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Raid on Alexandria (1941)
Encyclopedia
The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy
forces attacking Royal Navy
forces in the harbour of Alexandria
.
of the Italian Royal Navy
(Regia Marina
) left the naval base of La Spezia
carrying three manned torpedo
es. At the island of Leros
in the Aegean Sea
, the submarine secretly picked up six crewmen for them: Luigi Durand de la Penne
and Emilio Bianchi (maiale nº 221), Vincenzo Martellotta and Mario Marino (maiale nº 222), and Antonio Marceglia and Spartaco Schergat (maiale nº 223).
, just under the hull of Valiant. However, as they both had to surface, and as Bianchi was hurt, they were subsequently discovered and captured.
Questioned, both of them kept silent, and they were confined in a compartment aboard Valiant, under the sea level, and just over the place were the mine had been placed. Fifteen minutes before the explosion, de la Penne asked to meet with Valiants captain Charles Morgan and then told him of the imminent explosion but refused to give further information, so that he was returned to the compartment. Fortunately for the Italians, when the mine exploded just before them, neither he nor Bianchi were severely injured by the blast, while de la Penne only received a minor injury to the head by a ship chain.
The other four torpedo-riders were also captured inland by the Egypt
ian police and handed over to the British, but not before their mines sank the battleships HMS Valiant and .
The 7750 LT (7,874.4 t) Norwegian
tanker Sagona lost her stern section and the destroyer was badly damaged. Although the two capital ships sank only in a few feet of water and were eventually raised, they were out of action for over one year.
This represented a dramatic change of fortunes against the Allies from the strategic point of view during the next six months. The Italian fleet had achieved naval supremacy in the east-central Mediterranean.
The attack is dramatised at the beginning of the film The Silent Enemy (1958). Another movie The Valiant
, done in 1962, is about the sinking of HMS Valiant in Alexandria harbour. There it is even a 1953 Italian movie (I sette dell'Orsa Maggiore) about the attack, done with some real members of Decima Flottiglia MAS
as support actors in the cast.
Italian Navy
Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...
forces attacking Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
forces in the harbour of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
.
Background
On 3 December, the submarineSubmarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
of the Italian Royal Navy
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
(Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
) left the naval base of La Spezia
La Spezia
La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
carrying three manned torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....
es. At the island of Leros
Leros
Leros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...
in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, the submarine secretly picked up six crewmen for them: Luigi Durand de la Penne
Luigi Durand De La Penne
Luigi Durand de la Penne was an Italian naval diver in Decima MAS during World War II. De la Penne was born in Genoa, where he also died.De la Penne graduated from the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno in 1934...
and Emilio Bianchi (maiale nº 221), Vincenzo Martellotta and Mario Marino (maiale nº 222), and Antonio Marceglia and Spartaco Schergat (maiale nº 223).
Raid
On 19 December, Sciré—at a depth of 15 m (49.2 ft)—released the manned torpedoes 1.3 mi (1.1 nmi; 2.1 km) from Alexandria commercial harbour, and they entered the naval base when the British opened their defenses to let three of their destroyers pass. There were many difficulties for de la Penne and his crewmate Emilio Bianchi. First, the engine of the torpedo stopped and the two frogmen had to manually push it; then Bianchi had to surface due to problems with the oxygen provider, so that de la Penne had to push Maiale alone to where lay. There he successfully placed the limpet mineLimpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
, just under the hull of Valiant. However, as they both had to surface, and as Bianchi was hurt, they were subsequently discovered and captured.
The other four torpedo-riders were also captured inland by the Egypt
Kingdom of Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt was the first modern Egyptian state, lasting from 1922 to 1953. The Kingdom was created in 1922 when the British government unilaterally ended its protectorate over Egypt, in place since 1914. Sultan Fuad I became the first king of the new state...
ian police and handed over to the British, but not before their mines sank the battleships HMS Valiant and .
The 7750 LT (7,874.4 t) Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
tanker Sagona lost her stern section and the destroyer was badly damaged. Although the two capital ships sank only in a few feet of water and were eventually raised, they were out of action for over one year.
This represented a dramatic change of fortunes against the Allies from the strategic point of view during the next six months. The Italian fleet had achieved naval supremacy in the east-central Mediterranean.
The attack is dramatised at the beginning of the film The Silent Enemy (1958). Another movie The Valiant
The Valiant (1962 film)
The Valiant is a 1962 film directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring John Mills, Ettore Manni, Roberto Risso, Robert Shaw, and Liam Redmond. Based on the Italian manned torpedo attack against two British battleships at the port of Alexandria in December 1941.- See also :*HMS Valiant*Luigi Durand de...
, done in 1962, is about the sinking of HMS Valiant in Alexandria harbour. There it is even a 1953 Italian movie (I sette dell'Orsa Maggiore) about the attack, done with some real members of Decima Flottiglia MAS
Decima Flottiglia MAS
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian commando frogman unit of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World...
as support actors in the cast.
See also
- Junio Valerio BorgheseJunio Valerio BorghesePrince Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and was a prominent hard-line fascist politician in post-war Italy.-Early career:Junio Valerio Borghese was born in Artena, Province of Rome, Kingdom of Italy...
- Luigi Durand de la PenneLuigi Durand De La PenneLuigi Durand de la Penne was an Italian naval diver in Decima MAS during World War II. De la Penne was born in Genoa, where he also died.De la Penne graduated from the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno in 1934...
- Spartaco SchergatSpartaco SchergatSpartaco Schergat was an Italian military frogman during World War II.-Biography:Schergat was born in Istria from an Italian irredentist and as a voluntary entered in the Royal Italian Navy in 1940...
- Operation SourceOperation SourceOperation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines....