November 1942
| 1 | November | British forces broke through the El Alamein line. Axis forces were in full retreat. |
| 8 | November | Anglo-American landings in North Africa (operation TORCH). After a brief resistance, French forces sided with the United Nations. |
| 11 | November | German airborne troops landed in Tunisia. |
| 13 | November | The Eighth Army re-entered Tobruk. |
| 20 | November | Operation STONEAGE: the blockade of Malta was finally lifted. |
| 27 | November | The French Fleet was scuttled at Toulon. Axis troops occupied the base. Only four submarines escaped. |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during November 1942
| Turchese (…1 November) | Turchese (…2 November) | Santarosa (…4 November) Pt.1 |
| Uarsciek (…4 November) Pt.1 | Topazio (…11 November) | Axum (…12 November) |
| Sirena (…14 November) | Zoea (1-4 November) Pt.1 | Ascianghi (1-4 November) Pt.1 |
| Bragadino (2-6 November) Pt.1 | Dessié (2-6 November) Pt.1 | Granito (3-5 November) Pt.1 |
| Sciesa (3-6 November) Pt.1 | Zoea (4-8 November) Pt.2 | Ascianghi (4-7 November) Pt.1 |
| Giada (4-11 November) Pt.1x | Wolframio (4-10 November) Pt.1 | Uarsciek (4-9 November) Pt.2a |
| Santarosa (4-7 November) Pt.2 | Granito (5-8 November) Pt.2 | Bragadino (6-11 November) Pt.2 |
| Dessié (6-11 November) Pt.2 | Bronzo (7-19 November) | Turchese (7-13 November) |
| Aradam (7-18 November) | Corallo (7-14 November) | Alagi (7-10 November)x |
| Diaspro (7-14 November) | Dandolo (7-10 November) | Emo (7-10 November*) |
| Argento (7-19 November) | Asteria (7-19 November) | Acciaio (7-13 November) |
| Nichelio (7-17 November) | Brin (7-17 November) | Porfido (7-19 November) |
| Mocenigo (7-21 November) | Velella (7-17 November) | Argo (7-13 November) |
| Platino (7-14 November) | Avorio (7-8 November)x | Bajamonti (8-11 November) |
| H.6 (8-11 November) | H.4 (8-11 November) | H.1 (8-11 November) |
| Avorio (8-13 November) | Granito (8-9 November*) | Ascianghi (9-18 November) |
| Atropo (10-13 November) Pt.1 | Wolframio (11-21 November) | Giada (11-20 November) |
| Settimo (12-15 November) Pt.1 | Bajamonti (12-16 November) | H.8 (12-16 November) |
| Sciesa (13 November*) | Delfino (13-16 November) Pt.1 | Galatea (13-22 November) |
| Micca (14-17 November) Pt.1 | Uarsciek (14-16 November) Pt.2b | Atropo (14-16 November) Pt.2 |
| Bandiera (14-15 November) | Squalo (14-15 November) | Beilul (15-30 November) |
| Settimo (15-18 November) Pt.2 | Avorio (16-26 November) | Argo (16-24 November) |
| Delfino (17-21 November) Pt.2 | Santarosa (18-21 November) Pt.1 | Malachite (18-25 November) |
| Dessié (18-28 November*) | ||
| Micca (18-22 November) Pt.2 | Menotti (18-19 November) Pt.1x | Menotti (19-22 November) Pt.1 |
| Topazio (19-20 November) | Toti (19-24 November) Pt.1 | Corridoni (19-24 November) Pt.1 |
| Sirena (21-26 November) | Dandolo (21-22 November)x | Menotti (22-26 November) Pt.2 |
| Nichelio (23 November…) | Dandolo (23 November…) | Santarosa (23-26 November) Pt.2 |
| Asteria (24 November…) | Toti (25-28 November) Pt.2 | Corridoni (25-29 November) Pt.2 |
| Giada (25 November…) | Bajamonti (26 November)x | H.8 (26 November) |
| Narvalo (26-29 November) Pt.1 | Onice (28 November…) | Settimo (28 November…) Pt.1 |
| Narvalo (29 November…) Pt.2 | Alagi (30 November…) |
In the afternoon of 3 November, Ascianghi (T.V. Rino Erler), on a supply mission to Tobruk, picked up twenty German survivors from a transport plane that had crashed off the Libyan coast.
