Italian submarines in World War Two
Guglielmotti (GI, I.30 or I.33)
Guglielmotti
Guglielmotti (USMM)
Type | Ocean going | |
Class | Brin 1 (14) | |
Laid down | 3 Dec 1936 | Cantieri Navale Tosi di Taranto, Taranto |
Launched | 11 Sep 1938 | |
Commissioned | 12 Oct 1938 | |
End service | ||
Stricken | ||
Loss date | 17 Mar 1942 | |
Loss position | 37° 42'N, 15° 58'E | |
History | ||
Fate | Torpedoed and sunk on 17th March 1942 off Cape Dell'Armi, Italy in position 37°42'N, 15°58'E by the British submarine HMS Unbeaten. |
Commands
Commander | Date from | Date to | Command notes |
---|---|---|---|
C.C. Carlo Tucci | 21 Oct 1939 | 19 Nov 1940 | |
T.V. Federico Tamburini | 20 Nov 1940 | 28 Feb 1941 | |
C.F. Gino Spagone | 1 Mar 1941 | 14 Aug 1941 | |
S.T.V. Virgilio Mandelli | 15 Aug 1941 | 31 Aug 1941 | |
T.V. Federico Tamburini | 1 Sep 1941 | 17 Mar 1942 |
Ships hit
Date | Commander | Ship hit | Type | GRT | Nat. | Loss type | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 6 Sep 1940 | C.C. Carlo Tucci | Atlas | Cargo ship | 4,008 | Sunk |
Patrols and events
Commander | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tucci, Carlo | 10 Jun 1940 | Massawa | 10 Jun 1940 | Massawa | At Massawa. | |||||
Tucci, Carlo | 18 Jun 1940 | 0700 | Massawa | 18 Jun 1940 | 1212 | Massawa | 29 | Exercises. | ||
1 | Tucci, Carlo | 21 Jun 1940 | 1310 | Massawa | 23 Jun 1940 | 1100 | Massawa | 525 | Patrolled against enemy traffic and ordered to pick up survivors of submarine Macallé. | |
22 Jun 1940 | 1110-1220 | (0) Bar-Muss-Chebir Islet | From 1110 to 1220 hours, Guglielmotti recovered the survivors of the submarine Macallé, which had run aground on Bar-Muss-Chebir Islet. All were found except four. One had drowned and three others had managed to escape in a small boat. | |||||||
2 | Tucci, Carlo | 12 Jul 1940 | 1430 | Massawa | 15 Jul 1940 | 0852 | Massawa | 432,5 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
3 | Tucci, Carlo | 26 Jul 1940 | 1139 | Massawa | 29 Jul 1940 | 1200 | Massawa | 383,6 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
4 | Tucci, Carlo | 2 Aug 1940 | 1245 | Massawa | 5 Aug 1940 | 1030 | Massawa | 435,5 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
Tucci, Carlo | 20 Aug 1940 | 0710 | Massawa | 20 Aug 1940 | 1255 | Massawa | 24,5 | Exercises. | ||
5 | Tucci, Carlo | 21 Aug 1940 | 1235 | Massawa | 25 Aug 1940 | 1540 | Massawa | 504,5 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
6 | Tucci, Carlo | 3 Sep 1940 | 1404 | Massawa | 7 Sep 1940 | 0850 | Massawa | 490,5 | Patrolled in Red Sea ca. 16°50'N, 41°50'E. | |
6 Sep 1940 | 1540 or 1200Z (UK) (e) | 15° 50'N, 41° 50'E | At 1200Z hours, Guglielmotti fired torpedoes at the Greek freighter Atlas (4,008 GRT, built 1909). She was a straggler from convoy BN.4 and was bound from Abadan (Iran) to the Piraeus. Because of her slow speed, she could not maintain station in the convoy. HMS Kingston had sent an armed guard on board and she was told to proceed independently. Two torpedo tracks were observed, followed by two more and the last hit the vessel, which took a list to starboard. The explosion was rather small, which seems to indicate it was a 450mm torpedo. Her Captain and crew and the British guards took to the lifeboats (twenty-seven survivors, no casualties). Apparently a fifth torpedo (described as smaller than the 21" torpedoes, so was probably of 450mm type) was fired and was observed by the survivors in the lifeboats to be a surface runner. It missed, but the Greek vessel finally sank. The Greek survivors reached Kamaran Island at 0800Z hours on 8th September, the British arrived a few hours later. The attack is not well documented on the Italian side as the submarine's patrol report has not survived. | |||||||
