Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Junio Valerio Borghese
| Born | 6 Jun 1906 | Rome | |
| Died | 26 Aug 1974 | (68) | Cadiz (Spain) |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
VETTOR PISANI (T.V. C.O.): from 09.05.1940 to 10.09.1940 (promoted C.C. in September 1940).SCIRÈ (C.C. C.O.): from 11.09.1940 to 29.12.1940.
DIASPRO (C.C. C.O.): from 29.12.1940 to 12.02.1941.
SCIRÈ (C.C. C.O.): from 21.02.19410 to 28.05.1942.
Promoted C.F. in December 1941.
From 08.03.1942, Head of DECIMA FLOTTIGLIA MAS.
Joined RSI.
Commands listed for Junio Valerio Borghese
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vettor Pisani (PN) | Ocean going | T.V. | 9 May 1940 | 10 Sep 1940 |
| Scirè (SR) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 11 Sep 1940 | 29 Dec 1940 |
| Diaspro (DS) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 29 Dec 1940 | 12 Feb 1941 |
| Scirè (SR) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 15 Feb 1941 | 28 May 1942 |
Ships hit by Junio Valerio Borghese
| Date | Submarine | Ship hit | Type | GRT | Nat. | Loss type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 20 Sep 1941 | Scirè | Fiona Shell | Oiling hulk | 2,444 |  | Sunk |
| 2. | 21 Sep 1941 | Scirè | Denbydale | Tanker | 8,145 | | Damaged |
| 3. | 22 Sep 1941 | Scirè | Durham | Cargo ship | 10,893 | | Damaged |
| 4. | 18 Dec 1941 | Scirè | HMS Valiant | Battleship | 31,100 | | Damaged |
| 5. | 18 Dec 1941 | Scirè | HMS Jervis | Destroyer | 1,695 | | Damaged |
| 6. | 19 Dec 1941 | Scirè | HMS Queen Elizabeth | Battleship | 32,700 | | Damaged |
| 7. | 20 Dec 1941 | Scirè | Sagona | Tanker | 7,554 |  | Damaged |
War patrols listed for Junio Valerio Borghese
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vettor Pisani (PN) | 4 Jun 1940 | 0801 | Augusta | 4 Jun 1940 | 1516 | Augusta | 49 | Exercises. | ||
| 1. | Vettor Pisani (PN) | 17 Jun 1940 | 1745 | Augusta | 23 Jun 1940 | 1955 | Augusta | 706 | Patrolled 30 miles west of Malta in 36°00'N, 13°40'E. Uneventful. | |
| 2. | Vettor Pisani (PN) | 9 Jul 1940 | 0027 | Augusta | 12 Jul 1940 | 0645 | Augusta | 313 | Patrolled 30 miles west of Malta in 36°40'N, 17°20'E, on a patrol line with Brin, Settimo, Settembrini and Sciesa. | |
| 11 Jul 1940 | 2245 | (0) Off Augusta. | A submarine which was thought to have been Benedetto Brin. The latter did not report any sighting. | |||||||
| 3. | Vettor Pisani (PN) | 15 Jul 1940 | 1236 | Augusta | 18 Jul 1940 | 0835 | Augusta | 324 | Patrolled west of Malta in 35°45'N, 15°30'E on a SE-NW axis, on a patrol line with Brin. | |
| 16 Jul 1940 | 1255 | (0) Off Malta. | Vettor Pisani was proceeding at a depth of 62 meters when fifteen bombs were dropped by an aircraft. The submarine was undamaged. | |||||||
| Vettor Pisani (PN) | 22 Jul 1940 | 0100 | Augusta | 24 Jul 1940 | 1720 | Pola | 736 | Passage Augusta-Pola. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 17 Sep 1940 | 0800 | La Spezia | 17 Sep 1940 | 1500 | La Spezia | 18,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 19 Sep 1940 | 0740 | La Spezia | 19 Sep 1940 | 1750 | La Spezia | 36 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 20 Sep 1940 | 0715 | La Spezia | 20 Sep 1940 | 1830 | La Spezia | 61,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 21 Sep 1940 | 0820 | La Spezia | 21 Sep 1940 | 1238 | La Spezia | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| 4. | Scirè (SR) | 24 Sep 1940 | 0540 | La Spezia | 3 Oct 1940 | 1215 | La Maddalena | 1646 | Sailed with human torpedoes to attack Gibraltar, but was recalled 50 miles short of her objective when it was learned that Force H had sailed. The teams were T.V. Gino Birindelli/2° C.Pal. Damos Paccagnini, Cap. G.N. Teseo Tesei/Sg. Pal. Alcide Pedretti and S.T.V. Luigi Durand de la Penne/2° C.Pal. Emilio Bianchi plus in reserve: Ten. G.N. Gian Gastone Bertozzi/2° C. Pal. Enrico Ario Lazzari. | |
