Asteria (AE)
Asteria

Type	Coastal / Sea going
Class	Platino 1 (24)
Laid down	16 Oct 1940	Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched	25 Jun 1941
Commissioned	8 Nov 1941
End service
Stricken
Loss date	17 Feb 1943
Loss position	37° 14'N, 4° 27'E
History
Fate	Scuttled on 17th February 1943 north-west of Bougie, Algeria, in position 37°14'N, 04°27'E after being forced to surface by depth charges from the escort destroyers HMS Easton and HMS Wheatland.

Commands

Commander	Date from	Date to	Command notes
C.C. Benedetto Luchetti	7 Nov 1941	3 Dec 1941
T.V. Marco Revedin	4 Dec 1941	7 Dec 1941
T.V. Carlo Forni	7 Dec 1941	28 Jun 1942
T.V. Pasquale Beltrame	24 Jun 1942	20 Aug 1942
T.V. Dante Morrone	20 Aug 1942	17 Feb 1943

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

	Commander	Date	Time	Port	Arr. date	Arr. time	Arr. port	Miles	Description
		8 Oct 1941	0850	Pola	8 Oct 1941	1830	Pola		Trials, escorted by the auxiliary Salvatore.
		13 Oct 1941	0950	Pola	13 Oct 1941	1430	Monfalcone		Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	22 Nov 1941	1010	Monfalcone	22 Nov 1941	1620	Monfalcone	5	Trials.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	23 Nov 1941	0935	Monfalcone	23 Nov 1941	1730	Monfalcone	5	Trials.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	28 Nov 1941	0955	Monfalcone	28 Nov 1941	1612	Pola	75,6	Passage Monfalcone-Pola.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	1 Dec 1941	0800	Pola	1 Dec 1941	1328	Pola	14	Trials.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	2 Dec 1941	0834	Pola	2 Dec 1941	1633	Pola	36	Trials, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and Trau.
	Luchetti, Benedetto	3 Dec 1941	0810	Pola	3 Dec 1941	1734	Pola	76,5	Trials, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and auxiliaries Trau, Jadera and San Giorgio.
	Revedin, Marco	4 Dec 1941	0807	Pola	4 Dec 1941	1637	Pola	33,8	Trials, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary Jadera.
	Revedin, Marco	6 Dec 1941	1405	Pola	6 Dec 1941	1657	Pola	2	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	11 Dec 1941	1007	Pola	11 Dec 1941	1625	Monfalcone	75,6	Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Forni, Carlo	17 Dec 1941	0956	Monfalcone	17 Dec 1941	1425	Monfalcone	5	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	13 Jan 1942	1010	Monfalcone	13 Jan 1942	1620	Monfalcone	12	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	16 Jan 1942	1010	Monfalcone	16 Jan 1942	1620	Pola	73	Passage Monfalcone-Pola.
	Forni, Carlo	19 Jan 1942	0845	Pola	19 Jan 1942	1850	Pola	14	Gyrocompas tests.
	Forni, Carlo	21 Jan 1942	0830	Pola	21 Jan 1942	1844	Pola	76	Gyrocompas tests.
	Forni, Carlo	23 Jan 1942	0850	Pola	23 Jan 1942	1720	Pola	69	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	24 Jan 1942	1030	Pola	24 Jan 1942	1800	Pola	57	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	4 Feb 1942	0905	Pola	4 Feb 1942	1833	Pola	15	Gyrocompas tests.
	Forni, Carlo	7 Feb 1942	0945	Pola	7 Feb 1942	1655	Pola	37	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.
	Forni, Carlo	16 Feb 1942	0930	Pola	16 Feb 1942	1825	Pola	16	Gyrocompas tests.
	Forni, Carlo	17 Feb 1942	1330	Pola	17 Feb 1942	1840	Pola	33	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	19 Feb 1942	0825	Pola	19 Feb 1942	1545	Pola	44	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	20 Feb 1942	0840	Pola	20 Feb 1942	1625	Pola	16	Gyrocompass tests.
	Forni, Carlo	22 Feb 1942	1245	Pola	22 Feb 1942	1856	Pola	34	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	27 Feb 1942	1247	Pola	27 Feb 1942	1910	Pola	34	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	1 Mar 1942	0835	Pola	1 Mar 1942	1730	Pola	34	Exercises, escorted by San Giorgio.
