Italian submarine
RIN Aradam
|
History
|
Kingdom of Italy
|
Name
| Aradam
|
Namesake
| Amba Aradam
|
Builder
| CRDA
,
Monfalcone
|
Laid down
| 14 February 1936
|
Launched
| 18 October 1936
|
Commissioned
| 16 January 1937
|
Fate
| |
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| 600-Serie Adua
-class
submarine
|
Displacement
|
- 680 long tons (691 t) surfaced
- 844 long tons (858 t) submerged
|
Length
| 60.18 m (197 ft 5 in)
|
Beam
| 6.45 m (21 ft 2 in)
|
Draught
| 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
|
Propulsion
| |
Speed
|
- 14
knots
(26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
- 7.5
knots
(13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged
|
Range
|
- 3,180
nmi
(5,890 km) at 10.5 kn (19.4 km/h) surfaced
- 74
nmi
(137 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged
- 7.5
nmi
(13.9 km) at 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h) submerged
|
Test depth
| 80 m (260 ft)
|
Complement
| 44 (4 officers, 40 non-officers and sailors)
|
Armament
| |
Italian submarine
Aradam
was an
Adua
-class
submarine
built in the 1930s, serving in the
Regia Marina
during
World War II
. She was named after the
Amba Aradam
mountain in
Ethiopia
.
Design and description
[
edit
]
The
Adua
-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding
Perla
class
. They
displaced
680 long tons (690 t) surfaced and 844 long tons (858 t) submerged. The submarines were 60.18 meters (197 ft 5 in) long, had a
beam
of 6.45 meters (21 ft 2 in) and a
draft
of 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in).
[1]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 600-
brake-horsepower
(447 kW)
diesel engines
, each driving one
propeller shaft
. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 400-horsepower (298 kW)
electric motor
. They could reach 14
knots
(26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) underwater. On the surface, the
Adua
class had a range of 3,180
nautical miles
(5,890 km; 3,660 mi) at 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph), submerged, they had a range of 74 nmi (137 km; 85 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph).
[2]
The boats were armed with six internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in)
torpedo tubes
, four in the bow and two in the stern. They were also armed with one
100 mm (4 in)
deck gun
for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of
13.2 mm (0.52 in)
machine guns.
[1]
Construction and career
[
edit
]
Aradam
was built at the
CRDA
shipyard, in
Monfalcone
. She was laid down on 14 February 1936, launched on 18 October of the same year, and commissioned on 16 January 1937. On March 6, 1937, she was assigned to 23rd Submarine Squadron in
Naples
.
[3]
During the next three years
Aradam
conducted several training missions between
Tobruk
,
Benghazi
and the
Dodecanese
.
[3]
At the time of Italy's entrance into World War II, she was assigned to the 71st Squadron (VII Submarine Group) based in
Cagliari
. Her commander at the time was captain Giuseppe Bianchini. On June 10, 1940, she was sent to patrol an area between
Sardinia
and the island of
La Galite
. She returned to the base on June 14 without encountering any enemies.
[3]
Her second war mission was to attack a French convoy for North Africa in the
Gulf of Lion
. On June 21 she observed an increased aircraft activity in the area, which indicated an approaching convoy. On June 23 at 3:12
Aradam
sighted a fast moving ship in the position
42°40′N
4°25′E
/
42.667°N 4.417°E
/
42.667; 4.417
, and unsuccessfully attacked her.
[3]
In July and August 1940,
Aradam
carried out two missions off
Gibraltar
.
In October 1940, she was sent to patrol off
La Galite
first and then transferred to the area about 60 miles north of Cap de Fer. Then when patrolling 45 miles west of
La Galite
, On October 27, 1940, she sighted a destroyer and had to dive and move away.
In the afternoon of November 9, 1940
Aradam
left
Cagliari
and to patrol off
La Galite
along with four other submarines (including
Alagi
and
Axum
) as a screen to British Operation "Coat". She returned from this mission without any sightings.
On November 14, 1940, she returned to the sea (together with
Diaspro
and
Alagi
) to screen British Operation "White" (transfer of 14 aircraft to Malta from Force-H aircraft carrier).
In January 1941, patrolled 40 miles east of the island of
La Galite
. In the afternoon of January 9 she detected a ship conducting anti-submarine activity in the area, and moved away.
In April 1941 she patrolled off
Cyrenaica
and
Egypt
.
Between the end of July and the beginning of August,
Aradam
was sent with three other submarines to an area southwest of
Sardinia
to screen British Operation "Style", but she failed to see any enemy ships.
In September 1941, during British Operation "Halberd" she was deployed together with three other submarines in a defensive ambush to the east of
Balearic Islands
but British ships did not pass in this area.
Aradam
then moved further south and in fact on 29 September 1941, sighted a formation of British ships, but she failed to get involved.
[4]
In October 1941, she again was on mission sixty miles east of the island of
La Galite
.
In November 1941, she operated 45 miles northeast of
Tunis
.
In December 1941, she was deployed off
La Galite
again.
In January 1942 she was patrolling south of
Malta
In February 1942, she patrolled off
Algeria
, detecting the noises of enemy ships (on February 10), but was unable to locate the convoy.
In March 1942, she patrolled off Cape Bougaroun.
