June 13, 1942 would have been another ordinary day of the Second World War in the Black Sea theater of operations, if not for one "but". It was on this summer day that two Soviet torpedo boats made a daring raid into the Yalta port, which was occupied by the Germans and their Italian allies and turned into a naval base. As a result of a torpedo salvo, one of the six SV-type ultra-small submarines (SMPL), which had just arrived from Italy a few days ago, went to the bottom together with its commander.
Design features
SV-type ultra-small submarines were the most numerous representatives of this class in the Italian Navy during the Second World War - in total, 22 submarines of this type were built and transferred to the fleet until 1943. And this is despite the fact that initially this submarine was a purely commercial project of the Caproni company and only after successful tests ordered by the Italian admirals was it put into service.
The main power plant of SMPL type SV is diesel-electric. It consisted of an Isotta Fraschini diesel engine with an 80 hp shaft. with. and an electric motor of the company "Brown-Boveri" with a shaft power of 50 liters. with. The propeller is one propeller.
The submarine had a light and durable hull and outwardly differed noticeably from other types of Italian submarines. Basically - the presence of a kind of small superstructure and low cone-shaped wheelhouse, which allowed the crew members to be safely on the upper deck of the submarine during its maneuvering on the surface.
The armament of the SV-type submarine was represented by two 450-mm torpedo tubes, which were located outside the strong hull of the submarine. Thus, to reload the torpedo tubes, it was not required to pull the SMPL out of the water, which greatly facilitated its maintenance in comparison with ships of a similar class of other types available to the navy of fascist Italy.
The construction of the SV-type submarine was carried out in two series. The first six submarines (numbers 1 through 6) were built in Milan by the Caproni company and handed over to the fleet between January and May 1941. The construction of the remaining submarines was continued almost two years later, and SMPLSV-7 was transferred to the Italian Navy only on August 1, 1943. In the same year, the construction of the series was completed.
Combat use of SMPL type SV
The fate of ultra-small submarines of the SV type developed in different ways. Some of the "ultra-young" never had a chance to take part in hostilities in their lifetime. Moreover, the first six submarines took an active part in the hostilities in the Black Sea against the Soviet Navy.
Submarines SV-8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 surrendered to British forces at the Taranto naval base in September 1943.
SMPLSV-7 got a more interesting fate. She was captured by German forces in Pole and then transferred to the Italian Socialist Republic Navy (northern Italy, led by Mussolini and supported by the armed forces of the Third Reich). However, after a while, it had to be disassembled for parts to maintain another SMPL, SV-13, in combat readiness. However, this did not particularly help the latter, and along with SMPLSV-14, 15 and 17, it was destroyed during Allied air raids during 1945.
SMPLSV-16 was also transferred to the navy of the last Italian republic, led by Mussolini. On October 1, 1944, it “lay down on the ground”, as it is written in foreign sources (for what reason, it is not clear, but most likely it was simply abandoned), in the immediate vicinity of Senegal on the Adriatic coast of the Mediterranean and was subsequently captured by the British.
SV-18 and 19 at the time of the end of hostilities were in Venice and were cut into metal shortly after the end of World War II.
The fate of the SMPL SV-20, which was captured by the Yugoslav partisans in Pole, is mysterious, and its further history is still unknown. It is likely that it was transferred to Marshal Tito's then ally, the Soviet Union.
SMPL SV-21 was rammed and sunk by a German fast ferry during its passage by sea to Ancona in order to surrender to the Allies.
And finally, the last SV-22 small submarine was captured by the allied forces at the very end of the war in Trieste. Then, for several long years, until 1950, her hull was lying derelict on the shore next to the port. But that year, a group of enthusiasts, as we say, restored this SMPL, and now it is on display to the general public at the War Museum in the city of Trieste.
Actions on the Soviet-German front
On January 14, 1942, the admiral of the Italian fleet Ricardi signed an agreement with his Greman colleagues, according to which, in the spring of 1942, the national navies of fascist Italy began to be attracted to help German troops on the Soviet-German front. For the Italians, two regions were identified - Lake Ladoga and the Black Sea theater of operations. In the first case, it was planned to immediately send 4 boats from the combat composition of the 10th MAS flotilla under the command of Captain 3rd Rank Bianchini to Ladoga, and 10 MAS boats, 5 MTVM torpedo boats, 5 MTM assault boats (all boats - from the 10th MAS flotilla) and a squadron of 6 SMPLs of the SV type (numbered 1-6). The latter were loaded onto railway platforms and, under the strictest secrecy, from April 25 to May 2, 1942, were transported from the area of permanent deployment in La Spezia to Constanta (Romania), where they were launched and put on alert.
Then, by sea, on their own, they crossed to the Crimea, where the Yalta port was chosen as the base. The first group of three SMPLs arrived in Yalta on May 5, 1942. These were SV-1 (commander - Lieutenant-Commander Leysin d'Asten), SV-2 (commander - Junior Lieutenant Attilio Russo) and SV-3 (commander - Second Lieutenant Giovanni Sorrentino). On June 11, the second group of SMPL arrived in Yalta, consisting of SV-4 (commander - Second Lieutenant Armando Sebille), SV-5 (commander - Lieutenant Commander Faroroli) and SV-6 (commander - Lieutenant Galliano). All six submarines were placed in the port's internal bucket and carefully camouflaged, which did not prevent the Soviet boats from sinking one of them.