	Forni, Carlo	3 Mar 1942	0825	Pola	3 Mar 1942	1415	Pola	41	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	16 Mar 1942	0850	Pola	16 Mar 1942	1345	Fiume	66	Passage Pola-Fiume.
	Forni, Carlo	17 Mar 1942	1340	Fiume	17 Mar 1942	2050	Fiume	36	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	18 Mar 1942	0945	Fiume	18 Mar 1942	1410	Fiume	20	Exercises with the submarines Jalea and Manara, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and Abbazia.
	Forni, Carlo	1 Apr 1942	0845	Fiume	1 Apr 1942	1240	Fiume	19	Exercises with the submarines Jalea and Manara, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace, the auxiliary Jadera and two motorboats.
	Forni, Carlo	2 Apr 1942	2010	Fiume	3 Apr 1942	0115	Fiume	26	Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace, the auxiliary San Giorgio and the motorboat 6 F.
	Forni, Carlo	3 Apr 1942	2015	Fiume	3 Apr 1942	2235	Fiume	16	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	4 Apr 1942	1200	Fiume	4 Apr 1942	1538	Fiume	10	Exercises with the submarines Pisani and Manara, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary Jadera.
	Forni, Carlo	6 Apr 1942	1615	Fiume	6 Apr 1942	1950	Fiume	13	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	8 Apr 1942	1515	Fiume	8 Apr 1942	1745	Fiume	16	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliaries Abbazia and Trau.
	Forni, Carlo	8 Apr 1942	2005	Fiume	9 Apr 1942	0114	Fiume	26	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	9 Apr 1942	1635	Fiume	10 Apr 1942	0200	Fiume	47	Exercises.
	Forni, Carlo	10 Apr 1942	1405	Fiume	10 Apr 1942	1710	Fiume	16	Exercises with the submarines Pisani and Manara, escorted by the torpedo boat Insidioso and the auxiliary Trau.
	Forni, Carlo	11 Apr 1942	1307	Fiume	11 Apr 1942	1520	Fiume	14	Exercises with the submarines Diaspro, Jalea and Manara, escorted by Insidioso and the auxiliary Jadera.
	Forni, Carlo	15 Apr 1942	1230	Fiume	15 Apr 1942	1550	Fiume	24	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	16 Apr 1942	0100	Fiume	18 Apr 1942	1145	Augusta	717	Passage Fiume-Augusta. Escorted by the auxiliary Pola until 0600 hours on the 16th.
		16 Apr 1942	1900	42° 37'N, 15° 51'E	At 1900 hours, a derelict mine was sunk by machine-gun fire.
		17 Apr 1942	1240	39° 44'N, 18° 53'E	At 1240 hours, a periscope was sighted at a distance of 500 metres. Asteria turned away at full speed.
		17 Apr 1942	1320		At 1320 hours, the corpse of an airman was sighted. The submarine does not appear to have recovered it.
		17 Apr 1942	1705		At 1705 hours, a derelict mine was sighted but no attempt was made to dispose of it as the seas were too rough to fire the machine-guns with any precision.
	Forni, Carlo	21 Apr 1942	0825	Augusta	21 Apr 1942	2035	Augusta	3	Gyrocompass tests.
	Forni, Carlo	22 Apr 1942	1420	Augusta	22 Apr 1942	1810	Augusta	7	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	26 Apr 1942	0820	Augusta	26 Apr 1942	1540	Augusta	5	Gyrocompass tests.
	Forni, Carlo	30 Apr 1942	1500	Augusta	30 Apr 1942	1820	Augusta	19	Trials.
1	Forni, Carlo	11 May 1942	2045	Augusta	27 May 1942	0600	Augusta	1719	Patrolled off Cyrenaica between 33°40'N and 34°00'N and between 22°20'E and 22°30'E.
		15 May 1942	1955	33° 50'N, 22° 22'E	At 1055 hours, a destroyer steering 270° was sighted. It turned toward the submarine, forcing a crash dive.
