Red Sea Flotilla

Red Sea Flotilla (Flottiglia del mar rosso)
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with modern boundaries
Active	to June 1940
Disbanded	April 1941
Country	Italy
Branch	Regia Marina
Size	7 destroyers 8 submarines 5 motor torpedo boats 9 auxiliary ships
Commanders
Commander	Carlo Balsamo di Specchia-Normandia (1939 – December 1940) Mario Bonetti (December 1940 – April 1941)

The Red Sea Flotilla (Flottiglia del mar rosso) was part of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During the Second World War, the Red Sea Flotilla fought the East Indies Station of the Royal Navy from the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 until the fall of Massawa on 8 April 1941.

The squadron was isolated from the main Italian bases in the Mediterranean by distance and British dispositions. Without an overland route (via Sudan) or of the Suez Canal, supply was virtually impossible. The submarines in the flotilla suffered from faulty air conditioning which caused severe problems and poisoned crews when submerged causing several losses.

Attempts to attack ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf had meagre results and British intelligence successes caused the loss of several ships. The capture of Massawa and other Italian ports in the region brought the Flottiglia del mar rosso to an end in April 1941.

Background

Main article: East African Campaign

On 10 June 1940, the Red Sea Flotilla had seven destroyers in two squadrons, a squadron of five Motor Torpedo Boats (MAS, Motoscafo Armato Silurante) and eight submarines in two squadrons. The main base was at Massawa, with other bases at Assab (also in Eritrea) and Kismayu, in southern Italian Somaliland. ^[1] The Red Sea Flotilla was not used aggressively by the Italians, but the British viewed it as a potential threat to Allied convoys travelling East African waters between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Because of the Flotilla's presence, the neutral US Merchant Marine declared the Red Sea a war zone and out of bounds, limiting the ships which could be used to supply the vital route for British forces operating from Egypt. ^[2] The Red Sea Flotilla was especially well situated to attack convoys headed from the Gulf of Aden through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, after the Mediterranean was closed to Allied merchant ships, which had to take passage around the Cape of Good Hope.

Operations 10 June 1940 – April 1941

See also: Action of 27 February 1941 and Action of 8 May 1941

Map of the Bab el Mandeb strait

Several attempts were made to stage offensive actions against the British Royal Navy and Allied convoys from Massawa. Some of the earliest failed when submarine air conditioning systems, intended to cool the submarines in the warm water of the Red Sea proved dangerous under wartime operating conditions. Leakage of chloromethane refrigerants in the circulating air while submerged caused central nervous system poisoning and about twelve sailors died aboard Archimede. ^{[3] [lower-alpha 1]} The submarines Perla and Macallé ran aground while their crews were intoxicated by chloromethane and the latter could not be salvaged. ^[3] The submarines Galileo Galilei, Torricelli and Galvani struck early; Galileo Galilei sank the Norwegian freighter James Stove off Djibouti, before British counter-measures forced the submarines to depart the area.

Torricelli was spotted on 23 June, while approaching Massawa and an intensive search was conducted by four warships aided by aircraft from Aden. After fierce resistance, during which the sloop HMS Shoreham was damaged by return fire, Torricelli was sunk. After the engagement, the destroyer HMS Khartoum was destroyed by an internal explosion. As a mark of respect for the gallantry of the Torricelli crew, the Italian captain was guest of honour at a dinner at the British naval base. Galileo Galilei had also been found on 18 June, captured and taken to Aden on the same day. Galvani sank HMIS Pathan at the same time that her sisters were fighting and was sunk on the following day. ^{[4] [lower-alpha 2]}

In October 1940, the destroyers based at Massawa conducted the Attack on Convoy BN 7. The escorts of the 32 merchant ships repulsed the attack and Francesco Nullo was driven ashore and sunk by air attack the following day. ^[4] The leading freighter of the convoy sustained minor splinter damage. HMS Kimberley was crippled by Italian shore batteries, with three wounded among her crew and had to be towed to Aden by the cruiser HMNZS Leander. ^[6]