After the attack of the Soviet torpedo boats D-3 and SM-3 under the general command of K. Kochiev, as a result of which the SV-5 submarine went to the bottom together with its commander Lieutenant-Commander Faroroli, only five Italian Saint-type submarines remained in Crimea. They accepted rather active participation in the disruption of communications of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and reliably sunk the submarine Shch-203 "Flounder" (V-bis, commander - Captain 3rd Rank Vladimir Innokentyevich Nemchinov). This happened presumably on the night of August 26, 1943 in the area of Cape Uret at 45 degrees. 11 minutes 7 sec. with. NS. and 32 degrees. 46 minutes 6 sec. v. (the submarine entered the area of Cape Tarkhankut to position number 82 on August 20). The entire team of 46 people was killed. In 1950, this submarine was raised (the survey found that the submarine had no torpedoes in TA No. 1 and 4).
The killer of the Soviet submarine was the Italian SMPL SV-4. According to the report of its commander, SV 4 was on the surface when on August 26, 1943, at 400 meters, the commander Armando Sebille himself discovered the surfaced Soviet submarine. The latter, having started the diesel engine, began to move towards the Italian SMPL without noticing it. SV-4 stalled, and Shch-203 passed about 50-60 meters from it, and on the bridge of the Soviet submarine, the Italian commander even managed to make out a man peering into the distance. Remaining astern at the Shch-203, the Italian SMPL performed a circulation and took an advantageous position for torpedo firing. Then, from a distance of about 800 meters, Sebille performed torpedo firing with one torpedo, which unexpectedly deviated to the left and did not harm the Soviet submarine. A second torpedo was immediately fired, which after 40 seconds reached the target, hitting in front of the wheelhouse Shch-203. A high water column shot up, a strong explosion was heard, and after a few moments the Soviet submarine disappeared under the water.
According to Italian data, ultra-small submarines also sunk another Soviet submarine, the S-32. However, this information is not confirmed by domestic sources. Moreover, some foreign books give even more incorrect information - allegedly SMPLs of the SV type in the Black Sea sank the Soviet submarines Shch-207 and Shch-208 (in particular: Paul Kemp. Midget submarines of the Second World War. Caxton Editions. 2003). It is completely incomprehensible where such information could be obtained from. It is immediately evident that the author did not even bother to glimpse our, Russian, literature on this issue.
For example, Paul Kemp claims that the SV-2 attacked and sank the Shch-208 submarine on June 18, 1942, and the SV-4 submarine on August 25, 1943, south of Tarakhankut, sank the Soviet Sh-207 submarine. By the way, it is also stated there that the SV-5 was sunk in the Yalta port not by torpedo boats, but by torpedo aircraft. Quite an interesting assumption, giving weight to our torpedo pilots, but completely unfounded.
The situation with the "sunk" Soviet submarines is even more absurd. The fact is that the submarine Sch-207 (V-bis, second series) could not have been sunk at all during the war, since … it successfully completed it and was excluded from the combat composition of the USSR Navy only on July 16, 1957 in connection with the transfer of the submarine to a special training ground Navy Air Force in the Caspian Sea for use as a target! So SV-4 actually sank the Soviet submarine Shch-203, which is reliably confirmed by our sources.
The situation with the submarine Shch-208 (Series X, commander Lieutenant Commander N. M. Belanov) is somewhat more complicated, since she really disappeared during a military campaign to the Portitsky mouth area of the Danube River from August 23 to September 8, 1942. However, most Russian and foreign sources nevertheless agree that the most probable cause of her death is the explosion of Romanian obstacles on mines or a detonation of a floating mine.
The fact of the sinking of the Soviet submarine S-32 (IX-bis series, commander 3rd rank Captain Pavlenko Stefan Klimentievich) by an Italian midget submarine of the SV type is confirmed by both Italian and Russian sources. In the latter case, see: A. V. Platonov. Soviet warships 1941-1945 Part III. Submarines. St. Petersburg. 1996 p. 78-79. The author claims that the S-32 was sunk by the Italian SMPLSV-3 on June 26, 1942, during the first regular flight on the Novorossiysk-Sevastopol route. The drowning place is the area of Cape Aytodor.
On the other hand, some foreign sources mention that the S-32 was sunk on June 26, 1942 by a He-111 bomber from the 2 / KG 100 combat group. her cargo to Sevastopol - 40 tons of ammunition and 30 tons of gasoline. Although the information that the remains of the S-32 submarine hull were recently found at the bottom of the Black Sea south-west of Yalta speaks in favor of the version about the sinking of its Italian submarine submarine.
In total, during their stay in Russia, the Italian small submarines made 42 military campaigns, while losing only one boat at sea (according to Italian data, it was lost not in battle, but for another reason).
On October 9, 1942, the 4th Flotilla of the Italian Navy, which included all the small submarines and combat boats on the Black Sea (flotilla commander, Captain 1st Rank Mimbelli), received an order to relocate to the Caspian Sea (!). However, Soviet troops thwarted these plans. The 6th German army at Stalingrad was surrounded and quickly destroyed.
As a result, on January 2, 1943, Admiral Bartholdi ordered the recall of all Italian ships from the Black Sea theater of operations. All the remaining small submarines of the SV type on September 9, 1943 arrived in Constanta and were transferred to the Romanian Navy. The crews returned to their homeland.
Subsequently, they were captured by Soviet troops safe and sound and, according to some sources, were in the combat composition of the Soviet Navy until 1955.
