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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

June 1940 (U-boat War)

From a successful, if costly, month of February, the u-boat arm was to suffer a period of huge frustration in March 1940.


Summary for the period
U-boat, type, ships sunk

U-9 (IIB) –
U-10 (IIB) -
U-13 (IIB) -
U-14 (IIB) –
U-20 (IIB) -
U-21 (IIB) -
U-23 (IIB) –
U-25 (I) -
U-26 (I) –
U-30 (VII) -
U-37 (IX) –
U-41 (IX) –
U-48 (VIIB) –
U-50 (VIIB) –
U-53 (VIIB) –
U-57 (IIC) –
U-58 (IIC) -
U-59 (IIC) -
U-61 (IIC) –
U-63 (IIC) -

Total: xx ships with a total tonnage of xxx,xxx tons. Not inc xx

The Germans lost x U-boats – x to mines (U-) and x to torpedo/depth-charge attack (xxxxx).




Sources:
Hitler’s U-boat War Volume I (Clay Blair)
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-45 (Jurgen Rohwer)
www.uboat.net

June 2

June 3

June 4

I have tried to use 'Italian' sources for the location and make-up of formations but information, as ever with these OOB, is often incomplete and/or contradictory - starting positions in particular. On this I've gone with Brecia unless stated otherwise. In order to ensure I had all ships and submarines included, I cross-referenced these sources with Conways. This left a few anomalies that I was able to get some clarity using Roskill. The key thing is that I am confident that ALL ships (down to torpedo boats) and submarines that started the war are shown below.

June 1940 (Regia Marina)

As was the case with many navies around the world, World War II found the Regia Marina fighting a war it hadn't been specifically built to fight, and for which it was not ready.

Benito Mussolini was the Supreme Commander of all armed forces and the navy's Chief of Staff was Admiral Cavagnari. Day to day control was administered by Supermarina, the naval headquarters, commanded by Admiral Somigli.

There were two sea or fleet commands plus a submarine command (Squadra Sommergibili). In addition there were 10 Departments with jurisdiction over specific coastal areas:

- Upper Tyrrhenian (La Spezia)
- Lower Tyrrhenian (Naples)
- Upper Adriatic (Venice)
- Albania (Durazzo)
- Ionian and Lower Adriatic (Taranto)
- Libya (Benghazi)
- Aegean (Leros)
- Far East (Shanghai)
- East Africa (Massawa)
- MARICOTRAF

So on 10 June 1940, when Mussolini makes his fateful announcement from the Palazzo Venezia, where were the ships and submarines of the Regia Marina.

Note:
BB - Battleship
BC - Battlecruiser
CV - Fleet Carrier
CVL - Light Carrier
CA - Heavy Cruiser
CL - Light Cruiser
CD - Coast Defence Cruiser
DD - Destroyer
TB - Torpedo Boat (Note these were effectively very small destroyers and not MTB type craft)
DS - Sloop
SS - Submarine

Fleet Commands

1st Fleet (Taranto) - Admiral Campioni

2 x BB: Guilio Cesare, Conti de Cavour
6 x CA: Zara, Gorizia, Fiume, Trento, Bolzano, Trieste*
6 x CL: Alberto Da Barbiano, Luigi Cadorna, Amberto Di Guissano, Armando Diaz, Luigi Di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi**
4 x DD: 7th Destroyer Flotilla (Dardo, Freccia, Saetta, Strale)
4 x DD: 8th Destroyer Flotilla (Baleno, Folgore, Fulmine, Lampo)
4 x DD: 9th Destroyer Flotilla (Vittorio Alfieri, Giosue Carducci, Vincenzo Gioberti, Alfredo Oriani)
3 x DD: 14th Destroyer Flotilla (Ugolini Vivaldi, Antonio Da Noli, Leone Pancaldo)
5 x DD: 15th Destroyer Flotilla (Antonio Pigafetta, Nicolo Zeno, Alvise Da Mosta, Giovanni Di Verrazzano, Lanzerotto Malocello)
4 x DD: 16th Destroyer Flotilla (Nicoloso Da Recco, Antoniotto Usodimare, Luca Tarigo, Emanuele Passagno)
1 x Seaplane Tender

* Brescia states the latter three were part of the 2nd Fleet and O'Hara states three heavy cruisers were at Messina but part of 1st Fleet.
** O'Hara states two of these light cruisers were in Tripoli

2nd Fleet (Taranto) - Admiral Paladini

1 x CA: Pola
6 x CL: Eugenio Di Savoia, Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, Muzio Attendolo, Raimondo Montecucolli, Giovanni Delle Bande Nere, Bartolomeo Colleoni*
4 x DD: 10th Destroyer Flotilla (Maestrale, Libeccio, Grecale, Scirocco)
4 x DD: 11th Destroyer Flotilla (Artigliere, Camicia Nera, Aviere, Geniere)
4 x DD: 12th Destroyer Flotilla (Lanciere, Carabiniere, Corazziere, Ascari)
4 x DD: 13th Destroyer Flotilla (Alpino, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Granatiere)

