Italian submarines in World War Two
Beilul (BU)
Beilul
Type | Coastal / Sea going | |
Class | Adua (23) | |
Laid down | 2 Jul 1937 | Odero-Terni-Orlando, Muggiano |
Launched | 22 May 1938 | |
Commissioned | 14 Sep 1938 | |
End service | ||
Stricken | ||
Loss date | 25 May 1944 | |
Loss position | 45° 47'N, 13° 33'E | |
History | Captured by the Germans at Monfalcone on 9th September 1943 while undergoing repairs and refit. Converted into a fuel barge. Sunk at Monfalcone during an Allied air attack on 25th May 1944 (some sources also give the date as 27th June 1944). | |
Fate |
Commands
Commander | Date from | Date to | Command notes |
---|---|---|---|
C.C. Paolo Vagliasindi | 24 Sep 1939 | 1 Aug 1941 | |
T.V. Giorgio Bacchetti | 1 Aug 1941 | 20 Aug 1941 | |
T.V. Francesco Pedrotti | 20 Aug 1941 | 22 Aug 1942 | |
S.T.V. Lando Caimmi | 24 May 1942 | 31 Aug 1942 | |
T.V. Pasquale Beltrame | 24 Aug 1942 | 9 Sep 1943 |
Ships hit
No ships hit by this submarine.Patrols and events
Commander | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 9 Jun 1940 | 1450 | Augusta | 19 Jun 1940 | 0645 | Augusta | 660 | Patrolled between Pantelleria and Lampedusa. Uneventful. | |
2 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 24 Jun 1940 | 2300 | Augusta | 27 Jun 1940 | 1930 | Leros | 650 | Sailed for patrol in 35°50'N, 23°10'E but then ordered to proceed immediately to Leros. British Intelligence reported the position as 35°40'N, 23°10'E and that she arrived at Leros at 1912 hours on the 27th. | |
3 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 3 Jul 1940 | 2000 | Leros | 10 Jul 1940 | 0500 | Leros | 680 | Sailed with submarine Tricheco and patrolled between Alexandria and Cape Kupho (Crete) in 32°40'N, 28°10'E. | |
7 Jul 1940 | 2341 2339 (e) | 32° 40'N, 28° 10'E | At 2340 hours, the Officer of the Watch sighted the shadow of a destroyer. He recognised it to be of the "W" class. At 2341 hours, a single torpedo (450mm, W.200 type) was fired from a bow tube at a range of 1,000-1,200 metres and Beilul crash-dived. About a minute later, the submarine had reached a depth of 25 metres when a loud explosion was heard, followed by six or seven more, causing various damages, especially to the hydroplane control and the depth gauge. The submarine went down to 80 metres. The damages were repaired in a short time. It was believed that the target had been sunk, but the hydrophones detected two other vessels, which were now hunting the submarines. At 2355 hours, one vessel dropped 10-12 depth charges, which exploded on the port side. At 0103 hours, another attack followed again with 10-12 depth charges causing further damages. Prudently, C.C. Paolo Vagliasindi took his submarine to a depth of 95 metres. At 1105 hours, Beilul returned to periscope depth to find the vessels were gone. Still, the submarine surfaced only at 1945 hours. Vagliasindi decided to abort his mission and return to Leros. The target had been the destroyer HMS Hasty. She had avoided the torpedo and attacked the submarine with a full pattern of depth-charges. Italian Naval Intelligence heard that HMS Whirlwind had been sunk the next day and attributed her loss to Beilul. Actually, she was sunk on 5th July in home waters. | |||||||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 17 Aug 1940 | 1600 | Leros | 17 Aug 1940 | 1900 | Leros | 10 | Trials. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 22 Aug 1940 | 0800 | Leros | 22 Aug 1940 | 1200 | Leros | 15 | Trials. | ||
4 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 16 Sep 1940 | 0800 | Leros | 21 Sep 1940 | 0700 | Leros | 502 | Patrolled in southwest Aegean. | |
5 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 27 Sep 1940 | 1530 | Leros | 4 Oct 1940 | 1045 | Naples | 827 | Patrol and passage Leros-Naples. At 0530 hours on 30th September, she heard what appeared to be a naval force with her hydrophones, when 20 miles off Zante, but nothing was sighted. | |
