Although Alexandria was to produce the most famous success for the 10th Light Flotilla, the several attacks against the British bastion of Gibraltar, known as “The Rock”, were the most successful ones conducted by the unit. On 24 September 1940, in the same period when the British destroyer STUART sank the submarine GONDAR (on its way to Alexandria) in the Gulf of Bomba, the submarine SCIRÉ left la Spezia for a parallel mission against Gibraltar.

This mission planned to infiltrate the British base of Gibraltar utilizing a few human torpedoes, the so-called ‘Maiali” (Italian for pigs). The four crews were made up of these teams:

Lt. Teseo Tesei and diver P.O. Alcide Pedretti;
Lt. Gino Birindelli and diver P.O. Damos Paccagnini;
Sub. Lt. Duran de la Penne and diver P.O. Emilio Bianchi;

Sub. Lt. Giangastone Bertozzi and diver P.O. Azio Lazzari would be the reserve team. The mission was under the overall command of the Skipper of SCIRÉ, Captain Junio Valerio Borghese.

This was the first war mission of SCIRÉ under Borghese and, as he wrote in his book ‘Sea Devils’, he acquainted himself quite well with the crew. Lt. Antonio Usano, from Naples, was the second in command while Lt. Remigio Benini was the navigation officer. Also aboard were midshipman Armand Alcere, the torpedo officer from Liguria and Lt. Bonzi, later replaced by naval engineer Lt. Antonio Tajer, the Chief Engineer. Borghese also credits Ravera, the Chief Mechanic - Rogetti, the Chief Electrician - and Farina, the Chief Gunner.

On 29 Sept., at about 50 miles from the target, the Supermarina recalled SCIRÉ due to lack of suitable targets. The submarine arrived at la Maddelena, in Sardinia, on 3 October.

On 21 October, SCIRÉ left la Spezia for a second attempt against Gibraltar. On the 27th, the submarine reached the Strait of Gibraltar where Borghese twice attempted to approach while surfaced, and twice the British escorts chased him off. Finally, on the 29th, SCIRÉ broke through and, taking advantage of the strong current, entered the Bay of Algericas. On the 30th, SCIRÉ came to rest at a depth of about 45 feet near the estuary of the river Guadarranque. Six members of the 10th Light Flotilla manned the three Maiale and left the submarine, which safely returned to base on 3 November.

The first team (de la Penne and Bianchi) was detected by defense vessels and bombed. The human torpedo failed, sinking quickly to the bottom while the two crewmembers were able to swim back to Algericas where Italian agents picked them up. Soon after, they were flown back to Italy.

The second team (Tesei and Pedretti), despite some minor problems with their ‘pig’, made it to the North Mole. Here, problems with the breathing apparatuses forced the abandonment of the mission. Like the first team, they made it to Spain, then back to la Spezia.

The third team (Birindelli and Paccagnini) had the same technical problems with both the torpedo and the breathing equipment. The crew had almost reached the battleship HMS BARHAM when the ‘pig’ lost power. Birindelli attempted to drag the heavy explosive near the target but, exhausted, he had to abandon the mission. After an adventurous escape attempt, the officer was finally captured, joining his diver who had been captured in the harbor. What followed for the two men was 3 years of hard imprisonment.

The mission had been a failure, but it had planted the seed for future successes. Much had been learned, especially regarding the behavior of the equipment and its technical shortcomings. Borghese and Birindelli received the Gold Medal (Italy’s highest decoration) while the other frogmen received the Silver Medal.

The third attempt to penetrate Gibraltar saw an important change in strategy. Prior missions called for the operators to travel with the submarine from la Spezia to the target. These few days at sea, in the normal cramped conditions aboard a submarine and under the constant threat of attack, caused severe repercussions. Thanks to an elaborate intelligence network, the Regia Marina was able to organize a pick up point in the port of Cadiz. The assault teams were sent ahead to Cadiz under false pretenses where they would board the 6,000 ton ship FULGOR, an Italian tanker interned at the beginning of the war.

EDITOR NOTE - it appeared that Germany and Italy just ‘happened’ to have several well stocked ships interned in Spanish ports in the war. Many submarines were thus resupplied.

