Antonio Sciesa (SC)
Sciesa

Type	Ocean going
Class	Balilla (1)
Laid down	20 Oct 1925	Odero-Terni-Orlando, Muggiano
Launched	18 Aug 1928
Commissioned	12 Apr 1929
End service
Stricken
Loss date	12 Nov 1942
Loss position	32° 04'N, 23° 59'E
History	Scuttled at Tobruk on 12th November 1942 after being heavily damaged by enemy air attack while landing stores on 6th November 1942.
Fate

Commands

Commander	Date from	Date to	Command notes
C.C. Mario Resio	12 Feb 1940	16 Jan 1941
C.C. Gaetano Foldi	20 Sep 1941	20 Mar 1942
C.C. Giuseppe Vocaturo	21 Mar 1942	3 May 1942
T.V. Raul Galletti	4 May 1942	12 Nov 1942

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

	Commander	Date	Time	Port	Arr. date	Arr. time	Arr. port	Miles	Description
1	Resio, Mario	9 Jun 1940	1555	Brindisi	16 Jun 1940	0750	Brindisi	667,4	Patrolled in position S.A.17, entrance to the Bay of Cattaro. Uneventful.
	Resio, Mario	4 Jul 1940	0053	Brindisi	4 Jul 1940	1545	Crotone		Passage Brindisi-Crotone.
	Resio, Mario	5 Jul 1940	0000	Crotone	5 Jul 1940	1730	Augusta	333	Passage Crotone-Augusta [mileage is from 4th July].
2	Resio, Mario	8 Jul 1940	2145	Augusta	12 Jul 1940	1255	Augusta	426	Patrolled within 10 miles from 36°30'N, 17°20'E, on a barrage line with Settimo, Settembrini, Pisani and Brin.
3	Resio, Mario	14 Aug 1940	0843	Augusta	18 Aug 1940	2045	Brindisi	521	Sailed for patrol off African coast as far as meridian of Alexandria, but diverted to Brindisi due to defects.
	Resio, Mario	24 Oct 1940	1448	Brindisi	24 Oct 1940	1805	Brindisi	10	Trials.
	Resio, Mario	26 Oct 1940	0854	Brindisi	26 Oct 1940	1348	Brindisi	37	Trials.
	Resio, Mario	14 Nov 1940	1327	Brindisi	14 Nov 1940	1848	Brindisi	25	Exercises.
	Resio, Mario	15 Nov 1940	0845	Brindisi	15 Nov 1940	1600	Brindisi	95	Exercises.
	Resio, Mario	18 Nov 1940	1205	Brindisi	18 Nov 1940	1734	Brindisi	40	Exercises.
	Resio, Mario	19 Nov 1940	0911	Brindisi	19 Nov 1940	1550	Brindisi	3	Exercises.
	Resio, Mario	4 Dec 1940	0945	Brindisi	4 Dec 1940	1350	Brindisi	17	Exercises.
	Resio, Mario	5 Dec 1940	1016	Brindisi	5 Dec 1940	1130	Brindisi	1	Docked or exercises?
	Resio, Mario	7 Dec 1940	0900	Brindisi	7 Dec 1940	1231	Brindisi	17	Exercises.
4	Resio, Mario	12 Dec 1940	0953	Brindisi	21 Dec 1940	1330	Brindisi	822,5	Patrolled south of Otranto Straits, within 10 miles from 39°40'N, 19°10'E. Heard H.E. but sighted nothing.
	Resio, Mario	23 Dec 1940	0900	Brindisi	23 Dec 1940	1348	Brindisi	15	Exercises. Probably sailed from Brindisi for Taranto in January 1941. Disarmed from March 1941 to May 1942.
	Resio, Mario	31 Mar 1941		Taranto	31 Mar 1941		Taranto		Provided electricity to assist in the raising of the battleship Cavour.
	Foldi, Gaetano	20 Sep 1941		Taranto	20 Mar 1942		Taranto		Disarmed in Taranto.
	Vocaturo, Giuseppe	24 Apr 1942		Taranto	3 May 1942		Taranto		Refit in Taranto.
	Galletti, Raul	4 Jun 1942	0820	Taranto	4 Jun 1942	1450	Taranto	47,2	Trials.
	Galletti, Raul	6 Jun 1942	0830	Taranto	6 Jun 1942	1322	Taranto	28	Trials.
	Galletti, Raul	11 Jun 1942	0845	Taranto	11 Jun 1942	1637	Taranto	36,2	Trials.
	Galletti, Raul	23 Jun 1942	0735	Taranto	23 Jun 1942	1835	Taranto	72,7	Trials.
5	Galletti, Raul	29 Jun 1942	1120	Taranto	3 Jul 1942	0415	Ras Hilal	634,3	Supply mission to Derna (68 tons: 64 tons of German petrol and 4 tons of foodstuff). As she arrived off this port, was ordered to Ras Hilal . Arrived with a defective air compressor and was assisted by Bragadino to recharge her compressors.
		30 Jun 1942	0515	37° 29'N, 18° 49'E	Six unknown aircraft were observed at a distance of 5,000 metres and the submarine dived. Five minutes later three explosions were heard but the submarine escaped unscathed.
		2 Jul 1942	0330	(0) 5 miles from Derna.	The submarine had bottomed in 47 meters, while attempts were made to carry out repairs of a compressor, when a short-circuit caused a fire. It was quickly extinguished thanks to the prompt intervention of the engineer Francesco Lamotta.
5b	Galletti, Raul	4 Jul 1942	1615	Ras Hilal	4 Jul 1942	1745	Ras Hilal		At Ras Hilal. Surprise visit by the Duce.
		4 Jul 1942	1615-1745	(0) Ras el Hilal.	The Duce made an impromptu visit of the submarine and was met with enthusiasm. He thanked the submariners for their sacrifice.
5c	Galletti, Raul	6 Jul 1942	2015	Ras Hilal	9 Jul 1942	1530	Taranto	1097	Return trip from supply mission to Ras Hilal. Uneventful.
	Galletti, Raul	22 Jul 1942	0830	Taranto	22 Jul 1942	1430	Taranto	36,7	Exercises.
