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R.Smg. CORALLO |
by Admiral (ret) Attilio
Duilio Ranieri
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| The submarine CORALLO was one of the 10 boats
of the “PERLA” series, part of the class “600” of coastal submarines. This
successful series, just like the whole class “600”, was build by the C.R.D.A.
shipyard (6 units) of Monfalcone (Gorizia) and O.T.O. (4 units) of Muggiano
(La Spezia) between 1935 and 1936. The submarine CORALLO (code CO), was part
of the first six and was laid down on October 1st, 1935. Launched on August
2nd, 1936 and delivered to the Regia Marina on September 26th of the same
year. |
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The CORALLO before delivery to the Navy at the C.R.D.A.
shipyard in 1936.
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| At the outbreak of war, the CORALLO was
assigned to the 7th Submarine Group, 72nd Squadron based in Cagliari
(Sardinia), and operated from this base for the whole war. However, when
Italy entered the war (June 10th, 1940), the boat was in Monfalcone, the
shipyard where it had been built, and therefore could not immediately enter
service. Work was completed around the end of August 1940, and before returning to base, the CORALLO under the command of Lieutenant Commander Loris Albanese completed from the 3rd to the 18th of September its first patrol in the eastern Mediterranean. In the late afternoon of the 17th, while on patrol 60 miles south of Crete, the CORALLO intercepted a large enemy naval formation en route to Alexandria and immediately commenced a decisive attack. Avoiding the screen, the submarine launched two torpedoes against an aircraft carrier from a very close distance (about 1,500 meters)and immediately after disengaging by diving to avoid the enemy forces’ reaction. Even if after a minute everyone aboard heard two loud explosions, different from the ones caused by depth charges, the result of the attack was never established because there is no confirmation in any of the British documentation. The intense enemy reaction forced the boat to dive past the 80 meters (max operational depth) and assume “silent operations”, a system which used air to move water between trim tanks instead of pumps, and which caused the progressive increase of the air pressure within the boat. After three hours, eluding the hunt, the boat reached surface and the second in command, Lieutenant Alfredo Gatti, opened the cunning tower’s hatch and, probably due to the excitement of the moment, failed to gradually release the over-pressured internal air; the porthole opened all at once and the officer was violently ejected. Despite the long search, he was never found. Another man, the Chief Torpedoman Angelo Bianchi, was found dead in the forward torpedo room, perhaps victim of a fatal fall while the boat, under attack from depth charges, had repeatedly lost control. Because the damage sustained was not reparable on board, the boat went on to Tobruk where it arrived on September 18th. |
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The CORALLO still on the slip.
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After this unlucky event, in the two subsequent years the CORALLO operated
almost continuously, completing patrols all over the Mediterranean, but
without many results, just like the great majority of the Italian
submarines operating in this area where the enemy traffic was not as
present and in the Atlantic. After March 17th, 1941, the CORALLO was under the command of Lieutenant Gino Andreani, who sank with the deck gun the following ships (after having rescued the crew):
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Just before December 10th, Salvatore Fanale, one of the
crewmembers, disimbarked due to an illness.
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On December 10th, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Guido Guidi who
had replaced Captain Andreani in mid June 1942, the boat left Cagliari for
a patrol off the African cost between Bona and Bizerta. The operational
orders contemplated an offensive patrol in the Bay of Bougie for the night
of the 13th. After departure, all communication with the boat was lost
despite radio signals sent up to the 23rd of December. |
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Translated from Italian by Cristiano D'Adamo |
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