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Thread: Italian Submarines | Forums

  1. #1
    I know that Italian submarines operated in the Atlantic (and of course the mediterranean )It would be really nice if even one of the Italian boats was availble for use in the Atlantic - and (okay a real wish-list item here) - others available in the mediterranean under Supermarina's contol...

    Any thoughts people?
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  2. #2
    I know that Italian submarines operated in the Atlantic (and of course the mediterranean )It would be really nice if even one of the Italian boats was availble for use in the Atlantic - and (okay a real wish-list item here) - others available in the mediterranean under Supermarina's contol...

    Any thoughts people?
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  3. #3
    The Italian submarines were designed parcificaly for the calmer Mediterranean sea, and their sea keeping was wholely lacking for Atlantic operations.

    The BETASOM - Italian submarine command of operations in the Atlantic- deployed some 18 boats to operate along side the Kreigsmarine.
    10 were lost in combat, and a futher 5 sank due to "Accidents".
    Karl Donitz himself rejected the Italian submarines, and excluded them from further German operations.
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  4. #4
    Hmm, yeah, the only italian submarine I would like to see in the game would be the SLC or "slow moving torpedo" used during covert operations. It basically looks like a torpedo with seats.

    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>The most famous SLC attack of the war was also launched from Sciré, two months later - the sinking of the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in Alexandria on the night of 18-19 November 1941. Three SLCs penetrated Alexandria, two of which laid their warheads correctly. The attack commander, Count Luigi de la Pene, was captured with his second in command, Bianchi, and interrogated aboard Valiant while the warhead's time-fuze was still running. As they would give nothing away, they were imprisoned deep in the battleship until de la Pene, knowing that nothing the British did now would be of any use, sent Captain Morgan the message 'Your ship will blow up in five minutes.' The Italians were on deck when the two battleships shook to violent explosions and settled on the harbour bed. They were as sunk as ships could be in such shallow water, and the Italian Navy now had the domination of the Mediterranean within its grasp, but the opportunity was wasted. Both battleships still had their upper decks well above water, and were able to simulate readiness for sea by emitting funnel smoke. With the four men from the other two SLCs all captured ashore, it was not until months later that the Italian Navy learned what a chance they had missed. For the time being, the British had no answer to SLC attacks apart from vigilance and the formation of special diving parties to search ships' bottoms for unexploded charges.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
    Source: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/chariots.html

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  5. #5
    Correct me if Im wrong but italian submarines wernt very effective. Wernt more UBouts send to the mediterranean because of this?

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    run slient run deep!
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  6. #6
    while on the one hand Italian submarines never kept up with the improvements in technology (as developed by the Germans for example) they did have reliable torpedoes and never had any difficulty running the Gauntlet at Gibralter..in fact (and i was surprised to hear this) it wasn't at all un-usual (AFAIK) for Italian subs to be assigned a patrol zone in the Atlantic...yet leave from and return to a Med port...running the gauntlet twice in one mission (dont ask me what they did or how they negotiated the currents on the way out)....it was comparitively quite rare for an Italian sub to be sunk whilst running the gauntlet..so they can't have been that obsolete/ineffective..go figure

    legend has it that the German crews found the Gibralter journey an appalling prospect..the Italian crews did this trip as a matter of routine..has to be an interesting story there..

    [This message was edited by CB.. on Sat September 11 2004 at 04:34 AM.]
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  7. #7
    it was comparitively quite rare for an Italian sub to be sunk.
    But what was there tonnage per sunken Sub? If its quite low it might indicate that they didnt attack many allied ships hence the low numbers of Italian subs sunk.

    run slient run deep!
    run slient run deep!
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  8. #8
    Or cargo ships steaming in Mediterraneum were smaller.

    The italian navy showed great readiness and had an important role, until Matapan battle I think

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  9. #9
    The Italian navy had significant capabilities, but notable weaknesses in key areas always meant that the service never had the impact it could of had. A significant threat for much of '40-42 however.
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  10. #10
    FYI Movies for further viewing Italian subs--

    There is a good movie that I rented from Netflix called Submarine Attack. Has some good footage and action inside and outside the italian subs.



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