* O'Hara states two of these (likely Bande Nere and Colleoni) were in Tripoli

La Spezia

4 x TB: 10th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Vega, Sagittario, Perseo, Sirio)
4 x TB: 16th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Monzambano, Curtatone Calatafimi, Castelfidardo)
2 x TB: Audace and Albatross*
4 x SS: 11th Submarine Squadron (Pietro Calvi, Giuseppe Finzi, Enrico Tazzoli, Ettore Fieramosca)
6 x SS: 12th Submarine Squadron (Commandante Cappellini, Commandante Faa Di Bruno, Mocenigo, Veniero, Glauco, Otaria)
3 x SS: 13th Submarine Squadron (Berillo, Onice, Gemma)
3 x SS: 14th Submarine Squadron (Iride, Argo, Velella)
4 x SS: 15th Submarine Squadron (Gondar, Neghelli, Ascianghi, Scire)
2 x SS: 16th Submarine Squadron (Pietro Micca, Foca)
6 x SS: 17th Submarine Squadron (H1, H2, H3, H4, H6, H8)**
20 x Boats of the 1st Flotilla MAS

* Brescia does not mention these, but Roskill has them at La Spezia (No squadron attached)
** O'Hara states 27 submarines. The anomaly might be H3 as Conways states this was discarded in 1937.
Bold O'Hara states two submarines were in the Atlantic. Finzi and Cappellini sailed for the Atlantic on the 5 June 1940

Taranto

2 x CL: Bari and Taranto
4 x DD: 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (Espero, Borea, Zeffiro, Ostro)
4 x TB: 6th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Rosalino Pilo, Francesco Stocco, Giuseppe Missori, Giuseppe Sirtori)
4 x SS: 40th Submarine Squadron (Balilla, Antonio Sciesa, Enrico Toti, Domenico Millelire)
4 x SS: 41st Submarine Squadron (Console Generale Liuzzi, Alpino Bagnolini, Reginaldo Giuliani, Capitano Tarantini)
1 x SS: 42nd Submarine Squadron (Brin)
2 x SS: 43rd Submarine Squadron (Ruggiero Settimo, Luigi Settembrini)
1 x SS: 44th Submarine Squadron (Anfitrite)
2 x SS: 45th Submarine Squadron (Salpa, Serpente)
4 x SS: 46th Submarine Squadron (Dessie, Dagabur, Uarsciek, Uebi,Scebeli)
3 x SS: 47th Submarine Squadron (Malachite, Rubino, Ambra)
1 x SS: 48th Submarine Squadron (Ondina)
3 x SS: 49th Submarine Squadron (Atropo, Zoea, Filippo Corridoni)
1 x SS: Marcantonio Bragadin*
4 x Minelayers

* Brescia does not mention this boat but Roskill has her at Taranto (No Squadron attached)

Brindisi

2 x DD: Riboty, Mirabello
4 x TB: 7th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Angelo Bassini, Enrico Cossenz, Nicola Fabrizi, Giacomo Medici)
3 Boats of the 3rd Flotilla MAS
1 x Gunboat

Venice

4 x TB: 15th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Confienza, Solferino, San Martino, Palestro)
3 x Minelayers

Pola

4 x Boats of the 6th Flotilla MAS
3 x Minelayers
1 x Gunboat

Cagliari

4 x SS: 71st Submarine Squadron (Alagi, Adua, Axum, Aradan)
4 x SS: 72nd Submarine Squadron (Diaspro, Corallo, Turchese, Medusa)
2 x SS: Luigi torrelli, Michele Bianchi*

* Brescia does not mention these boats but Roskill has them at Cagliari (no squadron specified)

Naples

4 x TB: 3rd Torpedo Boat Squadron (Cantore, Giacinto Carini, La Masa, Marcello Prestinari)
4 x TB: 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Procione, Orione, Orsa, Pegaso)
3 x TB: 5th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Simone Schiaffino, Guiseppe Dezza, Guiseppe Cesare Abba)*
1 x TB: Giuseppe La Farina**
4 x SS: 21st Submarine Squadron (Marcello, Nani, Dandolo, Provana)
5 x SS: 22nd Submarine Squadron (Barbarigo, Emo, Morosini, Guglielmo Marconi, Leonardo Da Vinci)
2 x Minelayers

* and ** Brescia does not mention these ships but Roskill has them at Naples.

Messina

4 x TB: 1st Torpedo Boat Squadron (Airone, Ariel, Aretusa, Alcione)
4 x TB: 12th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Altair, Antares, Aldebaran, Andromeda)
4 x TB: 13th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Circe, Clio, Calliope, Calipso)
4 x TB: 14th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Partenope, Polluce, Pleiadi, Pallade)
4 x SS: 31st Submarine Squadron (Vettor Pisani, Marcantonio Colonna, Giovanni Bausan, Des Geneys)
4 x SS: 33rd Submarine Squadron (Fratelli Bandiera, Luciano Manara, Ciro Menotti, Santorre Santarosa)
4 x SS: 34th Submarine Squadron (Goffredo Mameli, Pier Capponi, Tito Speri, Giovanni Da Procida)
3 x SS: 35th Submarine Squadron (Durbo, Tembien, Beilul)
2 x SS: 37th Submarine Squadron (X2, X3)
4 x Minelayers