Two days later, Acciaio (T.V. Ottorino Beltrami), on passage from Augusta to Cagliari, sighted three torpedo tracks and turned hard to starboard to avoid them; two missed astern, and the third passed under her keel near the gun position without exploding. A minute later, a fourth torpedo track was observed, and the Italian submarine turned on a parallel course with the torpedo passing sixty metres on the port side. It had been a close shave. The culprit was the submarine HMS P43 (later known as Unison), which had indeed fired four torpedoes.
During the night of 5 November, Platino (T.V. Roberto Rigoli) was on passage from Messina to Cagliari when a rating was severely injured in an accident, forcing the submarine to transfer him to MAS-544 off Palermo before resuming her trip.
At dawn on 6 November, the British submarine P46 (Lt. J.S. Stevens, DSC, RN) patrolling near Cape San Vito observed a southwest-bound submarine. At 0708 hours, she fired four torpedoes from 3,000 yards. All missed. The target was most certainly Bronzo (T.V. Cesare Buldrini) on passage from Augusta to Trapani. The attack was unobserved.
At 1300 hours, P46 observed a second submarine from 6,000 yards but could not gain an attacking position. This was probably Avorio (T.V. Mario Priggione), also on passage from Augusta to Trapani, but she did not spot the enemy submarine.[1]
Loss of Antonio Sciesa
At 1521 hours on 6 November, Sciesa (T.V. Raul Galletti) was at anchor in Tobruk when she was hit by three bombs during a USAAF raid. Twenty-three were killed and fourteen wounded. Galletti narrowly missed being killed by a bomb that exploded just metres away. A week later, the submarine was scuttled at the approach of the 8th Army.
Otaria (C.C. Giuseppe Caito), proceeding from Naples to Taranto, was rounding up Capo Dell’Armi when a torpedo was observed. Avoiding action was immediately taken, and the torpedo missed either astern or possibly under her stern. It was one of four torpedoes fired by HMS Utmost (Lt J.W.D. Coombe, RN). Four explosions were heard which were probably from torpedoes at the end of their run.
The Allied Landings in North Africa
Anglo-American troops landed in Morocco and Algeria on 8 November. Maricosom had sailed a large number of submarines to attack the invasion fleet. The day of the invasion found no less than thirty-three Italian submarines at sea in the Mediterranean. Five were on defensive patrols, one in the Aegean (Sirena) and four in the Gulf of Genoa (Bajamonti, H.1, H.4 and H.6). Later in the month, Bajamonti and H.8 carried out defensive patrols off Ajaccio (Corsica).
Another six were on supply missions to Tobruk (Bragadino, Zoea, Giada, Dessié, Uarsciek, and Wolframio; the last four were later sent to the landing areas).
On the eve of the Allied landings, the remaining twenty-two submarines were disposed as follows:
Axum (40 miles north of Ras Amough, Algeria).
Topazio (10 miles north of Ras Amough, Algeria).
Argento, Argo, Brin, Mocenigo, Nichelio, Porfido (north of Cap de Fer, Algeria).
Acciaio, Asteria, Dandolo, Emo, Neghelli, Platino (north of Cap de Garde, Algeria).
Alagi, Aradam, Bronzo, Corallo, Diaspro, Turchese (in the area between east of La Galite Island and west of Skerki Bank).
While Velella, Avorio Granito, and Platino sailed during the day to reinforce them
Eleven submarines would join them within the next weeks: Ascianghi was directed to patrol off Bougie and Galatea off Philippeville; Settimo, Atropo, Corridoni, Toti, and Micca were sent on supply missions to Tripoli, and Delfino, Santarosa, and Menotti to Buerat El Sun. Atropo was to have gone to Benghazi but the deteriorating situation necessitated that she be diverted to Tripoli. Narvalo was the last submarine to reach Benghazi as Axis forces were retreating across Egypt and Libya.
