Italian submarine fates
Ships hit by Italian submarines
Murefte
| Type | Cargo ship | |||
| Country |  Turkish | |||
| Built | 1941 | GRT | 691 | |
| Date of attack | 10 Sep 1941 | Time | 2148 2220 (e) | |
| Fate | Sunk by submarine Topazio (C.C. Emilio Berengan) | |||
| Position of attack | 33° 27'N, 34° 54'E | |||
| Complement | 18 (1 dead and 17 survivors) | |||
| Convoy | ||||
| Notes | At 2055 hours, a steamer was sighted at 7,000 metres, steering 090°, 9 knots, toward Beirut. The lights of the city could be seen in the distance. At 2127 hours, the range had closed to 2,000 metres. The vessel must have noticed the submarine as she made an SOS, but giving her position 33°54 N instead of 34°54' N. Topazio fired a burst of machine gun as a warning shot. The vessel replied weakly with a light machine gun. This was the Turkish steamer Murefte (691 GRT, built 1941) on a trip from Port Said to Mersin, carrying two 6" guns and three 4" guns and ammunition (from the UK). At 2129 hours, the submarine opened fire with her deck gun, scoring a direct hit aft. Firing was joined with the machine guns and the crew began to abandon ship. At 2140 hours, two torpedoes were fired from bow tubes at a distance of 500 metres. They both missed. At 2142 hours, fire was resumed with the 100mm guns with 15 rounds, all of which hit but the vessel was still afloat. At 2148 hours, Topazio fired a stern shot. This time the torpedo hit and the vessel sank. One was killed. The seventeen survivors (including one wounded) were rescued by the Egyptian steamer Talodi (1,585 GRT, built 1928). Four Blenheims from 55 Squadron (Palestine) and six destroyers searched for the submarine without success. | |||