Leros

2 x DD: 4th Destroyer Flotilla (Francesco Crispi, Quintino Sella)
4 x TB: 8th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Lupo, Lince, Lira, Libra)
4 x SS: 51st Submarine Squadron (Narvalo, Squalo, Tricheco, Delfino)
4 x SS: 52nd Submarine Squadron (Ametista, Zaffiro, Jalea, Jantina)
15 boats of the 3rd Flotilla MAS
2 x Minelayers
2 x Gunboats

Shanghai

1 x DS: *

Brescia refers to 1 x Minelayer and 1 x Gunboat

Massawa

1 x DS: Eritrea
4 x DD: 3rd Destroyer Flotilla (Cesare Battisti, Danielle Manin, Francesco Nullo, Nazario Sauro)
3 x DD: 5th Destroyer Flotilla (Leone, Pantera, Tigre)
2 x TB: No Squadron named (Giovanni Acerbi, Vincenzo Orsini)
4 x SS: 81st Submarine Squadron (Guglielmotti, Galvani, Galilei, Ferraris)
4 x SS: 82nd Submarine Squadron (Archimede, Torricelli, Perla, Macalle)
1 x Minelayer
2 x Gunboats

La Maddelena

4 x TB: 2nd Torpedo Boat Squadron (Achille Papa, Montanari, Cascino, Chinotto)
4 x TB: 9th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Cassiopea, Canopo, Fratelli Cairoli, Antonio Mosto)
4(?) Boats of the 4th Flotilla MAS
5 x Minelayers

Tripoli

4 x TB: 11th Torpedo Boat Squadron (Cigno, Castore, Climene, Centauro)
1 x Minelayer
1 x Gunboat

Tobruk

4 x TB: *
1 x CD: San Giorgio
4 x DD: 1st Destroyer Flotilla (Turbine, Aquilone, Euro, Nembo)
5 x SS: 61st Submarine Squadron (Sirena, Argonauta, Fisalia, Smeraldo, Naiade)
5 x SS: 62nd Submarine Squadron (Diamante, Galatea, Nereide, Topazio, Lafole)

* Brescia refers to 5 Gunboats, not 4 Torpedo Boats

There was a minesweeper flotilla at each of Taranto, Messina, Palermo and Augusta


Ships Under Construction, undergoing Modernisation or under repair

2 x BB: Littorio, Vittorio Veneto (Both working up)
2 x BB: Caio Duillo, Andrea Doria (Both nearing completion/working-up following major modernisation works)
1 x BB: Roma had just been launched and began fitting out. She would not be completed for 2 more years
1 x CV: Originally the liner Roma, Aquila was taken in hand at the outbreak of war for conversion to a CVE. However work on a revised design as a CV only began in January 1941 and she was never completed.
12 x CL: The Capitani Romani Class. 8 were launched of which only 4 were completed
2 x CL: The Etna Class. Both were launched but neither completed.
2 x SS: Working up.


Sources:
On Seas Contested (O'Hara)
Mussolini's Navy (Brescia)
Conways All The World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
The War at Sea 1939-1945 Volume I (Roskill)
Regia Marina.net

Italian Torpedo Boats

Note ‘Ships’ and ‘Boats’ will be used interchangeably for these vessels.

As can be seen from the order of battle above, the Regia Marina began its war with sixty eight (Brescia states sixty nine, O’Hara sixty seven!) torpedo boats. These were not motor torpedo boats such as the German S-class.

Roughly half the torpedo boats available were ex-destroyers of WWI vintage, and slightly after, that were re-classified between the wars as they were no longer considered front-line vessels capable of operating with the fleet. The remaining half were newer designs, built in response to ships being built by the French, and with the 1930 London Naval Treaty in mind (there was no restriction on the building of ships of up to 600 tons – not that these vessels complied with that limit…..).

These vessels provided valuable service to the Regia Marina in WWII in the convoy escort role, despite not being designed for that purpose. However this came at a high cost as we shall see. So what were these ships?

Ex-destroyers reclassified as torpedo boats

In October 1929 the following classes of destroyer were re-classified as torpedo boats:

Pilo (eight ships - one was discarded in 1938 – leaving seven in 1940)
Sirtori (four ships)
La Masa (seven ships)
Cantore (six ships)
Audace (one ship)

These were joined nine years later by:

Palestro (four ships)
Curtatone (four ships)

Sub Chaser reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1938

Albatros (one ship)

Total – 34 ships

Purpose built torpedo boats

Spica (thirty ships)
Pegaso (four ships)

Total – 34 ships

Grand total 68 ships

Here is a look at the key data for each in 1940. The data differs markedly in the various sources. I have used Conways as my source for this table – and Brescia used where information otherwise unavailable. The various sources I’ve seen for the ex-destroyers differ wildly so the data below should be taken as a guide.


ASW

Italian ASW capability had not developed from WWI and still relied on the hydrophone. Not until 1941 did the Regia Marina receive German sonar equipment and their own version followed the following year.

