Italian submarine fates
Ships hit by Italian submarines
HMS Triad
| Type | Submarine | |||
| Country |  British | |||
| Built | 1939 | Tons | 1,090 | |
| Date of attack | 15 Oct 1940 | Time | 0110+ | |
| Fate | Sunk by submarine Enrico Toti (C.C. Bandino Bandini) | |||
| Position of attack | 38° 16'N, 17° 37'E | |||
| Complement | 55 (55 dead, no survivors) | |||
| Convoy | ||||
| Notes | In bad weather, a submarine of the PERSEUS class was observed at a distance of 2,000 metres. In fact, this was HMS Triad (Lt. Cdr. G.S. Salt, RN). Enrico Toti turned immediately to port, toward the enemy who had opened fire, hitting the Italian submarine on the conning tower. S.T.V. Giuseppe Simonetti and rating Marino Casellato were slightly wounded. HMS Triad fired a torpedo, which narrowly missed Enrico Toti astern. The Italian gunners rushed to the deck gun, but it was jammed; they frantically tried to arm it, as the enemy passed at full speed at only 30 metres from the port side. One 12-cm round was finally fired, but missed. In frustration, electrician Nicola Stagi threw his shoe at the enemy submarine! The Breda machine-guns and sub-machine guns swept the enemy's deck and shouts could distinctly be heard. At a distance of about 100-200 metres, the enemy submarine dived as Toti fired a second round from her 12-cm gun, which scored a direct hit, followed by a 533mm torpedo which apparently also hit the submerged submarine. About 30 metres of her bows broke surface vertically, before she disappeared. For good measure, one more 12-cm round was fired as well a second torpedo set at a depth of nine metres, although they appear to have missed. HMS Triad was the only British submarine to be sunk by an Italian counterpart, five officers and fifty ratings went down with her. | |||
See full details on this warship in our Allied Warships section.