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 4 Nov 1940 | 1000 | Naples | 4 Nov 1940 | 1700 | Naples | 37 | Trials. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 6 Nov 1940 | 1300 | Naples | 6 Nov 1940 | 1800 | Naples | 24 | Trials. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 16 Nov 1940 | 1000 | Naples | 16 Nov 1940 | 1700 | Naples | 26 | Exercises. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 20 Nov 1940 | 0800 | Naples | 20 Nov 1940 | 1800 | Naples | 36 | Exercises. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 21 Nov 1940 | 1300 | Naples | 21 Nov 1940 | 1700 | Naples | 22 | Exercises. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 22 Nov 1940 | 1215 | Naples | 22 Nov 1940 | ? | Naples | Exercises. | |||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 23 Nov 1940 | 2300 | Naples | 24 Nov 1940 | 0900 | Naples | 29 | Exercises. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 26 Nov 1940 | 0835 | Naples | 27 Nov 1940 | 1435 | Augusta | 292 | Passage Naples-Augusta. | ||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 23 Dec 1940 | 1400 | Augusta | 28 Dec 1940 | 1200 | Leros | 674 | Passage Augusta-Leros via Cerigotto Channel through (1) 35°40'N, 20°20'E (2) 328° - Agria Grabusa Lt. (Crete) - 10' (3) 260° - C. Malaka (Crete) - 29' (4) 158° - Makra Island - 11' (5) Point E of Stampalia . Uneventful. | ||
6 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 7 Jan 1941 | 1950 | Leros | 13 Jan 1941 | 0800 | Leros | 541 | Patrolled off Cape Sidero and in Kaso Strait [or area D for DARIO]. | |
9 Jan 1941 | 0017 After midnight (e) | 35° 25'N, 26° 28'E | At 2340 hours, the Officer of the Watch detected a number of vessels. Soon they appeared to be from a convoy in two columns, consisting of five merchant vessels estimated at over 5,000 GRT, escorted by three destroyers proceeding at 10 knots. At 0017 hours, Beilul fired four bow torpedoes (three 533mm and one 450mm), from the surface, at a distance of 3,000 metres, aimed at three vessels forming a continuous target. The submarine was forced to dive as a destroyer turned toward her. Explosions were heard after 175 and 185 seconds and it was believed that two vessels had been hit. Two minutes later, this was followed by two loud detonations and attributed to secondary explosions on the stricken ships. This was the convoy A.S. 10 on passage from Piraeus to Port Said and Alexandria, consisting of the freighters British Destro (3,553 GRT, built 1920, convoy leader), Bantria (2,402 GRT, built 1928), Desmoulea (8,120 GRT, built 1939), Christa (2,590 GRT, built 1938), El Hak (1,022 GRT, built 1929), Meroë (3,832 GRT, built 1936), Greek Styliani (1,420 GRT, built 1920), Odysseus (1,065 GRT, built 1922), Maiotis (1,718 GRT, built 1888), Heron (1,516 GRT, built 1906) , Sofia (593 GRT, built 1938) (Sofia was diverted to Suda and was not present) screened by the Hellenic destroyers Vasilefs Georgios (escort leader: Captain Mezeviris), Vasilissa Olga, Spetsai, Psara and Koundouriotis. The closest explosion occurred near Vasilefs Georgios. Captain Meseviris initially thought that one of his destroyers had dropped depth charges. It was only discovered that a submarine attack had taken place after the Italian Radio Station Stefani announced it. Vagliasindi complained that Beilul did not carry reload torpedoes and, having emptied his forward tubes, he could not effectively mount another attack. | |||||||
7 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 8 Feb 1941 | 2030 | Leros | 15 Feb 1941 | 0715 | Leros | 524 | Patrolled between 35°40'N and 36°20'N, and between 24°00'E and 24°40'E, between Polykandro and Milo. Uneventful, except for H.E. | |
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 5 Mar 1941 | 0900 | Leros | 5 Mar 1941 | 1700 | Leros | 37 | Exercises. | ||
8 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 13 Mar 1941 | 2300 | Leros | 18 Mar 1941 | 1000 | Leros | 415 | Patrolled in Aegean, about 30 miles south of Kaso Strait. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. at 1720 hours on the 17th, believed to be from enemy naval force reported the previous day by Air Reconnaissance. | |
