Italian submarines in World War Two


Adua (AD)
Adua

TypeCoastal / Sea going 
ClassAdua (23) 
Laid down 1 Feb 1936 Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone
Launched13 Sep 1936
Commissioned14 Nov 1936
End service
Stricken
Loss date30 Sep 1941
Loss position37° 10'N, 0° 56'E
History
Fate Sunk on 30th September 1941 off the North African Coast between Oran and Algiers in position 37°10'N, 00°56'E by depth charges from the destroyers HMS Legion and HMS Gurkha.

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
T.V. Giuseppe Roselli Lorenzini15 Feb 19408 Oct 1940
T.V. Carlo Todaro9 Oct 194016 Jan 1941
C.C. Mario Resio17 Jan 194128 Feb 1941
T.V. Luigi Riccardi28 Feb 194121 Apr 1941
T.V. Gaetano Iaccarino21 Apr 194122 Apr 1941
T.V. Luigi Riccardi23 Apr 194130 Sep 1941

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
1Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe9 Jun 19401655Cagliari21 Jun 19401404Cagliari1080Sailed to form a patrol line (S2) on the Cape Teulada meridian:

Axum - 15 miles south of the Cape.
Turchese - 35 miles south of the Cape.
Adua - 55 miles south of the Cape.
Aradam - 75 miles south of the Cape.

Later ordered to the West of Majorca and between Ibiza and Majorca.
  17 Jun 19400228
(0) Between Dragonera (Mallorca) and Formentara (Ibiza.
At 0228 hours, a destroyer was sighted at a distance of 4,000 metres. As visibility conditions were excellent, this prevented a surface attack. Adua submerged using the Roveto system at a depth of 30 metres and noises from two vessels were heard on the hydrophones. The submarine returned to periscope depth at 0600 hours.
  17 Jun 1940071238° 40'N, 1° 40'EAt 0625 hours, a periscope scan of the horizon revealed several smokes. This was a French convoy consisting of a 10-15,000-ton liner, four 1-3,000-ton vessels escorted by a sloop of the ANCRE class.

At 0712 hours, a single torpedo (533mm) was fired from a stern tube at a range of 1,800 metres aimed at the liner. The submarine was then only 300 metres from one of the smaller merchant vessels and disengaged quickly. At 0714 hours, an explosion was heard and it was believed that the target had been hit. The torpedo had actually missed and does not appear to have been observed.

This was convoy IR2F of five ships, Florida (9,146 GRT, built 1926), Kita (3,894 GRT, built 1927), Edéa (3,747 GRT, built 1936), Medie II (5,078 grt, built 1922), Djebel Aurès (2,960 GRT, built 1930) escorted by Commandant Bory and La Curieuse. The same that was attacked by Provana.

At 0757 hours, the submarine returned to periscope depth and observed the smaller merchant ships disappearing in the distance while the liner flanked by the sloop were at a distance of 6,000 metres. At the same time, two destroyers of the BISON class were seen at a distance of 4.000 metres rushing to the aid of the convoy. Adua was too far to attack and went down to 40 metres.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe29 Jun 19401009Cagliari30 Jun 19401527Palermo229Passage Cagliari-Messina (to Monfalcone for engine overhaul) but diverted to Palermo due to engine defects. An ULTRA intercept mentioned that she had a damaged motor and would be arriving at Point A of Messina at 1130 hours on the 30th. This may have actually referred to point A of Palermo.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe3 Jul 19401956Palermo7 Jul 19400810Pola766Passage Palermo-Pola.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe9 Jul 19401157Pola9 Jul 19402005Monfalcone82Passage Pola-Monfalcone, escorted by the auxiliary San Giusto. Then refit. From October 1940, she was affected to the submarine training school in Pola.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe28 Sep 19400926Monfalcone28 Sep 19401447Monfalcone50,5Trials.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe4 Oct 19401354Monfalcone4 Oct 19401635Monfalcone20,3Diving trials with the submarines Galatea and Fisalia, escorted by tug Morrhua.

Roselli Lorenzini, Giuseppe6 Oct 19401100Monfalcone6 Oct 19401810Pola77,4Passage Monfalcone-Pola.

