Hi Rainer Many thanks for the prompt answer! All the best, Platon
Forum: General Discussions

At 0125/5 March 1945, USS RACINE (PF-100) attacked a submarine contact in 26°00' N, 69°36' W. Any possibility of a U-boat in this vicinity or the contact was bogus? Many thanks. Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Rainer, I think you have nailed the source! Although MAMELI was exercising during the day, she had returned to port when TRIPPE got her contact. Although we will never know for sure, it is quite possible this was indeed U-869 moving southward. Many thanks and a Happy New Year! Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Ken, Your reasoning is quite good. Many thanks. I am actually researching Italian submarine operations in WW2 and RIS GOFFREDO MAMELI was exercising with US ASW forces at Casco Bay when the presence of the U-boat was noted. To avoid a case of mistaken identity, her exercises were cancelled on 7-8 February while the search was on. I have been trying to identify every US vessel which particip
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Rainer and Fred, Rainer: Many thanks for your suggestion. U-869 could indeed have the time to move from off the Maine coast to the location where she was sunk. She was on her way to Quadrat CA 53 (SE of New York) and apparently came from the north, probably following at a distance from the coast. The discovery of her wreck made a lot of ink some years ago. Fred: I was definitely askin
Forum: General Discussions

On 07.02.1945, an alarm was given that a U-boat was located off the Maine coast. Can anyone confirm if a U-boat was really operating in the area at the time or the report was bogus? I do not know the source of this alarm, possibly an aircraft. Many thanks. Platon
Forum: General Discussions

The belief that U-331 had sunk Eocene was based on a mistaken wartime assessment by the Naval Intelligence Division. There is no doubt that U-431 was the real culprit as time and position of the attack match fairly well. Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, A couple of spelling errors in my previous message: Should read "Supermarina" not "Supermarine" "...than the Official Histories..." not "...then". My apologies! Many thanks for the lively discussion and hope to have many more with you (preferably on other topics!). All the best, Platon P.S. Please feel free to point out error
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, "U" class submarines may have been able to do 220 miles per day in peacetime but to my knowledge never did more than 130 miles during the war in the Mediterranean. If you can show me otherwise I will be more receptive to this idea. I do not dispute you that the course of HMS URGE would have taken her 60-70 miles from Ras Hilal but this would have been on 2 May not
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, If we believe your hypothesis that HMS URGE was sent to Ras Hilal to intercept SAN GIUSTO after she was informed through an ULTRA intercept (which cannot be found). Let us assume that the ULTRA signal was lost or destroyed and that it did exist. We have then to ask the following questions: 1. At what time was HMS URGE informed? If we believe your theory then she was infor
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, I do not doubt your statement about the convoy off Ras Hilal on 29/4 and I am in complete accord with you on this point. However regarding to the "attack" at Ras Hilal, it seems that the Germans were informed by the Italians that their F-lighters had been attacked but upon checking could not find any confirmation. After that each ally believed that the other had been
Forum: General Discussions

Ken, Many thanks for these kind words. I am glad you enjoyed it. Readers reaction are extremely important to me. Best wishes, Platon
Forum: General Discussions

My friend Francesco Mattesini has published an interesting article in the last issue of the Bollettino d'Archivio published by the Ufficio Storico Della Marina Militare. The Bulletin can be downloaded in PDF format for free: The article is in Italian but should not deter a determined reader as an online translator such as the one provided by google can assist you in understanding most of
Forum: General Discussions

P.S. The 90 miles per day attributed to HMS URGE are not my guess or invention (instead of your 220 miles) but are in captain S.1's order to URGE timed 1121C/27 April. No mention at all of an order to proceed at full speed and attack SAN GIUSTO. Sorry.
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, Perhaps my knowledge of Italian is limited but the aircraft report which you kindly supplied indicates that the attack on the submarine was "con apparento esito negativo" which I thought meant that the attack had failed. Now if you insist on sinking the submarine in spite of this... How come this attack was not given much credence at the time? The report indicates t
Forum: General Discussions

Just a follow-up for readers interested in this controversy. Despite all the disagreement about HMS URGE, Francesco and I remain the best of friends! We dined together last week and today we were at the Ufficio Storico trying to locate more documents that could shed light on the disappearance of HMS URGE (and HMS UPHOLDER). Unfortunately we could not find anything new although Francesco led th
Forum: General Discussions

