Medusa (MU)
Medusa

Type	Coastal / Sea going
Class	Argonauta (20)
Laid down	30 Nov 1929	Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched	10 Dec 1931
Commissioned	25 Sep 1932
End service
Stricken
Loss date	30 Jan 1942
Loss position	44° 45'N, 13° 56'E
History
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk on 30th January 1942 in the Adriatic near Promontore, Istria, in position 44°45'45"N, 13°56'45"E by the submarine HMS Thorn.

Commands

Commander	Date from	Date to	Command notes
T.V. Enzo Grossi	28 Nov 1939	9 Aug 1941
T.V. Angelo Parodi	9 Aug 1941	25 Aug 1941
C.C. Enrico Bertarelli	25 Aug 1941	30 Jan 1942

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

	Commander	Date	Time	Port	Arr. date	Arr. time	Arr. port	Miles	Description
1	Grossi, Enzo	8 Jun 1940	2045	Cagliari	15 Jun 1940	0504	Cagliari	590	Patrolled off Ajaccio (Corsica). Uneventful.
2	Grossi, Enzo	22 Jun 1940	1830	Cagliari	24 Jun 1940	1735	Cagliari	242	Patrolled 40 miles north-east of La Galite Island, in 37°40'N, 09°40'E.
	Grossi, Enzo	6 Jul 1940	1407	Cagliari	6 Jul 1940	1638	Cagliari	22	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	8 Jul 1940	0800	Cagliari	8 Jul 1940	1644	Cagliari	20,5	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	16 Jul 1940	0800	Cagliari	16 Jul 1940	1045	Cagliari	25	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	21 Jul 1940	0925	Cagliari	21 Jul 1940	1137	Cagliari	1,5	Exercises?
	Grossi, Enzo	22 Jul 1940	0800	Cagliari	22 Jul 1940	1135	Cagliari	23,5	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	31 Jul 1940	0850	Cagliari	31 Jul 1940	1000	Cagliari	6	Exercises.
3	Grossi, Enzo	1 Aug 1940	0100	Cagliari	4 Aug 1940	1500	La Maddalena	674	Patrolled south of Balearic Islands, in 37°40'N, 06°30'E, on a patrol line with Diaspro, Axum and Turchese,
		1 Aug 1940	1000	(0) West of Sardinia.	At 1000 hours, a convoy was sighted. It was a French and was late according to its timetable. These were the steamers Rabelais (4,999 GRT, built 1921), Procida (1,191 GRT, built 1921) and Île Mousse (?).
	Grossi, Enzo	15 Aug 1940	0745	La Maddalena	15 Aug 1940	1300	La Maddalena	38	Exercises.
4	Grossi, Enzo	30 Aug 1940	2255	La Maddalena	4 Sep 1940	1835	La Maddalena	582,5	Patrolled between Cape Spartivento and La Galite in 38°40'N, 09°00'E, on a patrol line with Axum, Alagi and Diaspro. Uneventful.
	Grossi, Enzo	10 Sep 1940	1830	La Maddalena	11 Sep 1940	1245	Cagliari	171	Passage La Maddalena-Cagliari with Alagi.
5	Grossi, Enzo	23 Sep 1940	2330	Cagliari	1 Oct 1940	1148	Cagliari	772	Sailed with Alagi, preceded by the magnetic minesweeper Balear. Patrolled southwest of Sardinia and 30 miles north of Bizerta between 37°40'N and 38°00'N, and between 09°00'E and 10°00'E.
		24 Sep 1940	1144	38° 05'N, 10° 00'E	At 1144 hours, an aircraft, believed to be a Sunderland, was sighted and engaged with machine guns. Medusa opened fire, but fired only 60 rounds before the aircraft was seen to crash in the water raising a big column of water. There is no confirmation of a Sunderland attacking a submarine or being lost on that day.
		30 Sep 1940	1425	(0) Near Bizerta?	At 1425 hours, two torpedo-bombers described as Armstrong Whitworth type (Swordfish) were sighted. They circled around the submarine but refrained from attack and proceeded on a westward course. Medusa remained on the surface ready to repulse the attack with her machine guns.
	Grossi, Enzo	1 Oct 1940	2400	Cagliari	1 Oct 1940	1148	Cagliari	53	Exercises or hydrophone watch?
6	Grossi, Enzo	9 Nov 1940	1830	Cagliari	12 Nov 1940	2105	Cagliari	440,2	Patrolled southwest of Sardinia in 315° - La Galite - 50 miles, on a patrol line with Diaspro, Aradam, Axum and Alagi. Uneventful.
	Grossi, Enzo	14 Nov 1940	0914	Cagliari	15 Nov 1940	1900	Messina	344,6	Passage Cagliari-Messina.
	Grossi, Enzo	19 Nov 1940	0420	Messina	22 Nov 1940	1225	Pola	707,8	Passage Messina-Pola.
		20 Nov 1940	2220	(0) 060° - San Cataldo (Bari) - 10 miles.	At 2220 hours, two torpedo tracks were sighted and avoided. Probably a case of porpoises, as no submarine reported a torpedo attack in this area on that day.
		20 Nov 1940	2340	(0) Off Bari.	At 2340 hours, an Italian convoy proceeding to Bari, was sighted. Medusa alerted them to the presence of an enemy submarine (bogus) and the convoy reverted course.
