor Pisani (C.C. Bruno Zelik) ran aground during exercises when she was suddenly enveloped in fog near the Island of S. Caterina near Pola. An inquest exonerated her commander.
The same day, HMS Rover attacked a Perla class submarine with six torpedoes near Punta Stilo but missed her. This was Salpa (C.C. Guido Coscia) on her way from Messina to Taranto for repairs. Two of the torpedo tracks were sighted, and she took evasive action in time.
Following the British landing at Castellorizo (Dodecanese), the submarine Galatea (T.V. Mario Baroglio) was sent to patrol twenty miles southwest of the island. Thanks to the energetic reaction of Admiral Luigi Biancheri, the island was quickly recaptured. As the British withdrew during the night of 27/28 February, the destroyer Francesco Crispi engaged the destroyer HMS Jaguar with guns and torpedoes; the action was inconclusive. Galatea observed two vessels during the same night but, unsure of their identity, refrained from attack. After the fiasco of the Genoa operation, this action was a good morale booster for the Regia Marina.
Italian submarines attempted a few convoy interceptions during this month but none came to fruition.
Atlantic
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during February 1941
| Otaria (…1 February) | Malaspina (…3 February) | Torelli (…5 February) |
| Baracca (…18 February) | Marconi (…18 February) | Dandolo (…22 February) |
| Morosini (…24 February) | Bianchi (5 February…) | Otaria (6 February…) |
| Marcello (6-22? February*) | Barbarigo (10 February…) | Velella (23 February…) |
| Brin (26 February…) | Argo (28 February…) |
On the afternoon of 8 February, Dandolo (C.C. Riccardo Boris) located the Dutch Prins Fredrik Hendrik (1,288 GRT, built 1936) but failed to close the range to attack. At dusk, 250 miles west of Ireland, Morosini (C.C. Alfredo Criscuolo) attacked the same vessel. Her commander ordered three torpedoes fired, spaced every two minutes, but none found the mark.
Two days later, Marconi (C.C. Giulio Chialamberto) came in sight of an unidentified steamer on a westerly course, probably a ship that had sailed from Lisbon. Two torpedoes from her stern tubes failed to register a hit.
On 14 February, Bianchi (C.C. Adalberto Giovannini) encountered the British Alnmoor1 (6,573 GRT, built 1922), a straggler from convoy SC.21 from Halifax to Glasgow. A first torpedo missed, but the second hit squarely, and the ship sank in sixty-five seconds. None of her crew of forty survived. It was suggested that she sank Belcrest; however, the route of her victim was more consistent with Alnmoor (position 55°16′ N, 19°07′ W, course 060°, 10 knots). Belcrest was going to Newport.
Loss of Marcello
Marcello (C.C. Alberto Carlo Teppati) sailed from Bordeaux in company with Otaria and was escorted outwardly by the German Sperrbrecher 16 and the minesweepers M-9 and M–21. She was to go through 50° N, 15° W and patrol in an area between 14° W and 17° W and 55° N and 56° N. She disappeared with her crew of eight officers and fifty ratings. In position 54°21′ N, 15°50′ W, Sunderland ‘A’ (L.5798) of 210 Squadron piloted by Flight Lieutenant E.F. Barker twice attacked a U-boat with depth charges in the afternoon of 10 February. Could this have been Marcello? It is quite possible that she travelled an average of 9 knots since her departure if she did not submerge at all. But was she sunk in this attack? Perhaps not. After all, the attacking aircraft did not claim a hit. She may have survived, only to be lost in other circumstances. An accidental loss cannot be overruled. Some Italian submarines experienced a loss in stability when overloaded with fuel, and winter in the Atlantic was trying for any submarine. The same afternoon, a Whitley of 502 Squadron attacked a U-boat, but it was U-93.
On 18 February, Betasom intercepted a signal from the Dutch tanker Taria (10,354 GRT, built 1939), who had been damaged by a German bomber and reported in difficulty in position 55°15’ N, 16°15’ W. Marcello was ordered to sink her. Morosini was on her way home, and was in the vicinity; she initiated a search for the Dutch ship but saw nothing. Taria reached Rothesay Bay two days later.