7 | Tucci, Carlo | 19 Sep 1940 | 2130 | Massawa | 26 Sep 1940 | 1650 | Massawa | 617 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
Tucci, Carlo | 14 Oct 1940 | 0700 | Massawa | 14 Oct 1940 | 0730 | Massawa | 0,4 | Entered dock. | ||
Tucci, Carlo | 18 Oct 1940 | 1830 | Massawa | 18 Oct 1940 | 1855 | Massawa | 0,4 | Exited dock. | ||
8 | Tucci, Carlo | 19 Oct 1940 | 1410 | Massawa | 24 Oct 1940 | 0857 | Massawa | 559,6 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
9 | Tucci, Carlo | 1 Nov 1940 | 1432 | Massawa | 6 Nov 1940 | 0924 | Massawa | 445 | Patrolled in Red Sea. | |
Tamburini, Federico | 20 Nov 1940 | Massawa | 28 Feb 1941 | Massawa | Refit at Massawa. change in command. | |||||
5 Jan 1941 | 1300-1400 | (0) At Massawa. | At 1300 hours, the Italian submarines at Massawa came under attack by three Blenheim bombers. At 1400 hours, a new attack was made by two Blenheim bombers. Guglielmotti was slightly damaged by near misses. | |||||||
10 | Spagone, Gino | 4 Mar 1941 | 1757 | Massawa | 6 May 1941 | 2000 | Pauillac | 12424,5 | Passage from Massawa to Bordeaux. Reached the first rendezvous point (25°00'S, 20°00'W) at 1250 hours on 11th April and joined Archimede at 1400 hours on 13th April 1941. Sighted the German supply ship Nordmark on the following day, who told them to change the rendezvous to 25°00'S, 26°00'W. Refuelled from Nordmark on 16th April 1941. She was located by British aircraft at 0345 GMT on 5th May 1941 in position 45°30'N, 07°30 W. | |
9 Mar 1941 | 1500 | 3° 40'N, 50° 08'W | At 1500 hours, a vessel was sighted at a distance of 20,000 metres. It was apparently travelling from Somalia toward India. As per her instructions, Guglielmotti dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
5 Apr 1941 | 2230 | 30° 08'S, 2° 10'W | At 2230 hours, a vessel was sighted steering 105°. Gugliemotti dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
9 Apr 1941 | 1210 (e) | (e) 25° 07'S, 20° 05'W | Italian signals had been deciphered giving the position of the refuelling rendezvous with the German supply ship Nordmark. The Royal Navy had sent the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Alcantara, the sloops HMS Bridgewater and HMS Milford and the submarine HMS Severn to intercept (operation GRAB). The British submarine sighted an Italian submarine which was probably Guglielmotti but could not get into an attack position. | |||||||
11 Apr 1941 | 1250 | 25° 00'S, 20° 00'W | At 1250 hours, Guglielmotti reached the rendezvous point with the German supply ship Nordmark and cruised in the area. At 1310 hours, the submarine Ferraris was encountered. | |||||||
13 Apr 1941 | 1250 | 25° 00'S, 20° 00'W | At 1400 hours, the submarine Archimede was encountered near the rendezvous point with Nordmark. She had been cruising the area since noon on 8th April. Archimede, Guglielmo and Ferraris were now together cruising in the area. | |||||||
14 Apr 1941 | 1550 | 25° 00'S, 20° 00'W | At 1550 hours, the German supply ship Nordmark was met. She was disguised as the American steamer Prairie. As she had been earlier sighted by an aircraft (a seaplane from HMS Alcantara), the present rendezvous appeared to have been compromised. She informed the submarines to change the refuelling point to 25°00' S, 26°00' W. They broke off the meeting to relocate at the new rendezvous. | |||||||
16 Apr 1941 | 2308-0740/17 | 25° 00'S, 26° 00'W | From 2308 hours on 16th April to 0740 hours the following morning, Guglielmotti refuelled and took provisions from the German supply ship Nordmark. | |||||||
10b | Spagone, Gino | 7 May 1941 | 1230 | Pauillac | 7 May 1941 | 1640 | Bordeaux | Passage Pauillac-Bordeaux. | ||
Mandelli, Virgilio | 15 Aug 1941 | Bordeaux | 31 Aug 1941 | Bordeaux | Refit in Bordeaux. Change in command. | |||||
