Italian submarines in World War Two


Domenico Millelire (MI)
Millelire

TypeOcean going 
ClassBalilla (1) 
Laid down 19 Jan 1925 Odero-Terni-Orlando, Muggiano
Launched19 Sep 1927
Commissioned21 Aug 1928
End service15 Apr 1941
Stricken
Loss date
Loss position
History Disarmed on 15th April 1941. Converted to oil-carrying pontoon G.R.248.
Fate

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
C.C. Cesare Girosi20 Apr 194020 Jul 1940
T.V. Giorgio Viani20 Jul 194027 Jul 1940
C.C. Francesco De Rosa de Leo28 Jul 194031 Dec 1940
C.C. Guido D'Alterio1 Jan 194131 Jan 1941
T.V. Giorgio Viani1 Feb 19416 Mar 1941

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Girosi, Cesare10 Jun 19400523Pola10 Jun 19401612PolaIn Pola.

Girosi, Cesare27 Jun 19400523Pola27 Jun 19401612Pola6,2Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare1 Jul 19400832Pola1 Jul 19401523Pola43Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare2 Jul 19401541Pola2 Jul 19402012Pola51,6Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare9 Jul 19401541Pola9 Jul 19402012Pola41,1Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare12 Jul 19400554Pola12 Jul 19401304Fiume59Passage Pola-Fiume.
  12 Jul 19400804
(0) Off Fiume
Two torpedo wakes were sighted. The "attack" was most likely bogus as no enemy submarines were operating in the vicinity.

Girosi, Cesare14 Jul 19400800Fiume14 Jul 19401339Fiume21,9Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare16 Jul 19401400Fiume16 Jul 19401745Fiume18,3Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare17 Jul 19400800Fiume17 Jul 19400920Fiume10,3Exercises.

Girosi, Cesare18 Jul 19400700Fiume18 Jul 19401305Pola77Passage Fiume-Pola.

Girosi, Cesare19 Jul 19400800Pola20 Jul 19401204Pola26Exercises.

Viani, Giorgio20 Jul 1940Pola27 Jul 1940PolaIn Pola.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco30 Jul 19401320Pola30 Jul 19401825Pola28Exercises.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco1 Aug 19400800Pola1 Aug 19401737Pola66Exercises.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco6 Aug 19400205Pola7 Aug 19401300Brindisi407Passage Pola-Brindisi.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco13 Aug 19400730Brindisi13 Aug 19401149Brindisi20Exercises.

1De Rosa de Leo, Francesco13 Aug 19401950Brindisi11 Sep 19400720Brindisi2196Patrolled in Kaso Strait, in 35°05'N, 26°40'E and sweeping from a point 14 miles east of Cape Vuthia (Skarpanto) to 215° - Kupho Island (Crete) - 12 miles. This was the longest patrol for an Italian submarine in the Mediterranean.
  15 Aug 19401835
(0) West of Crete.
The submarine heard three explosions believed to be aircraft bombs, followed by the noise of two destroyers, but was undamaged. No British aircraft or A/S vessel reported any action on this day.
  30 Aug 1940190035° 05'N, 26° 40'E
(0) Position approximate.
The submarine was the subject of an intense A/S search from a destroyer which did not drop any depth-charge and escaped by silent running.
  4 Sep 19401008-101535° 05'N, 26° 40'E
(0) Position uncertain.
The submarine was bombed by aircraft, but escaped damage. The aircraft has not been identified.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco22 Sep 19400530Brindisi23 Sep 19401220Pola367Passage Brindisi-Pola for a refit as Brindisi local works were already busy repairing other submarines.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco28 Oct 19400710Pola28 Oct 19401530Pola70Exercises.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco30 Oct 19400750Pola30 Oct 19401133Pola19Exercises.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco5 Nov 19400400Pola6 Nov 19401425Brindisi388Passage Pola-Brindisi.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco9 Nov 19400800Brindisi9 Nov 19401245Brindisi21Exercises.