On the German side, eighteen U-boats were on patrol in the Mediterranean, thirteen had sailed from La Spezia and five more as reinforcements from French Atlantic ports.
In addition, the light cruisers Garibaldi, Duca d’Aosta, and Duca degli Abruzzi, both stationed at Navarino, sailed on 9 November for Augusta, while the Italian battleships Littorio, Roma and Vittorio Veneto, screened by eight destroyers, departed from Taranto for Naples on 12 November.
On the evening of 7 November, Topazio (T.V. Mario Patané) was patrolling northwest of Algiers when she fired a single stern shot from the surface at one of four destroyers escorting two large steamers. The torpedo left a phosphorescent wake and missed the target. An escorting destroyer altered course, and the submarine dived to seventy metres. Within minutes, she was depth-charged very closely but escaped damage.
Two merchant ships disguised as French entered the Mediterranean to supply Malta (Operation CRUPPER). These were Ardeola and Tadorna and it was hoped that the confusion arising by the Allied landings would enable their safe passage. They managed to slip by the Axis submarine barrage, only to be fired upon on 8 November by French shore batteries in Tunisia and surrendered. They were later taken over by the Italians.
At noon on 8 November, as the Allied landings were well underway in French North Africa. Patrolling off Bizerta, Alagi (T.V. Sergio Puccini) was at periscope depth to listen to her radio when suddenly a loud noise was heard, and she was shoved to a depth of twenty-four metres. The submarine then dived to seventy metres as it was initially believed that she had been bombed by aircraft. Her two periscopes were damaged and there were other damages to the conning tower. It was only much later that TV. Puccini realised that he had collided with another submarine. This was Diaspro (C.C. Antonio Dotta), who suffered minor damage. However, Alagi was forced to turn back for repairs.
Loss of Granito
On 8 November, Granito (T.V. Leo Sposito) sailed from Augusta for a patrol off Bougie. Sposito was unaware that he would have to run the gauntlet of a patrol line formed off Cape San Vito at ten-mile intervals by the submarines Unruffled, United, Safari, Sahib, and Saracen. At 1559 hours, Saracen (Lt M.G.R. Lumby, MID, DSC, RN) spotted the Italian submarine at a distance of 2,200 yards as she was proceeding on the surface at 9 knots. Five minutes later, the British submarine had closed to 800 yards and fired a salvo of four torpedoes. Lumby did not wait to see the results and took his boat down when he heard three loud explosions. There is little doubt that Granito was sunk in this attack. Five officers and forty-one ratings were lost, and there were no survivors. For Italian submarines, the difficulty was caused by their very number, as they had been instructed not to fire at unidentified submarines, and there would be numerous sightings.
During the night of 9/10 November, Velella (T.V. Giovanni Febbraro) explored the anchorage of Philippeville but found it empty. At about the same time, Bronzo (T.V. Cesare Buldrini) encountered P45 (Lt. H.B. Turner, RN) in the same area. Both submarines dived, and neither could mount an attack.
At dawn on 10 November, Acciaio (T.V. Ottorino Beltrami), who had been ordered to the Algiers area, fired two pairs of torpedoes from her bow tubes in quick succession. The target was reported to be a cruiser of the Leander class, which was missed. The submarine was counter-attacked with depth charges but escaped with only minor damage. This may have been the armed trawler HMT Hotham who reported an attack in the general area.
Early in the afternoon of the same day, Wolframio (T.V. Giovanni Manunta) returning to Augusta, was luckier as she escaped the single torpedo fired at her by the submarine HMS Una (Lt C.P Norman, RN). At dawn, Norman had already attacked an Italian cruiser squadron (Duca d’Aosta, Garibaldi and Duca Degli Abruzzi escorted by four destroyers) and had forgotten to reload all four torpedo tubes. Wolframio fired three rounds in her direction but without registering a hit.