By the autumn of 1940 it was clear to the naval high command that purpose built escort vessels were needed. Sixteen Ciclone-class specifically designed for AA/ASW work were constructed, but these weren’t to be available before 1942. A program for much needed corvette-sized ships was put in to place, but the Gabbiano-class were too late - the first ship of the class only being commissioned in October 1942.

A Spica-class torpedo boat of the Climene Group.


The Audace. Originally the Japanese destroyer Kawakaze, she was purchased by the Italians in 1916.





Sources:
On Seas Contested (O'Hara)
Mussolini's Navy (Brescia)
Conways All The World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946

Note: This is no longer under construction but may be reviewed as currently only working from one source. Once again though, I am reasonably comfortable all main ships are here.

The Mediterranean - 10 June 1940 (The Allies)

Having looked at the order of battle for the Regia Marina, what were they facing on the day Mussolini declared war?

The British and French decided to split responsibility for the Mediterranean in two. The French would be responsible for the Western Basin, between Metropolitan France and their colonies in North Africa, while the British would be responsible for the Eastern basin. This was a sensible division of responsibility. The only problem being that France would soon exit stage left......

The Royal Navy (All British unless stated)

The Mediterranean Fleet - Vice-Admiral Andrew Cunningham based at Alexandria

4 x BB: 1st Battle Squadron (Warspite, Royal Sovereign, Malaya, Ramillies)
1 x CV: Eagle
3 x CL: 3rd Cruiser Squadron (Caledon, Calypso, Capetown)
5 x CL: 7th Cruiser Squadron (Gloucester, Liverpool, Neptune, Orion, HMAS Sydney)
8 x DD: 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (Havock, Hereward, Hero, Hyperion, Hasty, Hostile, Ilex, Imperial)
9 x DD: 10th Destroyer Flotilla (HMAS Stuart, HMAS Vampire, HMAS Voyager, HMAS Waterhen, Dainty, Decoy, Defender)
5 x DD: 14th Destroyer Flotilla (Janus, Jervis, Juno, Nubian, Mohawk)
1 x DD: ORP Garland (working up)
6 x SS: 1st Submarine Flotilla (Osiris, Pandora, Parthian, Phoenix, Proteus, Rorqual)
1 x Netlayer
5th Anti-Submarine Group
28th Anti-Submarine Group
Minesweeping Group 91

Malta

1 x Monitor: Terror
2 x DD: HMAS Vendetta, Diamond (looks like these destroyers were from 10 Destroyer Flotilla but refitting at Malta while the remainder of the flotilla headed for Alexandria)
6 x SS: Odin, Olympus, Orpheus, Oswald, Otus, Grampus
4th Anti-Submarine Group
2 x Motor anti-submarine boats

Gibraltar

1 x BB: Resolution
1 x CV: Argus
2 x CL: Delhi, Arethusa
9 x DD: 13th Destroyer Flotilla (Keppel, Velox, Vidette, Vortigern, Watchman, Active, Douglas, Wishart, Wrestler)
1 x DD: Sturdy
7th Anti-Submarine Group
Minesweeping Group 92

The Red Sea - based at Aden

2 x CL: HMNZS Leander*, HMAS Hobart
1 x CLAA: Carlisle
4 x DD: Part of 14th Destroyer Flotilla (Kandahar, Khartoum, Kimberley, Kingston)
5 x DS
Minesweeping Flotilla

* Until 1 October 1941 the New Zealand navy was a squadron of the Royal Navy and only became established in its own right then. However for ease of identification, Kiwi ships will be denoted HMNZS.

The Marine Nationale

Toulon

4 x CA: 1st Cruiser Division (Algerie, Colbert, Dupleix, Foch)
3 x DL: 1st Large Destroyer Division (Aigle, Lion, Vauban)
3 x DL: 3rd Large Destroyer Division (Guepard, Valmy, Verdun)
1 x DL: 4th Large Destroyer Division (Panthere)
2 x DL: 5th Large Destroyer Division (Chevalier Paul, Tartu)
3 x DL: 7th Large Destroyer Division (Albatros, Gerfaut, Vautour)
4 x DL: 9th Large Destroyer Division (Cassard, Malin, Kersaint, Vauquelin)
5 x DD: 1st Destroyer Division (Mars, Palme, Tempete, Casque, Corsaire, Fleuret)
3 x TB: 13th Destroyer Division (La Baliste, La Bayonnaise, Poursivante)
1 x SS: 1st Submarine Division (Le Conquerant)
4 x SS: 15th Submarine Division (Ceres, Iris, Pallas, Venus)
4 x SS: 17th Submarine Division (Arethuse, Atalante, La Sultane, La Vestale)
4 x SS: 19th Submarine Division (Argonaute, Galatee, Naiade, Sirene)
2 x SS: 21st Submarine Division (Diamante, Perle)
1 x Seaplane carrier: Commandant Teste
1 x DS: Rigault de Genouilly

Oran

2 x BB: 1st Line Division (Dunkerque, Strasbourg)
2 x BB: 2nd Line Division (Bretagne, Provence)
3 x CL: 3rd Cruiser Division (Jean de Vienne, La Galissoniere, Marseillaise)
3 x DL: 4th Large Destroyer Division (Lynx, Tigre)
2 x DL: 6th Large Destroyer Division (Mogador, Volta)
3 x DL: 10th Large Destroyer Division (Le Audacieux, Le Fantasque, Le Terrible)
2 x DD: 5th Destroyer Division (Brestois, Boulonnais)
4 x SS: 14th Submarine Division (Ariane, Danae, Diane, Eurydice)
2 x SS: 18th Submarine Division (La Psyche, Oreade)