On 19 February, a convoy was discovered on a westerly course, approximately between 59° and 60° North, 11° West. The submarines Barbarigo, Bianchi, Marcello, and Otaria were ordered to intercept. Barbarigo and Bianchi were to operate between 58° N and 59° N, Marcello between 57° N and 58° N. Short of fuel, Otaria (C.C. Giuseppe Vocaturo) could not comply. She was then diverted to finish off a freighter reported damaged to the south, but the search was fruitless. Barbarigo (C.C. Giulio Ghiglieri) was 325 miles away and bad weather prevented her from reaching the position in time. She was then ordered to attack another convoy. After midnight on 21 February, only a raft was sighted with seven Norwegians, probably survivors from Benjamin Franklin, a straggler of convoy HX.107 sunk by U-103. Barbarigo stopped and gave them two boxes of biscuits, but for the Italian submarine, this was a frustrating time as she hunted successive convoys without meeting one.
In the afternoon of 21 February, the submarines were ordered to new positions:
Barbarigo in 58°25’ N, 16°55’ W.
Bianchi in 58°45’ N, 17°15’ W.
Marcello in 56°35’ N, 15°25’ W.
Marcello was never heard of again. Bianchi may have sighted her the same evening and again reported sighting a periscope at 1116 hours on the 22nd. Later in the afternoon Bianchi heard forty depth charges in the area.
The same day, the corvette HMS Periwinkle was proceeding on course 274° at 14 knots to rejoin HMS Montgomery escorting Scottish Standard (from convoy OB.288) when a submarine was sighted. This U-boat was then attacked at 1610 hours by Sunderland ‘M’ of 10 Squadron (RAAF), piloted by Flight Officer D. Hodkinson, and two 100-lb anti-submarine bombs were dropped [this appears to have been U-69 (KL Jost Metzler)]. Shortly after, Periwinkle carried out three depth charge attacks in 59°18′ N, 14°32′ W. At 1810 hours, she was joined by Antelope, Heather, and Snowdrop; the latter carried out another depth charge attack at 2001 hours. It has been claimed that Marcello was sunk in this attack, but she would have been considerably out of position. Her true fate is open to question.
On the morning of 22 February, Dandolo, returning to Bordeaux, reported being missed by three torpedoes as she neared Pointe La Coubre. No British submarine had carried out such an attack, and she may have just spotted porpoises.
During the night of 23/24 February Bianchi came across the Ocean Boarding Vessel HMS Manistee (5,360 GRT, 1921) from convoy O.B.288. U-107 (KK Günter Hessler) was lurking in the vicinity and managed to torpedo her just before the Italian submarine could deliver an attack. However, the British ship managed to resume course despite the damage. A few minutes later, Bianchi fired a single torpedo and claimed a hit but there is no evidence this was the case. Manistee was finished off by U-107 the next morning. There were no survivors from the 141-men crew. A few hours later, Bianchi sank a vessel which was probably the British Huntingdon (10,946 GRT, built 1922) or perhaps Linaria (3,385 GRT, built 1924), who disappeared without a trace at that time. Three days later, she attacked an escort vessel, although there is a possibility this was really the British Empire Ability (7,603 GRT, built 1931). Less than two hours later, the Italian submarine sank the British Baltistan (6,803 GRT, built 1937) with a single torpedo; fifty-one were killed or drowned, and twenty survived the sinking. Eighteen would be found alive by the destroyer HMS Brighton; two had succumbed from exposure.
Red Sea and Indian Ocean
Italian submarine patrols in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean during February 1941
| Archimede (2-6 February) | Ferraris (20-22 February) |
During the night of 2/3 February, the Suez-bound BN.14 convoy escorted by the light cruiser HMS Caledon reported being attacked by a submarine. In fact, it was under attack by the destroyers Sauro and Pantera. They fired nine torpedoes, but all missed. The submarine Archimede also sailed to intercept the convoy but made no contact.
At dawn on 21 February, seven Albacore from HMS Formidable (Force K) attacked the harbour of Massawa and claimed they might have hit a submarine. This was not confirmed.
- My thanks to David Sibley for his analysis of this attack. ↩︎