9 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 10 Apr 1941 | 0240 | Leros | 23 Apr 1941 | 1400 | Leros | 901 | Patrolled in 34°00'N, 27°43'E on axis 60°-240°. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. at a distance. | |
10 | Vagliasindi, Paolo | 8 May 1941 | 2000 | Leros | 14 May 1941 | 0430 | Leros | 664 | Patrolled between 31°20'N and 33°30'N and 34°00'N, and between 28°00'E and 29°20'E, | |
11 May 1941 | 2000 | 33° 34'N, 29° 08'E | At 2000 hours, information was received of the passage of a convoy and Beilul altered course to intercept. At 0405 hours on 12th May, the convoy was distinctly heard on the hydrophones at a distance of 40 miles, but the sound grew fainter and disappeared at about 1000 hours in the direction of Alexandria. Beilul gave up the chase at 1045 hours, when she was in 32°40' N, 28°14' E. | |||||||
12 May 1941 | 1157 | 33° 34'N, 29° 08'E (0) Approximately. | At 1157 hours, a hydrophone effect was heard and was suspected to be an A/S vessel. Beilul dived to 60 meters. At 1400 hours she was suddenly straddled by depth-charges. Close explosions continued until 1511 hours, causing serious damage to the submarine. Three vessels were detected. Beilul finally surfaced at 1945 hours, ready to battle it out, only to find they had disappeared. However, the damages forced the submarine to abandon the patrol. | |||||||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 19 Jun 1941 | 1150 | Leros | 20 Jun 1941 | 1800 | Corinth | Passage Leros-La Spezia, via Corinth Canal and Patras. Uneventful. | |||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 21 Jun 1941 | 0352 | Corinth | 21 Jun 1941 | 1040 | Patras | Passage Corinth-Patras. | |||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 21 Jun 1941 | 1255 | Patras | 22 Jun 1941 | 2115 | Messina | Passage Patras-Messina. | |||
Vagliasindi, Paolo | 24 Jun 1941 | 1600 | Messina | 26 Jun 1941 | 1110 | La Spezia | 1109 | Passage Messina-La Spezia for major refit. Uneventful. | ||
Bacchetti, Giorgio | 1 Aug 1941 | La Spezia | 20 Aug 1941 | La Spezia | 1109 | Change in command during refit. | ||||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 22 Sep 1941 | 0802 | La Spezia | 22 Sep 1941 | 1756 | Portofino | 49 | Trials. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 24 Sep 1941 | 0705 | La Spezia | 24 Sep 1941 | 1750 | Portofino | 73,6 | Trials. | ||
11 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 26 Sep 1941 | 1635 | La Spezia | 29 Sep 1941 | 0747 | Portofino | 391,1 | Patrolled in 44°02'N, 08°35'E on a barrage line with the submarines Da Procida, H 1, H 4 and H 6 in Gulf of Genoa in anticipation of an enemy force from Gibraltar. Uneventful. | |
Pedrotti, Francesco | 29 Sep 1941 | 1635 | Portofino | 29 Sep 1941 | 2000 | La Spezia | 391,1 | Passage Portofino-La Spezia. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 8 Oct 1941 | 0740 | La Spezia | 8 Oct 1941 | 1230 | La Spezia | 28,6 | Exercises. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 10 Oct 1941 | 0718 | La Spezia | 10 Oct 1941 | 1817 | La Spezia | 35,5 | Exercises. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 16 Oct 1941 | 0800 | La Spezia | 16 Oct 1941 | 1545 | La Spezia | 2 | Gyrocompass tests. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 17 Oct 1941 | 0712 | La Spezia | 17 Oct 1941 | 1020 | La Spezia | 26,3 | Exercises with the tug San Antonio. | ||
12 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 18 Oct 1941 | 1220 | La Spezia | 18 Oct 1941 | 1510 | La Spezia | 35,6 | Defensive patrol. | |
13 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 19 Oct 1941 | 1915 | La Spezia | 19 Oct 1941 | 2045 | La Spezia | 10 | Defensive patrol. | |
Pedrotti, Francesco | 20 Oct 1941 | 1854 | La Spezia | 20 Oct 1941 | 2230 | La Spezia | 23 | Exercises, escorted by the tug Torre D'Annunziata. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 25 Oct 1941 | 0800 | La Spezia | 25 Oct 1941 | 1710 | La Spezia | 34,9 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Capodistria and MAS 570. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 30 Oct 1941 | 2200 | La Spezia | 1 Nov 1941 | 1030 | Naples | 321 | Passage La Spezia-Naples. | ||