Algiers

3 x CL: 4th Cruiser Division (George Leygues, Gloire, Montcalm)
2 x DL: 8th Large Destroyer Division (Indomptable)
1 x DD: 3rd Destroyer Division (Simoun)
3 x DD: 7th Destroyer Division (Tornade, Tramontane, Typhon)
5 x DS

Bizerte

3 x DD: 8th Destroyer Division (Bordelais, L'Alcyon, Trombe)
3 x TB: 12th Destroyer Division (Bombarde, Iphigenie, Pomone)
1 x SS: 1st Submarine Division (Le Tonnant)
4 x SS: 4th Submarine Division (Argo, Centaure, Henri Poincare, Pascal)
3 x SS: 5th Submarine Division (L'Espoir, Monge, Pegase)
2 x SS: 7th Submarine Division (Redoutable, Vengeur)
3 x SS: 9th Submarine Division (Caiman, Morse, Souffleur)
3 x SS: 20th Submarine Division (Nautilus, Saphir, Turquoise)
2 x DS

Sousse

3 x SS: 11th Submarine Division (Marsouin, Narval, Requin)

Alexandria

1 x BB: Lorraine
1 x SS: Dauphin

Beirut

4 x CA: 2nd Cruiser Division (Duquesne, Suffren, Tourville, Duguay Trouin)
1 x DD: 3rd Destroyer Division (Le Fortune)
3 x DD: 9th Destroyer Division (Basque, Forbin)
3 x SS: 3rd Submarine Division (Acheron, Acteon, Protee)
2 x SS: 10th Submarine Division (Espadon, Phoque)
1 x DS: Lassigny


The position on the shores of the Middle Sea in June 1940. The location of Malta so close to Italy makes the naval base untenable - at least for major warships. Alexandria is not ideal as a naval base as it is nothing like at the same level as Malta. The Mediterranean, as decided pre-war in the event of an Axis Italy, is closed. Both the French and British navies have lost heavily - particularly in destroyers - so far.

But not to worry, Italy is far from ready for war and with two navies to one in favour of the Allies, what can possibly go wrong?.......


Source:

Naval-history.net

Amazing [&o]
Subscribed forever

ORIGINAL: lecrop

Amazing [&o]
Subscribed forever

warspite1

Thank-you, I've just got to keep it going this time - no distractions [:)]

You have saved a future game designer a lot of work. Now who will be that designer?

Wow, Glad I found this thread, amazing warspite1. If you keep it going great, If not please start another threat with new story, your awesome, now we do need a Dev to start a game after this story/thread, it would be great, wargame to play.

Josh.

The Mediterranean (background)

The order of battle in post 329 confirms that the Italian Navy was at an immediate disadvantage in numerical terms. But things weren’t quite as bad for them as it may at first glance seem. For when trying to weigh up the pros and cons of the competing forces in the Mediterranean, one could be forgiven in quickly coming to the conclusion that it was a case of trying to work out which side was the least disadvantaged…. This is no slur on the officers and men who were tasked with making and executing orders, but on the politicians (and many senior servicemen) – both previous and current - that put them in so poor a position.

So let’s look at the Italians first. The plans for the Regia Marina was as follows:

- A defensive posture to be adopted in the western and eastern basins and an offensive or counter-offensive posture in the central Mediterranean
- The Sicilian Channel to be blocked and so stop the movement of the enemy between west and east (and vice-versa)
- Surprise attacks to be carried out against enemy bases using special forces and aircraft
- Attacks to be made against enemy lines of communication using light and special forces
- To take every opportunity to fight where strength is equal or superior
- Submarine forces to coordinate with air and surface units
- To avoid battle where a condition of inferiority exists
- To bring the enemy battlefleet to battle where the fighting is closer to Italian bases than those of the enemy
- To protect Libya and Albania
- Isolated territories to be protected locally

The plans look pretty sensible. The army would be invading Egypt and so supply and reinforcement of Libya was crucial. To do this the invasion of Malta (or at least the suppression of the island as a base from which the RN and RAF could attack) would be required.

Oil would need to be conserved as the navy had about a year’s worth of reserves, but in any case, the Regia Marina simply had no need to go looking for trouble far from home outside of aircraft range and far from its bases. If the British and French wanted to stop supply of Libya and keep Malta supplied then trouble would come to them.

The Italian navy had a number of weaknesses, but also a good many advantages – certainly once the French exited the battle less than 2-weeks after Italy entered the war; the navy was soon to be bolstered with two modern, fast, 15-inch battleships that were more than a match for anything the RN could muster. Their older battleships had been modernised and had a speed advantage over their British opponents. The Italians had a fleet of 8-inch heavy cruisers – again out-gunning the RN cruisers.

