Italian submarines in World War Two


Tritone (TN)
Tritone

TypeSea going 
ClassTritone (type I) (26) 
Laid down 12 May 1941 Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched3 Jan 1942
Commissioned10 Oct 1942
End service
Stricken
Loss date19 Jan 1943
Loss position37° 06'N, 5° 22'E
History
Fate Scuttled on 19 January 1943 north of Bougie, Algeria in position 37°06'N, 05°22'E after being forced to surface by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Antelope and the Canadian corvette HMCS Port Arthur.

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
C.C. Paolo Monechi24 Jun 194219 Jan 1943

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
16 Jun 1942Monfalcone16 Jun 1942MonfalconeTrials.

19 Jun 19421200Monfalcone19 Jun 19421545MonfalconeExercises.

Monechi, Paolo30 Jun 19420930Monfalcone30 Jun 19421705PolaPassage Monfalcone-Pola.

Monechi, Paolo2 Jul 19420930Pola2 Jul 19421745PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo3 Jul 19420810Pola3 Jul 19421905PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo4 Jul 19420830Pola4 Jul 19422120PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo6 Jul 19420825Pola6 Jul 19422005PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo7 Jul 19420825Pola7 Jul 19421135PolaTrials, escorted by the torpedo boat T.3.

Monechi, Paolo8 Jul 19420915Pola8 Jul 19421455PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo9 Jul 19420840Pola9 Jul 19421510PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo10 Jul 19420910Pola10 Jul 19421635PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo15 Jul 19420930Pola15 Jul 19421500PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo17 Jul 19420525Pola17 Jul 19421825PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo18 Jul 19420925Pola18 Jul 19421055PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo19 Jul 19420825Pola19 Jul 19420915PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo21 Jul 19421120Pola21 Jul 19421855PolaTrials.

Monechi, Paolo22 Jul 19421010Pola22 Jul 19421445MonfalconePassage Pola-Monfalcone.

Monechi, Paolo29 Sep 1942Monfalcone29 Sep 1942MonfalconeTrials.

Monechi, Paolo2 Oct 1942Monfalcone2 Oct 1942MonfalconeTrials.

Monechi, Paolo5 Oct 1942Time?Monfalcone5 Oct 19421645MonfalconeTrials.

Monechi, Paolo6 Oct 19420845Monfalcone6 Oct 19421750MonfalconeTrials.

Monechi, Paolo7 Oct 19420845Monfalcone7 Oct 19421600MonfalconeTrials.

Monechi, Paolo8 Oct 19420910Pola8 Oct 19421630PolaExercises.

Monechi, Paolo10 Oct 1942Monfalcone10 Oct 1942MonfalconeEntered service.

Monechi, Paolo24 Oct 19420730Monfalcone24 Oct 19421220Venice62Passage Monfalcone-Venice.

Monechi, Paolo25 Oct 19420940Venice25 Oct 19421340Venice11,1Trials.

Monechi, Paolo26 Oct 19420925Venice26 Oct 19421232Venice11,5Trials.

Monechi, Paolo31 Oct 19420240Venice31 Oct 19420815Pola81,5Passage Venice-Pola.

Monechi, Paolo4 Nov 19421346Pola4 Nov 19421637Pola3,6Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo5 Nov 19420537Pola5 Nov 19421805Pola130Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo7 Nov 19420746Pola7 Nov 19421740Pola9,3Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo8 Nov 19420811Pola8 Nov 19421530Pola19Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo13 Nov 19420602Pola13 Nov 19421625Sussa79,8Passage Pola-Sussa.

Monechi, Paolo14 Nov 19420942Sussa14 Nov 19422055Pola82,5Passage Sussa-Pola.

Monechi, Paolo20 Nov 19421915Pola22 Nov 19421556Taranto622,5Passage Pola-Taranto.

Monechi, Paolo6 Dec 19420702Taranto6 Dec 19421535Taranto22,5Depth trials to 130 meters.

Monechi, Paolo9 Dec 19422020Taranto12 Dec 19420745Naples528Passage Taranto-Naples. Uneventful.

Monechi, Paolo14 Dec 19420805Naples14 Dec 19421645Castellammare di Stabia37Exercises and passage Naples-Castellammare di Stabia.

