Jantina (IN)
Jantina

Type	Coastal / Sea going
Class	Argonauta (20)
Laid down	20 Jan 1930	Odero-Terni-Orlando, Muggiano
Launched	16 May 1932
Commissioned	1 Mar 1933
End service
Stricken
Loss date	5 Jul 1941
Loss position	37° 21'N, 25° 20'E
History
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk on 5th July 1941 in the Aegean south of Mykonos, Greece in position 37°21'N, 25°20'E by the submarine HMS Torbay. On 14 November 2021, it was announced that a team led by Kostas Thoctarides had located the wreck at a depth of 103 metres.

Commands

Commander	Date from	Date to	Command notes
T.V. Vincenzo Politi	24 Dec 1938	5 Jul 1941

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

	Commander	Date	Time	Port	Arr. date	Arr. time	Arr. port	Miles	Description
1	Politi, Vincenzo	9 Jun 1940	0745	Leros	20 Jun 1940	0830	Leros	380	Patrolled 13 miles north-east of Cape Sidero (Crete).
2	Politi, Vincenzo	29 Jun 1940	2250	Leros	14 Jul 1940	2220	Leros	778	Patrolled between Cerigo and Cerigotto (Cerigotto Channel).
	Politi, Vincenzo	6 Aug 1940	1600	Leros	6 Aug 1940	1735	Leros	2	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	14 Aug 1940	0900	Leros	14 Aug 1940	1225	Leros	8	Exercises.
3	Politi, Vincenzo	16 Aug 1940	1855	Leros	1 Sep 1940	0710	Leros	1096,5	Patrolled north of Crete, between Cape Sidero and the Cyclades. Only neutral vessels were sighted. Then refit until 10th October 1940.
4	Politi, Vincenzo	23 Oct 1940	1940	Leros	26 Oct 1940	0745	Leros	279	Patrolled between the islands Chios and Kaloyeri (SW of Chios).
		25 Oct 1940	0320	38° 30'N, 26° 00'E (0) Position very approximate.	At 0320 hours, a submarine was sighted surfacing at 2,000 metres. She dived before an attack could be mounted and contact was lost. No Hellenic, British or Italian submarines operated in the area.
	Politi, Vincenzo	30 Nov 1940	0805	Leros	30 Nov 1940	1115	Leros	2,2	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	30 Nov 1940	0805	Leros	30 Nov 1940	1115	Leros	2,2	Exercises.
5	Politi, Vincenzo	3 Dec 1940	0240	Leros	4 Dec 1940	1045	Leros	136,5	Patrolled off the Cyclades, south of Amorgos, but cut short because of defects. According to British intelligence, she was to operate between 36°30'N and 37°00'N and the vicinity of 26°30'E.
	Politi, Vincenzo	19 Dec 1940	0855	Leros	19 Dec 1940	1125	Leros	3,5	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	24 Dec 1940	1710	Leros	24 Dec 1940	1925	Leros	9	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	26 Dec 1940	1700	Leros	26 Dec 1940	1830	Leros	9	Exercises.
6	Politi, Vincenzo	1 Jan 1941	1720	Leros	7 Jan 1941	0915	Messina	654	Passage Leros-Messina. Uneventful.
6b	Politi, Vincenzo	10 Jan 1941	0950	Messina	12 Jan 1941	0930	La Spezia	470	Passage Messina-La Spezia. Uneventful, except for the bad weather encountered.
	Politi, Vincenzo	15 Mar 1941	1005	La Spezia	15 Mar 1941	1640	La Spezia	43	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	18 Mar 1941	1320	La Spezia	18 Mar 1941	1725	La Spezia	31	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	10 Apr 1941	1145	La Spezia	10 Apr 1941	1415	La Spezia	10	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	12 Apr 1941	1330	La Spezia	12 Apr 1941	1615	La Spezia	20	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	15 Apr 1941	0840	La Spezia	15 Apr 1941	0955	La Spezia	8	Exercises.
	Politi, Vincenzo	18 Apr 1941	0615	La Spezia	20 Apr 1941	1035	Messina	547	Passage La Spezia-Messina. Uneventful.