23 May, SCIRÉ moored on the tanker and boarded the four teams:

Lt. Decio Catalono and diver P.O. Giannoni;
Lt. Amedeo Vesco and diver P.O. Toschi;
Sub. Lt. Licio Visentini and diver P.O. Magr

And the reserve team was Lt. Antonio Marceglie and diver P.O. Schergat. This time the Company surgeon, Bruno Falcomatá joined the mission to attend to the crew.

On the 25th, after several crash dives to avoid detection, SCIRÉ reached Algericas, but she did not enter the bay until the following day. Franchi was sick and he was replaced. The crews were sent off as usual and SCIRÉ returned to base in la Spezia on the 31st. Once again, the mission was hampered by technical mishaps. Ultimately, none of the targets were reached but the crew all were able to reach the safety of Spanish territory and were repatriated. All crew members received the Silver Medal, and more invaluable experience was acquired.

After the devastating disaster at Malta, Borghese was appointed as the interim commander of the 10th Light Flotilla. Once more, SCIRÉ was called upon to deliver men and material for an attack against Gibraltar - this time it would be a successful one. The operational plan was similar to the one used during the previous mission. The submarine was again to pick up the operators from FULGOR in Cadiz. The crews were:

Lt. Decio Catalano and diver P.O. Giuseppe Giannoni;
Lt. Amedeo Vasco and diver P.O. Antonio Zozzoli;
Lt. Visentini and diver P.O. Giovanni Magro

And the reserve crew was Eng. Captain Antonio Merceglia and diver Spartaco Schergat. This time Sub. Lt. Giorgio Spaccarelli was the surgeon to accompany the mission.

Early morning of the 20th, the crews left SCIRÉ and the submarine returned to la Spezia, arriving on the 25th. The crews went to work.

The team of Vasco/Zozzoli was able to attach their warhead to the 2,444 ton FIONA SHELL which blew up, split in half, and sank.

The team of Catalano/Giannoni reached a cargo ship and attached their warhead - then realized it was an Italian ship! She had been interned in this harbor. They quickly removed the charge and then attached it to the 10,900 ton armored motorship DURHAM, which sank very quickly.

The team of Visintini/Magro failed to enter the harbor due to heavy surveillance. This problem had also been experienced by the other teams before they managed to enter. Nevertheless, in the outer harbor they were able to use their explosives to sink the 15,893 ton naval tanker DENBY DALE. A small tanker that was moored alongside DENBY DALE also went down in the blast.

Finally, after so many disappointments 30,000 tons of enemy shipping had been sunk. The human torpedoes had proven their worth, despite the fact that a newer model, also produced by the ‘Officine San Bartolomeo’, had already replaced the one used in this mission. Borghese was promoted to Captain while the assault teams, all of whom reached safety, were awarded the Silver Medal and had their photos taken with Mussolini himself.

The entire crew of SCIRÉ was also decorated and received special treatment, similar to that received by the German U-boat crews, and soon that treatment was extended to the entire submarine fleet.

Emotions ran high. The King himself wanted to meet the now famous Prince Borghese. After an audience in Rome, King Victor Emanuel, whose countryside estate bordered the 10th Light Flotilla base near the estuary of the Serchio River, paid a private visit to the unit at the Tuscan base. Borghese later wrote that this was the last time he ever saw the King.

While the 10th Light Flotilla was investigating new tactics, an Italian technician named Antonio Ramognino was sent to Spain to survey the bay of Algericas. Taking advantage of the fact that his wife, Signora Conchita, was a Spaniard, he rented a small house near the Maiorga Point overlooking the bay and Gibraltar. Under the false pretense of his wife’s poor health, the couple settled into the house and started what appeared to be a very quiet life. The house, which came to be known as Villa Carmela, quickly became the secret operational base of many attacks against ‘The Rock’.

In July 1942, several swimmers, lead by the former champion yachtsman Agostino Straulino, were smuggled into Spain. The group of twelve men included: Sub. Lt. Giorgio Baucer and Petty Officers Carlo DaValle, Giovanni Luccheti, Giuseppe Feroldi, Vago Giari, Bruno diLorenzo, Alfredo Schiavoni, Alessandro Bianchini, Evideo Boscolo, Rudolfo Lugano and Carlo Bucovaz.