A cursory glance at the map of the Mediterranean and it was clear that the Italians had the central position and thus were able to pick their battles with a view to defeating in detail their enemy. If the British were to try and maintain Malta as a base for operations (or simply to keep the island from starvation) then they would have to poke their heads into the lion’s den.

And that is what the British intended. Before the war Admiral Dudley Pound, then commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, believed that Malta should be abandoned in the event of war with Italy. He felt that, for the reasons given above, and the fact that the RN simply didn’t have the modern weapons necessary, the Italians would be able to wear down the RN through attrition. But it was decided that maintaining Malta in the war would be of benefit in defeating the Italians.
The objectives of the RN were:

- To bring the enemy to battle wherever they were found
- To provide reinforcement and supply of fleets and garrisons in the Mediterranean
- To maintain command of the sea in the eastern basin and so protect Egypt
- Interdiction of Italian attempts to supply Libya
- Interdiction of Italian trade with the Black Sea

When trying to bring an enemy to battle it is something of a major drawback when out-gunned and slower than the enemy. Add in a shortage of proper air cover and the situation becomes almost impossible.

Whether Pound was correct in suggesting abandonment of Malta was correct is highly debateable, but he was certainly correct in terms of the attrition that the RN was to suffer. As can be seen from the main convoy routes below, there is an enormous difference in distance that each side had to travel, the Italian forces were largely within aircraft range the whole way and the tight Sicilian Channel that convoys coming from the west would have to negotiate was perfect for attack by submarines and smaller vessels.

Pound was wrong about Italian air strength – fortunately for the British the Italians simply did not have the numbers to be able to suppress Malta completely. Moreover, Mussolini declared war with indecent and criminal haste (1.2 million tons of Italy’s merchant shipping totalling 3.3m tons were in foreign ports – 212 ships out of 786) as he was worried that, with France on her knees and the British kicked off the continent, Italy would not be able to claim territorial prizes if not an active member of the Axis. This meant he passed up the opportunity to try and invade Malta in the early weeks of the war when the island was defended by five battalions of infantry and three Gladiator biplanes.

And so, as the battle for the Middle Sea was about to be joined, each side had its strengths, each had its weaknesses. Who would prevail?





Sources:
On Seas Contested (O'Hara)
Struggle for the Middle Sea (O’Hara)
The War in the Mediterranean (Ireland)

The Mediterranean and the Red Sea (June 1940)

And so, with Mussolini’s declaration, the war expands yet further and all through the Middle Sea and along its shores, there was a flurry of activity. For some things had already been under way in the days leading to the declaration.

4th June

Starting on the 4th and continuing for five days, no less than 54 Italian submarines put to sea for what would become their first wartime patrols. In addition to patrols to catch enemy shipping, some submarines were employed as minelayers. The results would be poor however, not helped by the fact that the British had adopted the pre-war decision to cease traffic through the Mediterranean in the event of war with Italy.

5th June

Two Italian subs, Finzi and Cappelini left Cagliari, Sardinia, for the Atlantic. Finzi was to make it through the straits and operated off the Canaries – albeit without any success. Cappelini was to have a more fraught time of it (see below).

6th June

In the days leading up to the declaration a number of defensive mine barrages were laid by the Regia Marina along the Italian coast. Some of these were anti-shipping and others anti-submarine; 1,960 mines were laid in the Gulf of Genoa, 433 off Naples, 2,196 mines were laid off Sardinia, 1,375 around Sicily, a further 2,335 were laid in the southern Adriatic and the Gulf of Taranto, 769 mines were laid in the northern Adriatic and 800 mines off the Dodecanese. 540 mines were laid off the North African coast and in the Red Sea a further 580.

8th June

Then from the 8th June, the laying of offensive barrages in the Sicilian Channel was begun. 1,868 mines were laid between Sicily and the Tunisian coast in order to impede the re-supply of Malta and to stop the British traversing the Mediterranean.

10th June

Following the declaration, the British sent out submarine patrols from Malta and Alexandria. Two of the Malta based boats were ordered to lay mines off Augusta and Brindisi and two ships totalling 6,537 tons were to sink on these mines.

French submarines were also ordered on patrol and minefields were laid Cagliari, Tripoli, Trapani and Masala. A defensive minefield was laid off Corsica.

In the Red Sea the Italians put their submarines to sea but, as we shall see, the results were to prove very disappointing.

11th June

The Regia Aeronautica launched two air attacks on Malta. These were the largest they felt they could muster against the island and involved, in total, 93 SM.79’s and 18 C.200 fighters. Targeting the naval docks, the seaplane base at Kalfrana and the airfield at Hal Far and bombing at 15,000 feet, the raids caused little damage. Subsequent raids that month were much smaller and little was achieved – with one exception (see 20th June).

Admiral Cunningham’s Mediterranean Fleet sorties from Alexandria. The fleet consisted of:

BB: 1st Battle Squadron (Warspite (F), Malaya)
CV: Eagle
CL: 7th Cruiser Squadron (Orion (F), Neptune, HMAS Sydney, Liverpool, Gloucester)
CL: 3rd Cruiser Squadron (Calypso, Caledon)
DD: 10th Destroyer Flotilla appears to have been involved but I don't know the identity of the other two.

