The ''Marcello'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of nine

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s built in 1937 and 1938 by CRDA in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

for the

Royal Italian Navy The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' (" ...

( it, Regia Marina). Two similar submarines built in 1939 at

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

Oto Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ado ...

are sometimes considered part of the class. All eleven served in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

at the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After s 1940 sinking, the remaining boats were transferred to the

BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines particip ...

Atlantic submarine base at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

in August 1940. After four boats had been sunk in the Atlantic, and were then selected for conversion to " transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from 20–25% to 3.5–6%; and armament was reduced to defensive

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s. Only was in operational condition at the end of the war.

Class members

''Marcello''

(

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

ML) was launched on 20 November 1937Kafka & Pepperburg pp. 790 & 791 and completed on 5 March 1938. When Italy declared war, ''Marcello'' was temporarily disabled by

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system leaks. Leakage of

chloromethane Chloromethane, also called methyl chloride, Refrigerant-40, R-40 or HCC 40, is an organic compound with the chemical formula . One of the haloalkanes, it is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas. Methyl chloride is a crucial reagent in industrial ...

refrigerants during submerged operations had caused

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

poisoning of the crew. After unsuccessful patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Marcello'' sailed on 31 October 1940 and passed the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

on 5 November for an Atlantic patrol to

on 2 December. ''Marcello'' sank one ship on its first BETASOM patrol and was lost to unknown causes on its next patrol in late February 1941.

''Dandolo''

''Dandolo'' (pennant number DO) was launched 20 November 1937 and completed on 25 March 1938. After unsuccessful patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Dandolo'' sailed on 13 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 16 August for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 10 September. ''Dandolo'' sank one ship and damaged another en route to Bordeaux. After an unsuccessful patrol, ''Dandolo'' sank one ship on its second BETASOM patrol. After another unsuccessful patrol, ''Dandolo'' sailed from Bordeaux on 26 June, passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 2 July, and returned to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

on 7 July. ''Dandolo'' spent the remainder of the war in the Mediterranean damaging a neutral French tanker on 4 November 1941, sinking the neutral Spanish freighter ''Castillo Oropesa'' on 8 November 1941, and damaging the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

on 16 July 1943. ''Dandolo'' sailed to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

, and was

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

in 1948.

''Mocenigo''

(pennant number MO) was launched 20 November 1937. ''Mocenigo'' was sunk off

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

during a 13 May 1943

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

air raid.

''Nani''

(pennant number NI) was launched 16 January 1938. After unsuccessful patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Nani'' sailed on 29 September 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 4 November. ''Nani'' sank two ships en route to Bordeaux. ''Nani'' was lost to unknown causes sometime after 3 January 1941 on its first BETASOM patrol. j According to the Daily Telegraph obituary of Cpt Humphrey Boyes-Smith RN who died 24/6/99, Nani was sunk by depth charges from the Flower-class corvette HMS ''Anemone'' on 7/1/41.

''Veniero''

(pennant number VN) was launched 14 February 1938 and completed on 6 June. After an unsuccessful Mediterranean patrol, ''Veniero'' passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 7 July 1940 for an Atlantic patrol near the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

and returned past Gibraltar on 27 July. This was the first

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

submarine to pass Gibraltar during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the report of conditions delivered upon return to Naples on 1 August assisted future attempts to pass the strait. ''Veniero'' sailed on 28 September 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 2 November. After sinking two ships in six BETASOM patrols, ''Veniero'' sailed from Bordeaux on 8 August 1941 and returned through the Strait of Gibraltar to La Spezia on 2 September. On its seventh patrol after return to the Mediterranean, ''Veniero'' was assumed sunk (identification not confirmed) by a

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

on 7 June 1942.

''Provana''

''Provana'' (pennant number PR) was launched 16 March 1938. ''Provana'' was the first Italian submarine lost after Italy's declaration of war. ''Provana'' was sunk by the French

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

'' La Curieuse'' on 16 June 1940.

