July 1941
General Events
| 10 | July | German divisions reached Ukraine. |
| 14 | July | Vichy French Forces in Syria surrendered. |
| 21-27 | July | Operation SUBSTANCE (convoy from Gibraltar to Malta). |
| 30-31 | July | Force H and Force X departed from Gibraltar for Operation STYLE. |
Mediterranean
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during July 1941
| Atropo (…1 July) | Uarsciek (…4 July) | Narvalo (…4 July)x |
| Tembien (…11 July) | Malachite (…17 July) | Ametista (…17 July) |
| Corridoni (2-6 July) Pt.1 | Galatea (2-4 July) | Diaspro (2-12 July) |
| Corallo (2-12 July) | H.6 (3-4 July) | Zoea (4-7 July) Pt.1 |
| Jantina (4-5 July*) | Dagabur (4-22 July) | Settembrini (5-19 July) |
| H.4 (6-7 July) | Corridoni (7-10 July) Pt.2 | Zoea (7-10 July) Pt.2 |
| C.B.2 (8-9 July) | C.B.3 (8-9 July) | Nereide (10-19 July) |
| C.B.6 (11-15 July) | H.6 (14-15 July) | H.8 (14-15 July) |
| Galatea (14-29 July) | H.4 (15-16 July) | Alagi (16-19 July) |
| Diaspro (16-19 July) | Axum (16 July…) | Zoea (17-20 July) Pt.1 |
| H.6 (17-18 July) | H.4 (18-19 July) | Corridoni (19-22 July) Pt.1 |
| Atropo (19-20 July) Pt.1x | H.1 (19-20 July) | Squalo (19 July…) |
| H.6 (20-21 July) | H.8 (20-21 July) | Zoea (21-23 July) Pt.2 |
| Atropo (21-23 July) Pt.1 | Diaspro (21-24 July) | Alagi (21-27 July) |
| H.1 (21-22 July) | Settimo (22-28 July) | H.6 (22-23 July) |
| Manara (22-27 July) | Bandiera (22-27 July) | Uarsciek (22 July…) |
| Corridoni (23-26 July) Pt.2 | Dessié (23-27 July) | H.1 (23-24 July) |
| Sirena (23 July…) | H.6 (24-25 July) | Atropo (25-27 July) Pt.2 |
| H.1 (25-26 July) | H.2 (25-26 July) | Jalea (26-27 July) |
| H.4 (26-27 July) | Delfino (27 July…) | H.1 (27-28 July) |
| H.4 (28-29 July) | H.1 (29-30 July) | Alagi (30 July…) |
| Diaspro (30 July…) | H.4 (31 July…) | Serpente (31 July…) |
| Settimo (31 July…) | Tembien (31 July…) | Bandiera (31 July…) |
| Manara (31 July…) |
At dusk on 3 July, while patrolling near Ras Azzaz, Malachite (T.V. Enzo Zanni) fired a single torpedo (a second one misfired) at a Dido-class cruiser escorted by two destroyers and claimed a hit. These were the destroyers HMS Defender, HMAS Stuart, and HMAS Vendetta on their way to Tobruk. They were missed, and Defender hunted the submarine without success. Italian Naval Intelligence intercepted a signal from the light cruiser HMS Phoebe and deduced that she had escaped damage but assumed that a destroyer in company was hit. Phoebe was on her way to operate off the Syrian coast.
Loss of Jantina
This submarine had been under the command of Capitano di Corvetta Vincenzo Politi since 24 December 1938 and was based at Leros (Grupsom V) from June 1940 until her loss. She carried out five uneventful patrols. The last patrol was cut short because of defects, and she returned to Leros, for temporary repairs. Three exercise sorties followed, but they were not satisfactory. On 1 January 1941, she sailed from Leros to La Spezia for more permanent repairs. She sailed from La Spezia on 18 April 1941 to rejoin Leros. She was delayed in Messina and finally sailed from Augusta on 11 June. The submarine was ordered to patrol off Haifa; however, she again developed defects, and Politi decided to abandon the patrol and return to Leros on 16 June. He earned the disapproval of Maricosom as he had been ordered to carry out the patrol at all costs. Jantina stayed at Leros only three days before she was ordered back to sea to patrol off the Egyptian coast despite defective hydrophones. She attacked a British destroyer of the Hero class on 27 June, firing one torpedo. This would be the only torpedo fired in anger in her career. She returned to base on the last day of the month.