The same afternoon, Galatea (T.V. Carlo Gladstone Cruciani) was proceeding from Pola to Cagliari. She had crossed the Straits of Messina and was probably the submarine observed by HMS P43 (Lt. A.C. Halliday, MID, RN). This time, a defective gyro compass saved the Italian submarine from certain destruction, as the British submarine failed to complete the attack.
Loss of Emo
During the morning of 10 November, about a dozen miles west of Algiers, Emo (T.V. Giuseppe Franco) sighted a small vessel that appeared to be a tug. She did not seem worth a torpedo, and the submarine submerged to listen with her hydrophones. It was believed that the fault lay in an inexperienced hydrophone operator, for when Franco decided to take a peek with the periscope, he was surprised to see the vessel very close, perhaps less than thirty metres. She was the armed trawler HMT Lord Nuffield, who had already obtained an Asdic contact and now spotted the periscope. Some of her sailors believed that the periscope was only five feet from the port side! The trawler rushed to the attack as Emo attempted to go deep. The submarine had barely reached a depth of fifteen metres when she was badly shaken by depth charges set at a depth of 150 feet (46 metres). Lights were put out, instruments smashed, and as Emo finally reached a depth of 90-100 meters, water began to pour in, and she had to surface. She was only 900 yards from Lord Nuffield and came immediately under fire. The submarine attempted to reply with both her guns, but the gunners were quickly decimated. At 1100 hours, realising that the battle was lost, Franco ordered the submarine to be scuttled. Eleven were killed; forty-eight survivors were picked up, including eight wounded, but one of them later succumbed.
Action at Bougie
On 11 November, British troops landed unopposed in Bougie (Operation PERPETUAL), and Italian submarines were now concentrated in this area, where they carried out several attacks in the next few days.
At dawn on 12 November, Diaspro unsuccessfully attacked a large transport off Cape Bouaka with a full bow salvo of G7e torpedoes. Italian submarines were now being equipped with German G7e electric torpedoes, usually carrying four in their bow tubes, while stern tubes were still armed with Italian 533mm torpedoes. A few minutes later, a stern torpedo also missed. This was probably the Dutch troopship Marnix Van St. Aldegonde (19,355 GRT, built 1930) who was changing anchorage from Cape Aokas to Cape Bouaka. The attack was unobserved.
Shortly after, in a daring attack, Argo (T.V. Pasquale Gigli) penetrated the anchorage. It was almost a suicide operation; the water was shallow, and the anchorage criss-crossed by about fourteen escort vessels. It was 0405 hours when the submarine proceeded on the surface inside the bay and managed to elude three corvettes in the darkness, which were observed at the entrance. Depth was only 20 metres. At 0424 hours, a merchant ship was observed at a distance and another overlapping and about 1,000 metres beyond the first one. Depth was estimated at about 15 metres. At 0442 hours, the three corvettes were also entering the bay, and the submarine prudently submerged to avoid being seen. The submarine surfaced again at 0557 hours and, four minutes later, fired four electric torpedoes (G7e) from its forward tubes, two aimed at each of the overlapping targets from a distance estimated at 1,000 and 2,000 metres, respectively. Argo immediately submerged, and between 0602 and 0603 hours, three explosions were heard. By 0640 hours, the submarine had made good its escape. Hit by two torpedoes, the auxiliary AA ship HMS Tynwald (2,376 tons, built 1937) sank in seven fathoms. Three officers and twenty-one ratings were killed, and three ratings were wounded. The second target was probably the monitor HMS Roberts, already damaged by two bombs the previous evening. This time, she was not hit. Survivors of Tynwald were picked up by HMS Roberts and HMS Samphire. (twenty officers and 175 ratings were later repatriated on Strathnaver and Ocean Volga). Initially, she was believed to have been mined. Later in the afternoon, an Italian torpedo bomber also hit the wreck, but she was already beyond salvage. It has been claimed that Argo also hit the transport Awatea, but this is an error. This vessel had been damaged by an air attack the previous day and had already been abandoned.