The plan was to sail to the south of Crete and then head southwest, with Vice-Admiral Tovey’s cruisers in the van, toward Tobruk and Benghazi in the hope of catching Italian traffic.

Simultaneously, four French heavy cruisers of the 2nd Division - Duquesne, Suffren, Tourville and Duguay Trouin - sailed from Beirut along with the destroyers Le Fortune, Basque and Forbin in order to patrol off Crete. The patrol was to prove fruitless and they returned home on the 13th.

12th June

There was better news for the Italian submarine fleet which achieved a couple of successes. In the early hours of the morning Bagnolini sank the old cruiser Calypso which was heading toward Tobruk with Cunningham’s fleet.

Then, later that day, the Norwegian tanker Orkanger (8,029 tons) was sunk by a combination of Nereide and Naiade.

Notwithstanding the loss of Calypso, Cunningham ordered Liverpool and Gloucester, together with four destroyers, to bombard Tobruk. They failed to destroy the old cruiser San Giorgio, but sank an auxiliary minesweeper Giovanni Berta, before heading back home.

In response the Italians belatedly sortied with 3 cruiser divisions and four destroyer flotillas but couldn’t locate the British and Cunningham, unaware of the Italians having sailed. Both sides could but bemoan their own tardy reconnaissance/intelligence.


HMS Calypso - the first Royal Navy ship to be sunk by the Regia Marina. She was one of the un-modernised, WWI vintage C-class that remained in commission in World War II despite being long past her usefulness as a front line vessel.



The Liuzzi-class consisted of four vessels that were laid down during 1938 and 1939 with the last of the four launched in Jaunary 1940. They were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Brin-class. With a crew of 58, these boats could travel at 18 knots (8 knots submerged) and carried 12 torpedoes for their 8 tubes (4 bow and 4 stern). Main gun was a 1 x 100mm/47 supplemented with 2 twin 13.2 MG. All four - Bagnolini, Giuliani, Liuzzi and Tarantini - were lost during the war.



Sources:
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945 (Rohwer)
Malta 1940-42 (Noppen)
Conways All The World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946

Thank You for resurrecting this thread

The Mediterranean and the Red Sea (June 1940)

12th June (continued)

With Mussolini increasingly likely to enter the war hand in hand with Adolf, the French deployed the Force du Raid at Oran. [Note: it is not clear to me whether the fleet was re-named at this point but will call it the Mediterranean Fleet].

Intelligence suggested that a German squadron was heading to the Mediterranean to reinforce the Regia Marina. There followed a comical and ultimately frustrating episode for the French known subsequently as “La Bataille de l’armoire a glace” – The Battle of the Wardrobe Mirror.

The fleet sailed in response to the news and formed up off Cartegena on the 13th June, whereupon they then sailed west to meet the German ships apparently seeking to force the Straits of Gibraltar….

1st Squadron (Vice-Admiral Gensoul)

BB: 1st Division de Ligne (Dunkerque (F), Strasbourg)
CL: 3rd Cruiser Squadron (Marseillaise, Jean de Vienne, La Galissoniere)
CL: 4th Cruiser Squadron (Georges Leygues, Montcalm, Gloire)
DD: 5th Destroyer Division (Brestois, Boulonnais)
DD: 7th Destroyer Division (Tornade, Tramontane, Typhon)

2nd Light Squadron

DL: 6th Large Destroyer Division (Mogador, Volta)
DL: 8th Large Destroyer Division (L’Indomptable, Le Malin)
DL: 10th Large Destroyer Division (Le Fantasque, L’Audacieux, Le Terrible)

2nd Squadron

BB: 2nd Division de Ligne (Provence (F), Bretagne)
DL: 4th Large Destroyer Division (Lynx, Tigre)

A major battle was now anticipated…..

…and when a report was received from a reconnaissance aircraft at 05:40 that a large formation was heading southwest for Gibraltar, it was assumed that an Italian fleet was sailing to link up with the German force heading east…. speed was increased and the tension must have been palpable… then at 06:00 came the realisation that the aircraft had sighted not an Italian Fleet but Gensoul’s own ships. They had literally been chasing their own tail…..

The incident could have been worse. The Italian submarine Dandolo just missed the Jean de Vienne. Fortunately for the Dandolo, she was able to make her getaway.

13th June

The following days in the Mediterranean were largely all about the submarine forces - and all three nations, British, French and Italian - were to suffer losses.

First up was the Italian Macalle-class submarine Provana (although sources range from 13th to 17th June for her loss. She was sunk at the hands of the French minesweeper La Curieuse while attempting to attack a convoy off Oran, Algeria.

On the same day, the British lost HMS Odin while on patrol off Taranto. She was attacked by the destroyers Strale and Baleno and ultimately rammed by Strale.

14th June

The Italian plan to cause mayhem in the Red Sea area started to quickly unravel. Four boats put to sea from Massawa in Eritrea: Ferraris, Galilei, Galvani and Macalle, with Archimede, Perla and Guglielmotti following a few days later. Ferraris suffered mechanical problems and had to return, and was replaced by Torricelli.