| Scirè (SR) | 8 Oct 1940 | 1430 | La Maddalena | 9 Oct 1940 | 0845 | La Spezia | 207 | Passage La Maddalena-La Spezia. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 19 Oct 1940 | 1500 | La Spezia | 19 Oct 1940 | 1755 | La Spezia | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 20 Oct 1940 | 0924 | La Spezia | 20 Oct 1940 | 1205 | La Spezia | 3 | Exercises. | ||
| 5. | Scirè (SR) | 21 Oct 1940 | 0515 | La Spezia | 3 Nov 1940 | 1930 | La Spezia | 2057 | Operated off Gibraltar (Operation BG 2). Launched three human torpedoes (she carried eight operators, two of them in reserve). Borghese received the Medaglia D'Oro al Valor Militare. | |
| 27 Oct 1940 | 0210 | (0) Off Almina Point. | At 0210 hours, a destroyer was sighted astern at a distance of 800 metres, apparently proceeding from Europa Point to Almina Point at slow speed. The submarine crash-dived. | |||||||
| 27 Oct 1940 | 2345 | (0) Off Almina Point. | At 2345 hours, a destroyer was sighted steering 080° at high speed. The submarine crash-dived. | |||||||
| 28 Oct 1940 | 0000-0600 | (0) Off Almina Point. | During the night, four destroyers were sighted on an A/S hunt. The submarine managed to escape by stopping all motors and letting herself drift with NE current. | |||||||
| 29 Oct 1940 | 0245-2035 | (0) Off Gibraltar. | At 0245 hours, with batteries fully charged and air completely replenished, the submarine submerged and proceeded to enter the Straits of Gibraltar at 3,5 knots at a depth of 70 metres. At 0410 hours, a destroyer passed exactly above the submarine, her propellers quite audible to the submariners' ears. At 2035 hours, the submarine surfaced and proceeded on electric motors toward Gibraltar. | |||||||
| 30 Oct 1940 | 0121-0239 | (0) Gibraltar. | At 0121 hours, the submarine reached the point established in the plan, and bottomed in 10 metres, 350 metres from the Spanish coast. The SLC operators began to prepare for the exit. At 0219 hours, the submarine surfaced. Three minutes later, the six operators and the two reserve operators and their assistants (T.G.N. Gastone Bertozzi and Sergente Palombaro Ario Lazzari) exited and the submarine submerged again. At 0239 hours, outside noises made it clear that the three SLCs had left. At 0257 hours, Scirè surfaced and recovered the two reserve operators. The submarine began the return trip. Breathing was becoming difficult and on three occasion she had to surface to regenerate the air but she reached La Spezia without further difficulties. The SLC attack failed. Only one torpedo (T.V. Gino Birindelli/2° Capo Palombaro Damos Paccagnini) managed to enter Gibraltar. The torpedo failed them when they were closing on the battleship HMS Barham. At 0705 hours, Birindelli was captured on the commercial mole and Paccagnini was picked up by armed the trawler HMT Empyrean. Their torpedo exploded at 0817 hours on the 30th, but caused no damage. The other two pairs, manned by Capitano G.N. Teseo Tesei/Sergente Palomboro Alcide Pedretti and by S.T.V. Luigi Durand de La Penne/2° Capo Palombaro Emilio Bianchi, were plagued by defects. They failed to penetrate the base and escaped to Spain. | |||||||
| Scirè (SR) | 9 Dec 1940 | 0942 | La Spezia | 9 Dec 1940 | 1633 | La Spezia | 51 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 15 Dec 1940 | 1430 | La Spezia | 16 Dec 1940 | 1615 | La Spezia | 82 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 17 Dec 1940 | 0920 | La Spezia | 18 Dec 1940 | 1630 | La Spezia | 86 | Exercises. | ||
| Diaspro (DS) | 13 Jan 1941 | 0935 | Cagliari | 13 Jan 1941 | 1110 | Cagliari | 1,5 | Trials? | ||
