Italian submarines in World War Two
Anfitrite (AN)
Anfitrite
| Type | Coastal / Sea going | |
| Class | Sirena (21) | |
| Laid down | 11 Jul 1931 | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone |
| Launched | 3 Aug 1933 | |
| Commissioned | 22 Mar 1934 | |
| End service | ||
| Stricken | ||
| Loss date | 6 Mar 1941 | |
| Loss position | 34° 55'N, 26° 43'E | |
| History | Scuttled on 6th March 1941, in 34°55'N, 26°43'E (south of Kaso Strait) after being forced to surface by depth charges and being damaged by gunfire from the destroyer HMS Greyhound. | |
| Fate | ||
Commands
| Commander | Date from | Date to | Command notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| T.V. Brunone Ghersina | 1 Apr 1940 | 28 Dec 1940 | |
| S.T.V. Gaetano Napoli | 28 Dec 1940 | Jan 1941 | |
| T.V. Brunone Ghersina | 7 Jan 1941 | 6 Mar 1941 |
Ships hit
No ships hit by this submarine.Patrols and events
| Commander | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghersina, Brunone | 9 Jun 1940 | 2200 | Brindisi | 16 Jun 1940 | 0600 | Brindisi | 542,2 | Patrolled in Otranto Straits on a line 340° - 160° from 40°25'N, 18°57'E. Had periscope defects. | |
| 15 Jun 1940 | 0025 0124 (e) | 40° 26'N, 18° 57'E | At 0025 hours, a large enemy submarine was seen at 1,000 metres. Its course was undetermined. Anfitrite dived to attack but lost contact. This was HMS Rorqual (Lieutenant Commander R.H. Dewhurst, RN), who had laid a minefield off Brindisi the previous day. She now sighted a submarine at 2,000 yards, steering 340°, who appeared to be returning to Brindisi or Bari. Rorqual had first made a challenge, then fired three torpedoes from 2,500-3,000 yards when the submarine was recognised as a PISANI or MAMELI class. They all missed. This was the first attack by a British submarine in the Mediterranean Theatre in World War Two. | |||||||
| 2 | Ghersina, Brunone | 27 Jun 1940 | 0900 | Brindisi | 30 Jun 1940 | 1500 | Brindisi | 493 | Patrolled in 34°43'N, 23°40'E, on a barrage line with Salpa, Ondina and Uebi Scebeli from a point 15 miles southwest of Gaudio to a point 40 miles northeast of Derna. | |
| 28 Jun 1940 | 1136 1148 (e) | 37° 18'N, 19° 45'E | At 1136 hours, an aircraft was sighted at 7-8,000 metres flying at an altitude of 1,000 metres. It disappeared in the clouds only to re-emerge four minutes later. Anfitrite crash-dived had reached a depth of only 6 meters when two bombs exploded, but she suffered no damage. She escaped to a depth of 50 meters where she remained until 1315 hours. At 1325, she surfaced and resumed her course. This was Sunderland 'Q' (L5806) of 228 Squadron piloted by Wing Commander G.E. Nicholetts. It had sighted the submarine steering 170° and dived from 5,000 feet . Three bombs were dropped but they fell over and no claim of damage was made. | |||||||
| 28 Jun 1940 | 1402 1405 (e) | 37° 18'N, 19° 45'E (0) Approximately. | At 1402 hours, an aircraft was sighted at a distance of 5-6,000 metres. Anfitrite crash-dived. The submarine had reached a depth of 30 meters when she was badly shaken by an explosion which inflicted quite a bit of minor damages. The submarine went to a depth of 65 meters to escape further attacks. Later, upon surfacing, it was realised that the two periscopes were no longer in working order and the patrol was abandoned. The attack was made by Sunderland 'S' (L.5804) of 230 Squadron piloted by Flight Lieutenant W.W. Campbell). It dived from 5,000 feet and dropped two 250 lb A/S bombs. They were seen to explode abaft the conning tower. The bow of the submarine rose sharply and then slide vertically downward. Huge air bubbles were observed, followed by smaller bubbles and then oil began to surface. Some debris was seen. Two hours later the oil slick covered an area of 300 by 500 yards. The submarine was claimed destroyed. | |||||||
| Ghersina, Brunone | 20 Jul 1940 | 0800 | Brindisi | 20 Jul 1940 | 1328 | Brindisi | 20,5 | Trials. | ||
| 3 | Ghersina, Brunone | 23 Jul 1940 | 1330 | Brindisi | 9 Aug 1940 | 1205 | Brindisi | 1455 | Patrolled in area between 34°00'N and 34°40'N, and 21°40'E and 22°40'E. | |
| 25 Jul 1940 | 0910-1140 | (0) South of Crete? | From 0910 hours to 1140 hours, Anfitrite had been proceeding at a depth of 40 metres when she she heard a total of thirty-five explosions (probably bombs). They appeared to explode at a distance but, as a precaution, the submarine was taken down to 78 meters. | |||||||
| 4 | Ghersina, Brunone | 11 Oct 1940 | 1900 | Brindisi | 28 Oct 1940 | 1158 | Augusta | ? | Patrolled off Alexandria between 32°45'N and 14 miles from coast, between 28°45'E and 30°00'E. Uneventful. | |
| Ghersina, Brunone | 5 Nov 1940 | 1342 | Augusta | 6 Nov 1940 | 1856 | Taranto | 278 | Passage Augusta-Taranto for refit. | ||
| Napoli, Gaetano | 28 Dec 1940 | Taranto | Jan 1941 | Taranto | Refit at Taranto. | |||||
| Ghersina, Brunone | 15 Jan 1941 | 0915 | Taranto | 15 Jan 1941 | 1630 | Taranto | Exercises, escorted by the minesweeper R.D.6. | |||
| Ghersina, Brunone | 18 Jan 1941 | 0940 | Taranto | 18 Jan 1941 | 1435 | Taranto | Exercises. | |||
| Ghersina, Brunone | 27 Jan 1941 | 0950 | Taranto | 1 Feb 1941 | 0745 | Porto Lago (Leros) | 662 | Passage Taranto-Leros. Uneventful. | ||
| Ghersina, Brunone | 16 Feb 1941 | 0750 | Porto Lago (Leros) | 16 Feb 1941 | 1210 | Porto Lago (Leros) | Sailed for trials escorted by MAS 541. | |||
| 5 | Ghersina, Brunone | 4 Mar 1941 | 2055 | Leros | 6 Mar 1941 | 0715-0740 | Sunk | Patrolled 15' - 170° of Cape Sidero (near island of Kaso, Aegean) [Zone D]. Sunk by depth charges and gunfire from HMS Greyhound (seven killed, thirty-nine survivors). | ||
| 6 Mar 1941 | 0715-0740 (e) | At 0713 hours, the destroyer HMS Greyhound was escorting convoy A.S. 16 from Greece to Alexandria when an ASDIC echo was obtained at 950 yards. She attacked with six depth charges set at depths from 100 to 250 feet. A minute later, the submarine surfaced and immediately engaged with gunfire. The second 4.7" round was a direct hit on the conning tower and killed five men. This was Anfitrite and she surrendered. She had been proceeding at a depth of 55 metres when she was attacked. The depth charge attack had come as a complete surprise. Her hydrophones had not picked up the noises of the convoy. She had gone down to 95 metres before surfacing. A boarding party was sent over, it consisted of Lieutenant Robert Scott and two ratings. They penetrated the submarine and recovered documents. Seven of the submarine's crew had been killed. Thirty-nine survivors (including all six officers) were picked up. | ||||||||
13 entries. 12 total patrol entries (5 marked as war patrols) and 5 events.