About two hours after the Argo raid, Ascianghi (T.V. Rino Erler) tried to attack shipping in Bougie but was sighted by the Polish destroyer Blyskawica, who was refuelling from the tanker Dewdale. The destroyer raised its anchor to attack, forcing the submarine to abandon its attempt. Erler claimed that about a hundred depth charges were dropped at him, but he probably mistook them for the bombs dropped during the air raids that followed.
In the early hours of 13 November, Asteria (T.V. Dante Morrone) attacked the corvette HMS Pentstemon near Bougie without success. Less than two hours later, Platino (T.V. Roberto Rigoli) fired a full salvo at a large transport later claimed to have been Narkunda (16,632 GRT, 1920), but this ship was hit by two bombs and sank when she was leaving Bougie for Algiers at 1720 hours on the 14th. The target may have been Pelican, who arrived at Bougie on the 13th. Early in the afternoon, Asteria reported being attacked by a low-flying Hudson with three bombs and three depth charges. She was hit by a bomb but was not seriously damaged. This was Hudson ‘C’ of 500 Squadron (Sergeant W.M. Young), which had dropped four Mark XI Torpex depth charges. Two nights later, the submarine conducted a close reconnaissance of Bougie by following the 7-8 metres deep coastline. Later, her survivors stated under interrogation that she ran aground but managed to free herself. This is possible, but the incident was omitted from her patrol report.
The same day, Major Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia, who had led Italian torpedo bombers in many missions, did not return from the raid. He was shot down but survived and became a prisoner of war. Liberated at the armistice, he was killed in an air crash in July 1944.
At 0158 hours on 15 November, off Bougie, Brin (T.V. Luigi Andreotti) attacked a small patrol vessel with three torpedoes, but without result. About two hours later, Ascianghi fired two stern torpedoes at what she believed to be a Caledon-class cruiser. She fired two more torpedoes from her bow tubes (she still carried Italian torpedoes forward) and, this time, sank the vessel. It was only the minesweeper HMS Algerine of 850 tons; eighty-three men were killed, and thirty-two survivors were picked up by HMS Cadmus.
Aradam (T.V. Carlo Forni) was patrolling southeast of Bone at dawn on 16 November when she intercepted a steamer sailing on a south-westerly course. She fired two pairs of torpedoes without success, then opened fire with her deck gun, claiming a hit. One of her shells exploded prematurely, shaking the gun crew and suspending fire.
Before dawn, on 17 November, the old H.2 (T.V. Antonio Canezza) was on passage from Messina to Naples when she observed an unknown submarine ten miles southwest of Capri. The distance was 2,500 to 3,000 metres as Canezza ordered two torpedo tubes readied. The range could not be closed, and the attack was finally abandoned. This was almost certainly HMS Turbulent (Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC), and she did not detect the Italian submarine.
A couple of hours later, Micca (C.C. Alberto Galeazzi), on a supply run to Tripoli, detected an unknown submarine as she neared her destination. Unsure of the identity, the Italian submarine turned away. This was HMS Porpoise (Lt L.A.W. Bennington, DSC, RN), who had also sighted the Italian submarine but could not gain an attacking position. An Ultra intercept had correctly reported that Micca was due in Tripoli on the 17th of the month.
In the meantime, the fast convoy MW.13[2] had sailed from Port Said. This was Operation STONEAGE and was intended to relieve Malta. On 18 November, the convoy was attacked by Axis aircraft, and the light cruiser HMS Arethusa was damaged by a torpedo bomber. Italian and German submarines were concentrated in the Western Mediterranean against the Allied landings in North Africa, and no one was available to interfere. Two days later, the four merchant ships reached Malta without mishap
After midnight on 19 November, Mocenigo (T.V. Alberto Longhi) attacked an unidentified target in a convoy of seven ships near Philippeville with a full salvo of four torpedoes claiming two hits, but the results were not confirmed.