| 6. | Diaspro (DS) | 21 Jan 1941 | 1525 | Cagliari | 22 Jan 1941 | 2335 | Cagliari | 201,7 | Patrolled south of Sardinia to replace Corallo who had to interrupt her mission because of defects. Early return because Diaspro also had defects. | |
| Scirè (SR) | 26 Jan 1941 | 0936 | La Spezia | 26 Jan 1941 | 1343 | La Spezia | 29 | Exercises. | ||
| 7. | Diaspro (DS) | 9 Feb 1941 | 0057 | Cagliari | 11 Feb 1941 | 1226 | Cagliari | 294,5 | Patrolled east of La Galite from 37°30'N, 09°50'E to 20 miles northward. Borghese was criticised by Rear-Admiral Oliva for submerging from 2400 hours to 0155 hours on the 10th and ignoring instructions issued on 20th January to Mediterranean submarines to operate on the surface during dark hours for at least the first 15 minutes of each hour. | |
| Scirè (SR) | 20 Feb 1941 | 1003 | La Spezia | 20 Feb 1941 | 1200 | La Spezia | 7 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 22 Feb 1941 | 1500 | La Spezia | 22 Feb 1941 | 1647 | La Spezia | 5 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 7 Apr 1941 | 0921 | La Spezia | 7 Apr 1941 | 1510 | La Spezia | 9,1 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 8 Apr 1941 | 0920 | La Spezia | 8 Apr 1941 | 1540 | La Spezia | 32 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 9 Apr 1941 | 0925 | La Spezia | 9 Apr 1941 | 1442 | La Spezia | 4 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 11 Apr 1941 | 0818 | La Spezia | 11 Apr 1941 | 1722 | La Spezia | 56 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliaries Crotone and Capodistria and tug 55. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 12 Apr 1941 | 0809 | La Spezia | 12 Apr 1941 | 1355 | La Spezia | 5 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 16 Apr 1941 | 0910 | La Spezia | 16 Apr 1941 | 1845 | La Spezia | 28 | Exercises with the tug Favignana. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 18 Apr 1941 | 0845 | La Spezia | 18 Apr 1941 | 1133 | La Spezia | 6 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 22 Apr 1941 | 0805 | La Spezia | 22 Apr 1941 | 1837 | La Spezia | 62 | Exercises with midget submarine CB 1 and the tugs Torre Annunziata, Capodistria and Crotone. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 23 Apr 1941 | 0710 | La Spezia | 23 Apr 1941 | 1720 | La Spezia | 66 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 5 May 1941 | 1045 | La Spezia | 5 May 1941 | 1455 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 5 May 1941 | 1930 | La Spezia | 6 May 1941 | 0808 | La Spezia | 1 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 6 May 1941 | 1134 | La Spezia | 6 May 1941 | 1425 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 6 May 1941 | 2016 | La Spezia | 7 May 1941 | 0742 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 8 May 1941 | 1410 | La Spezia | 8 May 1941 | 1945 | La Spezia | 19 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 9 May 1941 | 1100 | La Spezia | 9 May 1941 | 1505 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 9 May 1941 | 2005 | La Spezia | 10 May 1941 | 0808 | La Spezia | 8 | Exercises. | ||
| 8. | Scirè (SR) | 15 May 1941 | 2000 | La Spezia | 23 May 1941 | 2345 | Cadiz | Sailed and crossed the Gibraltar Straits on 22nd May, to collect a Decima X.Mas team at Cadiz, from the supply ship Fulgor, to attack Gibraltar (Operation BG 3). The team consisted of nine men: T.V. Catalano, Sottocapo palombaro (diver) Giannoni, T.V. Vesco, palombaro Franchi, S,T.V. Visintini, Sottocapo palombaro Magro, Tenente G.N. Marceglia, Sottocapo palombaro Schergat, Capitano medico Falconata. | ||