Todaro, Carlo9 Oct 19400750Pola9 Oct 19401440Fiume64,5Passage Pola-Fiume.

Todaro, Carlo12 Oct 19400800Fiume12 Oct 19401352Fiume20,2Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Nettuno.

Todaro, Carlo14 Oct 19400805Fiume14 Oct 19401440Pola62,5Passage Fiume-Pola.

Todaro, Carlo23 Oct 19400806Pola23 Oct 19401730Pola63,5Exercises.

Todaro, Carlo25 Oct 19400800Pola25 Oct 19401618Pola10Gyrocompass tests.

Todaro, Carlo31 Oct 19400754Pola31 Oct 19401730Pola64,7Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Todaro, Carlo4 Nov 19400800Pola4 Nov 19401730Pola17,2Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Todaro, Carlo6 Nov 19400810Pola6 Nov 19401715Pola41,5Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Todaro, Carlo8 Nov 19400800Pola8 Nov 19401237Pola42,5Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Todaro, Carlo11 Nov 19400810Pola11 Nov 19401730Pola43,3Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua.

Todaro, Carlo13 Nov 19400735Pola13 Nov 19401732Pola17Exercises with the tug Tenace.

Todaro, Carlo15 Nov 19400800Pola15 Nov 19401732Pola16,5Exercises with the tug Tenace.

Todaro, Carlo20 Nov 19400805Pola20 Nov 19401742Pola42,7Exercises with the tug Tenace.

Todaro, Carlo21 Nov 19400806Pola21 Nov 19401723Pola48,7Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Marittimo.

Todaro, Carlo23 Nov 19400810Pola23 Nov 19401748Pola42,5Sailed with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Tenace, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo25 Nov 19400756Pola25 Nov 19401700Pola41,5Sailed with the submarine Des Geneys, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Tenace, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo27 Nov 19400805Pola27 Nov 19401712Pola41Sailed with the submarine Des Geneys, escorted by San Giorgio and Tenace for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo28 Nov 19400800Pola28 Nov 19401712Pola49,8Sailed with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Tenace for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo4 Dec 19400807Pola4 Dec 19401747Pola46,5Torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the tug Tenace.

Todaro, Carlo9 Dec 19400808Pola9 Dec 19401800Pola51,6Exercises with the submarine Galatea, escorted by the tug Tenace for simulated attacks on the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo13 Dec 19400803Pola13 Dec 19401803Pola47,2Exercises with the submarine Galatea, escorted by the sloop Diana.

Todaro, Carlo15 Dec 19400810Pola15 Dec 19401703Pola46,8Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Gigliola.

Todaro, Carlo16 Dec 19400830Pola16 Dec 19401645Pola44,5Attack exercises with the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliary Gigliola.

Todaro, Carlo20 Dec 19400807Pola20 Dec 19401810Pola43,5Sailed with the submarine Des Geneys, escorted by the auxiliary Gigliola for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo24 Dec 19400817Pola24 Dec 19401505Pola41Exercises with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo26 Dec 19400800Pola26 Dec 19401830Pola49Attack exercises with the submarines Bragadino and Des Deneys on the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio and the submarine chaser Laurana.

Todaro, Carlo28 Dec 19401600Pola29 Dec 19400220Pola70,5Sailed with the submarine Des Geneys for night torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo30 Dec 19400805Pola30 Dec 19401810Pola48,5Sailed with the submarine Bragadino, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo2 Jan 19410823Pola2 Jan 19411715Pola59,5Sailed with the submarine Pisani, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera, for attack exercises on the torpedo boat Audace.

Todaro, Carlo4 Jan 19410818Pola4 Jan 19411630Pola56,8Exercises with the submarine Pisani, escorted by the auxiliary Laurana.

Todaro, Carlo6 Jan 19410807Pola6 Jan 19411715Pola54,8Exercises with the submarine Des Geneys, escorted by the submarine chaser Laurana.

Todaro, Carlo7 Jan 19410804Pola7 Jan 19411413Pola27,5Gunfire exercises with the submarines Bragadino, Des Geneys and Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliary Laurana.