Tamburini, Federico | 7 Sep 1941 | 0715 | Bordeaux | 7 Sep 1941 | 2300 | La Pallice | 164 | Passage Bordeaux-La Pallice. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 8 Sep 1941 | 0725 | La Pallice | 8 Sep 1941 | 1605 | La Pallice | 40 | Exercises. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 9 Sep 1941 | 1005 | La Pallice | 10 Sep 1941 | 0140 | La Pallice | 66 | Exercises. | ||
11 | Tamburini, Federico | 10 Sep 1941 | 1800 | La Pallice | 14 Sep 1941 | 1300 | Bordeaux | 674 | Sailed for training patrol, between 44°00'N and 45°00'N, and between 08°10'W and 10°00'W. | |
12 | Tamburini, Federico | 22 Sep 1941 | 0806 | Bordeaux | 16 Oct 1941 | 0930 | Messina | 2835 | Passage Bordeaux-Messina and patrolled off Melilla, between 35°50'N and the coast and 02°30'W and 03°20'W. Passed Gibraltar on 30th September 1941. | |
30 Sep 1941 | 0440 | (0) 169° - Cape Malabata - 6 miles. | At 0440 hours, a dark ship was sighted at 2,000 metres and Guglielmotti took avoiding action. | |||||||
1 Oct 1941 | 0225 | 35° 59'N, 3° 46'W | At 0225 hours, three or four destroyers were sighted at 12,000 metres. Guglielmotti turned away. | |||||||
12 Oct 1941 | 0910 | 35° 45'N, 2° 46'W | At 0910 hours, a submarine which could not be identified was sighted at a distance of 6-7,000 metres. Guglielmotti attempted to close but lost contact. This was probably HMS Porpoise on her way from Gibraltar to Malta. | |||||||
Tamburini, Federico | 18 Oct 1941 | 1230 | Messina | 19 Oct 1941 | 0830 | Taranto | 258 | Passage Messina-Taranto surfaced, at 13 knots. Then refit until February 1942. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 18 Feb 1942 | 1315 | Taranto | 18 Feb 1942 | 1735 | Taranto | 28 | Trials. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 23 Feb 1942 | 0915 | Taranto | 23 Feb 1942 | 1210 | Taranto | 30 | Trials. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 25 Feb 1942 | 0840 | Taranto | 25 Feb 1942 | 1648 | Taranto | 74 | Trials. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 27 Feb 1942 | 1241 | Taranto | 27 Feb 1942 | 1703 | Taranto | 36 | Trials escorted by the auxiliary Germanello. | ||
Tamburini, Federico | 6 Mar 1942 | 1337 | Taranto | 6 Mar 1942 | 1836 | Taranto | Exercises. | |||
Tamburini, Federico | 8 Mar 1942 | 0925 | Taranto | 8 Mar 1942 | 1718 | Taranto | Exercises escorted by the auxiliary Germanello. | |||
Tamburini, Federico | 10 Mar 1942 | 1345 | Taranto | 10 Mar 1942 | 1818 | Taranto | Exercises. | |||
Tamburini, Federico | 14 Mar 1942 | 0914 | Taranto | 14 Mar 1942 | 1338 | Taranto | 200 | Exercises. | ||
13 | Tamburini, Federico | 15 Mar 1942 | 1730 | Taranto | 17 Mar 1942 | 0640 | Sunk with all hands | 237 | Sunk with all hands, 22 miles south of Capo Dell'Armi, Calabria or 37°42'N, 15°58'E by the British submarine HMS Unbeaten, while on passage Taranto-Cagliari (seven officers and fifty-four ratings lost). | |
17 Mar 1942 | 0640 (e) | (e) 37° 42'N, 15° 58'E (0) 22 miles south of Cape Dell\'Armi. | Guglielmotti was proceeding on the surface when she was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Unbeaten (Lt. Cdr. E.A. Woodward, D.S.O., RN). At 0634.5B hours, the British submarine had sighted Guglielmotti bearing 125° at 2,200 yards. At 0640 hours, Unbeaten fired a dispersed salvo of four torpedoes from a distance of 2,000 yards and scored one hit. About twelve survivors were sighted but, tragically, could not be picked by her because of the arrival from an aircraft. The torpedo boat Francesco Stocco arrived on the scene at 1005 hours and dropped seventeen depth-charges, despite frantic signals from an aircraft not to attack because of the survivors in the water (at least three were seen). The torpedo boat picked up the body of a rating from Guglielmotti. There were no survivors. Seven officers and fifty-four ratings were killed. |
41 entries. 33 total patrol entries (13 marked as war patrols) and 14 events.