On April 6, 1942, at 03:12
Aradam
(under command of captain Oscar Gran), sailing east of
Kelibia
, sighted a large ship, later identified as
HMS
Havock
, navigating westward in the direction of
Cape Bon
, and launched a torpedo at 03:17 from about 500 meters in the position
36°47′N
11°05′E
/
36.783°N 11.083°E
/
36.783; 11.083
.
[3]
The seriously damaged destroyer, tried to go towards the coast, but a detonation of her ammunition depot broke her in two, while
Aradam
observed the events.
[5]
According to other sources,
HMS
Havock
stopped at 4:15 in the position
36°48′N
11°08′E
/
36.800°N 11.133°E
/
36.800; 11.133
, perhaps to avoid the torpedo and was not hit, but was demolished by her crew once they realized the destroyer had run aground and could not be dislodged. According to a third version,
Aradam
torpedoed and destroyed
HMS
Havock
'
s wreck.
[6]
In May 1942 she operated north of
Cape Blanc
.
In mid-June 1942
Aradam
was sent together with four other submarines, including
Ascianghi
and
Dessie
to patrol off
Cape Blanc
and later between
Malta
,
Pantelleria
and
Lampedusa
in an attempt to intercept British convoy as part of the Operation "Harpoon". However, the submarine did not sight any enemy ships.
On November 8, 1942
Operation Torch
was launched: more than 500 British and American vessels escorted by 350 warships began landing 107,000 troops on the coasts of
Algeria
and
Morocco
, thus opening the second front in
North Africa
. Together with many other Italian and German submarines
Aradam
was immediately dispatched to the southern
Mediterranean
. On November 16, 1942
Aradam
(under command of Carlo Forni) at night entered the Bay of Bona and found a convoy of three transport with three escorts. She fired two torpedoes, but missed. Then at 5:06 she launched two more torpedoes but missed again.
Aradam
then shelled the ships with her deck gun hitting and slightly damaging one of the transports before diving to evade the escorts.
[7]
[3]
From December 1942 through February 1943 she went on several missions patrolling off
Cyrenaica
.
In March 1943
Aradam
patrolled in the
Gulf of Sirte
.
In May 1943, she patrolled west of Sardinia.
On April 10, 1943, she was at
La Maddalena
when the base was bombed by 84 US
B 24 Liberator
aircraft who sunk smaller boats and heavy cruiser
Trieste
, but
Aradam
was not hit but had two crew members wounded.
After
Italy
signed
Armistice of Cassibile
surrendering to
Allies
the submarine was undergoing maintenance in
Genoa
.
Aradam
was also being converted to an SLC boat. Since she could not leave, her crew scuttled her to avoid capture.
[3]
Aradam
was refloated by the Germans but repairs were never finished. On September 4, 1944, she was hit by bombs and sank in the port of
Genoa
during an Allied air attack.
[3]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Bagnasco, Erminio (1977).
Submarines of World War Two
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
0-87021-962-6
.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980).
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922?1946
. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN
0-85177-146-7
.
- Rohwer, Jurgen
(2005).
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939?1945: The Naval History of World War Two
(Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-59114-119-2
.
- Giorgerini, Giorgio (2002).
Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini ad oggi
(Second ed.). Mondadori.
ISBN
8804505370
.
- Colombo, Lorenzo (May 25, 2024).
"R.Smg. Aradam"
.
regiamarina.net
. Cristiano D'Adamo
. Retrieved
May 25,
2024
.
Operational History
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1944
|
---|
Shipwrecks
|
- 1 Sep:
HMS
Hurst Castle
,
Kehdingen
,
U-247
- 2 Sep:
Empire Curzon
,
U-394
- 5 Sep:
U-362
- 7 Sep:
Shiny? Maru
, (
incident
),
Westfalen
- 8 Sep:
Rex
- 9 Sep:
Sava
,
U-484
- 10 Sep:
U-20
,
U-23
- 11 Sep:
Giulio Cesare
,
U-19
- 12 Sep:
Korei Maru
,
Nankai Maru
,
USS
Noa
,
Rakuy? Maru
,
Shikinami
- 13 Sep:
USS
Perry
,
USS
Warrington
- 14 Sep:
Irene Oldendorff
- 16 Sep:
I-364
- 17 Sep:
Un'y?
- 18 Sep:
Dr. Heinrich Wiegand
,
Gy?k? Maru
,
Jun'y? Maru
- 19 Sep:
Isoshima
;
U-407
,
U-867
- 21 Sep:
China Maru
,
H?fuku Maru
,
Katsuriki
,
Noshiro Maru
,
Satsuki
- 22 Sep:
Drache
- 23 Sep:
Taranto
,
U-859
- 24 Sep:
Akitsushima
,
Siberia Maru
,
T-120
,
Yaeyama
- 25 Sep:
USS
Miantonomah
- 26 Sep:
Aotaka
,
Ro-47
,
Saga
,
U-871
- 27 Sep:
HMS
Rockingham
,
Ural Maru
- 28 Sep:
Dragoner
- 29 Sep:
U-863
- 30 Sep:
U-565
,
U-596
,
U-1062
- Unknown date:
U-703
,
U-855
,
U-865
,
U-921
|
---|
Other incidents
| |
---|
|