2De Rosa de Leo, Francesco14 Nov 19401145Brindisi22 Nov 19401150Brindisi568,7Patrolled in Otranto Strait, within 5 miles from 39°51'N, 19°09'E on an East/West axis.
  17 Nov 1940053039° 50'N, 19° 06'E
(0) 13 miles west of Othonoi (Fano) Island (off Straits of Otranto)
At 0525 hours, a lookout sighted a submarine at a range of 2,500 metres, slowly proceeding on a northerly course, bearing 30° to port. Five minutes later, the range had closed to 1,500 metres and a 533mm torpedo was fired from a bow tube, followed shortly by a second one. Both missed. This was probably the Hellenic submarine Proteus. C.C. De Rosa de Leo was criticised for failing to make use of his gun and letting the enemy submarine escape.
  17 Nov 1940184039° 51'N, 19° 09'E
(0) Exact position uncertain. Near Othonoi (Fano) Island (off Straits of Otranto)
Domenico Millelire had just surfaced when a small submarine was sighted at a range of 1,000 metres, proceeding on the surface on a south by southwest course. Because of the rough seas, only machine-guns were manned and, before any action could be taken, the enemy had disappeared.

De Rosa de Leo, Francesco5 Dec 19401500Brindisi5 Dec 19401545Brindisi1Docked?

3De Rosa de Leo, Francesco13 Dec 19400000Brindisi17 Dec 19401320Brindisi529Patrolled west of Fano Island, between 40°00'N and 40°20'N, and between 19°20'E and the Albanian coast. Uneventful.

D'Alterio, Guido6 Jan 19410855Brindisi6 Jan 19411140Brindisi16Exercises.

D'Alterio, Guido6 Jan 19412340Brindisi7 Jan 19411457Taranto173Passage Brindisi-Taranto.

D'Alterio, Guido10 Jan 19410835Taranto10 Jan 19411620Taranto1316Exercises with the submarines Ondina and Speri.

4D'Alterio, Guido20 Jan 19410725Taranto30 Jan 19411345Brindisi1143Patrolled south of Otranto Srait within 10 miles from 39°10'N, 19°20'E. Uneventful except for H.E. and distant explosions.

Viani, Giorgio18 Feb 19410900Brindisi18 Feb 19411240Brindisi24Exercises.

Viani, Giorgio6 Mar 19410845Brindisi6 Mar 19412115Taranto166,5Passage Brindisi-Taranto.

15 May 1941Taranto15 May 1941TarantoDisarmed and used as floating oil depot.

513 Sep 19420600Taranto14 Sep 19421135NavarinoTowed by the destroyer Saetta and escorted by the destroyer Castelfidardo, she carried 443 tons of oil and 247 tons of petrol.

5b15 Sep 19420520Navarino17 Sep 19421000TobrukTowed by the destroyer Saetta and escorted by the torpedo boat Castelfidardo for passage Navarino to Tobruk. Later towed to Taranto where she remained until the armistice.
  16 Sep 19420109-034233° 58'N, 22° 55'ETransformed as an oil depot, she was being towed to Navarino by the destroyer Saetta and escorted by the torpedo-boat Castelfidardo when they came under attack from Wellington bombers, which fired flares but do not appear to have dropped bombs.

23 Sep 194223 Sep 1942Renamed as G.R. 248 (G.R. stood for Gallegiante Rifornimento or oil pontoon).

11 Oct 19421400Tobruk13 Oct 19420230NavarinoPassage Tobruk-Navarino as oil-carrying pontoon, towed by destroyer Saetta, with the steamer Col Di Lana (the latter going to Piraeus) and escorted by the destroyer Freccia and the torpedo boats Lupo and Antares (and later Lira).
  12 Oct 19420020-013932° 44'N, 23° 46'EWhile being towed by the destroyer Saetta, in company with Col Di Lana (the latter going to Piraeus) and escorted by the destroyer Freccia and the torpedo-boats Lupo and Antares, the convoy came under air attack. Domenico Millelire was undamaged, but Antares was hit by a bomb and had casualties.

18 Oct 19420835Navarino19 Oct 19421435TarantoPassage Navarino-Taranto, towed by the destroyer Saetta and escorted by the torpedo boat Lira.

5 Dec 19420746Messina6 Dec 19420735PalermoPassage Messina-Palermo towed by the tugs Portoferraio and Luni, escorted by the torpedo boat Castelfidardo.

1 Mar 1943Palermo1 Mar 1943PalermoReported at Palermo as pontoon G.S.R. 248. This is probably an error and should read G.R. 248.

42 entries. 39 total patrol entries (5 marked as war patrols) and 8 events.

All Italian submarines