6	Galletti, Raul	24 Jul 1942	1425	Taranto	28 Jul 1942	0915	Tobruk	606,6	Supply mission to Tobruk (71.6 tons: 64.6 tons of petrol for MAS and 7 tons of foodstuff). Uneventful. Only partly unloaded at Tobruk and was ordered to sail in the evening and return the next morning.
		26 Jul 1942	2100C (e)	(e) 34° 10'N, 22° 20'E	The submarine had just surfaced when a RAF aircraft sighted her and reported her position as 34°17' N, 22°20' E, course 150°, 12 knots. Sciesa did not notice the aircraft. The submarine HMS Thorn was informed by Senior Officer 1st Submarine Flotilla's signal of 2125C/26 but did not manage to intercept her.
6b	Galletti, Raul	28 Jul 1942	1800	Tobruk	29 Jul 1942	0955	Tobruk		Sortie to submerge outside the harbour.
6c	Galletti, Raul	29 Jul 1942	1857	Tobruk	3 Aug 1942	1445	Taranto	1421	Return trip from supply mission to Tobruk. Uneventful [mileage is for round trip].
	Galletti, Raul	16 Aug 1942	1340	Taranto	16 Aug 1942	1743	Taranto	13	Trials.
7	Galletti, Raul	19 Aug 1942	1445	Taranto	22 Aug 1942	0945	Benghazi		Supply mission to Benghazi (73 tons: 63 tons of German ammunition and 10 tons of foodstuff).
		21 Aug 1942	1920	34° 20'N, 19° 18'E (0) NW of Benghazi.	An enemy submarine was sighted and Antonio Sciesa made a signal reporting the encounter. However, no British submarine operated in the area.
7b	Galletti, Raul	22 Aug 1942	1905	Benghazi	26 Aug 1942	1315	Taranto	955	Return trip from supply mission to Benghazi. Uneventful. Heard only H.E [mileage is for round trip].
	Galletti, Raul	28 Sep 1942	0852	Taranto	28 Sep 1942	1710	Taranto	44	Exercises.
8	Galletti, Raul	1 Oct 1942	1330	Taranto	5 Oct 1942	0810	Benghazi		Supply mission to Benghazi (71.9 tons: 51.5 tons of Italian ammunition, 11.6 tons of foodstuff, 8.6 tons of valuables).
		3 Oct 1942	1839	34° 57'N, 17° 38'E	A periscope was observed at a distance of 400-500 metres and the Italian submarine turned away immediately. No British submarine operated in the vicinity.
8b	Galletti, Raul	5 Oct 1942	1730	Benghazi	8 Oct 1942	1500	Taranto	1072	Return trip from supply mission to Benghazi [mileage is for round trip].
		6 Oct 1942	2118 2212 (e)	34° 41'N, 19° 21'E (e) 34° 58'N, 19° 21'E (0) 328° - Tolmeita - 146 miles.	An enemy submarine was initially sighted at 2109 hours at a distance of 4,200-4,500 metres. This was HMS Rorqual (Lt. Cdr. Lennox William Napier, RN), who made a challenge at 2114 hours. Lennox hesitated to attack as the submarine might have been HMS Parthian. At 2118 hours, Antonio Sciesa fired a single torpedo (533mm, W.260 type) at about 800 metres, an explosion was heard giving a running range of 1,200 metres and the enemy submarine was claimed sunk. In fact, HMS Rorqual was unscathed but had also heard the explosion at 2124 hours, turned away and dived.
9	Galletti, Raul	30 Oct 1942	1845	Taranto	31 Oct 1942	0500	Taranto	94,5	Supply mission to Benghazi with 84 tons of stores (ammunition and surgical material) but aborted due to defects to the port diesel engine, which forced her to return.
9b	Galletti, Raul	3 Nov 1942	1100	Taranto	6 Nov 1942	0800	Tobruk	667,5	Supply mission to Tobruk (85.8 tons: 84.8 tons of ammunition and one ton of surgical material). Damaged at 1521/6 November 1942, by USAAF bombers (three bomb hits). Twenty-three killed, thirty-three survivors (including fourteen wounded).
		4 Nov 1942	0900		Three unknown aircraft were observed at a distance of 5,000 metres and the submarine dived.
		5 Nov 1942	1430	(0) About 80 miles north of Ras Hilal.	Three unknown aircraft were observed at a distance of 3,000 metres and the submarine dived.
		6 Nov 1942	1521	(0) Tobruk harbour.	The submarine was anchored in Tobruk harbour when the USAAF raided the town. She was hit by three bombs and had twenty-three killed and fourteen wounded. The submarine had not yet unloaded her full cargo and about 100 cases of ammunition remained on board. Galletti was on land at the time of the attack; he was slightly wounded and rendered temporarily deaf by a bomb, which fell only three metres from him.
9c	Galletti, Raul	12 Nov 1942		Tobruk	12 Nov 1942		Scuttled		Scuttled off Tobruk in 32°04.6'N, 23°59.2'E to avoid capture as she was unable to sail.
		12 Nov 1942		32° 04'N, 23° 59'E (0) Tobruk harbour.	Antonio Sciesa was unable to sail due to the bombing damage. The submarine had to be scuttled to avoid falling into enemy hands, as the Axis forces were withdrawing through Cyrenaica after the battle of El Alamein. Her wreck was found by British forces on 13th November.

42 entries. 39 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 11 events.

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