Hello Lorenzo, I doubt the photos are of MOROSINI because: 1. There were no air attacks on a submarine in her area on these days. When were these photos taken and in what position? There are hundreds of photos of U-boats caught on the surface by the aircraft so it is not easy to determine which one. Perhaps a forum member can identify it. 2. MOROSINI was ordered to proceed submerged by day w
Forum: General Discussions

Hello Lorenzo, I do not think that the mystery of the disappearance of MOROSINI has ever been elucidated. I have given it some thoughts but cannot come up with a definite answer. A few facts: She sailed from La Pallice on 2 June (with TORELLI). She had transferred there from Bordeaux on 26-27/5. Her last signal was made at 1100/8 August and she reported that she was taking route 2 and her
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Dear Shirley, We have some information on most if not all the special operations carried out by HMS TORBAY. We just did not have time to transcribe them. Brian Corijn and myself have been working very hard to update these pages but the task is daunting. I am presently in Italy doing research in the local archives and my free time is very limited. I shall be able to answer you in more details a
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Hi Adam, Lt. z.S. Russ was part of the crew of a Do 18 of Küstenfliegergruppe 2/106. I believe he was an observer, the aircraft was flown by Oberleutnant Heüveldop. The aircraft was one of several involved in the attack on HMS SHARK and dropped a 50 kg bomb which missed by 40 meters and machine gunned the submarine. Platon
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Your listing is very interesting but I think you only have about half the U-boat commanders so that your statistics will be quite a bit off. Platon
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Do you know which was the second Soviet submarine? I do not live in the USA but I do visit once in a while the Washington Archives and I will try to check it next time. Thanks. Platon
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I assume that you are referring to the Soviet submarines of the Tripolski group on their way from Petropavlovsk to Poyarnoe. As I understand that one of them (which one?) was missed by a torpedo near Coco Solo? I am not aware of any US submarine attack at this time and at this place. It is most probable that the "torpedo" was a dolphin, a mistake not uncommon in the war. Do you have the
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R-6 (SS-83) was based at New London with Subron 7 and exercising with Task Group 25.2 on that date, the other two were based at Panama at that time but I have no further details. Platon
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Hi John, The ninth submarine sunk by a U-boat (albeit in error) was the Vichy French SFAX sunk by U 37 on 19.12.1940. Regards, Platon
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Hello Ron, I do not know much about E-boat operations but can give you the following: There were three E-boat flotillas operating in the Channel in September 1940: 1.S-Flottille (Kapitänleutnant Birnbacher, depot ship CARL PETERS) based at Rotterdam until 6 September when they sailed for Cherbourg (they returned to Rotterdam on 14 October). Boats: S 18, 19 (damaged by mine on 28/8 near Cala
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Hi Francesco, Thank you for the additional details and I look forward to read your article in Bollettino d’Archivio. Best wishes, Platon
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Hi Francesco, Thank you for a very informative exposé on Operation AGREEMENT. I think I would like to add that the failure of the operation was partly due to the poor information on the local weather. The heavy swell prevented the submarine HMS TAKU from landing a party that was to act as a beacon to direct the invading force and it also later delayed considerably the landing as the power boa
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Dear Francesco, Dear Francesco, I do not think there were any fishing trawlers at all. Coe believed he saw two trawlers with a submarine. When Lt. Cdr. Bone looked in the periscope, he realised that it was only a submarine and the two "trawlers" were the two radio antennas of the submarine. Distance was 9,000 yds (about 8,000 meters). Because the sea was very calm he was bothe
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Hello Francesco, Thank you for reviving this old thread! I have done quite a bit of research on the BIANCHI case and I also thought that the TIGRIS' attack was not absolutely convincing. However I believe that it is almost sure that she was sunk by TIGRIS. I say almost (80% or so) for the simple reason that there is no other submarine in the vicinity and calculating her timeline, she c
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Hello Richard, I think you are mistaken. Wanklyn of UPHOLDER never machine-gunned any survivors. You are probably referring to Myers of HMS TORBAY. Just to set the record straight. Platon
