Upon entering service in December 1933, the SMERALDO left the shipyard
TOSI remaining in Taranto assigned to the “Inspectorate Submarines” which
took care of the initial training. As part of this activity, in 1934 the
boat completed a cruise in the eastern Mediterranean.
In 1935, the boat was deployed in Messina, first assigned to the 7th
Squadron, then in 1936, to the 9th. But in 1937, it was reassigned to the
45th Squadron, 4th Submarine Group, based in Taranto. During the Spanish
Civil War, the boat completed a patrol under the command of Lieutenant
Commander Mario Canò from August 25th to September 6th, 1937 off Cape
Palos, but without obtaining any result.
When Italy entered World War II (June 10th, 1940), the SMERALDO was
assigned to the 61st Squadron, 6th Submarine Group based in Tobruk, Libya.
From here, under the command of Leiutenant Carlo Todaro (brother of
Captain Salvatore Todaro, Gold Medal), the boat left the same day to
patrol off Alexandria, 60 miles to the east.
In the early hours of the 11th, the SMERALDO sighted a large ship against
which it launched a torpedo, failing due to the heavy sea. It is the first
torpedo launched by an Italian submarine in World War II. It returned to
Tobruk on the 20th.
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On July 3rd, the SMERALDO left for the subsequent patrol and on the 7th
and 8th was, unwillingly the protagonist for another record; discovered by
British antisubmarine units, it underwent the most dramatic bombardment in
the whole war with about 200 depth charges. Despite some damage, it
escaped, returning to base in Tobruk.
Nevertheless, the damage received (water infiltration through the
resistant hull’s rivets, a broken electric motor, just to mention the main
ones) was not repairable with the means available in Tobruk, so the boat
was sent to Augusta where, from July 15th to December 2nd it remained in
the shipyard. It began operating again on December 15th, for a patrol off
the Egyptian coast, and since there wasn’t any enemy shipping, on the 22nd
it returned to Augusta. The subsequent mission in the waters off Malta
began on January 16th, 1941 and it was interrupted soon after when, on the
18th, a serious failure with the batteries forced the boat back to
Augusta. During refitting, Lieutenant Carlo Todaro transferred command to
Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Vincenzo D’Amato.
Activity started again on March 15th, this time in the Cerigotto Channel,
between mainland Greece and the Island of Crete. On the 16th, the SMERALDO
sighted a seven-ship convoy, escorted by a cruiser and several destroyers,
but the position was not favorable and could not conduct an attack. It
tried again two days later, on the 18th, when it was able to attack a fast
enemy unit, but this one, having sighted the submarine, attacked it and
was almost able to ram it, forcing it to dive. On the 22nd, the boat
returned to Leros where it remained on a temporary assignment.
From this base the SMERALDO left for two more patrols in the area: the
fist south of Crete from the 8th to the 16th of April, 1941. The second
from May 29th to June 4th, south west of Cape Crios (Crete). Neither
patrols produced any results. Anyway, differently from the Atlantic, in
the Mediterranean traffic was scant and always heavily escorted. It was
hard life for the submarines forced to strenuous patrols and rewarded by
very modest results. Later, the boat returned to Augusta for refitting
until September 1st. During this period, Lieutenant Commander D’Amato
transferred command to the last skipper, Lieutenant Bartolomeo La Penna.
The patrol of the SMERALDO began on September 15th, 1942 when, along with
other boats, it was positioned in the Strait of Sicily to form a naval
screen against British naval forces. These forces had left Gibraltar
between the 8th and the 14th, directed to the western Mediterranean.
Specifically, the SMERALDO was assigned a patrol area off the Tunisian
coast where the safety routes bypassing the minefields were located. The
boat’s return was scheduled for the 26th, but after the departure from
Augusta all contacts were lost.
Since in those days and places, after having verified the British
documentation, there is no report of any antisubmarine activity, it should
be assumed that the submarine was lost following contact with a mine
between the 16th and 26th of September, 1941. Up to then, the SMERALDO had
completed 15 missions (8 patrols and 7 transfers), for a total of 10,345
miles. |
