January 1942
| 2 | January | British forces captured Bardia. |
| 13 | January | U-boats unleashed their offensive in the western hemisphere. This was Operation PAUKENSCHLAG [DRUMBEAT]. |
| 14-15 | January | Garmisch conference (Grand Admiral Raeder and Admiral Riccardi). |
| 21 | January | Rommel began a new counter-offensive, which would eventually bring him to El Alamein. |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during January 1942
| Emo (…2 January) Pt.1x | Galatea (1-7 January) | Bragadino (1-4 January) Pt.2 |
| Settimo (1-4 January) | Veniero (1-4 January) Pt.1x | Alagi (1-8 January) |
| Aradam (1-8 January) | Turchese (1-2 January)x | Axum (1-8 January) |
| Onice (2-7 January) | Turchese (2-8 January) | Emo (2-5 January) Pt.2ax |
| Platino (2-6 January) | Delfino (3-9 January) | Saint-Bon (4-5 January*) Pt.1 |
| Dessié (4-6 January)x | Emo (6-8 January) Pt.2bx | Veniero (8-11 January) Pt.2x |
| Settimo (9-13 January) Pt.1 | Menotti (13-18 January) Pt.1 | Santarosa (15-25 January) |
| Narvalo (15-27 January) | Squalo (15-25 January) | Ametista (18-25 January) |
| Micca (18-22 January) Pt.1 | Galatea (18-30 January) | Settimo (19-21 January) Pt.2 |
| Menotti (19-21 January) Pt.1 | Malachite (20-31 January) | Corallo (21-29 January) |
| Platino (21-25 January) | Topazio (21-25 January) | Speri (22-23 January) |
| Micca (25-30 January) Pt.2 | Platino (26-29 January) | Millo (26-29 January) Pt.1 |
| Alagi (28 January)x | Turchese (28 January)x | Aradam (28 January)x |
| Millo (30 January…) Pt.2 | Medusa (30 January*) |
On the first day of the New Year, Alagi, Axum, Delfino, Onice, and Platino were deployed on a barrage line off Malta to cover Italian convoys to Libya.
On the evening of 2 January, Emo (C.C. Giuseppe Roselli Lorenzini), on a supply mission to Bardia, entered harbour, unaware that the town had fallen to the 2nd South African Division a few hours before. She suddenly came under fire from light batteries and machine guns from all over the bay. She replied with her machine guns but could not discern exactly where the shooting came from. Luckily, the large coastal guns could not be depressed enough to fire on her. The helmsman was hit twice, and Roselli Lorenzini was slightly injured. The submarine turned around and made good her escape.
Platino (T.V. Innocenzo Ragusa) spotted a submarine on the night of 4/5 January and attempted a stern shot, but the enemy submerged, and contact was lost. This was the Polish Sokol (Kpt. mar. Boris Karnicki), who had observed the Italian submarine as she was diving but could not regain contact with her Asdic.
Loss of Ammiraglio Saint Bon
On 5 January, Ammiraglio Saint Bon (C.C. Gustavo Miniero) was proceeding on a supply mission from Taranto to Tripoli. She had been routed to the north of Sicily via Palermo when at 0530 hours off Milazzo, she was sighted zigzagging by HMS Upholder (Lt Cdr M.D. Wanklyn, DSO, VC, RN), and her commander did not waste his last torpedo. This was the first time that Wanklyn took the time to observe one of his torpedoes hitting the enemy, and the Italian submarine full of fuel and ammunition disintegrated. T.V. Como and two ratings were picked up by Upholder. Eight officers and forty-nine ratings were lost.
On 14 and 15 January, Grand Admiral Raeder met with Admiral Riccardi at Garmisch to discuss the Naval situation in the Mediterranean. Operations C.2 (occupation of Corsica) and C.3 (occupation of Malta) were studied. Italian submarines were to establish patrols in the western and central Mediterranean to intercept and report enemy traffic to Malta.
In the middle of the month, a new patrol line was initiated off Malta with Narvalo, Squalo, and Santarosa. Six days later, Corallo and Platino joined them. These patrols were uneventful except when, on 16 January, Squalo (T.V. Lodovico Grion) sighted a red Very light and rescued two German airmen adrift in a rubber boat.
Ametista (C.C. Virgilio Spigai) and Galatea (T.V. Mario Baroglio) sailed from Leros on 18 January for a mission north of the Libyan coast. ULTRA learned of their passage through two points but not the location of their patrol area, which was given according to the Italian Grid system. The subsequent early return of Ametista due to defects was also revealed. In any case, the information appears to have been deciphered too late for an anti-submarine operation to be carried out.
Loss of Medusa
On 30 January, the submarine Medusa (C.C. Enrico Bertarelli) was on a training patrol in the Adriatic when she was sighted off Cape Promontore by the submarine HMS Thorn (Lt Cdr R.G. Norfolk, RN). The British submarine fired a salvo of four torpedoes, scoring one hit. Medusa sank in thirty-five metres of water. But the alert was quickly given as the steamer Zeno was only one mile away and had observed the sinking. Rescue efforts were very quickly organized; three fast small vessels arrived on the scene and were joined by the torpedo boat Insidioso and the steamers Grado and Mameli. Of her crew, only three wounded and four corpses were picked up. It was believed that fourteen men were still alive in the aft compartment. Contact with them was made as the submarine had managed to launch a buoy with a telephone cable. Divers were sent down. They encountered difficulties as it was now dark, and the torpedo explosion had left the hull with many jagged edges, making rescue work hazardous. The submarine Otaria (C.C. Emilio Berengan) was immediately sailed with equipment to supply air if needed, but hope faded away. Despite frantic efforts, they could not be saved. The final toll was fifty-eight killed and only two survivors.[1] By a curious coincidence, the submarine Medusa of the Great War was lost in similar circumstances in the same area. She was torpedoed by the Austrian submarine U-11 on 10 January 1915.[2]
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during January 1942
| Beilul (…8 January) | Bagnolini (14 January…) | Barbarigo (14 January…) |
| Da Vinci (28 January…) |
After midnight on 24 January, Barbarigo (C.C. Enzo Grossi) attacked the Spanish Navemar (5,301 GRT, 1921), who was sunk with three torpedo hits out of four fired. Two were killed; thirty-four survivors were picked up by the Spanish Isla de Teneriffe. This was the first sinking by this controversial commander, and he claimed to have sunk an armed merchant cruiser. Efforts were made to cover up this tragic mistake, but the Spanish Ministry of Marine informed the British Naval Attaché that the submarine was definitely Italian.
[1] According to Italian prisoners of war, the sinking was reported to have caused a month-long suspension of courses at the training base (ADM178/221, TNA). However, an examination of Italian records reveals that the exercises suffered no significant interruption.
[2] Cf. article by Danilo Pelligrini Identificazione di un sommergibile: il sommergibile MEDUSA e il relitto di Pola in A.I.D.M.E.N. (25 July 2018).