		15 May 1942	1955		At 1955 hours, as the submarine surfaced, a destroyer was sighted at a distance of 5,000 metres. It had not been detected by the hydrophones. It must have detected the submarine and Asteria had to crash-dive. From 2013 and 2053 hours, eight patterns of depth charges were heard at a regular interval of about 4 minutes.
		26 May 1942	1925	36° 18'N, 17° 23'E	At 1925 hours, a derelict mine was sunk by machine-gun fire.
	Forni, Carlo	7 Jun 1942	1540	Augusta	7 Jun 1942	1750	Augusta	3	Gyrocompass tests.
	Forni, Carlo	9 Jun 1942	0510	Augusta	9 Jun 1942	1200	Messina	85	Passage Augusta-Messina.
	Forni, Carlo	20 Jun 1942	1100	Messina	20 Jun 1942	1810	Messina	62	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	26 Jun 1942	1310	Messina	26 Jun 1942	1900	Messina	31	Trials.
	Forni, Carlo	28 Jun 1942	1340	Messina	28 Jun 1942	1745	Messina	36	Trials.
	Beltrame, Pasquale	29 Jun 1942	1330	Messina	29 Jun 1942	1815	Messina	34	Trials.
2	Beltrame, Pasquale	2 Jul 1942	1900	Messina	21 Jul 1942	0700	Messina	2825	Sailed escorted by the auxiliary Castiglia, which could only make 7 knots and was therefore left behind at 2000 hours on 2nd July, then patrolled between 33°40'N and 36°00'N, and between 32°00'E and the Syrian coast.
		3 Jul 1942	0740		At 0740 hours, two aircraft were seen at a distance of 5,000 metres, flying toward Asteria who dived.
		3 Jul 1942	0830		At 0830 hours, the Italian hospital ship Arno was sighted at a range of 10,000 metres. Asteria had been informed of her passage but the hydrophones did not detect her.
		3 Jul 1942	0945		At 0945 hours, an aircraft was seen at a distance of 4,500 metres and the submarine dived.
		5 Jul 1942	1355		At 1355 hours, an aircraft was seen at a distance of 4,000 metres and the submarine dived.
		11 Jul 1942	0923	35° 17'N, 35° 28'E	At 0923 hours, a smoke was sighted on the horizon at a range of 14,000 metres. It turned out to be a patrol vessel, zigzagging, steering 320°, 16 knots and followed at a distance by two steamers. At 0955 hours, Asteria closed to a distance of 5,000 meters of the escort and at 1000 hours was still 9,500 meters from the steamers before breaking off the chase.
		11 Jul 1942	1025	35° 16'N, 35° 24'E	At 1025 hours, a steamer was sighted at a range of 6,000 metres. An escort was also sighted at 1,000 meters. The submarine attempted to close the steamer before losing contact at 1110 hours.
		14 Jul 1942	0208	33° 48'N, 34° 56'E	At 0205 hours, the mist on the horizon made it difficult to identify an indistinct shape sighted at a range of 1,500 metres. Asteria steered toward it and recognised it as a large destroyer. At 0208 hours, a single torpedo (533mm, S.I. 270 type with S.I.C. pistol) was fired at a range of 2,000 metres. The destroyer altered course to port, presenting her stern. At 0210.5 hours, a single torpedo (533mm, S.I. 270 type with S.I.C. pistol) was fired at a range of 2,500 metres. An explosion was heard after 151 seconds but the destroyer had disappeared in the dark side of the horizon. Both torpedoes apparently missed. This was possibly the armed whaler HMSAS Protea, detached to assist the Dutch tanker Odinda who had just been torpedoed by U-371. Other warships in the general vicinity were the corvette HMS Gloxinia and the escort destroyers HMS Croome and HMS Tetcott. No attack appears to have been reported.
		14 Jul 1942	2245 2350 (e)	33° 52'N, 34° 26'E	At 2245 hours, a submarine was sighted at a range of 1,000 metres and believed to be Italian. Prudently, Asteria turned to starboard at maximum speed to move away. This was actually HMS Turbulent (Commander J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) who, at about the same time, sighted a submarine for only about 50 seconds, before she dived and lost contact.
	Beltrame, Pasquale	10 Aug 1942	0800	Messina	10 Aug 1942	1230	Messina	24	Exercises.