Todaro, Carlo11 Jan 19410804Pola12 Jan 19410045Pola58,5Attack exercises with the submarine Des Geneys on the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Todaro, Carlo13 Jan 19410800Pola13 Jan 19411642Leme Channel32,5Passage Pola-Leme Channel and exercises with the submarines Fieramosca, Fisalia and Pisani. Escorted by torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Todaro, Carlo14 Jan 19410800Leme Channel (Rovigno)15 Jan 19410840Pola51Passage Leme Channel-Pola, and exercises with the torpedo boat Audace and the submarines Pisani, Fieramosca and Fisalia.

Resio, Mario18 Jan 19411608Pola19 Jan 19410255Pola64,5Sailed with the submarines Des Geneys and Bragadino, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace.

Resio, Mario20 Jan 19410805Pola21 Jan 19410210Pola71,5Exercises with the submarine Bragadino, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera, Volta, Audace and Laurana.

Resio, Mario24 Jan 19410800Pola24 Jan 19411748Pola51,8Sailed with submarine Des Geneys for torpedo firing exercises with torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliary Laurana.

Resio, Mario28 Jan 19410910Pola28 Jan 19411745Pola55,5Sailed with the submarines Bragadino and Fisalia, for torpedo firing exercises with the sloop Diana.Escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.

Resio, Mario29 Jan 19410824Pola29 Jan 19411751Pola27,5Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Resio, Mario31 Jan 19410810Pola31 Jan 19411740Pola51Attack exercises on the torpedo boat Audace, escorted by the auxiliaries Jadera and San Giorgio.

Resio, Mario3 Feb 19410842Pola3 Feb 19411741Pola19,5Exercises, escorted by the tug Tenace.

Resio, Mario5 Feb 19410835Pola5 Feb 19411812Pola48Exercises with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.

Resio, Mario6 Feb 19410859Pola6 Feb 19411708Pola7Exercises with the Tug 95.

Resio, Mario16 Feb 19410938Pola16 Feb 19411640Pola53Sailed with the submarines Fisalia and Bragadino, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace. Escorted by the auxiliaries Laurana and Jadera.

Resio, Mario18 Feb 19410846Pola18 Feb 19411717Pola26Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Jadera.

Resio, Mario19 Feb 19410815Pola19 Feb 19411447Pola44Exercises with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera and the torpedo boat Audace.
  19 Feb 1941AM
(0) Off Pola.
During the morning, Adua was exercising with the submarine Fisalia and the torpedo boat Audace. Fisalia detected a suspected submarine and this was confirmed by Adua, The two submarines returned to Pola while Audace remained behind to hunt the submarine.

The contact was bogus. No Allied submarines operated in the area.

Resio, Mario21 Feb 19410920Pola21 Feb 19411715Pola50Exercises with the submarine Fisalia, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Resio, Mario22 Feb 19410849Pola22 Feb 19411732Pola44Sailed with the submarine Pisani for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace. Escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.

Resio, Mario24 Feb 19410835Pola24 Feb 19411805Pola45Sailed with the submarines Fisalia and Pisani for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace. Escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.

Resio, Mario25 Feb 19411112Pola25 Feb 19411654Pola41,5Attack exercises with the submarine Fisalia on the light cruiser Bari. Escorted by the auxiliary Laurana.

Resio, Mario28 Feb 19410812Pola28 Feb 19411747Pola12,5Sailed with the submarine Balilla for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace. Escorted by the auxiliaries San Giorgio and Jadera.

Riccardi, Luigi1 Mar 19410830Pola1 Mar 19411626Pola45Exercises with the submarine Toti, Bragadino and Fisalia. Escorted by the torpedo boat Audace and the auxiliary Jadera.

Riccardi, Luigi3 Mar 19411745Pola4 Mar 19410145Pola57,5Sailed with the submarine Balilla for night torpedo firing exercises with Audace. Escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Riccardi, Luigi12 Mar 19410030Pola14 Mar 19411145Taranto506Passage Pola-Taranto. Uneventful.

Riccardi, Luigi22 Mar 19411120Taranto22 Mar 19411717Taranto26,5Exercises.