	Grossi, Enzo	25 Nov 1940	0751	Pola	25 Nov 1940	1340	Monfalcone	64	Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Grossi, Enzo	24 Feb 1941	0900	Pola	24 Feb 1941	1530	Pola	40	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	27 Feb 1941	0950	Pola	27 Feb 1941	1702	Pola	64	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	1 Mar 1941	0800	Pola	1 Mar 1941	1815	Pola	28,8	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	3 Mar 1941	0632	Pola	3 Mar 1941	1725	Pola	103,5	Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliaries San Giorgio, Jadera and Laurana.
	Grossi, Enzo	6 Mar 1941	0815	Pola	6 Mar 1941	1756	Pola	48,8	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and Tenace.
	Grossi, Enzo	7 Mar 1941	0824	Pola	7 Mar 1941	1810	Pola	52,5	Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace.
	Grossi, Enzo	10 Mar 1941	0915	Pola	11 Mar 1941	0110	Pola	76,5	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	13 Mar 1941	0817	Pola	13 Mar 1941	1645	Pola	50,5	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.
	Grossi, Enzo	14 Mar 1941	0822	Pola	15 Mar 1941	0129	Pola	92,1	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	18 Mar 1941	1225	Pola	18 Mar 1941	1315	Pola		Exercises, escorted by the tug Tenace, but early return (due to defects?).
	Grossi, Enzo	27 Mar 1941	0812	Pola	27 Mar 1941	1340	Pola	41,5	Exercises with the submarines Jalea, Bragadino and Des Geneys, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.
	Grossi, Enzo	28 Mar 1941	0810	Pola	28 Mar 1941	1650	Pola	65	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	31 Mar 1941	1250	Pola	1 Apr 1941	0510	Pola	54,1	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	1 Apr 1941	0813	Pola	1 Apr 1941	1619	Pola	52	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliaries Laurana and San Giorgio.
	Grossi, Enzo	2 Apr 1941	0910	Pola	2 Apr 1941	1423	Monfalcone	66	Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Grossi, Enzo	3 Apr 1941	0716	Monfalcone	3 Apr 1941	1330	Pola	62	Passage Monfalcone- Pola.
7	Grossi, Enzo	4 Apr 1941	0015	Pola	4 Apr 1941	1131	Pola	123	Patrolled off Pola within 15 miles from 43°24'N, 15°48'E on a NW-SE axis. Early return due to defects.
	Grossi, Enzo	4 Apr 1941	1410	Pola	4 Apr 1941	1915	Monfalcone	60	Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Grossi, Enzo	6 Apr 1941	0800	Monfalcone	6 Apr 1941	1403	Pola	60	Passage Monfalcone-Pola.
8	Grossi, Enzo	11 Apr 1941	1810	Pola	20 Apr 1941	0250	Pola	993,5	Patrolled south of Cattaro within 10 miles from 41°50'N, 18°25'E on a NW-SE axis. Uneventful. Heard only H.E.
	Grossi, Enzo	27 Apr 1941	0825	Pola	27 Apr 1941	1350	Monfalcone	64	Passage Pola-Monfalcone.
	Grossi, Enzo	7 May 1941	0945	Pola	7 May 1941	1525	Pola	64	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	14 May 1941	1037	Pola	14 May 1941	0350	Pola	58	Exercises with the submarine Alagi, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio, then torpedo firing using the torpedo boat Cantore as target (also escorted by the tug Tenace) in zone 4.
	Grossi, Enzo	17 May 1941	0810	Pola	17 May 1941	1644	Pola	48	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera. Her battery suffered damage and she had to be repaired.
	Grossi, Enzo	21 Jul 1941	0623	Pola	21 Jul 1941	1825	Pola	95,1	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	23 Jul 1941	0705	Pola	23 Jul 1941	1545	Pola	58	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	24 Jul 1941	1052	Pola	24 Jul 1941	1600	Pola	28	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.
	Grossi, Enzo	26 Jul 1941	0741	Pola	27 Jul 1941	1010	Pola	97	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	29 Jul 1941	0805	Pola	30 Jul 1941	0347	Pola	54	Exercises with the submarine Pisani, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.
	Grossi, Enzo	31 Jul 1941	0745	Pola	31 Jul 1941	1400	Pola	52,1	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	6 Aug 1941	0647	Pola	6 Aug 1941	1824	Pola	57	Exercises.
	Grossi, Enzo	9 Aug 1941	0750	Pola	9 Aug 1941	1735	Pola	55	Exercises.
	Parodi, Angelo	11 Aug 1941	0800	Pola	11 Aug 1941	1806	Pola	57,2	Exercises.
	Parodi, Angelo	16 Aug 1941	0653	Pola	16 Aug 1941	1724	Pola	62	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.
	Parodi, Angelo	20 Aug 1941	0735	Pola	20 Aug 1941	1631	Pola	58,5	Exercises.
