In 1941, the German ally began to send planes and submarines to help the Italian Navy to face the British, and the things for the Axis improved. However, while escorting a convoy to Africa, the Italian destroyers TARIGO, LAMPO and BALENO were surprised by four British destroyers. The Captain of TARIGO, Pietro de Cristofaro, had his leg ripped off, but he continued to lead his men under the British fire. TARIGO was almost destroyed when Tenente (Lieutenant) di Vascallo Ettore Besagno and Sottocapo Marchetti managed to launch three torpedoes before their ship sank. One of these torpedoes sank the destroyer HMS MOHAWK. LAMPO and BALENO were seriously damaged.

On the night of 25 March 1941, there was one of the many intrepid assaults of Italian commandoes in British harbors. The two destroyers CRISPI and SELLA approached to within ten miles of Suda Bay and lowered six small Barchini. These were tiny speedboats, very fast and loaded with explosives.

EDITOR NOTE – These were similar in mission as the German ‘Linten’ which was also an explosive-laden speedboat which was aimed directly at the target ship and the operator was to leap clear at the last moment. These were not classified as suicide missions, but the chances of surviving the blast in the water, and the chances of being picked up if they survived, were extremely small.

They were driven by one man who was to aim directly at the target ship, then jump off the speedboat at the very last moment. This required a huge amount of courage. These Barchini were led by Tenente di Vascella Luigi Faggioni.

These ships entered the harbor where four British cruisers and many merchantmen were riding at anchor. The result was the cruiser HMS YORK was severely damaged and later, to be destroyed by STUKA dive bombers as well as one patrol ship damaged. The six men were captured but later set free when the Germans overran the location where they were being held.

In June of 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union (Operation BARBAROSA) and the balance of force in the Mediterranean was changed. The pressure on Malta was reduced, and the British were free to intercept Italian convoys to Libya. In that period, convoy losses grew to 63%.

On 25 July 1941, commandoes of X Flottiglia Mas attempted an assault on Malta, and the well known Teseo Tesei was killed. On 9 September 1941, a force from X Flottiglia Mas consisting of Tenente di Vascello Catalano, Vesco and Visentini entered the harbor at Gibraltar and sank four freighters.

On 9 November 1941, an Italian convoy is bound for Libya and escorted by four destroyers. They are detected during the night by radar equipped Royal Naval vessel of Force K under command of Admiral Agnew and consisting of the cruisers HMS AURORA and HMS PENELOPE with the destroyers HMS LANCE and HMS LIVELY. The Italian destroyer FULMINE was sunk immediately and the destroyer GRECALE was damaged. The Italian freighters were slaughtered by the ships of Force K and the Italian destroyer LIBECCIO was sunk by the submarine HMS UPHOLDER.

During the night of 1 December 1941, again the radar equipped ships of Force K located and attacked an Italian convoy which was escorted by the destroyer DaMOSTO. The crew of the destroyer valiantly tried to protect the freighters from the British ships and planes. It was not an even fight.

The first Battle of Sirte took place. A huge convoy was sent to supply Axis forces in Africa. A force with DUILIO, three cruisers and four destroyers was provided, with support based on LITTORIO, DORIA, CESARE, two heavy cruisers and ten destroyers. This force met a British force escorting their own convoy to Malta.

Admiral Angelo Iachino, commander of the Italian forces, decided to retreat to better protect the Italian convoy and to avoid engaging the radar equipped opponents. But after a few hours, he attacked the British, surprising them while they were under air attack – but it was too late. Night arrived, and Iachino kept his fleet between the British and Italian convoy, which reached its destination safely. Supermarina (the Italian Navy) claimed this non-critical battle a victory, for propaganda reasons.

The next night, commandoes raided the port of Alexandria, and the battleships HMS VALIANT and HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH were sunk, as was a tanker.

EDITOR NOTE – This action was covered some years ago in an issue of our KTB Magazine.

In those days, the British sank the cruisers DaGIUSSANO and DaBARBIANO, but the loss of the two Royal Navy battleships and the many successes of German U-Boats in the Mediterranean swung the naval balance to the Italians and reduced losses of Axis convoys. Mines claimed the Royal Navy cruiser HMS NEPTUNE and the destroyer HMS KANDAHAR while the cruisers HMS AURORA and HMS PENELOPE were badly damaged.

At the beginning of 1942, the British decided to resupply Malta by a convoy from Alexandria. Four ships, an anti-aircraft cruiser and six destroyers departed from Alexandria. There were also three light cruisers and four destroyers, as well as another force of destroyers supporting the convoy. A cruiser also sortied to provide assistance, coming out from Malta. The Italians sent two heavy cruisers and one light cruiser with eight destroyers and led by the battleship LITTORIO to intercept the British.

