# Italian U-Boats in WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052 "2007-12-23T21:18:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/1 "2007-12-23T21:18:34Z")
Did the Italian Navy have success with its submarines? I haven’t heard much about the Italian submarines-of course, with bases in the Mediterranean (and Gibralter controlled by the British) it would be hard for the Italians to get into the Atlantic. Does anyone know if the Italians sank many allied ships? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/2 "2007-12-23T21:45:29Z")
The best known was probably [Axum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Axum) (or at least it’s the only individual one I can name) which with one salvo sunk an RN light cruiser, damaged another and also damaged the _Ohio_ on _Ohio’s_ heroic journey to Malta. From the wiki link, I note that _Axum_ joined the Allies when Italy surrendered, which is pretty cool and probably is indicative of some of the things being discussed in your other Italy WWII [thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=447850) Churchill has a table of submarine success broken down by nationality in one of the appendices in his _Second World War_, but I don’t have my copy to hand. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/3 "2007-12-24T13:18:59Z")
During the Spanish Civil War, Italian boats blockaded government-held ports. Of course, submarines cannot really blockade, so they sank civilian shipping. An account of this little-down horror canbe found in Eric Blair’s writting (somewhere or another). ---
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/4 "2007-12-24T14:15:30Z")
Several Italian submarines did manage to get into the Atlantic, and worked alongside the German U-boats based in Bordeaux and other French Biscay ports. Contrary to national stereotype, the Italian crews earned a reputation for efficiency, dedication and bravery; the boats themselves were well-regarded too, being well-designed and built to a high standard. One notable example is the submarine [Cappellini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Cappellini), which was involved in the famous [Laconia incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident) and ended its active life as a Japanese vessel. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/5 "2007-12-24T15:36:52Z")
Here’s the small amount of info I know of: > [@](#): > > Ships sunk from italian submarines > Merchant Ships 132 (665.317 tonn.) > Military Ships 18 (28.950 tonn.) > [from this site](http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2270/ww2e.htm) > [@](#): > > While more suited for the Mediterranean Sea than the Atlantic Ocean, the 32 Italian submarines that operated in the Atlantic sank 109 Allied ships for a total of 593,864 tons. > [from Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regia_Marina#World_War_II) [QUOTE=Struan] Churchill has a table of submarine success broken down by nationality in one of the appendices in his Second World War, but I don’t have my copy to hand. [/QUOTE] **Struan** , I’m not finding that list in my copy of the series. There are a lot of tables showing monthly merchant shipping losses for the Allied, Axis, and neutral powers, but they don’t indicate who the aggressor was. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/6 "2007-12-24T15:41:49Z")
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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-u-boats-in-wwii/431052/7 "2007-12-24T17:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] **Struan** , I’m not finding that list in my copy of the series. There are a lot of tables showing monthly merchant shipping losses for the Allied, Axis, and neutral powers, but they don’t indicate who the aggressor was. [/QUOTE] In the full unabridged six-volume edition there are tables breaking down the shipping losses in greater detail than that - including by known aggressor nation and also by location (The relevant ones are in either volume five or six where Churchill ruminates on naval strategy). I thought that the location ones would have helped with another recent question about Axis U-boat incursion in American waters, but I won’t have access to the full set again until some time in the New Year.