14 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 3 Nov 1941 | 1617 | Naples | 8 Nov 1941 | 1605 | Messina | 809 | Sailed for patrol 343° - Cape Blanc - 21 miles (about 30 miles east of Galite Island), then ordered to 30 miles west La Galite Island. A new area was then assigned between 37°40'N and the North African coast and between 08°20'E and 09°50'E but returned due to defective battery. Uneventful. | |
Pedrotti, Francesco | 22 Nov 1941 | 0847 | Messina | 22 Nov 1941 | 1128 | Messina | 13,8 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary A.S.45. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 24 Nov 1941 | 0957 | Messina | 24 Nov 1941 | 1725 | Augusta | 71,1 | Passage Messina-Augusta. | ||
15 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 26 Nov 1941 | 1900 | Augusta | 4 Dec 1941 | 0115 | Leros | 998 | Patrol and passage Augusta-Leros. First was ordered to relieve the submarine Dagabur between 33°00'N and 33°40'N, and between 22°20'E and 23°00'E. At 1225 hours on the 29th, MARICOSOM ordered her to patrol between 33°20'N and 34°00'N, and between 23°40'E and 24°20'E. Damaged by air attack on 1st December and forced to abandon her patrol. At the issue of this patrol, C.F. Luciano Morra, in charge of V.Grupsom, remarked that the Koritzka binoculars were quite inadequate for submarine use as they were not waterproof. The only dependable binoculars was a pair of Zeiss binoculars which were held on Beilul. | |
1 Dec 1941 | 2155 | 33° 05'N, 24° 00'E (0) Position approximate. | At 2155 hours, the forward lookout spotted a four-engine aircraft, believed to be a Sunderland, at a distance of 1,000 metres. It attacked the submarine with machine-gun and cannon fire from a height of 200 metres. Beilul replied with 60 rounds of machine-gun and then four 100mm rounds to keep the aircraft at bay. The aircraft appeared to have been hit and did not drop any bomb. The submarine seized the opportunity that the Sunderland was at some distance, to crash-dive. However, it was noticed that the enemy's fire had perforated the submarine's hull in several places and damaged the hydrophones. Beilul had to return to base. | |||||||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 24 Dec 1941 | Time not given | Leros | 24 Dec 1941 | Time not given | Leros | 19,4 | Trials. | ||
16 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 31 Dec 1941 | 1703 | Leros | 8 Jan 1942 | 0525 | Leros | 984 | Sailed through Kaso Strait and 20 miles south of Cape Koupho and patrolled in area between 33°20'N and 34°00'N, and between 21°40'N and 22°20'E, or 40 miles north of Appolonia. Uneventful. Heard only distant explosions. | |
Pedrotti, Francesco | 6 Feb 1942 | 0700 | Leros | 6 Feb 1942 | 1250 | Leros | 28 | Exercises. | ||
17 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 10 Feb 1942 | 1800 | Leros | 25 Feb 1942 | 1150 | Leros | 1542,5 | Patrolled off Beirut between 33°10'N and 34°20'N, and between 33°00'E and 34°00'E. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. Had a defective attack periscope. | |
Pedrotti, Francesco | 28 Mar 1942 | 0758 | Leros | 28 Mar 1942 | 1156 | Leros | 19,5 | Exercises. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 25 Apr 1942 | 0555 | Leros | 25 Apr 1942 | 1355 | Leros | 21,2 | Exercises. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 16 May 1942 | 1249 | Leros | 16 May 1942 | 1739 | Leros | 18,8 | Exercises. | ||
18 | Pedrotti, Francesco | 23 May 1942 | 1316 | Leros | 6 Jun 1942 | 1117 | Leros | 1252 | Sailed with the submarine Ondina and locally escorted by the destroyer Sella for a patrol between 33°40'N and 34°40'N, and between 21°40'E and 22°40'E. On 26th May, Beilul was ordered to an area between 32°10'N and the African coast and between 26°00'E and 26°40'E (off Ras Haleima). On her return to Leros, the local escort was provided by the torpedo boat Libra. | |
