 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | Durbo |
| Namesake | Durba |
| Builder | OTO |
| Laid down | 8 March 1937 |
| Launched | 6 March 1938 |
| Commissioned | 1 July 1938 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 18 October 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | 600-Serie Adua-classsubmarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 60.18 m (197 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 6.45 m (21 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Complement | 44 (4 officers + 40 non-officers and sailors) |
| Armament |
|
Italian submarineDurbo was anAdua-classsubmarine built for theRoyal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during the 1930s. It was named after a town ofDurba inEthiopia.
TheAdua-class submarines were essentially repeats of the precedingPerla class. Theydisplaced 680 long tons (690 t) surfaced and 844 long tons (858 t) submerged. The submarines were 60.18 meters (197 ft 5 in) long, had abeam of 6.45 meters (21 ft 2 in) and adraft of 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in).[1]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 600-brake-horsepower (447 kW)diesel engines, each driving onepropeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 400-horsepower (298 kW)electric motor. They could reach 14knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) underwater. On the surface, theAdua class had a range of 3,180nautical miles (5,890 km; 3,660 mi) at 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph), submerged, they had a range of 74 nmi (137 km; 85 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph).[2]
The boats were armed with six internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in)torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern. They were also armed with one100 mm (4 in)deck gun for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns.[1]
Durbo waslaunched on 6 March 1938 inOTO's shipyard inLa Spezia and commissioned on 1 July that year.[1] In August 1938 she was assigned toLeros.Durbo spent about a year engaged in exercises betweenRhodes andLeros before returning to Italy.
Durbo, under command of captain Armando Acanfora, with her sistersBeilul andTembien formed 35th Squadron (III Submarine Group) based inMessina. On 9 June 1940 she left the base for an offensive mission in theGulf of Hammamet.
On 16 June 1940, at 6:10, at the point34°06′N11°33′E / 34.100°N 11.550°E /34.100; 11.550 (in theGulf of Hammamet about 44 miles southwest ofPantelleria), while proceeding to her patrol area,Durbo launched a couple of torpedoes at a small unit (perhaps a corvette, or a French destroyer), hearing a violent detonation after two minutes, but the rough seas made it impossible to verify whether the ship had been hit. There is no information about any ships being damaged or sunk in this area on this date.
For the next several monthsDurbo went on several more patrols aroundMalta andPantelleria but without any success.
On 9 October 1940Durbo, still under command of captain Acanfora, sailed fromMessina to her newly assigned area of operations, about seventy miles East ofGibraltar. On 12 October 1940 she reached her assigned area near the island ofAlboran south ofMálaga and commenced patrolling in anticipation of a British convoy that she was supposed to report on.Durbo patrolled the area until 18 October, and sighted several ships, including a British destroyer on 17 October, but didn't attack any of the sighted targets.[3]
In the early morning of 18 October, while on the surface, captain Acanfora learned that the submarine had developed an oil leak, and ordered the crew to fix the problem as quickly as possible. A few hours later, with the sun out, and the crew sure that the leak had been repaired,Durbo submerged to about 100 feet (30 m).[3] At 17:25 aSaro London flying boat of202 Squadron RAF, piloted by Captain Percy R. Hatfield, sighted air bubbles and a small patch of oil while flying off the island ofAlboran, 65 miles East of theStrait of Gibraltar.Durbo just detected a ship, and rose up to periscope depth to observe her potential target. Around 17:50 together with a second 202 Squadron London, piloted by Captain Norman F. Eagleton, Hatfield dropped bombs at the location of the bubbles and the oil. The bombs dropped by the aircraft exploded but had not damagedDurbo, but forced the submarine to dive down to 100 feet (30 m) to avoid further attacks by the aircraft. The ship detected byDurbo was one of the British destroyers,HMS Firedrake orHMS Wrestler, patrolling nearby. After a lookout onHMS Firedrake had observed the reconnaissance planes dive and release bombs, both ships rushed in to close in on the area of attack, and soon established a contact onASDIC.Durbo dove down to about 200 feet (61 m) trying to break off the attackers, and then submerged even deeper, to 400 feet (120 m). The pressure strained the steel plates which increased oil leak, making the submarine's position even more visible to destroyers. The depth charges set at 350 feet (110 m) were dropped, resulting in a large air bubble rising to the surface, possibly damaging the submarine's air supply system. After another attack, the submarine rose rapidly to the surface and was fired upon byHMS Wrestler. The submarine dove down, and another depth charge attack followed. After about 50 depth charges were dropped by both destroyers, at around 19:30, the submarine surfaced again, and was immediately fired upon by both destroyers. One shell hit the conning tower, forcing the crew to start abandoning the boat.[4][5][6]
Durbo sank stern first at 19:50 on 18 October 1940, at the point35°57′N04°00′W / 35.950°N 4.000°W /35.950; -4.000 with all 46 men of her crew (5 officers and 41 non-officers and sailors) rescued byHMS Firedrake.
BeforeDurbo went under, a British boarding party made up of men fromHMS Firedrake andHMS Wrestler went on board. They got down into control room, and managed to grab codes and operational orders which were not destroyed. The capture of secret documents had a fatal short-term outcome: they shown the location of other Italian submarines, and just two days later, on 20 October 1940, a group of British destroyers would set a trap toLafolè whose location was revealed by the captured documents.Lafolè was sunk after a hard chase, leaving only nine survivors.[7]
35°57′N4°0′W / 35.950°N 4.000°W /35.950; -4.000
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1940 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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