| 23 May 1941 | 2345-0430/24 | (0) Cadiz harbour. | At 2300 hours, Scirè secretly entered the harbour of Cadiz and at 2345 hours came alongside the supply ship Fulgor (known as Base "C") to collect nine divers of the Decima Flottiglia Mas. They had been flown to Spain on 14th May 1941. They were: T.V. Decio Catalano Sottocapo Palombaro (diver) Giuseppe Giannoni T.V. Amedeo Vesco Palombaro Amelio Franchi S.T.V. Licio Visentini Sottocapo Palombaro Giovanni Magro Tenente G.N. Antonio Marceglia Sottocapo Palombaro Spartaco Schergat Capitano Medico Bruno Falconata. | |||||||
| 9. | Scirè (SR) | 24 May 1941 | 0430 | Cadiz | 31 May 1941 | 1855 | La Spezia | 2111 | Sailed with nine members of Decima Flottiglia Mas. Operated off Gibraltar and sent human torpedo attacks (Operation B.G. 3). The team members are T.V. Decio Catalano and S.C. Pal. Giuseppe Giannoni, T.V. Amedeo Vescoand, S.C. Pal. Amelio Franchi and S.T.V. Licio Visintini and S.C. Pal. Giovanni Magro. In reserve: Ten. G.N. Antonio Marceglia and S.C. Pal. Spartaco Schergat [mileage is for round trip]. | |
| 26 May 1941 | 2358 | (0) Off Gibraltar. | At 2320 hours, Scirè had bottomed in 10 metres of water and the SLC operators began their preparations. At 2330 hours, to the great disappointment of the operators, a signal from SUPERMARINA arrived informing them that the targets were no longer in port. The battlecruiser HMS Renown and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal had sailed on 24th May to hunt the Bismarck. At 2358 hours, the submarine surfaced, the operators exited and, two minutes later the submarine submerged to enable the departure of the SLCs. At 0037 hours, the submarine surfaced to recover the two reserve operators and steered for La Spezia. The operation failed again. The SLC piloted by Vesco broke down and had to be sunk. Soon after, that of Marceglia also had to be abandoned. Only Visintini attempted to attach his two charges to a tanker, but his maiale sank and the attempt was abandoned. The six men swam to the shore and were assisted by the local Italian organization. They soon rejoined Italy. | |||||||
| Scirè (SR) | 8 Jul 1941 | 0855 | La Spezia | 8 Jul 1941 | 1300 | La Spezia | 4 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 14 Jul 1941 | 0720 | La Spezia | 14 Jul 1941 | 1937 | La Spezia | 23,5 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Torre Annunziata. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 16 Jul 1941 | 0817 | La Spezia | 16 Jul 1941 | 1332 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 13 Aug 1941 | 0840 | La Spezia | 13 Aug 1941 | 1748 | La Spezia | 28 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 22 Aug 1941 | 1453 | La Spezia | 23 Aug 1941 | 1255 | La Spezia | 57 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 1 Sep 1941 | 1224 | La Spezia | 1 Sep 1941 | 1552 | La Spezia | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 1 Sep 1941 | 2019 | La Spezia | 2 Sep 1941 | 0015 | La Spezia | 11 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 9 Sep 1941 | 1141 | La Spezia | 9 Sep 1941 | 1516 | La Spezia | 4 | Exercises. | ||
| 9 Sep 1941 | 2335 | (0) Off S. Bartolomeo. | At 2335 hours, a defective SLC was launched to be repaired. | |||||||
| 10. | Scirè (SR) | 9 Sep 1941 | 2250 | La Spezia | 10 Sep 1941 | 0015 | La Spezia | 2 | Sailed for mission, but turned back because of a defective S.L.C., which was launched off S. Bartolomeo to be repaired. | |
| 9 Sep 1941 | 2335 | (0) Off S. Bartolomeo. | At 2335 hours, a defective SLC was launched to be repaired. | |||||||
| 10 Sep 1941 | 1748 | (0) Off La Spezia breakwater. | At 1748 hours, Scirè stopped to recover the repaired SLC. | |||||||
| 11. | Scirè (SR) | 10 Sep 1941 | 1730 | La Spezia | 17 Sep 1941 | 2338 | Cadiz | Passage to Cadiz, to pick up the Decima Flottiglia MAS operators from the supply ship Fulgor to attack Gibraltar (Operation BG.4). Several neutral vessels were sighted. | ||