2 Jun 1942 | 0110 | At 0110 hours, a biplane (Swordfish?) was sighted. Beilul dived. | ||||||||
4 Jun 1942 | 1350 1530 (e) | (0) 10 miles NE of Ras Haleima [Sidi Barrani]. | At 1345 hours, the hydrophone picked up noises and Beilul came to periscope depth. She observed three steamers, preceded by a corvette, in single file, with a four-engined aircraft circling above. Another steamer, escorted by a corvette, was also sighted in a separate group, as well as a third corvette proceeding independently. At 1350 hours, three torpedoes were fired from bow tubes at a range of 2,500 metres. The first two corvettes turned toward the submarine. Beilul reached the bottom at 54 metres, expecting the inevitable counter attack. It came at 1510, 1516 and 1522 hours. The submarine was damaged, but this was not realised until she reached her base. This was probably convoy T.A.46 consisting of three empty ships escorted by the escort destroyers HMS Airedale, HMS Aldenham and the corvettes HMS Peony, and HMS Erica. The previous day, the convoy had sailed from Tobruk for Alexandria. The escort reported depth charging a U-boat at about this time but believed the attack had been ineffective. Before the day was over, the convoy would come under attack by U-453 (KL Freiherr Egon Reiner von Schlippenbach) but escape damage. | |||||||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 21 Jun 1942 | 1315 | Leros | 26 Jun 1942 | 1712 | Pola | 1142 | Passage Leros-Pola. Sighted only Axis ships and German aircraft. | ||
Caimmi, Lando | 1 Jul 1942 | 0905 | Pola | 1 Jul 1942 | 1538 | Monfalcone | 68,5 | Passage Pola-Monfalcone. | ||
Pedrotti, Francesco | 22 Aug 1942 | Monfalcone | 22 Aug 1942 | Monfalcone | Completed refit. | |||||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 1 Sep 1942 | 0813 | Monfalcone | 1 Sep 1942 | 1440 | Monfalcone | 30 | Trials. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 2 Sep 1942 | 1640 | Monfalcone | 2 Sep 1942 | 2038 | Monfalcone | 30,5 | Trials. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 4 Sep 1942 | 0650 | Monfalcone | 4 Sep 1942 | 1357 | Venice | 78 | Passage Monfalcone-Venice (one source gives the date as 3rd September). | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 5 Sep 1942 | 0925 | Venice | 5 Sep 1942 | 1125 | Venice | 15 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 7 Sep 1942 | 0715 | Venice | 7 Sep 1942 | 1728 | Pola | 88 | Passage Venice-Pola. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 9 Sep 1942 | 0607 | Pola | 9 Sep 1942 | 2102 | Pola | 129 | Exercises with torpedo boat Insidioso. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 10 Sep 1942 | 0930 | Pola | 10 Sep 1942 | 1934 | Pola | 11 | Gyrocompass tests. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 12 Sep 1942 | 1603 | Pola | 16 Sep 1942 | 0950 | Messina | 620,7 | Passage Pola-Messina. Uneventful. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 19 Sep 1942 | 0706 | Messina | 19 Sep 1942 | 1226 | Messina | 13,3 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 20 Sep 1942 | 0706 | Messina | 20 Sep 1942 | 1226 | Messina | 13 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 21 Sep 1942 | 1300 | Messina | 21 Sep 1942 | 1731 | Messina | 15 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 23 Sep 1942 | 0805 | Messina | 23 Sep 1942 | 1241 | Messina | 13 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 26 Sep 1942 | 0800 | Messina | 26 Sep 1942 | 1146 | Messina | 17 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 5 Oct 1942 | 1320 | Messina | 5 Oct 1942 | 1700 | Messina | 6 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 15 Oct 1942 | 0800 | Messina | 15 Oct 1942 | 1101 | Messina | 6 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 19 Oct 1942 | 1750 | Messina | 23 Oct 1942 | 1418 | Leros | 865 | Passage Messina-Leros. Uneventful. Sighted only an Italian convoy at 0730 hours on 23rd October. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 14 Nov 1942 | 0640 | Leros | 14 Nov 1942 | 1104 | Leros | 15,5 | Exercises. | ||
