Italian submarine fates

Ships hit by Italian submarines

Type	Cargo ship
Country	Spanish
Built	1917	GRT	6,600

Date of attack	8 Nov 1941	Time	0745 0700 (e)
Fate	Sunk by submarine Dandolo (T.V. Walter Auconi)
Position of attack	35° 19'N, 2° 54'W
Complement
Convoy
Notes	At 0720 hours, a merchant ship was sighted, which was poorly illuminated and did not show any national markings. At 0745 hours, Dandolo fired a single torpedo from tube no.1 (her last torpedo available in the bow tubes). It appeared to have an erratic run initially, but 80 seconds later a hit was observed under the stern and the vessel sank in three or four minutes. This was the second error Auconi committed on this patrol, as the target was the Spanish *Castillo Oropesa* (6,600 GRT, built 1917 [also listed as 5,177 GRT]). In ballast, she had left Barcelona for Melilla and was now awaiting permission to enter harbour to pick up iron ore for Gijon. There were no casualties. This was another embarrassing incident for Italian authorities, who tried to deny that the culprit was an Italian submarine. However, the Spaniards recovered fragments of the torpedo and identified it as of Italian manufacture. Officially, the Italian government refuted the accusations by stating that Italian torpedoes had been sold to Yugoslavia and the Netherlands and arguing this did not constitute a proof of Italian involvement.