Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Bruno Napp
| Born | 29 Dec 1909 | Trieste | |
| Died | 7 Mar 1983 | (73) | Trieste |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
MACALLÈ (T.V. First Officer): from 28.03.1939 to ?PERLA (T.V. C.O.): from 27.12.1940 to 31.10.1941.
From ca. January 1943, served on training ship VESPUCCI.
Commands listed for Bruno Napp
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 27 Dec 1940 | 31 Oct 1941 |
Ships hit by Bruno Napp
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Bruno Napp
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 1 Mar 1941 | 0530 | Dakiliat Bay (Massawa) | 20 May 1941 | 1600 | Bordeaux | 13932 | After considering internment in Madagascar, it was decided to send her to Bordeaux with the assistance of German vessels (Atlantis refuelled her on 29 March 1941 in 34°00'S, 49°00'E and Nordmark (7,750 GRT, built 1930) on 23rd April 1941 in 26°00'S, 18°00'W). According to the subsequent interrogation of one of her survivors, she had a crew of only thirty-five as twelve were left behind when she sailed hurriedly. She also had a German Merchant Navy captain and an Italian Warrant Quarter Master as passengers. British Intelligence knew of both rendezvous and the cruisers HMNZS Leander and HMAS Canberra had sailed from Mauritius on 10 March and had been ordered to cruise the vicinity of 35° S, 50°00'E [yet O.I.C. reports it as 33° S, 50°'E] from 12th to 20th March, while the City of Durban (4,499 GRT, built 1921) would try to pass herself as the German supply ship (Operation SUPPLY). Leander refuelled at Mauritius on 20th March and resumed the search. The Vichy French Charles LD (5,267 GRT, built 1934) was intercepted and captured on 23rd March and the tanker Trocas, which was believed missing, was located on 27th March and escorted to Mauritius. In the South Atlantic, a similar operation was to be carried out by the British submarine HMS Severn, the sloops HMS Bridgewater, HMS Milford and the AMC HMS Alcantara. She reached Bordeaux after 13,100 miles and 81 days at sea. With Malaspina, escorted from Gironde Buoy no.1 to le Verdon by Sperrbrecher III. Then refit until September 1941. | |
| 1 Mar 1941 | 0700 | (0) South of Massawa. | At 0700 hours, a Blenheim bomber was sighted. Perla dived but was not attacked. She surfaced again at 0745 hours, | |||||||
| 1 Mar 1941 | 1315 | (0) Off Summa (south of Massawa) or off Dahlak Island. | At 1315 hours, a Blenheim bomber attacked Perla with two depth charges. The submarine crash-dived and suffered no damage. This was a Blenheim bomber from 14 Squadron. The pilot claimed a direct hit and a near-miss and the submarine was believed sunk. | |||||||
| 2 Mar 1941 | 0130 | (0) Off Shab Shaka (south of Massawa). | At 0130 hours, two flashing lights were observed, apparently from two warships exchanging signals. Perla steered away on the surface. | |||||||
| 6 Mar 1941 | 2310 | (0) Off Cape Gardafui. | At 2310 hours, a steamer was observed steering 120°. Perla had instructions to refrain from attacking. | |||||||
| 12 Mar 1941 | 1020 | 3° 00'S, 50° 00'E | At 1020 hours, an American steamer of the Export Line was sighted going toward Madagascar. Perla steered away. | |||||||
| 29 Mar 1941 | 0515-1830 | 34° 00'S, 49° 00'E | Perla had reached the rendezvous point with the raider Atlantis since 0500 hours on 25th March and cruised for four days in the vicinity. At 000 hours (GMT) on 28th March, she began emitting a beacon signal. At 1715 hours, she sighted a smoke on the horizon and proceeded toward it and, at 1800 hours, she stopped her engines at proximity of the German raider. T.V. Napp went aboard Atlantis to confer with Kapitän zur See Rogge. They agreed to select a new position (34°00' S, 49°00' E) for the refuelling, as a measure of precaution. At 2255 hours, the submarine proceeded to the new rendezvous. At 0515 hours on 29th March, she had reached the rendezvous and began refuelling and taking provisions from the raider. The process was completed at 1830 hours and Perla steered for the Cape of Good Hope. | |||||||
| 7 Apr 1941 | 1445 | 37° 00'S, 26° 00'W | At 1445 hours, a steamer was sighted steering 090°. Perla dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| 12 Apr 1941 | 1020 | 31° 00'S, 8° 00'E | At 1020 hours, a steamer was sighted steering for the Cape of Good Hope. Perla dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| 22 Apr 1941 | 1605 | 25° 00'S, 20° 00'W | Perla had reached her rendezvous point with the German supply ship Nordmark at 2250 hours on 20th April and was cruising in the area. At 1605 hours on 22nd April, the supply ship was met and again, as a measure of precaution, instructed Perla to go to a new rendezvous point. | |||||||
