Italian submarine Berillo

History
 Regia MarinaKingdom of Italy
Name: Berillo
Namesake: Beryl
Builder: CRDA, Monfalcone
Laid down: 14 September 1935
Launched: 14 June 1936
Commissioned: 5 August 1936
Fate: Scuttled, 2 October 1940
General characteristics
Class and type: Perla-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 697.25 tonnes (686 long tons) surfaced
  • 856.39 tonnes (843 long tons) submerged
Length: 60.20 m (197 ft 6 in)
Beam: 6.45 m (21 ft 2 in)
Draft: 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power:
  • 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) (diesels)[1]
  • 800 hp (600 kW) (electric motors)[1]
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
  • 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 5,200 nmi (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced
  • 74 nmi (137 km; 85 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth: 80 m (260 ft)
Complement: 44 (4 officers + 40 non-officers and sailors)
Armament:

Italian submarine Berillo was a Perla-class submarine built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during the 1930s. It was named after a gemstone Beryl.

Design and description

The Perla-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding Sirena class. The modifications that were made compared to the boats of the previous series were mostly of upgrade nature. Among them were enlargement of the false tower at the top, more modern engines, installation of a radiogoniometer that could be controlled from inside the ship. Improvements and the installation of new air conditioning equipment meant a slight increase in displacement, and increase in the fuel stowage also increased the autonomy of these boats compared to the previous series. Their designed full load displacement was 695 metric tons (684 long tons) surfaced and 855 metric tons (841 long tons) submerged, but varied somewhat depending on the boat and the builder. The submarines were 197 feet 6 inches (60.20 m) long, had a beam of 21 feet (6.4 m) and a draft of 15 feet (4.6 m) to 15 feet 5 inches (4.70 m).[2]

For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft with overall power of 675–750 hp (503–559 kW).[2] When submerged each propeller was driven by a 400-horsepower (298 kW) electric motor. They could reach 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) underwater. On the surface, the Perla class had a range of 5,200 nautical miles (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 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. One reload torpedo was carried for each tube, for a total of twelve. They were also armed with one 100 mm (4 in) deck gun for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns.[3]

Construction and career

Berillo was built by CRDA at their shipyard in Monfalcone, laid down on 14 September 1935 and launched on 14 June 1936. [3]

After entering service, the submarine was assigned to the 35th Squadron based at Messina but relocated to Augusta.[1] During 1936 Berillo underwent an intensive endurance training cruise in the central Mediterranean, sailing between Tobruk, Benghazi, Marsa el Hilal, Bardia, Leros and Naples.

During January through September 1937 she participated in the Spanish Civil War, carrying out three missions. On January 1, 1937 Berillo left Naples under command of Captain Vittorio Prato for the first mission to be carried out off Cartagena. She returned to the base on 17 or 18 January 1937 without any sightings.[1]

On August 5, 1937 Berillo left from Augusta, under command of captain Andrea Gasparini, for the second mission to patrol an area northwest of Pantelleria, between Cape Lilibeo and Cape Bon. She remained on station for eleven days during which there were 45 sightings and attack attempts. On August 14, 1937 she fired two torpedo at a steamer, but missed. On August 16, 1937 she returned to the base. [1]

On August 28, 1937 Berillo set off on her third mission this time again off Cartagena. On September 6, 1937 she returned to the base without sighting any suspicious ships.

In 1938 Berillo was transferred together with Iride and Onice to the Red Sea base at Massawa in Eritrea.[1]

In spring of 1939 she returned to the Mediterranean base at Taranto but subsequently transferred to Augusta.[1]

In January of 1940 captain Camillo Milesi Ferretti assumed command of Berillo.

At the time of Italy's entrance into World War II, Berillo, together with Gemma and Onice, was assigned the 13th Squadron (I Submarine group) based at La Spezia, operating from Augusta. Early in the war, she performed missions in the central Mediterranean without encountering enemy ships.[1]

On July 13, 1940 she was deployed along with the largest submarines Morosini, Nani and Comandante Faà di Bruno to an area east of Gibraltar. She did not encounter any enemy ship. In a subsequent mission she was sent to patrol an area off Malta, but again she did not encounter any enemy traffic.