19 | Beltrame, Pasquale | 15 Nov 1942 | 0706 | Leros | 30 Nov 1942 | 1310 | Leros | 1625 | Sailed for patrol near Rhodes. MAS 542 escorted her only until 0930 hours on the 15th as the bad weather forced her to turn back. An aircraft escorted her until 1130 hours on the 15th. | |
19 Nov 1942 | 2040 | At 2040 hours, an aircraft was seen at a distance of 1,000 metres. It made a green signal. Beilul dived. | ||||||||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 28 Dec 1942 | 0805 | Leros | 28 Dec 1942 | 1140 | Leros | 7 | Exercises. | ||
20 | Beltrame, Pasquale | 7 Jan 1943 | 1200 | Leros | 23 Jan 1943 | 0450 | Leros | 1519 | Patrolled south of 34°00'N, between 21°30'E and 22°00'E. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. | |
17 Jan 1943 | 2258 | 33° 14'N, 21° 52'E | At 2258 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
18 Jan 1943 | 0257 | 33° 14'N, 21° 36'E | At 0257 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 6 Feb 1943 | 0218 | Leros | 6 Feb 1943 | 0645 | Stampalia | Passage Leros-Stampalia. | |||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 9 Feb 1943 | 0803 | Leros | 9 Feb 1943 | 1116 | Leros | 12,5 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 16 Feb 1943 | 0930 | Leros | 16 Feb 1943 | 1202 | Leros | 10,5 | Exercises. | ||
21 | Beltrame, Pasquale | 25 Feb 1943 | 0800 | Leros | 12 Mar 1943 | 1240 | Leros | 1487 | Patrolled west of Cyprus between 35°00'N and 36°00'N, and between 30°00'E and 30°40'E. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. | |
Beltrame, Pasquale | 30 Mar 1943 | 0936 | Leros | 30 Mar 1943 | 1205 | Leros | 8 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 1 Apr 1943 | 0908 | Portolago (Leros) | 1 Apr 1943 | 1055 | Parteni (Leros) | 5,8 | Passage Portolago-Parteni (Leros). | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 7 Apr 1943 | 0903 | Parteni (Leros) | 7 Apr 1943 | 1032 | Portolago (Leros) | 6,2 | Passage Parteni-Portolago (Leros). | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 13 Apr 1943 | 0836 | Leros | 13 Apr 1943 | 1147 | Leros | 19 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 20 Apr 1943 | 1004 | Leros | 20 Apr 1943 | 1200 | Leros | 6 | Exercises. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 1 May 1943 | 0856 | Leros | 1 May 1943 | 1056 | Leros | 9 | Exercises. | ||
22 | Beltrame, Pasquale | 26 May 1943 | 1545 | Leros | 15 Jun 1943 | 1820 | Leros | 1297 | Sailed escorted by a MAS until 1705 hours on the 26th, via 34°28'N, 26°20'E for a patrol in Gulf of Sirte in area bounded by the African coast and 34°00'N, and the parallels 14°00'E and 20°00'E. | |
28 May 1943 | 0844 0955 (e) | 34° 00'N, 24° 00'E (0) Submarine position is approximate. | At 0844 hours, two Blenheim bombers were sighted at a distance of 4-5,000 metres, flying toward the submarine at an altitude of 500 metres. There was no time to crash-dive and, when when range was 1,200 metres, the submarine opened fire with her machine-guns. The two aircraft did not drop any bomb but attacked with cannon fire. As soon as they were over the submarine, T.V. Pasquale Beltrame seized the opportunity to order the crash-dive. Beilul was undamaged. These aircraft were actually Beaufighters from 227 Long Range Fighter Squadron (201 Group) piloted by Flight Lt. M.B. Curtis and Flight Officer M.B.E. Amos. They had apparently already expended their bombs in an attack on a caique earlier in the morning. | |||||||
31 May 1943 | 2252 | Two small warships were sight at respectively 600 and 800 metres. Beilul dived. | ||||||||
13 Jun 1943 | 0200 | At 0200 hours, information was received from SUPERMARINA of five enemy vessels near Ras-El-Tin (Libya), course and speed were not given. It was believed this was a convoy earlier reported and was probably steering toward Benghazi. Beilul moved southward to be in a position to intercept. | ||||||||
