September 1942
| 2 | September | Rommel’s new attack at the Alam El Halfa ridge failed. Axis forces were now on the defensive on the El Alamein line. |
| 13 | September | -Operation AGREEMENT (British raid on Tobruk) failed when Italian Forces resisted with vigour. -The battle of Stalingrad begins. |
Italian submarine patrols in the Mediterranean during September 1942
| Corridoni (…2 September) Pt.2 | Porfido (…8 September) | Atropo (1-4 September) Pt.1 |
| Velella (2-16 September) | Asteria (2-16 September) | Atropo (4-7 September) Pt.2 |
| Zoea (9-12 September) Pt.1 | Micca (12-16 September) Pt.1 | Zoea (12-15 September) Pt.2 |
| Millelire (13-17 September)[1] | Bragadino (13-17 September) Pt.1 | Alabastro (13-14 September*) |
| Argo (13-28 September) | Atropo (15-18 September) Pt.1 | H.2 (15-16 September) |
| Sirena (16-24 September) | H.2 (16-17 September) | Micca (17-21 September) Pt.2 |
| Bragadino (17-21 September) Pt.2 | Narvalo (18-21 September) Pt.1 | Atropo (19-22 September) Pt.2 |
| Narvalo (21-24 September) Pt.2 | Ametista (23 September…) | Nereide (23 September…) |
| Zoea (23-26 September) Pt.1 | Santarosa (24-27 September) Pt.1 | Nichelio (25 September…) |
| Argento (25 September…) | Zoea (26-29 September) Pt.2 | Toti (27-28 September) Pt.1x |
| Santarosa (27-30 September) Pt.2 | H.8 (29-30 September) | Micca (30 September…) Pt.1 |
On the afternoon of 9 September 1942, Velella (T.V. Giovanni Febbraro) was attacked by Hudson ‘G’ (FH398) of 233 Squadron (Flight Officer W.E. Willits), which dropped four depth charges from a height of 500-600 feet. According to Febbraro, they fell quite wide—300-400 metres,—while Willits optimistically claimed they missed by about seventy yards.
Loss of Alabastro
On 13 September, Alabastro (T.V. Giuseppe Bonadies) sailed from Cagliari with Argo (T.V. Pasquale Gigli) for a patrol north of Algiers. The following day, she was sighted proceeding on the surface at 0845 hours by HMS Talisman (Lt. Cdr M. Willmott, DSO, RN), who was on the opposite course and made an enemy report at 1000 hours the same day. Four Hudson bombers took off from Gibraltar but failed to make contact. However, the submarine was located and sunk at 1620 hours by Sunderland ‘R’ of 202 Squadron (Pilot Officer E.P. Walshe, RAAF) in position 37°28’ N, 04°34’ E. Alabastro had no time to send a distress signal, and neither the Italian nor the French authorities were aware of her fate. Although thirty-six survivors were photographed in the water, none were saved. Five officers and thirty-nine ratings were lost. This was the first and last patrol for this Italian submarine. Talisman did not survive her long. She failed to show up in Malta on 18 September and is believed to have been mined in the Sicilian Channel. Argo reported having sighted a submarine the following day, but this is doubtful.
During the night of 15/16 September, three Italian frogmen from the Olterra managed to attack British shipping in Gibraltar. The steamer Ravens Point (1,787 GRT, built 1918) was sunk on an even keel in 30 feet of water.
On 27 September, while proceeding on a supply mission to Libya, the old submarine Enrico Toti (T.V. Giovanni Celeste) suffered an accidental fire in her battery compartment and was forced to abort her mission.
Italian submarine patrols in the Black Sea during September 1942
| C.B.1 (…2 September) | C.B.6 (…2 September) | C.B.2 (16-19 September) |
| C.B.3 (16-19 September) | C.B.6 (16-17 September)x | C.B.1 (16-17 September)x |
| C.B.4 (16-17 September)x | C.B.4 (19-20 September) | C.B.6 (19-20 September) |
| C.B.4 (25-26 September) | C.B.6 (25-26 September) |
Italian midget submarines were operating in the Sulina area as well as off the Bosphorus. Nothing unusual occurred.