| 10 Sep 1941 | 1748 | (0) Off La Spezia breakwater. | At 1748 hours, Scirè stopped to recover the repaired SLC. | |||||||
| 17 Sep 1941 | 2338 | (0) Cadiz harbour. | At 2135 hours, Scirè surfaced and proceeded toward the entrance of Cadiz. At 2338 hours, she came alongside Fulgor and embarked the nine operators of the Decima Flottiglia Mas. They were: T.V. Decio Catalano Sottocapo Palombaro (diver) Giuseppe Giannoni T.V. Amedeo Vesco S.C. Palombaro Antonio Zozzoli T.V. Licio Visentini S.C. Palombaro Giovanni Magro Capitano G.N. Antonio Marceglia Palombaro Spartaco Schergat S.T. Medico Giorgio Spaccarelli At 0430 hours, Scirè sailed from Cadiz. | |||||||
| 12. | Scirè (SR) | 18 Sep 1941 | 0430 | Cadiz | 25 Sep 1941 | 2350 | La Spezia | 1994 | Operated off Gibraltar and launched human torpedoes (Operation BG 4). Several neutral vessels were sighted [mileage is for round trip]. | |
| 20 Sep 1941 | 0030-0110 | (0) Gibraltar. | At 0030 hours, Scirè surfaced for the operators to exit. At 0052 hours, Scirè submerged to 4.5 metres to allow the departure of the SLCs. At 0107 hours, the SLCs were heard on the hydrophones to leave. At 0110 hours, the submarine surfaced to recover the two reserve operators and steered for La Spezia. She was forced to dive by an enemy destroyer at 0637 hours on the 21st, but managed to evade it. The Vesco/Zozzoli team attacked the Fiona Shell (2,444 GRT, built 1892) who was sunk with one casualty: a Spanish stoker. The two men reached the shore and were released after being briefly arrested by the Spanish police. The Catalono/Giannoni attacked the Durham (10,893 GRT, built 1934) who had to be beached to prevent her from sinking. Visintini and Magro attacked the tanker Denbydale (8,145 GRT, built 1941) who was seriously damaged, all men reached the shore and were recovered. The explosions occurred at 0742 hours (Denbydale), 0816 hours (Fiona Shell) and 0817 hours (Durham). Following this attack, Borghese was promoted to Commander and the six men received the Medaglia d'Argento. On the afternoon of 8th October a Spanish diver recovered parts of a torpedo in position 346.5° - North Mole Light - 11 cables, a second one was recovered by Spanish divers on the morning of 13th October in 342° - North Mole Light - 12.6 miles. In a memo dated 12th November 1941, British Naval Intelligence raised the possibility that the attack had come from one of the two Italian ships at Algeciras as big boxes were loaded on one of them prior to the attack. | |||||||
| Scirè (SR) | 5 Nov 1941 | 0910 | La Spezia | 5 Nov 1941 | 1612 | La Spezia | 57 | Exercises. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 28 Nov 1941 | 0910 | La Spezia | 28 Nov 1941 | 1830 | La Spezia | 31 | Exercises, escorted by La Masa. | ||
| Scirè (SR) | 2 Dec 1941 | 1010 | La Spezia | 2 Dec 1941 | 1430 | La Spezia | 3 | Exercises. | ||
| 13. | Scirè (SR) | 3 Dec 1941 | 1800 | La Spezia | 9 Dec 1941 | 2100 | Leros (Porto Lago) | Passage La Spezia-Leros (Porto Lago) for special operation at Alexandria. She carried three SLCs (221, 222 and 223) and ten divers (including four reserve divers) and a medical doctor. The men were embarked at Leros. | ||
| 5 Dec 1941 | 2110 | (0) Off Taormina (Sicily). | At 2110 hours, an enemy submarine was sighted at a distance of 6 miles. She answered her signals with a white light. She took a parallel course to Scirè at 2120 hours at a distance of 5,000 meters. The submarines HMS P 34 (later renamed Ultimatum), HMS Upright and HMS Unique were in the general area, but do not appear to have been involved, although they may have been stationed especially to hunt for U-boats. | |||||||