Monechi, Paolo15 Dec 19420810Castellammare di Stabia15 Dec 19421645Castellammare di Stabia26Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo16 Dec 19420810Castellammare di Stabia16 Dec 19421532Naples25Passage Castellammare di Stabia-Naples.

Monechi, Paolo24 Dec 19420821Naples24 Dec 19421520Naples40Trials.

Monechi, Paolo26 Dec 19420815Naples26 Dec 19421620Castellammare di Stabia33Exercises and passage Naples-Castellammare di Stabia.

Monechi, Paolo27 Dec 19420803Castellammare di Stabia27 Dec 19421610Castellammare di Stabia27Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo28 Dec 19420820Castellammare di Stabia28 Dec 19421600Castellammare di Stabia33Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo29 Dec 19420817Castellammare di Stabia29 Dec 19421640Castellammare di Stabia36Exercises.

Monechi, Paolo30 Dec 19420811Castellammare di Stabia30 Dec 19421615Naples33Exercises and passage Castellammare di Stabia-Naples.

Monechi, Paolo2 Jan 19431030Naples2 Jan 19431230NaplesExercises.

Monechi, Paolo3 Jan 19430930Naples3 Jan 19431825NaplesExercises.

Monechi, Paolo4 Jan 19431200Naples5 Jan 19431545NaplesExercises.

Monechi, Paolo7 Jan 19431025Naples7 Jan 19431945NaplesExercises.

Monechi, Paolo9 Jan 19430925Naples9 Jan 19431100NaplesExercises.

Monechi, Paolo13 Jan 19431853Naples14 Nov 19421945CagliariPassage Naples-Cagliari.

1Monechi, Paolo17 Jan 19432355Cagliari19 Jan 19431530SunkSailed on first patrol off Bougie, between 37°20'N and the Algerian coast, and between 05°20'E and 05°40'E. Sunk in 37°06'N, 05°22'E by HMS Antelope and HMCS Port Arthur(escort of convoy MKS.6, which was on course 250°, 7 knots). According to her survivors, she carried two reload torpedoes forward and one aft.
  18 Jan 19431100
1112 (e)
At 1100 hours, Tritone was attacked by an American bomber which dropped a bomb. The submarine replied with her antiaircraft machine guns and escaped by diving.

This was actually Hudson ' R' of 500 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer J.R. Pugh. It was flying at a height of 3,000 feet when a surfaced submarine was sighted at 1112 hours. The position was about 40 miles NNW of the attack carried out by Hudson ' 'J' of the same squadron the previous night and it was presumed that the submarine might be the same one (it was actually Nichelio). The aircraft released a 250lb A/S bomb from 1,300 feet. The Hudson circled the sub which remained on the surface and fired a signal cartridge. A Junker 88 shortly arrived on the scene and as the Hudson was getting short on fuel, it departed the area.
  19 Jan 1943
1413A (e)

(e) 37° 05'N, 5° 22'E
At 1413A hours, the corvette HMCS Port Arthur (Lieutenant E.T. Simmons, DSC, RCNVR) was zigzagging at 10 knots, screening the convoy MKS.6 from Philippeville to Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, when the ASDIC operator obtained an echo at 1,700 yards. At first, it was thought to be doubtful but a minute later it was confirmed to be a submarine.

At 1418A hours, a pattern of ten depth charges was released and the explosion temporarily disable the ASDIC. Three minutes later two underwater explosions were heard. In the meantime, the destroyer HMS Antelope (Lieutenant Commander Sinclair, RN) joined the hunt.

At 1423A hours, the submarine surfaced about 700 yards from the destroyer and appeared to be down by the stern. HMS Antelope opened fire with her 4.7" guns and smaller armament, scoring at least three 4.7" hits, two on the conning tower and one on the pressure hull. The destroyer closed to 30 yards and attempted to send a boarding party but the submarine sank in two minutes.

This was Tritone. C.C. Paolo Monechi, three officers and twenty-two ratings were picked up by Antelope. Twenty-six men perished, including a civilian worker.

54 entries. 53 total patrol entries (1 marked as war patrols) and 2 events.

All Italian submarines