HMS Capetown, which was disabled by Italian motor torpedo boat MAS 213

As Italian fuel stocks at Massawa dwindled, the offensive capability of the Red Sea Flotilla declined. The vessels of the flotilla became a fleet in being , offering a threat without action. In late March 1941, the three large destroyers, Pantera, Tigre and Leone, made a night attack on Suez but Leone ran aground off Massawa and had to be scuttled by gunfire, the delay caused the operation to be cancelled. The two remaining ships joined three smaller destroyers, Nazario Sauro, Cesare Battisti and Daniele Manin on a final raid on Port Sudan in early April. Engine problems kept Battisti in port, where she was subsequently scuttled to prevent her capture by the British. The Italian ships were spotted by aircraft while en route and came under attack from land and the Swordfish bombers of HMS Eagle flying from the airfield at Port Sudan. ^[7] Pantera and Tigre were scuttled on the Arabian coast while Manin and Sauro were sunk by the Swordfish. ^{[4] [8]} On 8 April 1941, the light cruiser HMS Capetown was torpedoed and crippled by the Italian torpedo boat MAS 213 off Massawa and was towed to Port Sudan by Parramatta for preliminary repairs. ^[9]

Ramb I on fire and sinking

The armed merchant cruisers Ramb I, Ramb II and the colonial dispatch ship Eritrea were ordered to escape and reach Japan. Ramb II and Eritrea reached Kobe but Ramb I was intercepted and sunk by Leander. The four remaining submarines were ordered to join BETASOM the Italian submarine flotilla at Bordeaux and succeeded, despite British attempts to intercept them. ^[4] On 8 April 1941, Massawa fell to the British and the Red Sea Flotilla ceased to exist. Few vessels of the flotilla survived the East African Campaign.

Order of battle

Destroyers

• 3rd Destroyer Division Sauro class [1,600 long tons (1,600 t) full load displacement] ^[10]
  • Francesco Nullo Severely damaged by Kimberley, destroyed by RAF, 22 November 1940
  • Nazario Sauro Bombed and sunk by 813 Naval Air Squadron and 824 Naval Air Squadron FAA at 06:15, 3 April 1941 at 20°00′N30°00′E / 20.00°N 30.00°E / 20.00; 30.00 ^[11]
  • Cesare Battisti scuttled after engine breakdown, 3 April 1941 ^[11]
  • Daniele Manin Sunk by RAF, 3 April 1941 at 20°20′N30°10′E / 20.33°N 30.17°E / 20.33; 30.17 ^[11]

• 5th Destroyer Division Leone class [2,600 long tons (2,600 t) full load displacement] ^[10]
  • Pantera Scuttled 3 April 1941 after damage from RAF ^[11]
  • Tigre Scuttled 3 April 1941 after damage from RAF ^[11]
  • Leone Ran aground and scuttled 1 April 1941 at 16°09′N39°55′E / 16.15°N 39.92°E / 16.15; 39.92 ^[11]

MAS (Motor torpedo boats)

• 21st MAS Squadron
  • MAS 204 – Lost due to mechanical failure
  • MAS 206 – Lost due to mechanical failure
  • MAS 210 – Lost due to mechanical failure
  • MAS 213 – Scuttled 8 April 1941
  • MAS 216 – Lost due to mechanical failure

VIII Submarine Group

• 81st Submarine Squadron
  • Guglielmotti (896/1,265 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux, France 6 May 1941 ^[12]
  • Galileo Ferraris (880/1,230 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux 9 May 1941 ^[12]
  • Galileo Galilei (880/1,230 tons displacement) Captured 19 June 1940
  • Galvani (896/1,265 tons displacement) Sunk 24 June 1940
• 82nd Submarine Squadron
  • Perla (620/855 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux 20 May 1941 ^[12]
  • Macallé (620/855 tons displacement) Ran aground and scuttled 15 June 1940
  • Archimede (880/1,230 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux, 7 May 1941 ^[12]
  • Torricelli (880/1,230 tons displacement) Sunk 23 June 1940