| 8 Dec 1941 | 1050 (IT) 1050 (e) | At 1050 hours, an enemy three-engine aircraft was sighted, which made a recognition signal. Scirè made a signal (green light) but was not answered. According to Admiral Cunningham's diaries, a RAF reconnaissance plane (possibly a Blenheim bomber of 203 Squadron, 201 Group) sighted the submarine at 1050 hours on the 9th (Scirè gives the same time but dates it as the 8th), correctly described it as similar to Gondar and apparently equipped with "one-man submarines". | ||||||||
| 14. | Scirè (SR) | 14 Dec 1941 | 0700 | Leros (Porto Lago) | 21 Dec 1941 | 1900 | Leros (Porto Lago) | Operated off Alexandria and launched human torpedoes (Operation G.A.3). | ||
| 18 Dec 1941 | 2047 | (0) 356° - Ras El Tin Light - 1.3 mile | At 1840 hours, Scirè was at the bottom, in only 17 metres of water, in a position 356° - Ras El Tin - 1.3 mile. She then moved slightly southward. At 2047 hours, the submarine surfaced. The six operators and the two reservists came out. The sea was very calm. The submarine bottomed at 15 metres. At 2128 hours, the submarine surfaced to recover the two reservists Ten. D.M. Feltrinelli and S.T. Medico Spaccarelli (Medical Officer), but the latter was brought in unconscious, showing very serious symptoms of asphyxia. He was only revived at 0100 hours after vigorous artificial respiration attempts. At 2133 hours, the submarine submerged and steered for Leros. The three teams entered the harbour of Alexandria, assisted by the fact the boom was left opened for the return of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. Della Penne reported almost rammed by the leading destroyer of a group of three entering harbour. We know that HMS Sikh, HMS Maori, HMS Legion arrived at that time. They managed to sink their SLC next to the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth (Capo G.N. Antonio Marceglia and Spartaco Schergat with SLC.223) and HMS Valiant (T.V. Luigi Durand della Penne and Capo 3rd class Emilio Bianchi with SLC.221) and the tanker Sagona (7,554 GRT, built 1929) (Capo A.N. Vincenzo Martellotta and Mario Marino with SLC.222). At 0547 hours, an explosion under the stern of the tanker Sagona seriously damaged her and the destroyer HMS Jervis' bow suffered damages from the same explosion. At 0606 hours, the battleship HMS Valiant suffered a massive explosion under her "A" turret and sank in shallow waters. At 0610 hours, the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth [flagship of Admiral Cunningham) was rocked by an explosion in the boiler room and also sank in shallow waters. The six Italian divers were all captured. SUPERMARINA advised the submarine in its TG of 2115/20.12.1941 that Air Reconnaissance had reported the two battleships hit. This was revealed by the oil leaks around them. | |||||||
| 15. | Scirè (SR) | 23 Dec 1941 | 0800 | Leros (Porto Lago) | 29 Dec 1941 | 1100 | La Spezia | 3506 | Return trip from special mission to Alexandria [mileage is for round trip]. | |
| 25 Dec 1941 | 1245 1240 (e) | At 1245 hours, a three-engine bomber in kaki colour was sighted and made an attack from the stern. Scirè opened fire with her machine-guns at a distance of 800 metres. The aircraft dropped five small bombs, which fell in a single line about 80 metres astern of the submarine and then flew away. This was Blenheim 'P' of 203 Squadron. It had sighted the submarine steering 270° at 6 knots. The bomber climbed to 1,800 feet before diving to the attack. The submarine's antiaircraft fire failed to inflict any damage. The aircraft actually dropped four 250lb A/S bombs, the closest of these fell 80 yards astern of the submarine. | ||||||||
65 entries. 58 total patrol entries (15 marked as war patrols) and 19 events.