Italian submarine fates

Ships hit by Italian submarines


Montevideo

TypeCargo ship
CountryUruguayan Uruguayan
Built1941GRT5,785

Date of attack9 Mar 1942Time0201+
1900/8 approx. (e)
FateSunk by submarine Enrico Tazzoli (C.C. Carlo Fecia di Cossato)
Position of attack29° 13'N, 69° 35'W
Complement49 (14 dead and 35 survivors)
Convoy
Notes At 1330 hours on 8th March, a vessel was sighted at 17,000 metres in 27°40' N, 69°10' W. The submarine appeared to be in a favourable position and dived at 1515 hours to carry a submerged attack. However, the target altered course and the submarine had no other choice than to surface at 1740 hours to resume the chase and keep at a distance until darkness when she closed to the attack. At 0201 hours on 9th March, a torpedo was fired from a bow tube and hit after 45 seconds. The ship was damaged but did not sink. This was the Uruguayan Montevideo (5,785 GRT, built 1920, ex Italian Adamello seized in 1941) bound from Montevideo to New York via St. Thomas, carrying 6,000 tons of wool and meats.

Enrico Tazzoli opened fire to speed up her sinking and after ten rounds, most of which hit, a stern torpedo was fired at 0210 hours. It failed to explode due to the short range, which probably prevented the pistol from arming, but Montevideo finally slid to the bottom. Of her crew, fourteen were missing and thirty-five survived. Thirty-one, including two seriously wounded, linked with nineteen survivors from the Norwegian Tønsbergfjord and were later picked up by the Dutch Telamon and landed at Jérémie, Haiti. Four survivors reached Trinidad.

Position of attack

Ships hit by Italian submarines