During the afternoon of 4 July, Jantina sailed from Leros and was to use the Corinth Canal en route to Italy for more repairs. Although an Ultra intercept of a signal dated 2 July had divulged her route, the signal was only deciphered on 18 July. Hence, the interception by HMS Torbay appears to have been fortuitous. On 28 June 1941, the submarine HMS Torbay, under the aggressive Lt Cdr A.C.C. Miers, RN, departed from Alexandria for a patrol in the Aegean. She made her presence felt by sinking the Greek caique Isodia Theotoki (Piraeus registry no. 492) by gunfire on 30 June. Two days later, she attacked an Italian convoy consisting of Città di Tripoli and Città di Savona escorted by the torpedo boat Libra, firing three torpedoes at each merchant ship. Only Città di Tripoli was hit and sunk, and the torpedo boat dropped depth charges on the submarine; Miers succeeded in making his escape. At 1946 hours on 5 July, Torbay was near Mykonos, in position 240° – Stapodia Island – 11.5 miles, when the conning tower of a submarine was sighted from four miles away. It was proceeding westward about a mile from the coast. Italian survivors testified that their submarine was about two miles from the coast. This appeared to be a French submarine of the Dauphin class. British and French Free forces had recently invaded Syria and were in a bitter fight with Vichy forces. It was known that French submarines may have escaped from Beirut. The submarine was seen proceeding fast on an approximate course of 255°, but speed, calculated by ranging and Asdic, was estimated at 9 knots. Miers did not wish to let this submarine get away, and, at 2016 hours, he ordered a full salvo fired from his six internal tubes. Contrary to Italian submarine commanders who often used gyro-angled torpedoes, their British counterparts usually pointed the submarine at the target and used firing intervals to disperse the shots. At this time,Torbay had closed to 1,500 yards and was on course 312° while the enemy submarine was estimated on course 255° (according to her survivors, her position was thought to be 37°21′ N, 25°20′ E). Immediately upon firing Miers took his submarine deep to avoid being seen. A minute later, a ‘fairly loud explosion followed ten seconds later by a tremendous double explosion’ was heard, and minor damage was caused to Torbay. Miers, who believed he had scored two hits, was back at periscope depth, but nothing could be seen of the enemy submarine. An aircraft was seen approaching fast; Miers could do nothing more than take his submarine deep again. This was a German aircraft flying from Rhodes to Athens, which had observed Jantina hit by a torpedo and a second torpedo exploding on the coast. The survivors would testify that Jantina was proceeding south of Mykonos to Piraeus, on course 265° at 10.5 knots, when an aircraft was observed coming from astern; shortly after, it was recognised as a German Junker 52. Politi ordered the lookouts to stop looking in the air and keep watch on the sea when three underwater explosions were heard about three or four minutes later; their cause was not determined. Suddenly, the hydrophone operator shouted a warning, and almost immediately, the executive officer saw torpedo tracks to port. The order was given for hard to port and then hard astern; the torpedo tracks were now seen passing just 15 metres away when a shock was felt near the forward hydroplane, followed by a water column. Jantina sank quickly, but some of the personnel inside managed to climb up the ladder and escape quickly. About twenty to thirty survivors were now struggling for their lives, and soon night fell, leaving them in total darkness. Eventually, only two officers and four ratings reached the island of Delos after a six or seven-hour swim. The German plane had given the alert, and three MAS-boats from Syra and Samos with three seaplanes from Rhodes and Leros were dispatched to the area, as well as a seaplane from Piraeus and a motorboat from Syra. The survivors were later rescued by the seaplane; four officers and thirty-eight ratings were killed or missing. The bodies of the 32-year-old Vincenzo Politi and a few others would be recovered after a search of several days.
The loss can be attributed to the mistaken belief that Axis submarines could travel during daylight hours in local waters, provided local authorities were warned beforehand. Jantina had been told to hurry as an important convoy carrying the Cuneo division was held up at Piraeus until the submarine arrived. Thus, Politi may have been induced to travel on the surface more than he should have.
