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1.
In Rohwer and Hammelchen, Sickle
is credited on this date with sinking of UJ2213. It seems this
must be the same ship.
2. Another hit the cliff below the casino and exploded. The C-in-C
signalled ‘Rien ne vas plus’ to Sickle.
3. The Identity of this ship is not certain, as Italian records
are conflicting.
4. Rohwer and Hammelchen credit her with sinking two ships of
2908 tons and of torpedoing another.
5. Figures are for whole month of May.
6. Dalny had been damaged and beached after an attack by Tribune
in January and had just been salvaged.
7. Trident’s
operations in the Mediterranean were carried out before she was
sent to the Far East as related in Chapter XIX.
8. This attack was photographed by a photo-reconnaissance Spitfire
which happened to be passing at the time.
9. Before this, Sickle
had been despatched to capture a German controlled Spanish ship,
whose Master had defected to the Allies. Unfortunately the Master
was relieved before the ship sailed.
10. The railway line was in a tunnel at the point of landing and
could not be found.
11. Described in detail in ‘The Man Who Never Was’.
12. There were 47 British and Allied submarines available.
13. Absolute minimum for a small submarine would be 8 fathoms
and for a large submarine 10 fathoms.
14. Some nine officers and men strong, two thirds naval personnel
and one third soldiers of the Royal Engineers.
15. Safari,
Unbending,
United,
Unrivalled,
Unruffled,
Unseen,
Unison
and Unshaken.
16. FH830 buoys were sonic and they transmitted a signal that
could be picked up by the motor launches leading in the waves
of landing craft. They had time-clocks to start them operating
at the right time.
17. Parthian
had just returned to the Mediterranean after an extensive
refit in the USA.
18. The details of this operation are obscure. It is thought that
the landing was originally to have been about 100 strong and that
it would be made north of Syracuse probably to seize important
bridges on roads to the north.
19. They were able to find enough to surrender shortly afterwards.
20. The night alarm was sounded and the main vents were opened
in error. The OOW and lookouts got down below and the First Lieutenant
shut the lower conning tower hatch. Fortunately the Captain managed
to get the upper hatch shut in time.
21. 0.2% of men and 0.4% of material.
22. She was subsequently used by the Germans as a blockship in
the Corinth Canal.
23. The date in the Italian records is shown as 28th but this
was probably Unrivalled’s
quarry.
24. Two landings had been proposed by the Supreme Commander, one
in the Gulf of Gioja, twenty five miles north east of Reggio and
the other near Crotone on either side of Cape Rizzuto.
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25. 39,569
German and 62,000 Italian troops were evacuated with nearly 10,000
vehicles, 47 tanks and 135 guns as well as 15,000 tons of supplies
including 2000 tons of ammunition. Only a few ferries were sunk
and losses were trifling.
25a. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II.
Vol IX – Samuel Eliot Morison. Oxford University Press, London
1954.
26. It is of interest that this was the third loss in a few months
of a modern S-class submarine in the Mediterranean. However it
did not lead to suggestions that the S-class were in any way unsuitable
in the way that the T class had recently been criticised.
27. The same eclipse as hindered O24 in the Malacca Strait.
28. Lince had run aground on 4th August.
29. Post war research found no evidence of mines in this area.
30. The Italian Fleet was attacked by German bombers with radio
controlled bombs west of the Straits of Bonifacio and the Roma
blew up and sank. Later the Italians met Warspite and Valiant
and were escorted to Malta.
31. The Captain of Menotti said he opened fire as he thought Unshaken
was a German U-Boat.
32. The convoy consisted of Rinucci of 1217 tons, Acilia of 329
tons, Lucrino of 5536 tons, Apunuta of 2286 tons, Belagosa of
669 tons and Luana of 1140 tons.
33. These negotiations were not easy as Poland was still not officially
at war with Italy.
34. Already Roma had been sunk by one of these weapons and
Warspite and the US cruiser Savannah disabled.
35. ex P67,
a British U-class submarine.
36. It is just possible that the cause of the loss of Usurper
was a mine. The Germans are now known to have laid six fields
after the Italian Armistice south and southwest of La Spezia and
off Gogona Island and it is possible that she struck one of these.
37. Patrols by Trooper
and Unsparing
in the Aegean at the end of September fit better into Chapter
XXIII and are described there.
38. Figures are taken from the Official Italian Naval History
and are for ships of 500 tons and over.
39. The railway capacity was insufficient to import all their
needs overland.
40. The original war plan was for a short war and Libya had stocks
of supplies to last six months.
41. Also lost were twenty-nine small ships of under 500 tons totalling
4,775 tons.
42. There were, in addition, some 16 beach reconnaissances, 52
storing
trips and about 90 passages through the Mediterranean.
43. Shared with the RAF.
44. Some of these were classed as Torpedo Boats.
45. Sixteen Italian, four German and one Vichy French.
46. Not counting the Greek Proteus,
which was not under British operational control at the time.
47. Except for those required on the Home station.
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