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Hi Alcmeon, As far as I know there were only three commando operations on the eastern coast of Calabria: HMS UPRIGHT on 27/28 May 1941 (target: train near 38°19' N, 16°37' E) by Lt. Schofield of Royal Fusiliers and 5 other ranks. Result? HMS UTMOST on 27/28 August 1941 (target: bridge near 39°50' N, 16°31' E) by Wilson and Hughes some damage and minor interruption to traf
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. Platon Alexiades
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The miniature torpedo was based on the limpet used by British commandos, since the limpet was about 10 lbs and measured 10" x 5" x 5 " one can imagine that a small motor was adapted so that it must have weighed about 12-15 lbs. Maximum range was 400 yds but since it was not long enough to be properly aimed, Wilson decided that he should close to 100 yds to launch it to be able to
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You are quite correct, ULTOR fired only a single torpedo and Italian reports indicate two hits. This was possibly due to a secondary explosion mistaken for a second torpedo hit. It happened sometime... Platon
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Hello Robert, Thanks again for the information which is much appreciated! All the best, Platon
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Hi Robert, Thanks again for the information and the link. Two questions specially directed at the submarine torpedoes: if the gyro angle could not be set on certain torpedoes when they were in the tubes, could these torpedoes be pre-set at certain angles before loading them in the tubes or the gyro would not work at all? Do you know if American submarines ever used torpedoes smaller than the 2
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Robert: Thank you very much for the info and the links. All the best, Platon
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Hello Robert, Many thanks for your quick and informative answer. This was great! I had not realized the shortage of torpedoes was so accute in the early stages of the war. I had noticed that MACKEREL used her stern tubes in both attacks, of course this could have been a coincidence but your explanation cleared things up. I hope it is not a silly question but how long did it take each torpedom
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Thank you UBS for raising the subject and Robert for your observations on the torpedo situation in WW2. Robert: do you know if the forward tubes were loaded with Mark 14 torpedoes or were they empty and loaded only on the West coast or at Pearl? If not, any special reason why the Mark 15 were not loaded in the forward tubes?And finally, could the Mark 15 torpedoes be fired at different angles i
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Hi Robert, You are welcome. I should add that MACKEREL (SS-204) while on passage from New London to Norfolk attacked twice a U-boat(probably bogus) on 14-15 April 1942. She belonged to SubRon 1. It is possible that a few US submarines transiting from the east coast to the Pacific via the Panama Canal may have had some other encounters with U-boats, perhaps someone could enlighten us. Regard
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You may also add to these: HADDO (SS-255) and HAKE (SS-256). These eight submarines actually sank one Vichy French freighter (VILLE DE HAVRE) and a German minesweeper (M 4242), a German patrol boat (V 408), damaged a Spanish tanker (CAMPOMANES in an incident which was hushed up) and the blockade runner PIETRO ORSEOLO. In addition the German destroyer Z 23 and ore carrier NORDFELS were hit by tor
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I am looking for relatives of Able Seaman Ernest Frank Saunders who was killed in action on 31.05.1941. Some sources list him as from the aircraft carrier HMS EAGLE but I believe he was on special service with HMS DOLPHIN II and actually killed on 31.05.1941 on a Greek caique while escaping from Crete. Platon
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Hello Simone, Obviously they meant La Maddalena in Sardinia and must have made an error. I do not know the source of their information. Mine is the C. in C. Med War Diaries although usually very accurate, it does make occasional errors. As mentioned before the best source would probably be the minesweepers records. Best Regards, Platon
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Hello Simone, The same source (ADM199/642) reports that RYSA was mined and sunk off Bastia on 8 December 1943. However even official sources have mistakes so I would think that one would need to check the records of the 13th Minesweeping Flotilla, they appear to have been involved in the minesweeping of La Maddalane area. I do not know if these records have survived but they could well be in t
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Hello Simone, The information on HMS SANTA comes from the War Diaries of the Commander in Chief Mediterranean (National Archives Reference: ADM199/642). There were only two survivors from a crew of two officers and 22 ratings. Although it is possible that the position quoted in the war diaries is approximate and a few miles off, I doubt that it would be off by 17 miles. It is most likely that
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