On September 18, 1940 Berillo was ordered to patrol off Sidi Barrani and Marsa Matruh in support of the Italian offensive in Egypt. At 20:00 on September 18, 1940 Berillo sailed from Augusta traveling to the area assigned to her in the eastern Mediterranean. During her trip to the area of operation, Berillo was plagued by a number of breakdowns. First her stern pump went off, but was fixed quickly. Then her aft hydroplanes went out of order, which were fixed but her steering was left rather impaired. At 4:00 on September 25 Berillo reached her patrol area, north of Ras Ultima, and two hours later, she was at 50 meters listening to the traffic.

Two days went by without any sightings. In the evening of September 27 after surfacing Berillo suffered another breakdown - her diesel engines suddenly died while she was sailing on the surface. Despite the crew's effort, they could only partially restart port side engine. For the next two days Berillo continued moving using electric engines and trying to repair her diesel ones but unsuccessfully. At 21:30 on September 29, Berillo received a radio message informing her about a scattered enemy battle group that was detected nearby consisting of a battleship, an aircraft carrier, five cruisers and nineteen destroyers. Obviously the submarine could not possibly pass on such a juicy target, and even though moving at the exasperatingly low speed of 5 knots, Berillo managed to reach her new assigned sector off Sidi Barrani, about 60 miles further north than the previous sector, at 7:00 on September 30. The crew, eager to attack the British ships after so many days of seeing nothing, worked even harder on the starboard engine repair. In the evening of September 30 when the submarine surfaced, the starboard engine finally came back to life. At dawn on October 1, the submarine submerged again, and remained at the periscope depth for the rest of the day. Once again, no enemy ships were sighted. In the evening of October 1, Berillo surfaced again to charge the batteries and to replenish air supply. When she tried to start her diesels again, one of the oil pumps failed. The crew spent the night fixing it, as well as working on the port side engine which was malfunctioning again.

At about 3:00 the enemy ships were finally spotted. British ships were 6,000 meters away, and they were destroyers HMS Havock and HMS Hasty returning to Piraeus after escorting convoy AN-4. While remaining on the surface, Captain Milesi Ferretti continued his approach towards enemy ships. The speed of the closest ship was estimated at about 25 knots. Berillo continued closing in until she was about 800 meters away. The captain ordered a torpedo attack, but torpedo electric launches failed this time, so the crew had to do a manual launch.[1] Time went by, but there were no explosion and the target was missed, but the enemy destroyer seemed to notice the attack. As the distance shortened to 600 meters, Captain Milesi Ferretti ordered to launch two more torpedoes and again they missed their intended target, with one of them going just under one of the destroyers without exploding [4]. He then ordered hard to starboard to launch from the stern tubes, but at this point, the British ships simultaneously illuminated Berillo with four projectors, and at the same time fired from their cannons. While their shots missed the submarine, they forced her to abandon the attack. Captain Milesi Ferretti ordered a crash dive as one of the destroyers accelerated towards the submarine with a clear intent to ram her. Berillo went to 90 meters in 32 seconds, and the depth charge attacks commenced, knocking out her electricals, intercom system, pressure gauges and hydroplanes. The submarine started experiencing problems with buoyancy, falling down to 135 meters, and then rising to 40 meters after some compressed air was blown.[1] The next set of attacks damaged and knocked out the engines, propellers, started a fire in the aft compartment and opened water leaks in the hull. The submarine continued her up and down swings between 50 and 100 meters, sometimes sinking to 120-130 meters. Another attack sent Berillo sinking even deeper, 170 meters or perhaps even more. The captain ordered to blow all air to try to save the submarine and her crew, and it did work. Berillo started slowly rising and eventually at 5:30 on October 2, 1940 she flew out of the water with a list of 45° [4]. Two crewmen were sent to open the hatches but they were all jammed due to the damage suffered by the hull. British destroyers meanwhile wasted no time in opening fir on the surfaced submarine. One of the shots knocked out the deck gun, and the other one blew through the conning tower killing two crewmen who were trying to open the hatch. Buthe shot dislodged the hatch and it was now opened, and the rest of the crew poured out of the dying submarine. As everyone left the submarine, she began slowly going down, and eventually sunk in the position 33°09′N 26°24′E / 33.150°N 26.400°E / 33.150; 26.400 about 120 miles north of Sidi Barrani [5].

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Berillo at Monfalcone Naval Museum
  2. 1 2 3 Bagnasco, p. 153
  3. 1 2 Chesneau, pp. 309–10
  4. 1 2 Giorgerini, p. 245
  5. ↑ Rohwer, p. 43

References

Coordinates: 33°09′N 26°24′E / 33.150°N 26.400°E / 33.150; 26.400

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