Italian submarine patrols in the Atlantic during September 1942
| Giuliani (…3 September) | Tazzoli (…5 September) | Cappellini (…) |
| Barbarigo (…) | Bagnolini (15 September…) | Archimede (15 September…) |
On 7 September 1942, Betasom was informed by Korvettenkapitän Rösing of the desire of the BdU to send U-boats to Bordeaux for repairs. This suggestion had already been brought up the month before. It seemed a reasonable request, as the number of Italian submarines had been greatly reduced since the summer of 1941, and the expanding German U-boat force had strained the resources of the French Atlantic ports. The demand was transmitted to Rome, and on 15 September, Admiral Riccardi answered positively in a letter to Grand-Admiral Raeder.
At about the same time, the submarine Da Vinci (T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia), who had undergone serious modifications to carry piggyback the midget submarine C.A.2, underwent trials at Le Verdon. This was in preparation for Operation C.A., an attack on New York. The trials do not appear to have been satisfactory, one problem was that the mother submarine was unable to dive below forty metres without damaging the midget. The operation was postponed indefinitely, and Da Vinci quickly reverted to her original role. British Intelligence already had some knowledge of the C.A. boats, having eavesdropped on the conversation between two former officers of Calvi in captivity the month before.
On the first day of the month, while returning to Bordeaux, Giuliani (C.C. Gian Domenico Bruno) was attacked by Sunderland ‘U’ (W3986) of 10 Squadron (RAAF) piloted by Flight Lieutenant S.R.C. Wood. He released four depth charges without causing damage, as the submarine replied with her machine guns and deck gun. Minutes later, it was the turn of Sunderland ‘R’ (W3983), piloted by Flight Lieutenant H G. Pockley to attack with two 250-lb bombs and strafed the submarine. Bruno and a rating were wounded. This forced T.V. Aredio Galzigna to assume command. The aircraft was also damaged by return fire. Whitley bomber ‘Q’ of 502 Squadron joined the fray and dropped four depth charges; the submarine dived and suffered additional but minor damages. Giuliani’s troubles were not over yet. The next day, around noon, Wellington bomber ‘A’ of 304 Polish Squadron, piloted by Flight Officer M. Kucharski attacked the Italian submarine with six 250-lb depth charges and two anti-submarine 250-lb bombs on two separate runs. The submarine was severely damaged, several leaks were caused, two ratings were lost overboard, and three were wounded or injured. Giuliani was forced to take refuge at Santander (Spain), where she arrived on the morning of 3 September. T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana arrived at Santander the following day. He took over command of the submarine and attempted to sail it at night but was thwarted by the Spanish authorities. He then relinquished command, which reverted to Galzigna. The submarine remained in the Spanish port until 8 November, when she was allowed to sail and was escorted back to Bordeaux by German minesweepers.
The Laconia episode
Following the sinking of the troop transport Laconia by U-156 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein) on 12 September, Cappellini (T.V. Marco Revedin) was directed to the area to help rescue the survivors. The ship was transporting 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, and the BdU organised a critical rescue effort. Early on the morning of 16 September, the Italian submarine sighted a lifeboat with about fifty British survivors. They appeared to be well-provided, and Cappellini continued her course. A couple of hours later, another lifeboat was located with eighty-four British survivors. This time Revedin gave them supplies. In the afternoon, four lifeboats were discovered; two of them were semi-submerged, and this time forty-nine Italian and nineteen British and Polish survivors were picked up. An Italian stricken with dementia refused to be picked up. On the 20th of the month, the submarine met the Vichy French sloop Dumont d’Urville, who had come from Dahomey. She transferred most survivors except six Italian and two British officers who were landed at Bordeaux. The majority of the survivors from Laconia were picked up by Vichy French warships.
On 23 September, Cappellini continued her patrol and carried out a twelve-hour-long chase of the British steamer Bruyere (5,335 GRT, built 1919) only to see her prey torpedoed and sunk by U-125 (KL Ulrich Folkers) as she was closing in for the kill.
On 28 September, Bagnolini (C.C. Ferdinando Corsi) first sighted an unknown vessel and, shortly after, a destroyer, which was attacked 320 miles northwest of Dakar. Corsi ordered two torpedoes fired from the stern tubes, but only one was launched and missed, and the other misfired. This was the sloop HMS Folkestone escorting convoy SL.123. She haphazardly dropped a few depth charges.
[1] Millelire was being used as an oil depot. The destroyer Saetta towed it from Taranto to Tobruk via Navarino.