February 1943
| 2 | February | Surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. |
| 14 | February | Rommel defeated American forces at Kasserine Pass (Tunisia). |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during February 1943
| Onice (…1 February) | Bronzo (…6 February) | Galatea (…14 February) |
| Acciaio (…17 February) | Malachite (2-9 February*) | Wolframio (2-10 February) |
| Gorgo (6-14 February) | Avorio (6-9 February*) | Platino (6-9 February) |
| Turchese (7-21 February) | Axum (7-23 February) | Nereide (7-18 February) |
| Menotti (8-10 February) Pt.1 | Menotti (11-13 February) Pt.2 | Asteria (11-17 February) |
| Ametista (12-27 February) | Argo (16-23 February) | Platino (16-20 February) |
| Wolframio (16-22 February) | Argento (16-22 February) | Aradam (18 February…) |
| Ascianghi (18 February…) | Menotti (24-25 February) Pt.1 | Beilul (25 February…) |
| Bandiera (25-27 February) | Menotti (26-28 February) Pt.2 | Fr.111 (27-28 February*) |
After midnight on 2 February, Acciaio (T.V. Ottorino Beltrami), cruising northeast of Bone, was machine- gunned by an aircraft but escaped damage.
On the evening of 5 February, Wolframio (T.V. Giovanni Manunta) attempted to land a commando team (Arditi) led by Tenente Mario Betti near Cape Carbon (Algeria), but the attempt was abandoned because of the prevailing rough weather.
Loss of Malachite
The following evening, it was the turn of Malachite (T.V. Alpinolo Cinti). This time, she succeeded in landing ten saboteurs (Arditi or Italian commandos) near Cape Matifou (Algeria). They were all captured the following day. On 9 February, the submarine was returning to her base when, at 1047 hours, ten miles south of Cape Spartivento (Sardinia), when she was detected with Asdic by the Dutch submarine Dolfijn (Lt Cdr H M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede), who fired a salvo of four torpedoes at 2,800 yards. The Italian submarine was blown apart by one hit. This was just another submarine sunk in broad daylight by the mistaken practice of proceeding surfaced in Italian waters. Cinti, three officers, and nine ratings who were on the bridge at the fatal moment were rescued by the prompt intervention of the submarine chaser Arcioni and the fishing vessel Dori. One officer and thirty-four ratings went down with her.
During the night of 7/8 February, Platino (T.V. Vittorio Patrelli Campagnano) discovered a convoy north of Djidjelli (Algeria) and emptied her bow torpedoes, claiming a hit on a 10,000-ton vessel. This was the armed trawler HMS Tervani (409 tons) towing the French tanker Mory Mazout II and escorted by two other trawlers, Achroite and Arnold Bennett. Tervani was sunk, leaving only two survivors. Abandoning the French vessel, the two trawlers hunted the submarine in vain. The drifting Mory Mazout II was found by vessels from convoy MKS.8 and towed to Philippeville by the tug Jaunty. Shortly before midnight, Platino fired her two stern torpedoes at a large freighter but missed. This was the transport Empire Dace in the REDRUTH convoy (two LSTs Mitsoa and Bachaquero and two merchant vessels) bound from Philippeville to Oran and escorted by HMS Rothesay (senior officer convoy escort), and the minesweepers Felixstowe (senior officer 13th Minesweeper Flotilla), Polruan and Brixham. Felixstowe reported being narrowly missed by a torpedo, and she dropped four depth charges without results. Her torpedoes expended, Platino returned to base.
At 2327 hours on the 7th, Acciaio patrolling northwest of Cape Bougaroni, fired two torpedoes at a destroyer of the Jervis class; they missed. The target was HMS Abdiel returning from a minelaying mission off Bizerte.
Three hours later, near Cape Carbon, Gorgo (C.C. Innocenzo Ragusa) attacked a large freighter with four torpedoes. This may have been the same vessel attacked by Platino She scored no hits.
On 13 February, Gorgo discovered another convoy but was detected and depth-charged by an escorting corvette. Her damages forced her to abandon her patrol.
Loss of Avorio
On 8 February Avorio (T.V. Leone Fiorentini replacing T.V. Mario Priggione, who was ill) was detected by the corvette HMCS Regina, who rushed to the attack. The submarine only detected her when she was about 600 yards away and crash-dived. Depth charges brought her to the surface, and she offered a brief resistance with her machine guns before being overwhelmed by the gunfire from the corvette and was abandoned. Twenty men were killed, and twenty-seven survivors were picked up by Regina. Attempts at towing the submarine by the tug HMS Jaunty failed, and Avorio finally sank at dawn. Several documents were recovered from this submarine, giving British Intelligence an accurate view of Italian submarine operations in January 1943.
Loss of Asteria
On the evening of 16 February, Asteria (T.V. Dante Morrone), patrolling off Cape Bengut, was sighted by a Swordfish on anti-submarine patrol with eight Hudsons of 500 Squadron. The submarine was not bombed but opened fire at the aircraft with her machine guns. The bomber pulled away and gave the alarm. HMS Easton and Wheatland were sailed to hunt the submarine. They were followed by the destroyers HMS Loyal and ORP Krakowiak and three motor launches from Algiers. Before dawn, Wheatland detected the submarine, which attempted to escape by going down to 175 meters, but in the morning, the severe depth-charging forced her to the surface, and she was abandoned. An attempt at boarding failed. Six officers and forty-two ratings were picked up; four ratings drowned.
During the afternoon of 17 February, Cagliari was raided by allied aircraft. The submarine base appears to have been primarily targeted, but submarines were undamaged. Only minor vessels were damaged, and a pontoon sunk.