Other vessels

• Colonial ship Eritrea (2,170 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan, and turned to the Allies in Columbo, Ceylon after the Armistice of Cassibile the Italian capitulation in September 1943
• Torpedo boat Vincenzo Giordano Orsini (670 tons displacement) – Scuttled 8 April 1941
• Torpedo boat Giovanni Acerbi (670 tons displacement) – Scuttled in the mouth of the harbour at Massawa as a blockship after suffering severe bomb damage ^[11]
• Gunboat G. Biglieri (620 tons displacement) – Captured
• Gunboat Porto Corsini (290 tons displacement) – Scuttled
• Minelayer Ostia (620 tons displacement) – Sunk by British Royal Air Force attack within the harbour at Massawa; all mines still racked
• Auxiliary cruiser Ramb I (3,667 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan. Lost 27 February 1941 in battle against the light cruiser HMNZS Leander.
• Auxiliary cruiser Ramb II (3,667 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan, and placed into the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy when Italy surrendered
• Hospital ship Aquileia – former Ramb IV – Captured and placed into the service of the British Royal Navy

See also

• Italian Royal Navy
• List of Italian destroyers

Notes

1. Chloromethane was a cheaper substitute for freon which was tested under conditions found to be unrealistic once hostilities began. ^[3]
2. Kindell disputes that Pathan was sunk by Torricelli. ^[5]

Footnotes

1. RMI 2007.
2. Stewart 2016, p. 245.
3. O'Hara 2009, pp. 100–101.
4. Jackson 2006, pp. 281–283.
5. Kindell 2012.
6. O'Hara 2009, p. 103.
7. Smith 2009, pp. 85–100.
8. Whitley 2000, pp. 158–161.
9. Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005, p. 66.
10. Porch 2004, p. 129.
11. Brown 1995, p. 43.
12. Blair 1996, p. 739.

References

Books

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. New York: Random House. ISBN   978-0-394-58839-1.
• Brown, David (1995). Warship Losses of World War Two. New York: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   978-1-55750-914-7.
• Jackson, Ashley (2006). The British Empire and the Second World War. London: Hambledon Continuum. ISBN   978-1-85285-417-1.
• O'Hara, Vincent P. (2009). Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   978-1-59114-648-3.
• Porch, Douglas (2004). The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN   978-0-374-20518-8.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN   1-86176-257-7.
• Smith, Peter C. (2009) [1995]. Eagle's War: Aircraft Carrier HMS Eagle 1939–1942 (2nd pbk. ed.). Manchester: Crécy Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9075795-3-3.
• Stewart, A. (2016). The First Victory: The Second World War and the East Africa Campaign (1st ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-20855-9.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopaedia. London: Arms and Armour Press. pp. 158–161. ISBN   978-1-85409-521-3.

Websites

• "Italian Naval Bases; Order of Battle, Italian East Africa Naval Command". Regia Marina Italiana. 1996–2007. Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2 Jan 2009.
• Kindell, Don (2012). "Sunday, 23 June". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Retrieved 29 Dec 2008.

Further reading

• Greene, J.; Massignani, A. (2002) [1998]. The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940–1943 (repr. pbk. ed.). Rochester: Chatham. ISBN   978-1-86176-190-3.
• Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   978-1-55750-019-9.
• Hinsley, Harry; Thomas, E. E.; Ransom, C. F. G.; Knight, R. C. (1981). British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations. History of the Second World War. London: HMSO. ISBN   0-521-242908.
• Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC   881709135 . Retrieved 14 November 2017.
• Roskill, S. W. (1962) [1956]. The Period of Balance. History of the Second World War: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol. II (3rd impression ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC   174453986 . Retrieved 14 November 2017.

External links

• The Royal Italian Navy in the Red Sea Cristiano D'Adamo
• Comando Supremo: Italy at War. Events of 1941 James Heddlesten