Meanwhile Cappelini, one of the two boats that set out for the Atlantic prior to the outbreak of war, was found by the ASW trawler Arctic Ranger before she was able to enter the Straits. She managed to escape attempts to sink her by both Arctic Ranger and the destroyer Vidette. She was able to reach Ceuta, Spanish Morocco. She was patched up and made it back to Italy.

Away from the submarine war, the Italians ordered the 1st Destroyer Flotilla (Turbine, Nembo and Aquilone) to bombard British troops at Sollum, Egypt. The attack achieved little.

The French 3rd Squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Duplat, put to sea the night before in order to bombard the Italian coast at Genoa and Vado. The operation, code-named Vado proved to be limited in its success. Duplat had two cruiser divsions, the 1st (Algerie, Foch) and the 5th (Dupleix, Colbert) and 4 large destroyer divisons, the 1st (Vauban, Lion, Aigle), 3rd (Guepard, Valmy, Verdun) 5th (Tartu, Chevalier Paul, Cassard) and 7th (Vauteur, Albatros).

The squadron split into two groups - Vado and Genoa - each with a cruiser and two large destroyer divisions. Meanwhile the Italian torpedo boat Calatafini, which was escorting minelayer Gasperi, came upon the 'Genoa' group and unsuccessfully launched her torpedoes at the French ships. She was lightly damaged by splinters and withdrew. The Italian Mameli shore battery was more successful, a shell hit Albatros and killed 12 men. Algerie was also lightly damaged by fire from the shore.

The French squadron also came under fire from four motor torpedo boats of the 13th MAS and each fired upon the other. The torpedoes of the MAS boats missed and two boats received splinter damage before withdrawing.

Both sides claimed greater success than was achieved, and subsequent review of the damage inflicted by the French against the land based targets were minimal - despite over 1,500 shells, ranging from 8-inch to 3.5-inch being expended.


Algerie. Duplat's Flagship that led Operation Vado


15th June

Back in the Red Sea, the Italian submarine Macalle was the next to hit problems. It is believed her air conditioning unit developed an issue that led to Chloromethane being released into the sub (This came from Wikipedia but I can't find a source that confirms this story). Regardless of the reason, Macalle ran onto a shoal and eventually sank.


The initial sortie of 54 Italian submarines was, in the words of Blair, a fiasco. Twenty-eight boats (over half those deployed) had to return early for one reason or another. Ten boats were lost, including Macalle (pictured at Taranto), to a combination of accident, air and surface attack.



16 June

Two more British submarines were lost on their first patrol. Grampus and Orpheus (again there is differing dates given for her loss) were lost to escort vessels. Grampus laid mines off Augusta and thereafter went on patrol. She was sunk by the torpedo boats Clio, Calliope and Polluce. Orpheus was lost to depth charges fired from the destroyer Turbine off Tobruk.

The French navy's submarine service also suffered on this date, when Morse was lost to a mine while operating off Djerba, Tunisia.

Meanwhile in the Red Sea the Italian Galilei sank a Norwegian tanker of 8,215 tons.


The Italian submarine service was not the only ones to suffer. The Mediterranean was not an ideal submarine hunting ground due to the clarity of the water. The British submarines employed were generally designed for service in the Pacific and were too large for operation in the Med. Three boats would be lost on their first patrol before June ended - and 1940 would only get worse for the RN's submariners....



Sources:
French Battleships 1922-1956 (Jordan and Dumas)
French Cruisers 1922-1956 (Jordan and Moulin)
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-45 (Jurgen Rohwer)
Hitler's U-Boat War (Blair)
Struggle for the Middle Sea (O'Hara)

The Mediterranean and the Red Sea (June 1940)

19th June

Another loss for the Italian Red Sea units. Galilei was in the Gulf of Aden when she was engaged by the ASW trawler HMT Moonstone. Attacked by depth charges, Galilei was brought to the surface. A gun duel developed which Moonstone won when a shell hit Galilei's bridge. Vital documents were obtained with the Italian submarine's surrender.


HMT Moonstone was originally a fishing trawler names Lady Madeline. She was names Moonstone after requisitioning by the Admiralty



The capture of Galilei. She was used by the British as a training vessel.



19th June (cont)

A second wave of Italian submarines departed from ports throughout Italy starting on the 19th. Submarines were ordered to both the eastern and western basins. One of these boats - Capponi - was to sink the Swedish Freighter Elgo.

HMS Parthian was ordered to sail for Tobruk to shell the San Giorgio but without success.

Sources:
www.iwm.org.uk
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-45 (Jurgen Rohwer)
Conway’s: All The World’s Fighting Ships 1922-1946

Greetings warspite1,
Thanks so much for your work on this.

ORIGINAL: ringoblood

Wow, Glad I found this thread, amazing warspite1. If you keep it going great, If not please start another threat with new story, your awesome, now we do need a Dev to start a game after this story/thread, it would be great, wargame to play.

Josh.

ORIGINAL: Pvt_Grunt

Thank You for resurrecting this thread

ORIGINAL: Rommel222

Greetings warspite1,
Thanks so much for your work on this.

warspite1

Thank's guys for your support.

The intention is to finish the Med for June then go back to Norway. We'll see how that plan pans out...