At dawn on 18 February Platino, on her second patrol of the month, attacked an escort vessel in a convoy near Bougie. Four G7e torpedoes were fired; all missed the target. In all, she had fired ten torpedoes during this month, a record for an Italian submarine in the Mediterranean.
On the last day of the month, Cagliari was raided again. The submarine Wolframio (T.V. Giovanni Manunta) had barely sailed for La Maddalena when the harbour was heavily bombed. Several small vessels were sunk, including the submarine chaser Arcioni which had rescued the survivors of Malachite three weeks earlier. Wolframio was probably the submarine sighted off Serpentara Island by the Dutch submarine Dolfijn (Lt Cdr H M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede), who tried to emulate her earlier success with Malachite. The erratic course of the Italian submarine confused her and robbed her of an attack.
Loss of FR.111 (ex-Phoque)
With the Allies firmly entrenched in North Africa, Italian soil was now frequently under air attack. On 20 February, FR.113 (former French Requin) was slightly damaged during an air raid by the USAAF on Naples, and two of her crew were killed. T.V. Giovanni Celeste was in command of the former French submarine FR.111 (ex-Phoque), who sailed on her first patrol under Italian colours for a supply mission to Lampedusa. On the morning of 28 February, she was forced to abort her mission due to defects. The same afternoon, she was ten miles southwest of Cape Murro di Porco when she was attacked with machine gun and cannon fire by eleven Spitfires from 185 and 249 Squadrons returning from a bombing mission on the Cassabillo power station (southwest of Syracuse). The submarine replied with a machine gun but was quickly overwhelmed by the strafing and sank. Five officers and eighteen ratings were killed; twenty-six survivors, including two wounded, were picked up by German and Italian seaplanes. One Spitfire was slightly damaged by flying fragments from the submarine.
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during February 1943
| Tazzoli (…1 February) | Cagni (…20 February) | Cappellini (…) |
| Barbarigo (…) | Finzi (11 February…) | Torelli (13-15 February)x |
| Bagnolini (14 February…) | Da Vinci (20 February…) | Torelli (21 February…) |
| Archimede (26 February…) |
Ammiraglio Cagni (C.C. Carlo Liannazza) was on her way to Bordeaux when, on 15 February, she was attacked by a Sunderland in the Bay of Biscay. This was Sunderland ‘I’ of 461 RAAF Squadron (DV961), piloted by Flight Lieutenant S.R.C. Wood, who observed the submarine firing a red star cartridge. The aircraft strafed the submarine and dropped six depth charges. Cagni repulsed the attack with her machine guns without incurring serious damage; one of her ratings was killed, and another wounded. Five days later, she reached Bordeaux and thus concluded the longest patrol carried out by an Italian submarine during the Second World War (137 days). However, she had only fired seven torpedoes of her complement of thirty-six during this period and had only sunk two ships.
Operating in the South Atlantic, Barbarigo (C.C. Roberto Rigoli) torpedoed the Spanish Monte Igueldo (3,282 GRT, built 1921) on 24 February. She was bound for Tenerife via Las Palmas from Buenos Aires with a cargo of wheat and corn; her nationality could not be clearly identified. By coincidence, a PBM-3c (Mariner) ‘P-6’ from VP-74 Squadron (USN) piloted by Ensign W.J. Barnard was on the scene, having just detected the Spanish vessel by radar, moments before she was torpedoed. Sighting the submarine surfacing after the attack, the aircraft dived and dropped a stick of four depth charges from only 60 feet. Its machine guns were jammed, and it could not strafe her target. Prevented from dropping its two remaining depth charges by the accurate flak from the submarine, which had hit both wings, the aircraft was forced to return to base. The Spanish vessel was still afloat despite being hit in the port bow and No. 2 hold. Although her identity had now been ascertained, Rigoli tried to finish her off with a stern shot but missed. Finally, a bow shot sealed her fate. One crew member was killed; her thirty-four survivors embarked on two lifeboats and reached Touros (Brazil) on the 27th of the month.
At 1413 hours on 24 February, some 370 miles west of Lisbon, Cappellini (T.V. Marco Revedin) sighted a twin-engine seaplane and dived immediately. This was Catalina ‘D’ of 202 Squadron, piloted by Flight Lieutenant C.J. Le Couteur, who had sighted the submarine at no less than sixteen miles. Le Couteur lingered in the vicinity, and his patience was rewarded when the submarine surfaced about an hour and a half later. The aircraft swooped down to the attack. Revedin gave the order to man the machine guns. It was misunderstood, and the submarine submerged, forcing all the deck occupants to rush down the hatch. The Catalina strafed the submarine, scoring hits, and released six Mark XI Torpex depth charges. Cappellini, though damaged, managed to escape.
Although Italian submarines made increased use of the Metox, this did not prevent some air attacks from nearly succeeding. At dusk on 26 February, about 200 miles west of the Canaries, Bagnolini (T.V. Angelo Amendolia) was surprised by two TBF-1 Avengers of VT-4 Squadron from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. They were piloted by Ensign R.W. Labyak, who dropped two 325-lb depth bombs, and Ensign G.W. Bolt, who followed up with two more depth bombs. Bagnolini crash-dived to 50 metres. Two bombs exploded directly above her, causing minor damage. For safety, the submarine went down to 110 metres.
Manning the Italian midget submarines (C.B. boats) with German crews had been considered. However, on 4 February, the German Navy informed Supermarina that no adequate personnel had been found, and the project was abandoned.