	Politi, Vincenzo	11 May 1941	0820	Messina	11 May 1941	1700	Messina		Trials with auxiliary Castiglia.
	Politi, Vincenzo	15 May 1941	0825	Messina	15 May 1941	1620	Messina		Exercises with the auxiliary Castiglia.
	Politi, Vincenzo	23 May 1941	0830	Messina	23 May 1941	1635	Messina		Exercises with the auxiliary Tullio.
	Politi, Vincenzo	26 May 1941	0810	Messina	26 May 1941	1630	Messina		Exercises, escorted by motorboat Turba.
	Politi, Vincenzo	28 May 1941	1140	Messina	28 May 1941	1820	Messina		Exercises with the minesweeper R.D.55.
	Politi, Vincenzo	6 Jun 1941	2208	Messina	6 Jun 1941	0545	Augusta	72	Passage Messina-Augusta.
7	Politi, Vincenzo	11 Jun 1941	2100	Augusta	16 Jun 1941	2258	Leros		Sailed via 34°20' N, 24°00' E for patrol off Haifa between 32°20' N and 33°00' N and between 34°20' E and Palestinian coast. On 16th June, she was ordered to area between 32°13'N and 32°27'N and 25°00'E and 25°20'E but diverted to Leros because of engine defects. Politi had been ordered to maintain the patrol at all cost and earned the disapproval of MARICOSOM. The patrol report is lost.
8	Politi, Vincenzo	19 Jun 1941	0825	Leros	30 Jun 1941	1315	Leros		Patrolled 20 miles north of Ras Kayanis. She sailed with defective hydrophones and was to operate between 27°40'E and 28°00'E and between 31°34'N and the Egyptian coast.
		27 Jun 1941	0545 0705 (e)	31° 34'N, 27° 48'E	Jantina's patrol report has been lost. The following is therefore not detailed as only references from signals have survived. At 0545 hours, a destroyer of the HERO class was sighted at a single torpedo was fired. A hit was claimed but it actually missed. This was the sloop HMAS Parramatta. She obtained an ASDIC contact, dropped ten depth charges and was then joined in the hunt by the destroyer HMAS Stuart. At 1345 hours, Stuart obtained a contact and carried out four runs, dropping a total of 20 depth charges. Jantina suffered multiple leaks and had to abandon her patrol.
9	Politi, Vincenzo	4 Jul 1941	1400	Leros	5 Jul 1941	2100	Sunk		On passage Leros to Piraeus (and Patras). Sunk by HMS Torbay in 240° - Stapodia Island -11.5' or 37°21'N, 25°20'E (near Phleves) (south of Mykonos).
		5 Jul 1941	2016 1930 or 2100 (e)	(0) 240° - Stapodia Island - 11.5 miles.	At 1946 hours, the submarine HMS Torbay was patrolling off Stapodia Island when a submarine was sighted at a distance of 4 miles, steering 255°. Initially, she was thought to be French of the DAUPHIN class. With the Campaign in Syria going full blast, she was thus considered fair game. At 2016 hours, six torpedoes were fired from a distance of 1,500 yards. About a minute later, a loud explosion was heard followed by a tremendous double explosion, which caused minor damages to the British submarine. Because an aircraft was seen approaching, HMS Torbay went deep. This was a German aircraft flying from Rhodes to Athens who witnessed the scene. This was Jantina. Only six men (two officers, two petty officers and two ratings) survived by swimming to the coast. Help was quickly organised. Three MAS boats and a motorboat from Syros and Samos, three seaplanes from Rhodes and Leros and one seaplane from Piraeus were directed to the scene but no other survivors were found. Four officers (including C.C. Vincenzo Politi) and thirty-eight ratings perished.

29 entries. 29 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.

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