3	Beltrame, Pasquale	11 Aug 1942	1200	Messina	17 Aug 1942	1810	Trapani	702	Escorted by the auxiliary Mazzei until 2150 hours on the 11th, she sailed for a patrol west of Malta between 35°40'N and 36°00'N and between 13°20'E and 13°40'E.
		14 Aug 1942	2056	35° 33'N, 13° 53'E	At 2056 hours, an aircraft was seen and Asteria dived. The submarine was at a depth of 29 meters when four groups of bombs (three or four each) were heard, but she escaped damage. The aircraft has not been identified.
4	Beltrame, Pasquale	18 Aug 1942	0110	Trapani	19 Aug 1942	0730	Trapani	183	Sailed with Ascianghi and Alagi escorted by an R.D. (minesweeper) vessel until 0245/18. She was to patrol between 37°20'N and 37°50'N, and between 09°20'E and 10°20'E, north of Tunisia, but was recalled at 1300 hours on the 19th.
	Morrone, Dante	22 Aug 1942	0430	Trapani	23 Aug 1942	0645	La Maddalena	282	Passage Trapani-La Maddalena to join VII GRUPSOM.
	Morrone, Dante	1 Sep 1942	0720	La Maddalena	1 Sep 1942	1100	La Maddalena	22	Exercises.
5	Morrone, Dante	2 Sep 1942	1600	La Maddalena	16 Sep 1942	0930	Cagliari	1704	Patrolled off Algeria between 37°00'N and 37°30'N and between 02°00'E and 02°20'E on a patrol line with the submarine Velella. Sighted only a French ship, a hospital ship and two Sunderland aircraft.
	Morrone, Dante	21 Sep 1942	0805	Cagliari	21 Sep 1942	1110	Cagliari	20	Exercises.
	Morrone, Dante	29 Sep 1942	0805	Cagliari	29 Sep 1942	1625	Cagliari	74	Exercises.
	Morrone, Dante	3 Oct 1942	1015	Cagliari	3 Oct 1942	1430	Cagliari	26	Exercises.
	Morrone, Dante	5 Oct 1942	1400	Cagliari	5 Oct 1942	1730	Cagliari	20	Exercises.
	Morrone, Dante	15 Oct 1942	1330	Cagliari	15 Oct 1942	1745	Cagliari	21	Exercises.
	Morrone, Dante	21 Oct 1942	1335	Cagliari	21 Oct 1942	1655	Cagliari	22	Exercises.
6	Morrone, Dante	29 Oct 1942	0205	Cagliari	31 Oct 1942	0655	Cagliari	416	Sailed for a patrol in 37°15'N, 08°35'E to form a patrol line with Argo, Porfido and Nichelio against a suspected naval force from Gibraltar. It was a false alarm and she was recalled at 2030 hours on the 30th. Uneventful.
		30 Oct 1942	0850		At 0850 hours, a German aircraft was sighted and exchanged recognition signals.
7	Morrone, Dante	7 Nov 1942	0310	Cagliari	19 Nov 1942	1210	Cagliari	1406	Sailed for a patrol between 37°30'N and 37°40'N, and between 07°30'E and 08°00'E. She was then ordered to 37°10'N, 03°25'E (off Algiers). On 11th November, she was ordered to an area between 38°00'N and 38°20'N, and between 06°40'E and 07°00'E. On 13th November, she executed a reconnaissance of Bougie.
		8 Nov 1942	0330	37° 35'N, 7° 56'E	At 0330 hours, a submarine was sighted on a westerly course. Asteria turned away.
		8 Nov 1942	2258	37° 32'N, 6° 08'E	At 2258 hours, a submarine was sighted on a westerly course. Asteria turned away.
		9 Nov 1942	2052	37° 12'N, 4° 18'E	At 2052 hours, a submarine was sighted on a westerly course.
		11 Nov 1942	2052		At 2052 hours, two German aircraft were seen. One of them flashed recognition signals. Asteria could not respond as none of her signal flares worked.