On 10 July, with the Axis reconquest of Cyrenaica almost complete, Settembrini (C.C. Alcide Bardi) was patrolling the eastern approaches to Tobruk when two MTBs were detected, and she opened fire with her 102mm gun and Breda machine guns. After the third round, her deck gun jammed, and she was forced to break off the action, claiming hits with her light guns. This was probably a Eureka boat on passage from Tobruk to Mersa Matruh. Three days later, the submarine missed a destroyer with a torpedo, but the appearance of a second destroyer forced her to desist from a second attempt. The target was HMS Hero, which was in the company with HMAS Voyager, on a trip from Tobruk to Alexandria. Hero’s counterattack was ineffective. On 15 July at dawn, Settembrini attacked with gunfire two small enemy vessels. The gun jammed after five rounds, and despite expending 400 rounds with her Breda machine guns, she was forced to interrupt the action. These vessels were possibly the lighters A.10 and A.11 on their way to Tobruk; A.10 was later damaged by Junker 87 dive-bombers and taken in tow by A.11. The following night, Settembrini attacked a small tanker with machine guns. She could not inflict much damage as her deck gun was still inoperable. She fired four torpedoes singly, all apparently missing, and rammed the vessel, which was reported sunk. The ‘tanker’ was probably the lighter A 10 of 260 tons, which was reported missing at about this time.
Near Cape Pappas (Nikaria), on 16 July, Nereide (T.V. Augusto Migliorini) was cruising on the surface when a submarine described as of the ‘P’ class was sighted. The Italian submarine opened fire with her artillery as well as firing two torpedoes. Two hits were heard. She had attacked HMS Tetrarch (Lt Cdr G.H. Greenway, RN), who had prudently escaped by quickly diving. The British submarine also heard two explosions, which probably were the torpedoes hitting the seabed. But the British submarine’s days were numbered, and, the following November, off Sicily, she disappeared with all hands, probably the victim of a mine.
The battle of the SUBSTANCE convoy
On 21 July, an important convoy sailed from Gibraltar for Malta and was heavily protected by Force H.[1] This was Operation SUBSTANCE. At the same time, a convoy of empty merchantmen departed from Malta for Gibraltar. The same afternoon, the submarines Alagi (T.V. Giulio Contreas) and Diaspro (T.V. Antonio Dotta) sailed from Cagliari to operate off Cape Bougaroni and were followed the next day by Manara (T.V. Innocenzo Ragusa) and Settimo (C.C. Mario Spano), which sailed from Trapani and Augusta respectively to operate west of Malta.
Before midnight on 22 July, Diaspro patrolling northwest of Cape Bougaroni (Algeria), observed Force H covering the SUBSTANCE operation. A full salvo was fired from the forward tubes at the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, but they all missed. She fired her two remaining torpedoes from the stern tubes at the destroyer HMAS Nestor but had no better luck. Dotta had been informed of the presence of this force (probably through air reconnaissance) and moved to intercept.
During the afternoon of 24 July, Alagi (T.V. Giulio Contreas) came across an aircraft carrier with two destroyers but could not mount an attack. This was certainly HMS Ark Royal flying off aircraft. The following afternoon, the same submarine came in sight of an aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and several destroyers, and once again, she could not get close enough to attack. This was again HMS Ark Royal as she was retiring westward.
On 24 July, Manara (T.V. Innocenzo Ragusa) observed a destroyer west of Malta that passed out of range. Later, four unescorted merchant ships were observed from 11,000 metres, and finally, a tanker was observed at 9,000 metres. She was unable to close. Bandiera (T.V. Carlo Forni), patrolling southeast of Pantelleria, did not have better luck. Torpedo bombers of the Regia Aeronautica were more successful. They sank the destroyer HMS Fearless, damaged the light cruiser HMS Manchester, and the destroyer HMS Firedrake, while MAS-532 torpedoed the transport Sydney Star, but she was towed to Malta by Nestor. British Counter-Intelligence knew that their Italian counterparts had been informed of this convoy as early as 16 July and blamed it on lax security in the United Kingdom.[2]
During the night of 23/24 July, Squalo (T.V. Lodovico Grion) attacked a tanker of the ‘War’ class near Tobruk with a twin shot. Although Grion claimed a sinking, this was not confirmed.
