Italian submarine fates

Ships hit by Italian submarines

Type	Gunboat
Country	British
Built	1942	Tons	90

Date of attack	14 Jul 1943	Time	2220-0415/15 2239 (e)
Fate	Sunk? by submarine Nichelio (T.V. Claudio Celli)
Position of attack	37° 55'N, 15° 36'E
Complement
Convoy
Notes	At 2220 hours, Nichelio had just surfaced when she sighted three small vessels previously detected with the hydrophones. Initially, it was believed that they were German or Italian F-lighters, as several had been seen in the Strait of Messina. The submarine made a recognition signals as soon as the machine gun crews had joined their action stations. The three vessels opened fire and the submarine immediately replied first with the aft twin Breda and followed shortly by the forward machine gun. Nichelio had a few superficial holes to the conning tower but no casualties. It claimed to have hit one of the enemy vessel before submerging. These were MGB-646, MGB-643 and MGB-641 of the 19th MGB Flotilla and they attacked the submarine with six pounders and oerlikons. Some sources have mentioned that MGB-641 was sunk by the submarine. It is doubtful that Nichelio's machine guns could have inflicted lethal damage to an MGB. It appears that MGB-641 was sunk shortly after by Italian coastal batteries. Most of the crew swam ashore and were taken prisoner.