		13 Nov 1942	0203 0105Z (e)	36° 46'N, 5° 08'E (0) 050° - Cape Carbon - 3 miles (HMS Pentstemon).	At 0154 hours, a vessel was sighted in poor visibility, followed by a second vessel at 0200 hours and both appeared to be flashing signals. At 0203 hours, a pair of torpedoes were fired aimed at the first vessel, believed to be a corvette or a torpedo boat. The torpedoes missed, probably due to their very visible phosphorescence. Two minutes later, the second vessel appeared to turn toward the submarine and Asteria dived to 90-100 metres. Two explosions shook the submarine at 0210 hours. Note: The Asteria report gives the position as 36°36' N but this is a typographical error, it also gives the position as 090° - Cape Bouak - 2 miles). The target was the corvette HMS Pentstemon which reported missed by a torpedo.
		13 Nov 1942	0708	(0) Near Cape Carbon.	At 0708 hours, Asteria was proceeding on the surface toward her patrol area, when three aircraft where sighted. She crash-dived. She surfaced again at noon.
		13 Nov 1942	1245 1235A (e)	37° 13'N, 5° 54'E	At 1245 hours, a Hudson bomber was suddenly sighted flying at a height of 30 metres, attacking from the stern. There was no time to dive and Asteria barely had time to open fire with her machine-guns, letting off 25 13.2mm rounds, claiming the aircraft certainly hit. The aircraft dropped two A/S bombs and three depth charges. One of the A/S bomb exploded on the port side very close to the deck gun. Fortunately, there were no casualties and only minor damages to the superstructures. At 1247 hours, the submarine crash-dived. The aircraft was Hudson 'C' of 500 Squadron, piloted by Sergeant W.M. Young. It sighted a submarine at a distance of 12 miles, steering 320° and dived to the attack from the port quarter. It strafed and dropped four depth charges which straddled the submarine forward of the conning tower. The U-boat was reported to have put up light antiaircraft fire and the bomber was not hit. After the explosions, the submarine was no longer seen but there were no debris or oil patch. After 5 minutes, an underwater explosion was observed but again without debris or any oil coming to the surface.
		16 Nov 1942	0120	(0) Off Bougie.	At 0120 hours, the submarine made a reconnaissance of the Bay of Bougie. According to her survivors, the submarine ran aground. However, her patrol report showed she followed the coast at a depth of 7-8 meters and, if she did ran aground, she managed to disengage herself.
8	Morrone, Dante	24 Nov 1942	1643	Cagliari	6 Dec 1942	1045	Cagliari	1068	She sailed for a patrol between 37°00'N and 37°20'N, and between 07°20'E and 07°40'E. On 26th November, she was ordered to an area between 37°20'N and the Algerian coast and between 02°40'E and 03°00'E. On 1st December, she was ordered to an area between 37°20'N and the Algerian coast, between 06°20'E and 06°40'E. Rammed and depth-charged by the minesweeper HMS Cadmus at 1830th on 4th December, but escaped.
		28 Nov 1942	0302	37° 27'N, 4° 19'E	At 0302 hours, two transports of 5-10000-ton and a destroyer were sighted, steering 270°, 13 knots. They passed out of range.
		29 Nov 1942	0400	36° 52'N, 2° 52'E	At 0400 hours, in poor visibilty, a warship was sighted at a distance of 4,000 metres, steering 090°, 10 knots. At 0425 hours, it was recognised as a JAVELIN class destroyer and shortly after, it altered course to 300°. At 0435 hours, two destroyers of unknown type were sighted at 2,500 and 2,000 metres respectively. At 0437 hours, the attack on the first destroyer was aborted and Asteria withdrew on the surface. At 0448 hours, the destroyers appeared to be catching up and she crash-dived. She reached a depth of 80 metres. At 0509 hours, fifteen depth charges exploded near the submarine. At 0531 hours, another ten depth charges exploded in the vicinity and Asteria moved away and finally surfaced at 1755 hours.
		30 Nov 1942	0055	37° 18'N, 2° 55'E	A submarine was sighted ahead, steering 280°. Asteria turned away.
		30 Nov 1942	0540	37° 17'N, 2° 53'E	A submarine was sighted ahead, steering 360°. Asteria turned away.
		30 Nov 1942	1405	(0) North of Algiers.	At 1405 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived.
		1 Dec 1942	1304 1305 (e)	37° 14'N, 2° 52'E	At 1304 hours, a Hudson bomber was sighted at a distance of 5,000 metres, Asteria crash-dived and heard three explosions. She escaped by going down to 70-80 metres. This was Hudson 'C' of 500 Squadron, piloted by Squadron Leader Ensor, on convoy escort duty. It had sighted the submarine at distance of 5 miles. This was 20 miles from the convoy. Four Mark XI Torpex depth charges were released on the submarine from a height of 40 feet. It remained in the vicinity for 40 minutes after the submarine had dived.