The Malta raid
The Decima Flottiglia MAS attempted a daring attack on Malta harbour on the night of 26 July. The attacking craft (two maiali and nine explosive boats) were brought by MAS-451 and MAS-452, as well as another patrol craft supported by the yacht Diana. The attack was a complete failure as they could not overcome the obstacles. Maggiore G.N. Teseo Tesei and several others were killed. All vessels were sunk or captured save Diana who made good her escape. This was a serious setback for the Decima Flottiglia MAS.
In the late afternoon of 29 July, Uarsciek (T.V. Raffaello Allegri) was attacked twice by Blenheim bombers north of Ras Haleima. She responded with her machine guns, and the bombs fell wide on both occasions. This was Blenheim ‘Y’ (Z6445) of 203 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer Coates; it released four 250-lb bombs, but they all missed. About an hour later, another Blenheim took over; this was aircraft ‘N’ (Z6431) from the same squadron, piloted by Sergeant E. Langston, which dropped four bombs, but only two appeared to explode. Once more, the submarine avoided damage. This aircraft crashed on landing, but apparently, it was caused by something unrelated to the attack.
At dusk on 30 July, Squalo was patrolling about twenty miles north of Ras Azzaz when two submarine chasers were discovered. Before an attack could be mounted, she was detected and forced to dive. The two vessels were the destroyers HMS Hotspur and HMAS Vendetta, and they dropped nine depth charges, but Squalo managed to slip away.
The same evening, at 2139 hours, HMS Unique (Lt A.F. Collett, RN) was informed that an Italian submarine was due to leave Augusta at 2015 hours and was ordered to intercept. This was indeed Dessié (T.V. Adriano Pini), who was on passage to Leros. The information was derived from an Ultra intercept and passed to the British submarine by a signal timed at 0335B/30. For some unknown reason, the signal was only deciphered after the departure of the Italian submarine. Unique had just carried out landing operations on the last two nights (the first north of Ali Terme on the Sicilian coast and the second near Melito di Porto Salvo on the Calabrian coast) and was now returning to Malta, having attacked a schooner on the way. But a new signal had ordered her to return to the Straits of Messina. By the time the order to intercept Dessié was understood, the British submarine was about twenty miles from an intercepting position. The attempt was given up; Dessié reached her destination without any interference.
Atlantic
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during July 1941
| Dandolo (…7 July) | Cappellini (…10 July) | Da Vinci (…15 July) |
| Baracca (…17 July) | Torelli (…28 July) | Malaspina (…) |
| Bianchi (4-5 July*) | Bagnolini (10 July…) | Otaria (11 July)x |
| Barbarigo (13 July…) | Otaria (13-19 July)x | Tazzoli (15 July…) |
| Calvi (19 July…) | Marconi (29 July…) |
On 2 July, Malaspina (T.V. Giuliano Prini) stopped the Argentine Rio Grande (687 GRT, built 1920) on passage from Lisbon to Buenos Aires. She was released after her papers proved to be in order.
Loss of Michele Bianchi
On the evening of 4 July, Bianchi (C.C. Franco Tosoni Pittoni) sailed for a patrol west of Gibraltar escorted by the German Sperrbrecher III until the Gironde buoy no.1. Her route should have taken her through 44°00’°N, 15°00’°W. At 0941 hours on 5 July in position 45°03’ N, 04°01’ W, Lieutenant Coe of HMS Tigris was having a look at the periscope when he observed what was believed to be the conning tower of a submarine and two trawlers from 9,000 yards. The sea was a glassy calm, and reflection made it difficult to discern the target. The commanding officer, Lt Cdr H.F. Bone, DSO, DSC, RN, was summoned, and he identified the submarine as of the Squalo class. The two ‘trawlers’ actually were the wireless masts of the submarine. By calculating the distance between the two masts, her course was estimated at 295°, and her speed was believed to be 12 knots. The course of Bianchi should have been closer to 255°. At 0958 hours, Bone ordered the firing of a salvo of six torpedoes (four Mk VIII and two Mk IV torpedoes) at 3,000 yards and took his submarine down to avoid revealing his presence. Six explosions were heard. Bone believed the first two to have been hits, giving a running range of 3,800 yards, and the remainder were probably torpedoes hitting the sea bed at the end of their run. Tigris tried to surface at 1014 hours to look for survivors but was kept down by the arrival of a Ju–88 bomber. No German aircraft appears to have flown over the area at the time.