Two days later, near Cap de Fer, Galatea (T.V. Carlo Gladstone Cruciani) fired four torpedoes at an 8,000-ton freighter escorted by a destroyer but also missed.
HMS Splendid (Lt I.L. Mackay McGeogh, RN), after a fruitless patrol off Toulon, had been ordered to the Naples area by following the Italian coast. On 16 November, she missed a U-boat off La Spezia (probably U-593) with a salvo of six torpedoes. Having arrived off Imperatore Light at 1600 hours on 19 November, she observed an Italian submarine entering Bocca Grande but refrained from attack. This was probably Benedetto Brin (T.V. Luigi Andreotti) arriving at Naples for a refit. Splendid was after bigger games. Three Littorio-class battleships were known to be in Naples and expected to sail to interfere with the North African landings. Aradam (T.V. Carlo Forni) was transferred from Cagliari to Naples for minor repairs. On the evening of 20 November, as she approached Ischia, this time she was attacked by the British submarine as Lt McGeogh was now convinced the opportunity for the Italian battlefleet to sail was now gone. Six torpedoes were fired; luckily, they all missed, and the attack was unobserved.
As Axis forces were in full retreat from the El Alamein position, Italian submarines continued their supply runs. On 21 November, Santarosa (T.V. Giuseppe Simonetti) was on her way to Buerat when she was attacked by HMS United (Lt T.L. Barlow) but avoided the four torpedoes aimed at her.
At 0154 hours on 24 November, Avorio (T.V. Mario Priggione) fired three torpedoes at a destroyer near Bougie, but her claim of a torpedo hit was not confirmed.
Two hours later, Malachite (T.V. Alpinolo Cinti), patrolling north of Cap de Fer, attacked a large steamer in a convoy of four freighters escorted by three destroyers. She fired a pair of torpedoes from her forward tubes, followed by another pair from her stern tubes, this time at a tanker, claiming three possible hits, but once again this was not confirmed.
Off Philippeville, Dandolo (T.V. Giacomo Scano) observed a corvette on 27 November and fired two stern shots. They both missed.
Loss of Dessié
On 28 November, Dessié (T.V. Alberto Gorini) was operating near Bone when she was sighted by an aircraft. The destroyer HMS Quentin was sailed to search for the submarine. At 1250 hours, the submarine was detected, and the destroyer carried out five runs, each time dropping ten depth charges. At 1420 hours, the destroyer HMAS Quiberon arrived on the scene and released a pattern of five depth charges. At 1533 hours, Quentin attacked with one last pattern of ten depth charges. The submarine was briefly observed, the bow breaking the surface vertically before submerging again, and although fire was opened, there was no time to score any hit. Oil was observed, and many black objects were found that were the size of a man’s head. The submarine had skilfully manoeuvred and was described as a ‘remarkably tough U-boat. There were no survivors. It is believed that this attack accounted for Dessié. Five officers and forty-two other ranks were lost.
Narvalo (T.V. Lodovico Grion) was anchored in Tripoli during a supply mission when, on the 29th, she was near-missed by bombs during an air raid. She was hit by bomb fragments causing only minor damage.
The end of the month found the Allies firmly entrenched in French North Africa, four Italian and five German U-boats had been lost. All, except Sciesa, were lost while proceeding to attack the North African landings. On the plus side, nine French submarines[3] had been seized in Bizerte, but they had been disarmed and were in poor condition. Efforts were made to sail them to Italy and incorporate them into the Regia Marina. Only Phoque (renamed FR.111) became operational, and she was sunk by an air attack on her first sortie.
Italian submarine patrols in the Black Sea during November 1942
| C.B.4 (2-3 November) | C.B.2 (6-7 November) | C.B.4 (6-7 November) |
| C.B.2 (13-14 November) | C.B.4 (13-14 November) | C.B.4 (16-17 November) |
| C.B.6 (26 November) | C.B.4 (26 November)x | C.B.4 (27 November) |
| C.B.6 (27 November) |
The midget submarines spent the month on fruitless anti-submarine patrols and escorting coastal convoys before the winter weather curtailed their operations.