		2 Dec 1942	2300	37° 32'N, 5° 58'E (0) Qu CH 9622 (307° - 34 Cape Bougaroni).	At 2300 hours, four destroyers were sighted at a distance of 4,000 metres, steering 230°, 18 knots. The submarine closed to attack. At 2313 hours, the distance had dropped to 1,000 meters and the destroyers turned toward the submarine, which crash-dived but was not attacked.
		4 Dec 1942	1830 1841 (e)		At 1830 hours, as she was surfacing, Asteria was rammed by the mineweeper HMS Cadmus escorting convoy T.E.7a and had to crash-dive. She was at a depth of 30 meters, when she was further damaged by depth charges but escaped by going down to 80 meters. However, she was forced to abort her patrol.
		5 Dec 1942	0230	37° 58'N, 7° 07'E	At 0230 hours on 5th December, Asteria sighted a steamer with two destroyers but could only make an enemy report.
	Morrone, Dante	11 Dec 1942	0755	Cagliari	12 Dec 1942	0851	Naples	274	Passage Cagliari-Naples for repairs (two months) following her collision on 4 December.
9	Morrone, Dante	11 Feb 1943	1836	Naples	17 Feb 1943	0200	Sunk		Patrolled northeast of Cape Bengut, between 37°20'N and the Algerian coast and between 04°40'E and 05°00'E. At 0259 hours on 17th February, she was detected by HMS Wheatland and attacked (later joined by HMS Easton). She attempted to escape going down to 175 meters. After repeated attacks, she was finally forced to surface at 0930 hours and scuttled herself 37°14'N, 04°27'E, an attempt at boarding failed. Six officers and forty-two ratings were picked up, four were drowned.
		16 Feb 1943	1940	36° 57'N, 2° 21'E	At 1940 hours, a Swordfish bomber on A/S sweep with eight Hudsons of 500 Squadron reported a submarine. This was Asteria and the escort destroyers HMS Easton and HMS Wheatland were sailed from Algiers to hunt the submarine.
		17 Feb 1943	0259	37° 14'N, 4° 27'E	At 0259A hours, HMS Wheatland obtained an ASDIC contact at 1,300 yards, before sighting the conning tower of a submarine apparently diving toward the destroyer. This was Asteria and she made desperate attempts to escape, going as deep as 175 metres. At 0302 hours, a first pattern of five depth charges set at 50 feet was dropped ahead of the swirl. At 0315 hours, a second pattern of ten depth charges set at 100 and 225 feet was released. At 0415 hours, a third pattern of ten depth charges was set at 350 and 550 feet. At 0509 hours, a fourth pattern followed, ten depth charges set at 100 and 225 feet. At 0515 hours, HMS Easton joined in the hunt and released a first pattern set at 150 and 300 feet. At 0734 hours, HMS Easton dropped a second pattern of ten depth charges set at 150 and 300 feet. At 0806 hours, she dropped a third pattern of three depth charges set at 350 and 550 feet. At 0819 hours, HMS Wheatland returned with a fifth pattern of ten depth charges set at 350 and 550 feet. At 0916 hours, HMS Easton came back with her fourth pattern of two depth charges set at 100 and 225 feet. At 0928 hours, HMS Wheatland dropped her sixth and final pattern of ten depth charges set at 350 and 550 feet. At 0930 hours, Asteria surfaced in the middle of the last pattern and immediately came under fire from both destroyers. At 0940 hours, she sank after an attempt to board her failed. T.V. Dante Morrone, five officers and forty-two ratings were picked up. Five ratings were killed or drowned. Three M.L.s and the British destroyer HMS Loyal and the Polish escort destroyer ORP Krakowiak were also sailed from Algiers to join the hunt but did not take part in the kill.

100 entries. 72 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 36 events.

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