October 1942
| 23 | October | British and Allied forces under General Montgomery began their offensive at El Alamein. |
| 28-30 | October | Operation TRAIN: HMS Furious sailed from Gibraltar to reinforce Malta with Spitfire fighters. |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during October 1942
| Micca (…4 October) Pt.1 | Ametista (…11 October) | Nereide (…11 October) |
| Argento (…13 October) | Nichelio (…14 October) | Sciesa (1-5 October) Pt.1 |
| Bragadino (4-8 October) Pt.1 | Micca (4-7 October) Pt.2 | Sciesa (5-8 October) Pt.2 |
| Narvalo (6-9 October) Pt.1 | Bragadino (8-11 October) Pt.2 | Atropo (9-12 October) Pt.1 |
| Narvalo (9-12 October) Pt.2 | Zoea (10-13 October) Pt.1 | Dandolo (10-19 October) |
| Mocenigo (10-19 October) | H.2 (11-12 October) | Atropo (12-15 October) Pt.2 |
| Zoea (13-17 October) Pt.2 | Micca (15-17 October) Pt.1 | Santarosa (17-20 October) Pt.1 |
| Emo (17-31 October) | Brin (17-31 October) | Turchese (19 October…) |
| Corallo (19 October…) | Beilul (19-23 October) | Santarosa (20-23 October) Pt.2 |
| Atropo (23-26 October) Pt.1 | Topazio (24 October…) | Axum (24 October…) |
| Atropo (27-30 October) Pt.2 | Nichelio (29-31 October)x | Asteria (29-31 October)x |
| Argo (29-31 October)x | Porfido (29-31 October)x | Sciesa (30-31 October) Pt.1x |
| Sirena (31 October…) | Santarosa (31 October…) Pt.1 | Uarsciek (31 October…) Pt.1 |
On the evening of 6 October, Sciesa (T.V. Raul Galletti), returning from a supply mission to Benghazi, detected a submarine off Santa Maria di Leuca which was attacked with one torpedo and claimed sunk. This was probably the mine-laying submarine HMS Rorqual (Lt Cdr L.W. Napier, RN) who made a challenge but did not realise she had come under attack.
Micca (C.C. Alberto Galeazzi) observed a shadow believed to be a submarine off Santa Maria di Leuca on 7 October. A stern attack was attempted, but the torpedo misfired. There was no evidence of another submarine in this area, Rorqual had already vacated this area several hours earlier and was well on her way to Beirut.
Before noon on the 10th, Narvalo (T.V. Lodovico Grion) was returning to Taranto following a supply run to Benghazi when she was attacked at very long range (10,900 yards!) by HMS Clyde (Lt R.S. Brookes, DSC, RN). The British submarine claimed she was sunk, but the attack was not even noticed. Two days later, Narvalo sighted an unknown submarine but could not get into an attacking position. This may have been HMS Safari on her way to Malta.
On 14 October, Zoea (T.V. Rino Erler) was also returning to Taranto from Navarino after a supply trip to Libya when she was attacked by a bomber but escaped. The aircraft was probably from the 13th Hellenic Squadron.
Two days later, Micca, carrying 176 tons of gasoline and food supplies to Benghazi, encountered bad weather. Two large waves successively submerged the submarine; one rating was lost overboard. Twenty tons of water were taken in, causing some damage. The submarine had to abort her mission.
On 28 October, Turchese (T.V. Giandaniele Asquini), patrolling south of the Balearic Island with Corallo, was informed that a naval force had sailed from Gibraltar the same morning. Another pair, Emo and Brin, were patrolling off the Algerian coast between Algiers and Oran. Turchese was moved south to intercept but saw nothing. This was indeed a force led by the aircraft carrier HMS Furious who flew off twenty-nine Spitfire fighters Malta (Operation TRAIN).[1] The force was attacked by U-565 (KL Wilhelm Franken) at 0140 hours and U-431 (KL Wilhelm Dommes) at 1737 hours on the 29th, each firing four torpedoes without hitting the mark, while U-458 (KL Kurt Diggins) discovered them the same morning but could not get within range.
Italian submarine patrols in the Black Sea during October 1942
| C.B.6 (15 October) | C.B.1 (27-29 October) | C.B.4 (27-29 October) |
| C.B.4 (30-31 October) | C.B.1 (30-31 October) |
Italian midget submarines escorted coastal convoys and carried out anti-submarine patrols, but nothing unusual occurred.
Atlantic
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during October 1942
| Cappellini (…17 October) | Barbarigo (…29 October) | Archimede (…) |
| Bagnolini (…) | Cagni (6 October…)[2] | Da Vinci (7 October…) |
About forty miles south of Cape Palmas (Liberia), early in the afternoon of 1 October, Barbarigo (C.F. Enzo Grossi) repulsed an attack by an aircraft that dropped depth charges. This was almost certainly Hudson ‘W’ of 200 Squadron piloted by Flight Officer W. Macallum. The submarine was shaken by the explosions but resumed her patrol. A few hours later, she was attacked again by Hudson ‘V’ of the same squadron and piloted by Sergeant F. Boyd. Grossi claimed to have shot it down; this was not the case. During the strafing by the aircraft, one rating was hit and fell overboard and could not be recovered.
At night on 6 October, Grossi was involved once again in another controversy when he fired four torpedoes at the corvette HMS Petunia and claimed to have sunk a second battleship of the Mississippi class! The corvette was undamaged; the torpedo tracks had been observed, one passing under her and another missing close astern. Her Asdic and RDF sets were inoperative, so her counterattack was ineffective. Fascist propaganda tried to make much of the incident. On 8 October, upon his arrival at Bordeaux, the Führer conferred the Iron Cross to Grossi and it was given by Admiral Doenitz in person. Grossi would later head Betasom.
On 9 October, Archimede (T.V. Guido Saccardo) used seven torpedoes to sink the troopship Oronsay (20,001 GRT, built 1925). She was the largest ship sunk by Italian submarines to date.[2] HMS Brilliant rescued 321 survivors, the Vichy sloop Dumont d’Urville picked up forty-seven, and the French steamer Lipari another nineteen. The same night, the Italian submarine scored two torpedo hits on the British troopship Nea Hellas (16,691 GRT, built 1922). The magnetic pistols appeared to have detonated prematurely and caused only minor damage. Nevertheless, passengers and crew were ready to abandon ship when it was realised that the ship was not sinking. The ship managed to escape at high speed, but not before a rating was lost overboard when a lifeboat was lowered.[3] Had Saccardo managed to sink her as well, he would have equalled the exploits of Kretschmer’s U-99, who had sunk the armed merchant cruisers HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus in November 1940, or that of Wanklyn’s Upholder, who had the year before sunk the troopships Neptunia and Oceania of similar tonnage in September 1941.
On 27 October, Da Vinci (T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia) gave chase to the British Palma (5,419 GRT, 1941) but was unable to catch up.
[1] Operation TRAIN: the aircraft carrier Furious, the light cruisers Aurora and Charybdis, screened by the destroyers Westcott, Wishart, Cowdray, Bramham, Achates, Vanoc, Verity and the Polish Blyskawica.
[2] Cagni had sailed from the Mediterranean for an Atlantic patrol.
[3] Da Vinci topped her by sinking the liner Empress of Canada (21,517 GRT, built 1928) on 14 March 1943.
[4] These details are kindly provided by Allan West whose father was nearly lost in the same accident.