Italian submarines in World War Two


Ammiraglio Millo (EM)
Millo

TypeOcean going 
ClassCagni (18) 
Laid down 16 Oct 1939 Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched31 Aug 1940
Commissioned1 May 1941
End service
Stricken
Loss date14 Mar 1942
Loss position38° 27'N, 16° 37'E
History
Fate Torpedoed and sunk on 14th March 1942 in the Ionian Sea off Punta (Cape) Stilo, Calabria, Italy in position 38°27'N, 16°37'E by the submarine HMS P 34.

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
C.C. Benedetto Luchetti1 May 194119 Aug 1941
C.C. Francesco Murzi20 Aug 194129 Nov 1941
T.V. Federico Tamburini30 Nov 194113 Dec 1941
C.C. Francesco Murzi14 Dec 194128 Dec 1941
T.V. Carlo Zanchi28 Dec 194131 Dec 1941
T.V. Federico Tamburini1 Jan 19424 Feb 1942
C.C. Vincenzo D'Amato5 Feb 194214 Mar 1942

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
15 Apr 19411130Venezia15 Apr 19411820MonfalconePassage Venezia-Monfalcone.

Luchetti, Benedetto1 May 1941Monfalcone19 Aug 1941MonfalconeAt Monfalcone.

Murzi, Francesco31 Aug 19410634Monfalcone31 Aug 19411640Monfalcone69Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco5 Sep 19410930Monfalcone5 Sep 19411635Pola80Passage Monfalcone-Pola.

Murzi, Francesco8 Sep 19410613Pola8 Sep 19412227Pola169Diving trials.

Murzi, Francesco11 Sep 19410739Pola11 Sep 19411407Pola49Exercises with Ammiraglio Cagni and the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Murzi, Francesco12 Sep 19410830Pola12 Sep 19411713Pola5Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco16 Sep 19410636Pola16 Sep 19411728Fiume122,5Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco18 Sep 19411537Fiume18 Sep 19411920Fiume18Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco22 Sep 19411502Fiume22 Sep 19411815Fiume15Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco23 Sep 19411513Fiume23 Sep 19411756Fiume14Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco29 Sep 19411401Fiume29 Sep 19411845Pola56Passage Fiume-Pola.

Murzi, Francesco6 Oct 19410905Pola6 Oct 19412011Pola75Trials, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Murzi, Francesco8 Oct 19410735Pola8 Oct 19411836Pola150Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco14 Oct 19411130Pola14 Oct 19411805Pola42,5Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco18 Oct 19411411Pola18 Oct 19411614Pola4,5Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco21 Oct 19410755Pola21 Oct 19411805Pola72Exercises.

Murzi, Francesco25 Oct 19410707Pola25 Oct 19411845Pola124Trials.

Murzi, Francesco26 Oct 19410836Pola26 Oct 19411518Pola56Trials escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary Grado.

Murzi, Francesco28 Oct 19410803Pola28 Oct 19411740Pola65Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Murzi, Francesco29 Oct 19411253Pola29 Oct 19412113Pola79,5Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Grado.

Murzi, Francesco31 Oct 19410914Pola31 Oct 19411650Pola57Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Murzi, Francesco3 Nov 19412012Pola5 Nov 19411000Taranto514Passage Pola-Taranto.

Murzi, Francesco20 Nov 19410715Taranto20 Nov 19411639Taranto30Exercises.

1Murzi, Francesco21 Nov 19411300Taranto23 Nov 19411815DernaSupply mission to Derna (138 tons of petrol in 7073 cans and 6.8 tons of ammunition in 325 boxes). Uneventful.

1bMurzi, Francesco24 Nov 19410613Derna26 Nov 19411330Taranto1173Return trip from supply mission to Derna. The submarine received several signals from MARICOSOM reporting enemy forces but did not alter course [mileage is for round trip].

2Tamburini, Federico30 Nov 19411310Taranto3 Dec 19411810BardiaSupply mission to Bardia and Benghazi (140.8 tons of petrol in 7398 cans, 29.7 tons of provisions and 1.05 tons of ammunition) (part 1). Ammiraglio Millo made a passage on the surface and maintained an average speed of 15 knots from Santa Maria di Leuca to Bardia. Uneventful.

2bTamburini, Federico3 Dec 19412325Bardia6 Dec 19410835BenghaziSupply mission to Bardia and Benghazi (140.8 tons of petrol in 7398 cans, 29.7 tons of provisions and 1.05 tons of ammunition) (part 2). She also brought twenty-nine British PoWs (one General, three colonels, three majors and twenty-two other ranks) to Benghazi. Uneventful.

2cTamburini, Federico6 Dec 19412000Benghazi8 Dec 19412200BardiaSupply mission to Bardia (provisions). Uneventful. British intelligence had expected a submarine to be unloading in Bardia on the night of 6/7th December, and three Albacore of 826 Squadron were sent to attack it, but Millo arrived only the next evening.