The U-boat Assessment Committee would assess the result of the attack as ‘probably sunk’ and that, in all likelihood, only one torpedo may have hit the submarine. The position of the attack was consistent with the position that Bianchi would have been in if she had traveled at about 11.3 knots, which was fairly correct. No other attack claim has been found that could account for her loss, and barring a loss through accident, it is quite probable that she was indeed sunk by Tigris. Eight officers, fifty-one ratings, and two civilian workers went down with her.
Betasom’s attempts to contact the submarine on 13 July remain unanswered. Pittoni gained notoriety when he sunk the light cruiser HMS Calypso while in command of Bagnolini, the first major success of Italian submarines during this war (see the June 1940 chapter). He was awarded the Medaglia d’Oro posthumously.
On 5 July, a German aircraft discovered a small convoy on a westerly course about 80 miles southwest of Cape St. Vincent. This was probably Scythia and Cameronia, who had sailed from Gibraltar for the United Kingdom, screened by the aircraft carrier Furious, the light cruiser Hermione, and four destroyers. The submarines Torelli, Morosini, Cappellini, Da Vinci, and Baracca were ordered to form a patrol line to intercept. A sixth submarine, Malaspina, was too far to the south to join.
In the early hours of 6 July, Torelli (T.V. Antonio De Giacomo) discovered the squadron which appeared to include the aircraft carrier Furious, a cruiser of Southampton-class and several destroyers. She fired two torpedoes at a destroyer, which avoided them and dropped two depth charges; a stern shot at the same vessel also missed. This was indeed Furious and the light cruiser Hermione, escorted by the destroyers Wishart, Legion, Lance, and Fury. The submarine escaped the counterattack that followed. Furious was bombed by German aircraft without success. Late afternoon on the next day, Torelli attempted to attack a small convoy of two steamers and three escorts on a south-westerly course, but when a vessel opened fire, De Giacomo decided to break off the action.
Coastal Command continued to harass Italian submarines. On 6 July, Cappellini (C.C. Salvatore Todaro) was attacked by Catalina ‘G’ (W8415) of 202 Squadron (RAF) piloted by Flying Officer R.Y. Powell. The aircraft dropped four depth charges in two runs. Todaro elected to fight it out and remained on the surface firing with his machine guns and even with his main gun to keep the Catalina at bay. The Italian submarine was undamaged, and the aircraft received only a single bullet hole but ran short of fuel and had to alight four miles from Gibraltar; it was towed in by a sloop.
The Italian patrol line was re-formed to intercept a convoy expected to sail from Gibraltar. Cappellini could not join because of defects but was now replaced by Malaspina.
In the afternoon of 7 July, Torelli (T.V. Antonio De Giacomo), patrolling west of Gibraltar, reported a convoy on a 205° course. Shortly after, she was detected by the sonar of HMS Eridge and was sighted by HMS Farndale, who fired two rounds at long range. The convoy was OG.66 from Liverpool, bound for Gibraltar. The submarine submerged and lost contact.
By 8 July, convoy HG.67 sailed from Gibraltar, and the Italian patrol line was to be reinforced by the submarine Bianchi. It was not known at this time that she had been lost. The convoy managed to slip through the net.
On 13 July, Torelli was still lurking in the same area when she was detected by HMS Avon Vale and Farndale and depth charged. She escaped with only slight damage by going down to 125 metres.
Morosini (C.C. Athos Fraternale) was more fortunate. During the night of 14/15 July, the British Rupert de Larrinaga (5,358 GRT, built 1930), detached from the OG.67 convoy, was sighted and sent to the bottom. A few hours later, with three torpedo hits, the submarine sank the ocean boarding vessel HMS Lady Somers (8,194 GRT, built 1929) after a five-hour pursuit. Her 175 passengers and crew were all saved by the Spanish tanker Campeche,[3] who arrived on the scene. Fraternale, who was lingering in the area, recognised her nationality in time. Shortly after, Campeche also rescued all forty-four Rupert de Larrinaga crew members.