2Riccardi, Luigi22 Mar 19412112Taranto23 Mar 19411010Taranto84Hydrophone patrol off Taranto. Uneventful.

3Riccardi, Luigi26 Mar 19411200Taranto26 Mar 19412033Gallipoli63,5Passage Taranto-Gallipoli.

3bRiccardi, Luigi29 Mar 19412255Gallipoli9 Apr 19411636Taranto1004,2Patrolled in Adriatic within 10 miles of 39°20'N, 19°30'E, on line 150° - 330° during the day and 065° - 245° during the night. The submarine was informed that, at 0600 hours on 6th April, a state of war existed with Yugoslavia.

Riccardi, Luigi10 Apr 19411400Taranto10 Apr 19411643Taranto6,7Exercises.

4Iaccarino, Gaetano21 Apr 19412030Taranto22 Apr 19411120Taranto93,1Defensive patrol off Taranto in 170° - Cape San Vito - 35 miles. Uneventful.

5Riccardi, Luigi24 Apr 19411200Taranto11 May 19411538Portolago (Leros)1731,1Passage Taranto-Leros and patrol. Uneventful.

Riccardi, Luigi18 May 19410800Portolago (Leros)18 May 19411014Portolago (Leros)3,6Exercises.

6Riccardi, Luigi24 May 19411830Portolago (Leros)7 Jun 19410644Taranto1451,7Patrolled between Alexandria and Crete in 34°40', 24°50'E or Grids 2449 and 1649, then transferred to Taranto.
  29 May 19410350
(0) Off Cape Littinos (Crete).
At 0350 hours, dark shapes were seen in the distance. Adua steered toward them and sighted one cruiser and three destroyers proceeding at 26 knots at a distance of 9,000 metres. The submarine could only close to 6,000 metres and, at 0415 hours, gave up the chase and made an enemy report.

These were probably the destroyers HMAS Napier, HMS Kandahar, HMS Kelvin and HMAS Nizam who had just embarked 744 troops from the fishing village of Skafia.
  31 May 19410340
(0) Messara Bay.
At 0340 hours, two destroyers were sighted at a distance of 8,000 metres. They passed out of range.
  31 May 19411025
(0) Messara Bay.
At 1025 hours, a merchant vessel was sighted but again the submarine could not close the range.
  3 Jun 19410130
(0) Off Cape Littinos (Crete).
At 0130 hours, Adua stopped a small barge carrying British soldiers. She took eight British prisoners on board and ordered the remainder to turn back.

This was the British Army barge A.2 under Captain J.B. Fitzhardinge, Artillery, with 72 British soldiers (some sources say 75) trying to flee from Heraklion to Alexandria. It actually included four airmen of a Maryland II bomber (24 Squadron SAAF) which had been shot down over Maleme airfield. Ordered to swim to the submarine, the pilot Lt. E.G. Ford (SAAF) was captured but the co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant G.L.W. Gill drowned. Although the barge was ordered back, it eventually changed course and thanks to a small compass carried by Sergeant McWilliam (SAAF) from the same aircraft, they managed to reach Mersa Matruh three days later.

Riccardi, Luigi7 Jun 19410820Taranto7 Jun 19410846Taranto2,5Exercises.

Riccardi, Luigi9 Jun 19411943Taranto12 Jun 19410448Pola502,4Passage Taranto-Pola. Uneventful.

Riccardi, Luigi13 Jun 19411400Pola13 Jun 19411940Fiume57,8Passage Pola-Fiume.

Riccardi, Luigi6 Aug 19410715Fiume6 Aug 19411720Fiume67Sortie for trials and exercises.

Riccardi, Luigi10 Aug 19410823Fiume10 Aug 19411735PolaSortie for trials and exercises and passage Fiume-Pola.

Riccardi, Luigi13 Aug 19410820Pola13 Aug 19411634Pola12Exercises.

Riccardi, Luigi14 Aug 19410752Pola14 Aug 19410922Pola7Exercises.

Riccardi, Luigi15 Aug 19410800Pola15 Aug 19411816Pola15Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Salvore.

Riccardi, Luigi16 Aug 19410828Pola16 Aug 19411824Pola75Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary San Giorgio.