	Parodi, Angelo	22 Aug 1941	0705	Pola	22 Aug 1941	1630	Pola	60	Sailed with the submarine Tito Speri, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Insidioso.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	25 Aug 1941	0746	Pola	26 Aug 1941	1750	Pola	59,2	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	28 Aug 1941	0730	Pola	28 Aug 1941	1645	Pola	54	Sailed with the submarine Bausan for exercises with the auxiliary Morrhua and the torpedo boat Insidioso.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	30 Aug 1941	1030	Pola	31 Aug 1941	0300	Pola	72	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	2 Sep 1941	0747	Pola	2 Sep 1941	1910	Pola	55	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	3 Sep 1941	2211	Pola	4 Sep 1941	0645	Pola	48	Exercises with the light cruiser Da Barbiano and the torpedo boat Audace.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	6 Sep 1941	1908	Pola	7 Sep 1941	0245	Pola	50	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	10 Sep 1941	0745	Pola	10 Sep 1941	1740	Pola	54	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	11 Sep 1941	1035	Pola	11 Sep 1941	1906	Pola	54,5	Exercises with the submarine Speri, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera and torpedo firing exercise on the torpedo boat Audace.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	13 Sep 1941	0745	Pola	13 Sep 1941	1700	Pola	51	Exercises with the submarines Bausan, Jalea and Pisani, escorted by the torpedo boat Insidioso and the auxiliaries Morrhua and Jadera.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	15 Sep 1941	0742	Pola	15 Sep 1941	1830	Pola	59	Exercises with the submarine Jalea, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary San Giorgio.
9	Bertarelli, Enrico	25 Sep 1941	1800	Pola	28 Sep 1941	1140	Pola	310	A/S patrol between 43°54.5'N and 44°47'N and 13°32'E and the Western Adriatic coast. Uneventful.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	1 Oct 1941	1320	Pola	1 Oct 1941	0007	Pola	51	Exercises with the submarine Jalea, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	3 Oct 1941	1017	Pola	3 Oct 1941	1830	Pola	47	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	4 Oct 1941	1000	Pola	4 Oct 1941	1805	Pola	51	Exercises.
10	Bertarelli, Enrico	9 Oct 1941	1622	Pola	11 Oct 1941	0355	Pola	307,5	Defensive patrol.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	14 Oct 1941	1030	Pola	14 Oct 1941	1902	Pola	54	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	17 Oct 1941	1300	Pola	17 Oct 1941	2335	Pola	64	Exercises with the submarine Bausan, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	21 Oct 1941	1300	Pola	22 Oct 1941	0112	Pola	57	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Salvatore.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	23 Oct 1941	0735	Pola	24 Oct 1941	1755	Pola	64	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	25 Oct 1941	0800	Pola	25 Oct 1941	1644	Pola	51	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	28 Oct 1941	1310	Pola	28 Oct 1941	2356	Pola	67	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	30 Oct 1941	0800	Pola	30 Oct 1941	1735	Pola	52	Exercises with the submarine Mameli, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	1 Nov 1941	0842	Pola	1 Nov 1941	1652	Pola	46	Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	17 Nov 1941	0810	Pola	17 Nov 1941	1701	Pola	53,5	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	21 Nov 1941	0803	Pola	21 Nov 1941	1650	Pola	53,5	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	24 Nov 1941	0803	Pola	24 Nov 1941	1650	Pola	52	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	26 Nov 1941	0803	Pola	26 Nov 1941	1652	Pola	54,5	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	29 Nov 1941	0803	Pola	29 Nov 1941	1723	Pola	53	Exercises with the submarines Pisani, Toti and Emo, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and Trau.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	1 Dec 1941	0805	Pola	1 Dec 1941	1650	Pola	53	Exercise, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	3 Dec 1941	0800	Pola	3 Dec 1941	1640	Pola	55,5	Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliaries Trau, Jadera and San Giorgio.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	9 Dec 1941	1620	Pola	9 Dec 1941	2343	Pola	70	Exercises with the submarine Jalea, escorted by the torpedo boat Insidioso.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	15 Dec 1941	0800	Pola	15 Dec 1941	1609	Pola	55	Exercises with the submarine Speri, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	16 Dec 1941	0805	Pola	16 Dec 1941	1720	Pola	57,5	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	20 Dec 1941	0828	Pola	20 Dec 1941	1720	Pola	58	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	23 Dec 1941	0826	Pola	23 Dec 1941	1725	Pola	59,5	Exercises.