By several means, the group reached Cadiz and boarded the FULGOR. From here, on the 11th and 12th, the group was transferred to OLTERRA in Algericas. On the night of the 13th/14th the action began - the group left Villa Carmela protected by darkness, reached the nearby beach and began the long swim toward Gibraltar. They were carrying limpet mines, which would be attached to the hull of ships moored in the outer harbor.

On the way back, seven of the swimmers were arrested by the carabineros once they reached shore, but later released to the Italian consul, Signor Bordigioni. The remaining swimmers, one way or another, made it all the way back to Villa Carmela and from there to FULGOR to then be repatriated. The result was good - four ships totaling 9,468 tons were sunk. They were META (1,578 tons), SHURMA (1,494 tons), SNIPE (2,497 tons), BARON DOUGLAS (3,899 tons). All the swimmers were awarded the Silver Medal for gallantry.

The success of the previous mission brought about a new attempt. The dismay caused by the sinking of so many ships had generated much speculation amongst British authorities. This time, the number of swimmers was much smaller. On the night of 15 September, Straulino, diLorenzo and Giari defied the increased British watch and sank the 1,787 ton RAVEN’S POINT. The operation was not a full success and demonstrated that surveillance in the harbor had been dramatically improved.

While swimmer operations were being conducted, Visintini continued working on the OLTERRA on a plan to convert the interned ship into a secret base. An underwater chamber was carved out of the hull of the ship, thus allowing for the unnoticed release and recovery of human torpedoes. The weapons, weighing more than two tons, were disassembled in smaller parts and shipped from laSpezia to Algericas as repair components for OLTERRA. The first assault would be led by Visentini himself who had Giovanni Magro as his second, and by Sub. Lt. Vittorio Sella, Sergent Salvatore Leono, midshipman Girolamo Manisco and Petty Officer Dino Varini.

EDITOR NOTE - While all this sounds a lot like a James Bond movie, these ships that were ‘interned’ in Spanish ports, did a lot more than sit around and rust away during the war.

On 7 December, Visintini led a three-team assault into Gibraltar. The human torpedoes left the hull of OLTERRA at one-hour intervals from each other. The British defenses had been stiffened and underwater bombs were dropped all over the bay at regular intervals. Visintini and Magro could not reach their target and perished, probably hit by the explosion of a depth charge. Manisco and Varini were the object of a long pursuit which ended with the sinking of their craft. The two found refuge aboard an American cargo ship where they were warmly welcomed by a crew of mostly Italian-Americans. Cella and Leone, despite the general alarm and a continued pursuit by British patrol boats, headed back to OLTERRA where Cella discovered that his companion Leone had disappeared - he had perished.

The mission was a debacle! Three had died, two were prisoners and only one had made it back. The only redeeming news was the fact the British, in a communiqué dated 8 December, thought that the men had arrived aboard the submarine AMBRA. The secret of OLTERRA had not been revealed. The bodies of Visintini and Magro were later found by the British and buried at sea with military honors. Visintini was awarded the Gold Medal, an honor he shared with his brother, an aviator who also died in combat.

On 1 May 1943, Commander Borghese replaced Commander Forza at the helm of the 10th Light Flotilla. Italy’s war fortunes were definitely on the decline - East Africa was lost and so was North Africa. The Regia Marina was on the defensive and the only unit truly on the attack was the 10th Light Flotilla.

In Algericas, after the loss of Visintini’s group, the so-called ‘Great Bear’ unit was being rebuilt. Lt. Cdr. Ernesto Notari took over command and was joined by diver P.O. Ario Lazzari, Lt. Vittorio Cella and diver P.O. Eusebio Montalenti. Soon after the arrival of the new crews, equipment was shipped from Italy using the same expedient of camouflaging the dissembled ‘pigs’ as spare parts for OLTERRA. The tragic experience of 8 December had taught the 10th not to attempt another break into the inner harbor, but to focus on the less protected outer harbor.

The night of 7 May 1943, in the midst of a severe storm and taking advantage of the minimal moon, the three teams (Notari, Todini and Cella) took to the sea, at one hour intervals from each other, and rode their human torpedoes across the bay. This time, they brought extra mines with them and so were able to mine several ships. They all returned to OLTERRA, from which they could watch their successes. Once again, the 10th Light Flotilla was in command of the terror at Gibraltar.

