Italian submarine fates

Ships hit by Italian submarines

Type	Cargo ship
Country	Dutch
Built	1921	GRT	1,406

Date of attack	6 Mar 1942	Time	0330 0055Z (e)
Fate	Sunk by submarine Enrico Tazzoli (C.C. Carlo Fecia di Cossato)
Position of attack	28° 55'N, 63° 30'W
Complement	27 (no casualties, 27 survivors)
Convoy
Notes	At 2131 hours on 5th March, a smoke was sighted on the horizon and the submarine closed. At 0235 hours on 6th March, gunfire was opened with 25 100mm rounds and 45 machine gun rounds expended. Fecia di Cossato described his own shooting as very inaccurate due to the heavy seas, but the vessel did not appear to be armed and her crew quickly abandoned ship. This was the Dutch *Astrea* (1,406 GRT, built 1921) bound from Rio de Janeiro to New York via Trinidad. At 0323 hours, Enrico Tazzoli presented her stern to deliver the coup de grace and fired one torpedo. It hit after 18 seconds but the Dutch ship remained afloat. At 0330 hours, a second stern shot was fired, hitting *Astrea* after 18 seconds and she sank. There were no casualties. The crew of twenty-seven was picked up on 16th March by the Dutch *Hebe* and fifteen were then transferred to the Argentine *Rio Iguazu*.