Riccardi, Luigi19 Aug 19412000Pola19 Aug 19412333Pola37Night gun firing exercises.

Riccardi, Luigi21 Aug 19410814Pola21 Aug 19411732Pola61Exercises with the submarines Bausan and Mameli, escorted by the auxiliary Salvore and the torpedo boat Insidioso.

Riccardi, Luigi22 Aug 19411733Pola23 Aug 19410120Pola54Sailed with the submarine Pisani for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Insidioso. Escorted by the auxiliary Salvore.

Riccardi, Luigi25 Aug 19412229Pola28 Aug 19411955Messina679Passage Pola-Messina.
  28 Aug 1941
1708 (e)
At 1658 hours, the submarine HMS Unbeaten sighted a BALILLA class submarine proceeding westward (toward Messina) and turned immediately to the attack

At 1708 hours, HMS Unbeaten fired four torpedoes from a range of 2,500 yards. They all missed and exploded on the coast beyond.

This was Adua on passage from Pola to Messina, but she did not observe the attack.

Riccardi, Luigi1 Sep 19411904Messina3 Sep 19410830Cagliari345,5Passage Messina-Cagliari.

Riccardi, Luigi6 Sep 19410800Cagliari6 Sep 19411145CagliariExercises.

7Riccardi, Luigi11 Sep 19411345Taranto18 Sep 19411130Cagliari848,5Patrolled off Minorca, on 6° E Meridian (12-13th September), 4° E (14th September) and off Cape Bengut (15-16th September). Uneventful.
  16 Sep 19410336
(0) Off Cape Bougaroni.
At 0336 hours, a suspicious vessel was stopped with a warning shot. She turned out to be the French Penerf (2,151 GRT, built 1930), on passage from Tunis to Sète. She was allowed to proceed.

Riccardi, Luigi22 Sep 19410720Cagliari22 Sep 19411220CagliariExercises with the submarines Serpente and Turchese, escorted by the torpedo boat Abba and the minesweeper Balear.

8Riccardi, Luigi23 Sep 19411910Cagliari30 Sep 19411030Sunk (with all hands)Sailed for patrol between 37°00'N and 37°40'N, and between and 00°40'E and 01°00'E, (northwest of Cape Tenes) off Cape Palos and north of Cartagena (Spain). She was probably sighted by U-371 at 1655 hours on 24th September in German grid CH 6899 (38°27'N, 05°08'E). Sunk at 1030 hours on the 30th in 37°10'N, 00°56'E (northwest of C. Tenes, Algeria) by the destroyers HMS Gurkha and HMS Legion. There were no survivors (five officers and forty-two ratings lost). She should have returned to Cagliari on 3rd October by following the 37°30'N parallel.
  30 Sep 1941
0928 (e)
At 0928B hours, the destroyer HMS Gurkha was screening the HALBERD convoy when an ASDIC contact was made at 2,000 yards.

At 0933 hours, she dropped a pattern of fourteen depth charges, set at depths of 100, 140 and 225 feet. After this attack, a round black object was seen coming to the surface.

At 0945.5 hours, a loud explosion was heard and felt and at 0947.5 hours, light oil was observed and confirmed by a Swordfish plane.

At 0954 hours, HMS Legion dropped a pattern of fourteen depth charges.

At 1010 hours, HMS Legion dropped another fourteen depth charges. The area was littered with wreckage and HMS Gurkha lowered a boat and picked up a number of items, including an Italian dictionary, a mattress pillow, numerous pieces of wood including one with a piece of human scalp attached to it by a splinter of metal.

There is little doubt that Adua was lost in this attack. There were no survivors. T.V. Luigi Riccardi, four officers and forty-two ratings perished.
  30 Sep 1941035036° 55'N, 0° 45'E
(0) Italian Grid 5093/4.
Adua was lost during this patrol, so the details of her attack are not well known.

At 0350 hours, she fired a salvo of four torpedoes at a group of eleven destroyers steering 270°, 12 knots. They all missed.

These were certainly units of the HALBERD convoy.

At 0525 hours, she reported the attack in the last signal received from her.

94 entries. 89 total patrol entries (8 marked as war patrols) and 11 events.

All Italian submarines