''Barbarigo''

''Barbarigo'' (pennant number BO) was launched 12 June 1938. After unsuccessful patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Barbarigo'' sailed on 13 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 8 September. After unsuccessful BETASOM patrols from 14 October to 13 November 1940 and from 10 February to 8 March 1941, ''Barbarigo'' damaged the British freighter ''Manchester Port'' on 15 May 1941. ''Barbarigo'' sank two ships on its fourth BETASOM patrol. After an unsuccessful patrol from 22 October to 12 November 1941, ''Barbarigo'' sank the neutral Spanish freighter ''Navemar'' on 23 January 1942. ''Barbarigo'' sank one ship and damaged another during its seventh BETASOM patrol. Following an encounter with cruisers and coming to assist the damaged ship, Captain Grossi notoriously asserted he had sunk a

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. On the following patrol, a similarly unsuccessful launch of torpedoes at the HMS ''Petunia'' was reported as the sinking of another battleship. ''Barbarigo'' sank two

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

ships and another neutral Spanish freighter ''Monte Igueldo'' on its ninth BETASOM patrol. After conversion to a transport submarine, ''Barbarigo'' sailed from Bordeaux on 17 June 1943 and was sunk by aircraft in the Bay of Biscay.Brice pp.131-133

''Emo''

(pennant number EO) was launched 29 June 1938 and completed on 10 October. After an unsuccessful first war patrol in the Mediterranean, ''Emo'' sailed on 29 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 3 October. ''Emo'' sank one ship en route to Bordeaux. After unsuccessful patrols from 31 October to 6 November 1940 and from 5 December to 1 January 1941, ''Emo'' sank one ship on its third BETASOM patrol. After another unsuccessful BETASOM patrol, ''Emo'' sailed from Bordeaux on 20 August and passed the Strait of Gibraltar to return to Naples on 1 September 1941. After spending two months as a training boat at the submarine school in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

, ''Emo'' completed several Mediterranean war patrols before being sunk by the naval trawler HMS ''Lord Nuffield'' on 7 November 1942 during the preliminary stages of

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

''Morosini''

(pennant number MS) was launched 28 July 1938. After unsuccessful war patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Morosini'' sailed on 25 October 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 31 October for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 28 November. After unsuccessful patrols from 22 January to 24 February and from 30 April to 20 May 1941, ''Morosini'' sank two ships on its third BETASOM patrol. After two more unsuccessful patrols, ''Morosini'' sank two ships during

Operation Neuland Operation Neuland (New Land) was the German Navy's code name for the extension of unrestricted submarine warfare into the Caribbean Sea during World War II. U-boats demonstrated range to disrupt United Kingdom petroleum supplies and United Stat ...

. While returning to France after sinking another ship during a second patrol to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, ''Morosini'' was lost to unknown causes after 8 August 1942.

''Comandante Cappellini''

''Cappellini'' (pennant number CL) was launched 14 May 1939 as the first boat of the "improved ''Marcello'' class". After an unsuccessful war patrol in the Mediterranean, ''Cappellini'' sailed on 29 September 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 5 October for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 5 November. ''Cappellini'' sank one ship en route to Bordeaux and two ships on its first BETASOM patrol. After unsuccessful patrols from 16 April to 20 May, 29 June to 6 July, and 17 November to 29 December 1941, ''Cappellini'' sank two ships on its fifth BETASOM patrol. During the following patrol, ''Cappellini'' participated in rescue operations of the

Laconia incident The ''Laconia'' incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved i ...

. After another unsuccessful patrol, ''Cappelini'' was converted to a transport submarine. ''Cappellini'' sailed on 11 May and reached

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 13 July 1943 with 160 tons of

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, 20mm

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

bombsight A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then moved to fighter-bombers and modern tactical ...

s and

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

s. ''Cappellini'' was seized by Germany following the Italian armistice of September 1943 and commissioned into the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' as ''UIT-24''. ''UIT-24'' was then seized by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

following German surrender in May 1945 and renamed ''I-503''. ''I-503'' was found at

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

when Japan surrendered and

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

Kii Suido The , also called the Kii Strait, is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The name of the strait derives from Kii Pr ...

by the

.Taylor pp.118-119,140&163

''Comandante Faà di Bruno''

(also called ''Faà di Bruno'') (pennant number FB) was launched 18 June 1939 and completed on 23 October 1939 as the second boat of the "improved ''Marcello'' class". After two unsuccessful war patrols in the Mediterranean, ''Faà di Bruno'' sailed on 28 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 3 September for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 5 October. ''Faà di Bruno'' was lost to unknown causes on its first BETASOM patrol after sailing from Bordeaux on 31 October 1940.

Notes

Sources

''Marcello'' class at regiamarina.net
* Erminio Bagnasco, ''Submarines of World War Two'', Cassell & Co, London. 1977 * Brice, Martin ''Axis Blockade Runners of World War II'' (1981) Naval Institute Press * Kafka, Roger & Pepperburg, Roy L. ''Warships of the World'' Cornell Maritime Press (1946) * Taylor, J.C. ''German Warships of World War II'' (1966) Doubleday & Company

External links

Classe Marcello
Marina Militare website {{WWII Italian ships Submarine classes