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during November 1942
| Archimede (…17 November) | Bagnolini (…17 November) | Da Vinci (…) |
| Cagni (…) | Tazzoli (9-10 November)x | Tazzoli (19 November…) |
| Finzi (26 November…)x |
On 2 November, Da Vinci (T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia) continued her remarkable career when, with a combination of torpedoes and gunfire, she sank the Empire Zeal (7,009 GRT, built 1942) on passage from Durban to Trinidad. She took her captain and first mate on board. The radio operator was killed; her forty-nine survivors were picked up by the destroyer USS Winslow (DD-359). The next day, the Dutch Frans Hals (6,626 GRT, 1941) was attacked with three pairs of torpedoes, but one apparently hit but failed to explode, and two or three more passed under her. She returned fire and even dropped a depth charge set at 250 feet on the submarine; its explosion may have induced Gazzana Priaroggia to think he had sunk his target. The same afternoon, the submarine was caught on the surface by the American Catalina PBY-5A P-10 (no. 2733, piloted by Lt(jg) G.E. Waugh) from VP-83 Squadron based at Natal. Da Vinci dived immediately as the aircraft released four depth charges and escaped with minor damage. During the night of 4 November, she sent the Greek Andreas (6,566 GRT, built 1919) to the bottom and took five prisoners on board. There were forty-one crew members and eight passengers on board, and they had sailed from Trinidad bound for Alexandria via Capetown with 8,500 tons of military supplies. Thirty-one survivors reached land.
On the evening of 3 November, Ammiraglio Cagni (C.C. Carlo Liannazza), on a long-range cruise (she had fourteen torpedo tubes and carried up to thirty-six torpedoes), sank the British steamer Dagomba (3,845 GRT, built 1928) with a triple salvo. Ten were killed, and twenty-three survivors were later rescued.
In the afternoon of 7 November, Tazzoli (C.C. Carlo Fecia di Cossato), who was about to leave for patrol, was caught at Le Verdon by an air raid and participated in the defence by firing her machine guns. The following day, she was still at anchor during a second air raid and claimed to have shot down a four-engine bomber. Following this attack, she dived off Le Verdon to carry out trials. After discovering some leaks, she was forced to return to Bordeaux to repair them.
Da Vinci, on a most successful patrol, sank the American Marcus Whitman (7,176 GRT, built 1942) after midnight on 10 November; all fifty-two members of her crew survived. The next day, she sent to the bottom the Dutch steamer Veerhaven (5,291 GRT, 1930). The crew of forty-five took to two lifeboats but they became separated., one was picked up by the Brazilian submarine chaser Gurupi (ex USS PC-547) on the 13th and the second one was only located five days later by the Argentine tanker Juvenal. On the evening of 11 November, a large southbound transatlantic liner was sighted, but the submarine could not close. Da Vinci was running short on fuel, and on 28 November, she met Tazzoli and received thirty tons.
During the evening of 29 November, Ammiraglio Cagni struck the Greek Argo (1,995 GRT, built 1920) with a pair of torpedoes. Of her crew, eighteen were killed, and eighteen survivors were rescued by the destroyer HMS Rotherham.
[1] The fact that Bronzo and Avorio had failed to spot the British submarine would have caused the light cruiser Attilio Regolo to be routed through the same area two days later. This time P46 was luckier and, undeterred by the six destroyers screening her, one of her four torpedoes damaged the Italian ship.
[2] Convoy MW.13: transports Denbighshire (British), Bantam (Dutch), Mormacmoon (US), and Robin Locksley (US) escorted by the light cruisers Cleopatra (CS.15), Orion, Dido, Arethusa, and Euryalus, seven Fleet and ten Hunt-class destroyers.
[3] Circé, Calypso, Dauphin, Espadon, Nautilus, Phoque, Requin, Saphir and Turquoise.