13 Jun 1943 | 1440-1517 | At 1233 hours, Beilul initiated her return trip. At 1440 hours, a depth-charge exploded near the submarine. No enemy craft had been heard approaching. At 1450 hours, a second explosion occurred, followed by two more at 1457 hours and another two at 1459 hours. At 1501 hours, noises from a vessel nearing the submarine were heard. More followed until 1517 hours. | ||||||||
23 | Beltrame, Pasquale | 25 Jun 1943 | 2000 | Leros | 17 Jul 1943 | 0800 | Taranto | 1760,5 | Patrol and passage Leros-Brindisi via Rhodes. Patrolled in 32°15'N, 25°55'E. From 1st July, patrolled between 34°00'N and the African coast, and between 23°40'N and 27°00'E. Ordered to Pola on 9th July. On 10 July was ordered to proceed to 37°00'N, 16°00'E (east of Syracuse). Ordered to leave patrol on 14th July. | |
28 Jun 1943 | 1504 | 32° 00'N, 26° 00'E (0) Approximate position. | At 1504 hours, Beilul was submerged when she was shaken by a loud explosion, followed minute later by another one. The submarine was undamaged. | |||||||
2 Jul 1943 | 0613 | At 0613 hours, after noises were detected with the hydrophones, five explosions were heard near Beilul. The noises were heard off and on. At 1651 hours, another five depth charges exploded near her. | ||||||||
12 Jul 1943 | 2155 | 36° 54'N, 15° 35'E | At 2143 hours, the forward lookout noticed the shadows of two vessels. A minute and a half later, three destroyers of the JERVIS class could be made out. At 2155 hours, three torpedoes were fired from the bow tubes (a fourth misfired) at a range of 1,500 metres. Shortly after, two explosions were heard 3 seconds apart. There is no evidence that the attack was successful. The targets were possibly the light cruisers HMS Cleopatra and HMS Euryalus screened by the destroyers HMS Ilex and HMS Echo. They had sailed from Malta at 1600 hours for a patrol off the East Sicilian coast. | |||||||
16 Jul 1943 | 2234 2247 (e) | (0) 304° - Punta Alice - 24 miles. | At 2234 hours, a dark shadow was sighted but could not be identified. This was actually the submarine HMS United (Lieutenant John Charles Young Roxburgh, DSC, RN) who observed a submarine generating a great deal of smoke, but this suddenly stopped. Beilul's diesels were indeed produced a great deal of smoke and when the shadow was seen, T.V. Beltrame prudently ordered the crew to shut down the main engines, switch to the electric motors and, take avoiding action. HMS United (who had sunk Remo the previous day) refrained from attack as British submarines were operating in the adjacent areas. | |||||||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 22 Jul 1943 | 1030 | Taranto | 25 Jul 1943 | 0704 | Pola | 536 | Passage Taranto-Pola. Uneventful. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 27 Jul 1943 | 0454 | Pola | 27 Jul 1943 | 1138 | Monfalcone | 68 | Passage Pola-Monfalcone. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 31 Jul 1943 | 0910 | Monfalcone | 31 Jul 1943 | 1155 | Monfalcone | 4 | Trials. | ||
Beltrame, Pasquale | 9 Sep 1943 | Monfalcone | 9 Sep 1943 | Monfalcone | Beilul could not sail because she lacked part of her machinery. She was to have been sunk on 11th September 1943, after the submarine Argo was scuttled, but her C.O. T.V. Beltrame reported receiving orders to surrender the submarine to the Germans. Seized by the Germans, but was in need of a major overhaul. In February 1944, she was mentioned as ceded to the Decima Flottiglia MAS and transformed as a special operation submarine. | |||||
25 May 1944 | Monfalcone | 25 May 1944 | Sunk | Sunk by air attack (see entry of 27th June for another source). | ||||||
25 May 1944 | (0) At Monfalcone. | During the day, 61 Liberators, escorted by 47 Lightnings of the USAAF, conducted an air raid on Monfalcone. Beilul was reportedly destroyed during this air attack. | ||||||||
27 Jun 1944 | Trieste | 27 Jun 1944 | Sunk | Sunk by air attack (see also entry of 25th May for another source). | ||||||
18 Jul 1944 | 22 Jul 1944 | Beilul is mentioned in German documents without comments on her being lost on an earlier date. |
103 entries. 94 total patrol entries (23 marked as war patrols) and 19 events.