11	Bertarelli, Enrico	26 Dec 1941	1655	Pola	27 Dec 1941	1415	Pola	146	Hydrophone watch and exercises with the destroyer Mitragliere, in 044° - Ancona Light - 17 miles and then 040°- Cape Pesaro - 23 miles. Uneventful.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	30 Dec 1941	0805	Pola	30 Dec 1941	1730	Pola	61,5	Gunfire exercises with the submarines Speri and Toti, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera, Grado and Trau.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	4 Jan 1942	0910	Pola	4 Jan 1942	1650	Pola	?	Exercises with the submarines Jalea, Des Geneys and Toti, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and San Giorgio and the torpedo boat Audace.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	5 Jan 1942	0835	Pola	5 Jan 1942	1825	Pola	?	Exercises with the submarines Jalea, Des Geneys, Speri and Ondina, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliaries Jadera, San Giorgio and Trau.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	7 Jan 1942	0920	Pola	7 Jan 1942	1120	Pola	?	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	13 Jan 1942	0850	Pola	13 Jan 1942	1620	Pola	?	Exercises with the submarine Pisani, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	16 Jan 1942	0825	Pola	16 Jan 1942	1815	Pola	?	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	21 Jan 1942	1635	Pola	22 Jan 1942	0120	Pola	?	Exercises with the submarine Pisani, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	24 Jan 1942	0950	Pola	24 Jan 1942	1830	Pola	?	Exercises.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	28 Jan 1942	1625	Pola	28 Jan 1942	1835	Pola	?	Exercises with the submarine Jalea, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.
	Bertarelli, Enrico	30 Jan 1942	Time?	Pola	30 Jan 1942	1410	Sunk		Exercising off Pola. Sunk by the British submarine HMS Thorn. Fifty-eight killed (including her commanding officer), two survivors.
		30 Jan 1942	1520 1402 (e)	44° 45'N, 13° 56'E	At 0955 hours, the submarine HMS Thorn (Lieutenant Commander R.G. Norfolk, RN) sighted a SIRENA class submarine, steering 080°, 8 knots. This was Medusa or perhaps Mameli, exercising but the British submarine could not intercept. At 1354 hours, HMS Thorn again sighted a SIRENA class submarine at a distance of 5,000 yards, steering 240° at 13 knots. At 1402 hours, she fired four torpedoes at a range of 3,500 yards. One explosion was heard after 165 seconds, giving a running range of 3,600 yards. This again was Medusa returning from exercises. One torpedo track coming from the port side was sighted by the First Officer T.V. Gastone Guida, followed by two more and they missed ahead. C.C. Bertarelli had immediately put the helm full to port but it was too late. She was hit by a fourth torpedo and sank in 35 metres of water. There were also four men on the bridge: the navigation officer G.M. Arturo Fei and three students of MARISCUOLASOM (Submarine School), T.V. Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia, S.T.V. Luigi del Monte and G.M. G. Batta Firpo. All six men were thrown in the water and were now struggling to stay afloat. The steamer Carlo Zeno (Master Umberto Curci) was following her a mile behind and observed the explosion. She rushed to the scene and found only three wounded survivors. They were Arezzo Della Targia, Firpo and Fei. Fei, who had two broken legs, testified that he had survived thanks to CC Bertarelli who had grabbed him by the hairs to keep him afloat and had whispered to him words of encouragement. Fei died in the hospital. Bertarelli, himself with a head wound and bleeding profusely, drowned. Help was immediately organised by XII GRUPPOSOM. Three MAS boats sailed from Pola, followed in quick succession by the torpedo boat Insidioso and the auxiliary Grado. They were joined by the submarine Mameli, returning from exercises in the same area and then the torpedo boats Audace and Calatafimi and the submarine Otaria. Guida was picked up by Insidioso but expired shortly after. Later, the body of rating Alberto Cusenza was recovered. The wreck was located and eight divers were used. At one point, it was considered to attempt raising the submarine with the help of the pontoons G.A. 141 and G.A. 146 but finally they were not used. The divers managed to communicate with fourteen men trapped in the aft compartment. It was hoped that they could be rescued but the bad weather would finally force the rescue operation to be given up on 3rd February. In all there were fifty-eight victims (seven officers and fifty-one ratings). T.V. Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia would go on to take command of the submarine Uarsciek and would be lost with her in December 1942.

102 entries. 100 total patrol entries (11 marked as war patrols) and 6 events.

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