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1.
Captain Bragadin’s ‘History of the Italian Navy in WWII.
2. Credit must also go to Torbay
and Taku
who patrolled in the western basin on their way to Alexandria
in May.
3. The cruisers were engaged in laying a minefield off Tripoli
to prevent further bombardments by the Mediterranean Fleet
4. Lieutenant Commander Wanklyn was rested during this patrol.
Lieutenant Hezlet was spare CO.
5. Either Neptunia or Oceania.
6. This ship was part of a convoy of three liners but Unbeaten
did not see the others and all reached Tripoli safely.
7. Folbots were two seater canvas canoes, which could be carried
inside the submarine.
8. This force was engaged in covering another convoy of liners
carrying troops but they did not come within sight of Urge.
9. The French St Didier of 2778 tons was sunk on July 4th off
the Anatolian coast by the Fleet Air Arm.
10. Carrying 64 tons aviation fuel, 47 tons of kerosene, 7 tons
stores and 21 army and RAF passengers. Kerosene was widely used
in Malta by the civilian population for cooking.
11. We now know that the Italian cruisers and destroyers laid
mines in the Sicilian Channel on June 28th and again on July 7th.
12. Her signal “Next Please” was typical of Lieutenant
Caley’s sense of humour.
13. This force was covering the passage to North Africa.
14. This was a surface night attack and her last torpedo was defective.
15. The destroyer Papa showed considerable humanity not only by
ceasing fire when Cachalot
was being abandoned but also in searching for the lost man, who
was the Maltese Steward, for some time afterwards.
16. Torbay
Perseus
Upright
O21 Nereus
Triumph
Osiris
Ursula
O23 Triton
Taku
Rorqual
P32
O24 Papanicolis
Thrasher
Regent
Unique
Glaucos
Tetrarch
Olympus
Utmost
Katsonis
Talisman
Otus
P33
Parthian
Unbeaten
Upholder
Urge
17. Although operational for limited patrols, the Greek submarines
were not up to British standards.
18. The chronology of Upholder’s
movements may be difficult to follow. They were:
- 15 August Sails Malta 27 August Returns to Malta
- 20 August Sinks Enotria 29 August To sea after Repex
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19. Details
of these attacks have not survived and the reasons for the misses
are not known.
20. Captain Simpson asked if any COs did not feel able to take
part and Lieutenant Commander Tomkinson availed himself of this
opportunity.
21. Landing and recovering agents should not be confused with
Commando attacks on the railway system which Captain Simpson advocated
as part of his offensive against supplies crossing to North Africa.
22. Truant,
Trusty,
Proteus,
P34
and Sokol.
23. The Type 286 radar set was in the metric band and was an adaptation
of a set widely fitted in surface ships. It was valuable for use
both to detect aircraft and ships at moderate ranges.
24. Five of these were Greek but they were still in poor mechanical
condition and their training and morale were not good.
25. She fired from right astern.
26. Sokol was laid down as Urchin,
as already told, and was manned by the crew of Wilk. The transfer
of this submarine to the Mediterranean was odd because Poland
was not at war with Italy, but this did not seem to worry the
Polish Navy!
27. Up to now, aviation spirit was carried in four-gallon drums
that were prone to leak.
28. The torpedoes were in fact fired on the same course set the
night before to intercept from Malta.
29. This ship has not been identified since the war.
30. Month Total Fuel/Supplies landed in NA % Lost
June 125,076 tons 4%
July 62,700 tons 26%
August 83,900 tons 11%
September 67,400 tons 29%
October 73,610 tons 19%
November 30,000 tons 62%
December 39,000 tons 18%
31. Other arms also sank additional ships, most notably the two
cruisers by surface forces off Cape Bon, and a cruiser damaged
by torpedo bombers.
32. Of the one hundred and fifty four patrols made during seven
months covered by this chapter, in only eight of them did the
submarine expend all its torpedoes. On the other hand fifty returned
with all their torpedoes on board.
33. There were 76 raids on Malta during November, and 169 in December.
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