Since I have been challenged in this forum and others (warsailors and AIDMEN) I feel I have to put down in writing what is available and why the theory of HMS URGE’s loss at Ras Hilal can be discredited. The loss of HMS URGE by Platon Alexiades. During the last week of April 1942, the situation in Malta had put in jeopardy the existence of the submarines of the Tenth Flotilla and they were
Forum: General Discussions

Francesco: One needs a lot of imagination to positively identify HMS Urge in these photos. The wreck could even be that of U 205 which is known to be at Ras Hilal. The only method is to dive on this wreck and recover positive proofs. Any volunteer? :-) Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, I do not have much time to answer as I am preparing my trip. 1. You are assuming that submarines could maintain their theoretical top speed for a period of 48 hours. Not only this was not true for any warship but British submarines dived by day and were limited at an underwater speed of about 2-3 knots except for short burst of speed. HMS URGE did not exceed the speed of 10 kn
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, I am well aware of your book: “La partecipazione tedesca alla guerra aeronavale nel Mediterraneo (1940-1945)” and to the readers of this forum: if you can manage to read some Italian I would recommend it warmly. It is one of the most interesting book of the war at sea in the Mediterranean and it is a pity it was not translated into English. But how come you did not mention you
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Francesco, As I said before we can only agree to disagree. Your theory that HMS URGE was lost at Ras Hilal is not substantiated by documents. I am ready to believe that there are several wrecks at Ras Hilal (U 205 is one of them) but there is no solid evidence that one of them is HMS URGE. The sonar photographs are blurred and it could be anything, I am not at all convinced that they are
Forum: General Discussions

Hello Pierre, I live in Montreal and will be interested to attend your conference. Thanks. Platon Alexiades
Forum: General Discussions

Hello Francesco, You might be interested to read "Operation Mincemeat" by Ben Macintyre, a very good study on the subject. There are also other sources at the National Archives. However I have to agree with you that the effect of this operation appears to have been minimal on Axis strategy. A little correction: the supposed objective of Mincemeat was not the Dodecanese but the we
Forum: General Discussions

Hi MEB, The patrol report of UNITED and the report on operation SNAPDRAGON can be found in ADM199/1347. United's page is still under construction in this site so check it again in a few weeks. Platon
Forum: General Discussions

I can think of the battleship HMS DREADNOUGHT ramming of U 29 in 1915. I do no know of any submarine sunk by a battleship in WW2, one was sunk by a cruiser (HMS Hermione versus the Italian TEMBIEN), Perhaps there were others but none comes to mind now. Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Dear Martin, You may contact me directly by private message and I will send you a copy. Breuillac was awarded the OBE in December 1943, his citation is in WO 373/94 (TNA). You can also google 'Commandant Breuillac' or 'André Mounier' to get sources on the web. Best regards, Platon
Forum: Warship forum

Hello Martin, The source for the first three operations of HMS Utmost was an article written after the war by Commandant Jean Breuillac who was one of the main participants. This article was found at the French Naval Archives at Vincennes. Breuillac does not mention the 27 May operation and apparently he was not present for this one but possibly his colleague, the lawyer André Mounier, was. As
Forum: Warship forum

Hello, A few details: EVERLEIGH was bound from Halifax to Manchester with 9,000 tons of wheat and general cargo. She sighted the submarine at 1015 AT/25 in 59°30'N, 17°20' W and opened fire as she tried to escape. The submarine was indeed ENRICO TAZZOLI (Capitano di Corvetta Vittore Raccanelli) who gave chase and fired 29 rounds with her 120mm guns claiming hits but this was not the
Forum: General Discussions

Hello Lorenzo, I think there were 499 or 500 Italian POWs on board EMPRESS OF CANADA. I have not seen the exact number of casualties but there were about 200+ POW survivors so probably less than 300 were lost. I hope to find out more later this year. Best regards, Platon
Forum: General Discussions

Hi Rainer, Thank you very much for the information. There is no reason MOROSINI would have gone north of 45 N as she was short of fuel. She was taking Route 2 which started at 45°02' N. So we have to look for an attack below this latitude. Only the attack of 09/1422 fits but it is too far west. As I have explained she must have been about 150 miles from the rendezvous point when she made
Forum: General Discussions