| 23 Apr 1941 | 0720-1650 | 26° 00'S, 18° 00'W | 0720 hours, Perla reached the new rendezvous point and began taking fuel and provisions from the German supply ship Nordmark. The operation was completed at 1650 hours and the submarine steered toward her final destination of Bordeaux. | |||||||
| 1 May 1941 | 0920 | 1° 00'N, 24° 00'W | At 0920 hours, a British steamer was sighted steering 135°. Perla dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| 3 May 1941 | 1345 | 7° 00'N, 25° 00'W | At 1345 hours, an American steamer was sighted steering 140°. Perla dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| 13 May 1941 | 1725 | 31° 00'N, 25° 00'W | At 1725 hours, a ship was sighted steering toward the Azores. Perla dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 4 Sep 1941 | 0702 | Bordeaux | 4 Sep 1941 | 1125 | Le Verdon | 48 | Sailed for La Pallice for trials but returned because of defects. | ||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 4 Sep 1941 | 1403 | Le Verdon | 4 Sep 1941 | 1825 | Bordeaux | 48 | Passage Le Verdon-Bordeaux. | ||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 6 Sep 1941 | 0749 | Bordeaux | 6 Sep 1941 | 2300 | La Pallice | 118 | Passage Bordeaux-La Pallice for trials. | ||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 7 Sep 1941 | 0800 | La Pallice | 7 Sep 1941 | 1600 | La Pallice | 21 | Trials. | ||
| 2. | Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 8 Sep 1941 | 2030 | La Pallice | 13 Sep 1941 | 1430 | Bordeaux | 514 | Sailed for training patrol between 45°00'N and 45°30'N and 06°00'W and 07°50'W. | |
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 20 Sep 1941 | 0700 | Bordeaux | 20 Sep 1941 | 1245 | Le Verdon | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon. | |||
| 3. | Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 20 Sep 1941 | 1900 | Le Verdon | 3 Oct 1941 | 1100 | Cagliari | 2743 | Passage Le Verdon-Cagliari. Passed Gibraltar on 28th September 1941. | |
| 22 Sep 1941 | 1532 | 44° 58'N, 10° 00'W | At 1532 hours, the submarine Argo was sighted. Perla submerged. | |||||||
| 23 Sep 1941 | 1035 | 43° 56'N, 13° 00'W | At 1035 hours, the submarine Morosini was sighted. Perla steered away. | |||||||
| 28 Sep 1941 | 0345 | At 0345 hours, a submarine chaser was sighted at a distance of 1,500 metres. Perla steered away. | ||||||||
| 28 Sep 1941 | 0420 | 35° 58'N, 6° 00'W (0) Approximately. | At 0420 hours, a fishing vessel was sighted at a distance of 500 metres. It closed to 200 metres making the signal "P". Perla steered away, but the fishing vessel kept on coming until forced to withdraw by the threat of the submarine< gun armament. | |||||||
| 29 Sep 1941 | 0448 | At 0448 hours, a large motor boat was sighted at a distance of 200 metres, making the signal "P". Perla steered away, but the fishing vessel kept on coming. The submarine made as if it was entering Ceuta and the boat finally turned back toward Gibraltar. | ||||||||
| 30 Sep 1941 | 0218 0200 (e) | (0) Near Cape de Gata. | At 0155 hours, a dark 8,000-ton ship westbound was sighted at 600 metres. Perla followed her to ascertain her direction as it appeared she was proceeding at 12 knots toward Gibraltar. At 0218 hours, a pair of bow torpedoes (533mm, S.I. type) were fired at a range of 1,800 metres. The second torpedo veered right just after firing. Both missed. Immediately upon firing, Perla turned hard to port to present her stern and fired a third torpedo. The torpedo disappeared from sight shortly after firing and may have sunk or had an erratic run. T.V. Napp intended to continue the action with the gun,but an illuminated vessel, obviously neutral, came in between and thwarted this action, moreover, the target vessel was moving away at high speed. He have up the chase. The target was the City of Pretoria (8,049 GRT, built 1937) travelling from Malta to Gibraltar. She heard two or three rapid shots followed by a dull explosion. She made smoke and dropped smoke floats, escaping into Spanish territorial waters. | |||||||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 15 Oct 1941 | 0500 | Cagliari | 16 Oct 1941 | 0950 | Naples | 272,5 | Passage Cagliari-Naples. Refit until December 1941. | ||
| Perla (I.33 or I.30) | 17 Oct 1941 | 1435 | Naples | 17 Oct 1941 | 1640 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
27 entries. 10 total patrol entries (3 marked as war patrols) and 19 events.