The weather was rough, but the Italian cruisers located the British forces, who escaped under cover of smoke. Admiral Iachino kept his ships between the British convoy and Malta, waiting for the right moment to attack – but once again, he waited too long and the night (Italy’s second enemy) closed in. The night saved the British fleet. In the strengthening storm, the Italians lost two destroyers but the storm also delayed the British convoy and at first light, it was attacked by the Luftwaffe and very little cargo reached Malta. This was called the 2nd Battle of Sirte.

1 April 1942, the submarine HMS URGE sank the Italian cruiser BANDE NERE.

14 April 1942, the Italian torpedo boat PEGASO sank the most famous British submarine of World War II - they sank HMS UPHOLDER, and the brave Captain, David Wanklyn, died with his submarine.

Three months later, the British managed to reinforce Malta anyway with a large number of SPITFIRE fighters, many of them from the American aircraft carrier USS WASP. Then with America in the war, the balance was shifting. Malta became a bastion from which offensives could be launched at any time.

The most proper strategic move for the Axis was to occupy Malta at that early stage, but Hitler preferred to push further in Egypt. In mid-June, 1942 there was a series of battles involving British and Axis convoys to Malta and to Libya respectively.

One from Alexandria consisted of nine freighters and a tank, with eight cruisers and twenty-two destroyers. The Italian ships LITTORIA and VENETO with six destroyers sailed to intercept the convoy, while another group of Italian ships consisting of four cruisers and four destroyers came in a second group to intercept. The next morning, the heavy cruiser TRENTO was hit by a torpedo and sank the next day. The battleship LITTORIO took a direct hit from an American B-24 LIBERATOR bomber, but there was no damage. The British convoy was assaulted by submarines and torpedo boats, and was turned back to Alexandria.

Another convoy came from Gibraltar with six freighters and an escort consisting of a battleship, two aircraft carriers and eight destroyers. The Italians countered the convoy with light units from Sicily, supported by air attacks and a cruiser division near the island of Pantelleria, with great success this time. Only two freighters survived the onslaught and reached Malta.

15 June 1942 in the Black Sea – one Italian Mas and two mini-submarines under the command of C. Castagnacci, sank three Soviet submarines.

14 July 1942, the X Flottiglia Mas returned to Gibraltar, and their commandoes sank four freighters.

4 August 1942, the famed Italian sub SCIRE, was lost off Haifa.

12 August 1942 – the British were again attempting to resupply Malta. Cruiser HMS CAIRO was sunk by the submarine AXUM, and the cruiser MANCHESTER was sunk by Italian torpedo boats. The British ships NIGERIA, KENYA and OHIO were damaged, as were the Italian ships ATTENDOLO and BOLZANO.

Another of the Royal Navy’s more productive submarines, HMS P-38, was chased long and hard by the Italian torpedo boat CIRCE and finally sunk. The Italian torpedo boats CIRCE and LUPO were sunk soon afterwards.

4 December 1942, American B-24 LIBERATOR bombers sank the Italian cruiser ATTENDOLO.

12 December 1942, the port of Algiers was entered by X-Flottiglia Mas, consisting of Maiali and Gamma men, and four freighters were sunk.

In December of 1942, the Italian submarines DESSIE, PORFIDO, UARSEIEK, GRANITO and EMO were sunk. This was a dark day for the Italian submarine force.

Finally, the latest Italian battleship ROMA was ready for combat, but the lack of fuel grew worse and worse. The British took advantage of this and organized a massive series of convoys that the Italian Navy could not intercept, due to lack of fuel. Malta once again had offensive capability and the failure to take Malta was now heavily felt. Sending anything to Africa was almost a suicide in that situation. The Italian Navy however, was able to get 86% of the material and 92% of the men through.

Between the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943, the Italian Navy lost the destroyers FOLGORE, AVIERE, PANCALDO, LAMPO, MALOCELLO, ASCARI, CORSARO, SAETTA and BOMBARDIERE. They also lost the torpedo boats ANIMOSO, PERSEO, CLIMENE, CICLONE, CIGNO, URAGANO and PROCELLARIA. During the same time period, Italian torpedo boats managed to sink the British submarines HMS SAHIB and HMS THUNDERBOLT. This was not an even exchange.

This piece will be concluded next month in KTB #164. Thanks again VINCENT. It’s good we can learn about the war from the Italian side as well. We don’t get much history of the Italians in World War II, and this is important history. Again, thanks.

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