2dTamburini, Federico9 Dec 19410145Bardia11 Dec 19411700NavarinoPassage Bardia-Navarino to refuel (carried fourteen PoWs and two wounded Germans). Millo had just entered Navarino, when she witnessed the attack by the submarine HMS Porpoise on the Sebastiano Venier at a distance of 6,000 metres and decided to delay her departure until after dark. She had assumed that the enemy submarine had sighted her, but this was not the case.

2eTamburini, Federico11 Dec 19412300Navarino13 Dec 19411130Taranto2506Passage Navarino-Taranto [mileage is for round trip, from 30th November] and patrol in Grid 3074/5.
  12 Dec 19410123
(0) West of Navarino.
At 0123 hours, the destroyer Freccia and a torpedo-boat were sighted escorting a merchant vessel. Ammiraglio Millo had been informed of their passage and prudently submerged to avoid an incident [Freccia was carrying the survivors of the transport Calitea].

3Murzi, Francesco23 Dec 19411345Taranto25 Dec 19411212TripoliSupply mission to Tripoli (87 tons of petrol in 4376 cans, 61.3 tons of food supplies and 4.5 tons of ammunition). Uneventful.

3bMurzi, Francesco25 Dec 19411930Tripoli26 Dec 19411252TripoliSailed from Tripoli and submerged in 32°59'N, 13°09'E as a precaution against night air raids and returned to complete the unloading. C.C. Murzi was injured in an automobile accident and was replaced by C.C. Zanchi. [Murzi became one of the Grupsom leaders in 1942].

3cZanchi, Carlo28 Dec 19411730Tripoli31 Dec 19411230Taranto1268Return trip from supply mission to Tripoli [mileage is for round trip].
  31 Dec 19410207At 0207 hours, a shadow was sighted and was believed to be a submarine. Millo took avoiding action.

Tamburini, Federico17 Jan 19420750Taranto17 Jan 19421257Taranto30Trials escorted by the auxiliary Germanelli.

Tamburini, Federico19 Jan 19420845Taranto19 Jan 19421540Taranto84Trials escorted by the pilot vessel Limbara.

4Tamburini, Federico26 Jan 19421345Taranto29 Jan 19421103TripoliSupply mission to Tripoli (154.3 tons of ammunition for German Army and 0.3 tons of auto parts). Uneventful.

4bTamburini, Federico30 Jan 19421830Tripoli1 Feb 19421710Taranto1251Return trip from supply mission to Tripoli.
  30 Jan 19422025
(0) Ca. 15-20 miles North of Tripoli.
At 2025 hours, an aircraft was seen. As Millo dived, she was missed by three bombs which fell 300 meters away.

D'Amato, Vincenzo8 Feb 19420832Taranto8 Feb 19421510Taranto64Trials.

D'Amato, Vincenzo11 Feb 19420830Taranto11 Feb 19421302Taranto32Trials, escorted by tug Germanilello.

D'Amato, Vincenzo19 Feb 19420846Taranto19 Feb 19421302Taranto39Exercises.

5D'Amato, Vincenzo23 Feb 19422025Taranto25 Feb 19421245Taranto385Brief sortie to assist the damaged Tricheco, but was later recalled when Dandolo joined instead.

D'Amato, Vincenzo4 Mar 19420840Taranto4 Mar 19421145TarantoExercises.

6D'Amato, Vincenzo5 Mar 19421351Taranto14 Mar 19421322SunkPatrolled southeast of Malta between 34°00'N and 34°20'N, and between 14°40'E and 15°00'E. On the night of 10/11th March, she was ordered to an area between 34°20'N and 34°40'N, and between 15°20'E and 15°40'E. On her return to Taranto, she was attacked by HMS P 34 and sunk.
  6 Mar 19420220
(0) About 15 miles south of Cape Colonne.
At 0220 hours, Millo had just met a convoy (Liv, Tripolino and Sidamo escorted by the destroyer Stocco on passage from Taranto to Messina) and was, for a time, following it astern. The submarine observed a torpedo track which missed her 150 metres ahead and missed Stocco 50 metres astern. She alerted the destroyer that the enemy submarine was heard about 2 miles bearing 140°. Stocco turned back dropping four 100 kg-depth charges and six 30 kg-depth charges at 0241 hours before rejoining the convoy at 0250 hours. The "attack" was bogus, as no allied submarine operated in the area.
  14 Mar 1942
1318 (e)
At 1255 hours, the submarine HMS P 34 (later renamed HMS Ultimatum) sighted the conning tower of a submarine at 8,000 yards.

At 1318 hours, the British submarine fired a salvo of four torpedoes at a distance of 2,200 yards. Two hit and the enemy boat sank.

This was Ammiraglio Millo returning to Taranto after a patrol southeast of Malta. HMS P 34 picked up fourteen survivors, a fifteenth was picked by an Italian small boat. Fifty-six perished, including C.C. Vincenzo d'Amato and two officers. One torpedo was recovered intact on a beach.

45 entries. 44 total patrol entries (6 marked as war patrols) and 5 events.

All Italian submarines