Just after midnight on 15 July, south of the Azores, Malaspina (T.V. Giuliano Prini) sank the Greek Nikoklis (3,576 GRT, built 1921), also detached from the OG.67 convoy. Two torpedoes hit the vessel, which sank in three minutes. Fifteen men were lost outright. Thirteen survivors managed to upturn a capsized lifeboat and reached Rio de Oro (Spanish Morocco) after a harrowing trip during which two of them perished. On the evening of 17 July, the Italian submarine destroyed the British Guelma (4,402 GRT, built 1928), but only after she fired five torpedoes singly. The submarine HMS Thunderbolt would rescue the whole crew of forty-three. During the night of 23/24 July, Malaspina was depth charged but managed to extricate herself without damage.
During the late afternoon of 21 July, Bagnolini (C.C. Giulio Chialamberto) missed a tanker, which turned out to be the Brazilian Cuyaba (6,437 GRT, 1906). That same night, Torelli attacked the Norwegian Ida Knudsen (8,913 GRT, built 1925). The tanker proved challenging to sink, requiring six torpedoes fired singly; of these, perhaps as many as four were hits. Five crew members were killed. Fourteen survivors were picked up by the Portuguese trawler Altair and landed at Las Palmas. On 9 August, another two survivors reached Tenerife (Canary Islands) in a lifeboat.
Bagnolini’s luck did not improve when she attacked a convoy on 24 July. The first pair of torpedoes was aimed at a tanker, and two hits were claimed. Another pair was fired at a large freighter, and a hit was claimed, but none were confirmed.
The following night, 450 miles west of Madeira, Barbarigo (C.C. Francesco Murzi) mortally hit the British Macon (5,141 GRT, built 1919) by a combination of torpedoes and gunfire. She was proceeding independently to Freetown after spending five months at Ponta Delgada to repair her boilers. She finally sank in the afternoon. Two were killed or missing; the survivors, divided into two lifeboats, tried to reach the Azores. After nine days, one boat with twenty-one survivors was rescued by HMS Londonderry, but not before two men died of madness and exposure. The steamer Clan Macpherson picked up twenty-seven survivors in the other lifeboat. Two days later, Barbarigo sent the British tanker Horn Shell (8,272 GRT, built 1931) to the bottom. She was in ballast, proceeding independently from Gibraltar to Curaçoa. Seventeen were killed or missing. Fifteen survivors were picked up by the Brazilian Cuyaba, twelve by the Portuguese steamer Africa Ocidental, and nine more by the Portuguese trawler Maria Leonor.
On the evening of 29 July, Bagnolini finally made contact with convoy OG.69, which had been badly mauled by U-boats (seven ships sunk out of fourteen[4]); she was unable to close within range and, after being chased away by a destroyer, lost it in the darkness and the heavy seas. Barbarigo also joined the chase; however, only a U-boat was sighted on 30 July, and the convoy battle was over by this time.
[1] Convoy WSC.9 of operation SUBSTANCE consisted of six merchantmen (Melbourne Star, Sydney Star, City of Pretoria, Port Chalmers, Durham, and Deucalion, a seventh ship, Leinster, had run aground and could not join Deucalion) screened by the battleship Nelson, the light cruiser Edinburgh (flagship Rear-Admiral Syfret, 18th Cruiser Squadron), the fast minelayer Manxman and the destroyers Nestor, Lightning, Farndale, Avon Vale and Eridge.
The convoy was covered by Force H led by the battle cruiser Renown (flagship Vice-Admiral Somerville) with the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the light cruisers Manchester, Arethusa, and Hermione, and the destroyers Cossack, Maori, Sikh, Faulknor, Fearless, Foresight, Fury, Forester, Foxhound, Firedrake and Duncan.
In addition, the oiler Brown Ranger, escorted by the destroyer Beverley, sailed from Gibraltar to refuel the destroyers of Force H.
Convoy MG.1 from Malta to Gibraltar was led by HMS Breconshire with the merchantmen Talabot, Thermopylae, Amerika, Settler, Svenor, and Hoegh Hood.
[2] Cf. ADM223/519 (TNA) and The Guy Liddell Diaries, Volume 1: 1939-1942 edited by Nigel West (Routledge, 2012).
[3] On 6 June 1943, near Gibraltar, Campeche collided with the submarine HMS Trusty.
[4] The total tonnage sunk was only 11,303 GRT, which explained the reluctance of some U-boat aces to operate against these convoys of relatively small vessels as they did not add much to their score.