Italian submarines in World War Two


Naiade (NA)
Naiade

TypeCoastal / Sea going 
ClassSirena (21) 
Laid down 9 May 1931 Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched27 Mar 1933
Commissioned14 Nov 1933
End service
Stricken
Loss date14 Dec 1940
Loss position32° 03'N, 25° 56'E
History
Fate Scuttled on 14th December 1940 north-east Bardia, Libya, in position 32°03'N, 25°56'E after being forced to surface by depth charges and being damaged by gunfire from the destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Hyperion.

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
T.V. Luigi Baroni28 Oct 19395 Nov 1940
T.V. Enzo Zanni6 Nov 19408 Nov 1940
T.V. Pietro Notarbartolo di Villarosa9 Nov 194014 Dec 1940

Ships hit


DateCommanderShip hitTypeGRTNat.Loss type
1.12 Jun 1940T.V. Luigi BaroniOrkangerTanker8,029NorwegianSunk

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Baroni, Luigi5 Jun 19400810Tobruk5 Jun 19400945Tobruk3,7Exercises.

1Baroni, Luigi9 Jun 19400545Tobruk15 Jun 19401200Tobruk893Sailed with Galatea and patrolled on Alexandria-Gaidero (Crete) route, 40 miles northwest of Alexandria.
  12 Jun 1940133631° 59'N, 29° 00'EAt 1336 hours, a convoy of pontoons escorted by a gunboat, were sighted steering 140° (toward Alexandria). Naiade opened fire at 1,800 metres, but broke off the attack due to wet ammunition and was forced to dive by machine-gun fire from the gunboat.
  12 Jun 19402157
2255 (e)
31° 42'N, 28° 50'EAt 2145 hours, a large tanker was sighted at a range of 4,000 metres, steering 130° at 13 knots. Naiade closed on the surface.

At 2157 hours, a torpedo (533mm) was fired from a bow tube at a distance of 1,200 metres. It hit and damaged the tanker.

This was the Norwegian tanker Orkanger (8,029 GRT, built 1928) carrying 10,500 tons of fuel oil from Port Said to Malta. The Italian declaration of war had forced her to turn back and she had been ordered to Alexandria.

Shortly after, the submarine reverted course and fired a stern torpedo (450mm) but it had an erratic course and missed. She reverted course again.

At 2218 hours, a third torpedo (450mm) was fired from a bow tube at 500 metres. It hit and the tanker sank. Survivors confirmed that two torpedoes had hit the engine room about ten minutes apart.

Four crew members were killed. Thirty-nine survivors (twenty-nine crew members and ten passengers, including Lt. Cdr. Crabbe, two stokers and nine military personnel) were picked up by the Spanish Tom who brought them back to Alexandria.

Baroni, Luigi16 Jun 19400545Tobruk16 Jun 19401200Tobruk3,2Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi17 Jun 19401830Tobruk17 Jun 19400800/18?Tobruk2Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi18 Jun 19401929Tobruk22 Jun 19400930Crotone580Passage Tobruk-Crotone, escorted out by the destroyer Aquilone.

Baroni, Luigi23 Jun 19400445Crotone23 Jun 19401720Taranto115Passage Crotone-Taranto.

Baroni, Luigi19 Jul 19401218Taranto19 Jul 19401735Taranto33Trials.

Baroni, Luigi25 Jul 19400433Taranto25 Jul 19401005Taranto37,1Trials.

Baroni, Luigi28 Jul 19400553Taranto28 Jul 19401605Taranto46,2Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi29 Jul 19401005Taranto29 Jul 19401130Taranto3Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi1 Aug 19401304Taranto1 Aug 19401825Taranto35,9Exercises.

2Baroni, Luigi3 Aug 19402300Taranto22 Aug 19401200Taranto1229Patrolled south of Crete, between 33°20'N and 34°00'N, and between 24°35'E and 25°35'E.
  6 Aug 1940194536° 18'N, 19° 45'E
(0) West of Crete.
At 1945 hours, A Sunderland aircraft was observed from periscope depth flying toward Malta.
  8 Aug 19402010
(0) West of Crete.
At 2010 hours, a submarine steering about 130° was sighted and Naiade manoeuvered for a bow shot. The attack was aborted as the nationality could not be ascertained.
  15 Aug 19401500 approx.
(0) South of Crete.
From about 1500 hours, Naiade was subject of an intense A/S search by four destroyers and depth-charged. She escaped by going down to 70 meters and later moved 40 miles north of her position to escape further attacks.

Baroni, Luigi28 Aug 19400330Taranto30 Aug 19400800PolaPassage Taranto-Pola.

Baroni, Luigi31 Aug 19400540Pola31 Aug 19401405PolaTrials.

Baroni, Luigi1 Sep 19400555Pola1 Sep 19401335Monfalcone600Passage Pola-Monfalcone.

Baroni, Luigi2 Sep 1940Monfalcone2 Sep 1940MonfalconeExercises.

Baroni, Luigi23 Oct 19400910Monfalcone23 Oct 19401500Monfalcone22Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi25 Oct 19400910Monfalcone25 Oct 19401605Monfalcone32Exercises.

Baroni, Luigi29 Oct 19401040Monfalcone29 Oct 19401805Pola72Passage Monfalcone-Pola.

Zanni, Enzo6 Nov 19401149Pola8 Nov 19401518Taranto516Passage Pola-Taranto.

Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Pietro9 Nov 19400935Taranto9 Nov 19401520TarantoExercises.

Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Pietro17 Nov 19400935Taranto17 Nov 19401520TarantoExercises.

Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Pietro22 Nov 19400705Taranto27 Nov 19401603Leros770Passage Taranto-Leros.
  26 Nov 19400325
(0) North of Crete.
At 0325 hours, an enemy torpedo-boat followed by two others were sighted at 4,000 metres. The last vessel turned toward the submarine. Naiade dived to 60 meters but was not attacked.

Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Pietro5 Dec 19401730Leros5 Dec 19402127LerosExercises.

3Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Pietro7 Dec 19401735 or 1800/9Leros14 Dec 19401821-1850SunkSailed for a patrol off Alexandria, between 32°20'N and the Egyptian coast, and between 25°25'E and 26°00'E, on a patrol line with Narvalo and Neghelli. Then to a position 20 or 45 miles from Sidi Barrani. Sunk off Bardia by the destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Hyperion.
  14 Dec 1940
1821 (e)

(e) 32° 03'N, 25° 56'E
T.V. Notarbartolo di Villarosa had intercepted Neghelli's signal or the torpedoing of a cruiser. Naiade was surfaced when an unidentified vessel was seen at a range of 1,500 metres, causing her to dive to 40 metres. She was straddled by four depth charges and damaged. The submarine tried to escape by going down to 125 metres.

At 1821C hours, the destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Hyperion of the 2nd Flotilla were on A/S search for the submarine that had torpedoed the antiaircraft cruiser HMS Coventry the previous evening (this was Neghelli). HMS Hyperion obtained an ASDIC contact bearing 015° at 1,300 yards.

At 1825C hours, HMS Hyperion dropped four depth charges then lost contact but the submarine surfaced ten minutes later.

This was Naiade who immediately came under the combined gunfire of 4.7" gun and 0.5" machine-guns from both destroyers. Her crew abandoned ship, firing was checked and two whalers lowered from HMS Hyperion proceeded to pick up survivors. One rating was missing. Five officers and forty-one ratings survived and were sent to PoW camps.

28 entries. 25 total patrol entries (3 marked as war patrols) and 7 events.

All Italian submarines