Three ships blew up and sank - the 7,500 ton MARHSUD, the 4,875 ton CAMERATA and the 7,000 PAT HARRISON. The latter, an American ship, was relatively new, having been built in 1942. She was stopped and drew 16 feet in sand ballast. Her armament of one 5 inch and one 3 inch deck guns plus eight 20mm automatic anti-aircraft guns never were brought into play. After sailing from Oran to Algericas Bay, the HARRISON waited for Convoy GUS.7 to form up however, the mine detonated under the ship near the boiler room and literally tore the ship in half, blowing the boilers off their foundations as well. The engine room and #3 hold immediately flooded, and fuel oil blew out the stack and covered the deck, the lifeboats and everything else. At the time of the explosion, there were some officers, forty-two seamen, twenty-six Armed Guards and two Army security officers on board.

The ship quickly settled about six feet but then, under the direction of the ship’s Master and officers, several British tugs took her in tow and put her on the beach. British divers found clamps on the bilge keel, indicating that the mine had been placed there by the swimmers. Only three plates on either side of the ship were holding her together. She was later declared a total loss. One man was killed. He was on watch below when the explosion occurred.

On the night of 3 August 1943, the ‘Great Bear’ Flotilla, still under command of Notari and mostly comprised of the same crews, left OLTERRA for a new mission. Notari had a new and lesser experienced diver named Giannoli. Their ‘pig’ gave them nothing but trouble and suddenly, just took it upon itself to dive straight down. Just when the two ‘charioteers’ thought all was lost, the ‘pig’ just as unexpectedly came straight up and blasted out of the water. In all this excitement, the two men became separated. Notari made it back to OLTERRA but after waiting two hours in the water, Giannoli surrendered.

A British search squad was quickly dispatched to the American ship where Giannoli was discovered, but it was too late. The 7,176 ton HARRISON GRAY OTIS was torn apart in the explosion. She was a brand new Liberty Ship, built just that year (1943) and drew 13 feet in ballast while anchored. Her single 3 inch gun and nine 20mm automatic anti-aircraft guns were never used when she was hit. The ship came from Tripoli bound for New York with this stop in Gibraltar. The watch at the fantail spotted an exhausted swimmer about 100 yards astern and called the guard. A cadet engineer went in the water to save Gionnoli and since he was with the Italian Navy, the ship’s officers suspected that a mine had been placed on their ship. They called for a British officer who came and took over the prisoner and promised to send over a diver to look for the mine. He never returned, and although Master Roy Moyes turned on the engines in an effort to dislodge any mines with the prop wash, he was unsuccessful.

About three hours after Gionnoli was pulled from the water, the ship was rocked with a violent explosion, portside at the #3 hold which damaged the engines and immediately flooded the hold and the engineroom. However, the engines were still operational and the crew slipped the anchor cable, and they beached the ship. All ten officers, thirty-five men and twenty-three Armed Guards remained aboard until the ship was beached. Eight men were injured, one on watch below, was killed.

The ship was declared a total loss, so the owners (WSA) had the ship towed to Spain where she was broken up for scrap.

The 10,000 ton Norwegian tanker THORSHOUD was sunk by the mine placed by Cella, and the other team sank the 6,000 ton British ship STANBRIDGE. All in all, a busy night’s work.

The role of OLTERRA was still unknown to the British and she was going to be part of a major attack by MTBs and human torpedoes but Italy surrendered on 8 September 1943 so the plan was never realized. The ship however, was a real success story. When war was declared on 10 June 1940, her crew had sunk her in shallow waters. The 10th Light Flotilla very cleverly realized her potential as a secret base so they had the ship refloated under the guise of having her refitted for a Spanish owner. She was brought to Algericas for this refitting, but no one outside the ship’s company and the 10th Light Flotilla knew how extensive this refit and modification would be.

Under the tightest security, Italian engineers came to the ship for these modifications. They built the secret internal pool from which the swimmers made their exits and reentries for combat and they built a complete machine shop and repair shop where they could assemble the Maiales as they were received aboard as ‘spare parts’ for OLTERRA. They could handle complete maintenance of the Maiales and upgrade them as necessary.

This small band of ‘charioteers’ gave the British fits in the Mediterranean. VINCENT, many thanks for another great story on the Italian submarines. And to our other researchers - we would love to receive your articles. Please send any photos you can and we will return them quickly and unharmed.