Red Sea Flotilla

The Red Sea Flotilla (Flottiglia del mar rosso) was part of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During the Second World War, the Red Sea Flotilla fought the East Indies Station of the Royal Navy from the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 until the fall of Massawa on 8 April 1941.

The squadron was isolated from the main Italian bases in the Mediterranean by distance and British dispositions. Without an overland route (via Sudan) or of the Suez Canal, supply was virtually impossible. The submarines in the flotilla suffered from faulty air conditioning which caused severe problems and poisoned crews when submerged causing several losses.

Attempts to attack ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf had meagre results and British intelligence successes caused the loss of several ships. The capture of Massawa and other Italian ports in the region brought the Flottiglia del mar rosso to an end in April 1941.

Background
On 10 June 1940, the Red Sea Flotilla had seven destroyers in two squadrons, a squadron of five Motor Torpedo Boats (MAS, Motoscafo Armato Silurante) and eight submarines in two squadrons. The main base was at Massawa, with other bases at Assab (also in Eritrea) and Kismayu, in southern Italian Somaliland. The Red Sea Flotilla was not used aggressively by the Italians, but the British viewed it as a potential threat to Allied convoys travelling East African waters between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Because of the Flotilla's presence, the neutral US Merchant Marine declared the Red Sea a war zone and out of bounds, limiting the ships which could be used to supply the vital route for British forces operating from Egypt. The Red Sea Flotilla was especially well situated to attack convoys headed from the Gulf of Aden through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, after the Mediterranean was closed to Allied merchant ships, which had to take passage around the Cape of Good Hope.

Operations 10 June 1940 – April 1941
Several attempts were made to stage offensive actions against the British Royal Navy and Allied convoys from Massawa. Some of the earliest failed when submarine air conditioning systems, intended to cool the submarines in the warm water of the Red Sea proved dangerous under wartime operating conditions. Leakage of chloromethane refrigerants in the circulating air while submerged caused central nervous system poisoning and about twelve sailors died aboard ITALIAN SUBMARINE Archimede. The submarines ITALIAN SUBMARINE Perla and ITALIAN SUBMARINE Macallé ran aground while their crews were intoxicated by chloromethane and the latter could not be salvaged. The submarines ITALIAN SUBMARINE Galileo Galilei, ITALIAN SUBMARINE Torricelli and Galvani struck early; Galileo Galilei sank the Norwegian freighter James Stove off Djibouti, before British counter-measures forced the submarines to depart the area.

Torricelli was spotted on 23 June, while approaching Massawa and an intensive search was conducted by four warships aided by aircraft from Aden. After fierce resistance, during which the sloop HMS Shoreham (L32) was damaged by return fire, Torricelli was sunk. After the engagement, the destroyer HMS Khartoum (F45) was sunk by an internal explosion. As a mark of respect for the gallantry of the Torricelli crew, the Italian captain was guest of honour at a dinner at the British naval base. Galileo Galilei had also been found on 18 June, captured and taken to Aden on the same day. Galvani sank at the same time that her sisters were fighting and was sunk on the following day.

In October 1940, the destroyers based at Massawa conducted the Attack on Convoy BN 7. The escorts of the 32 merchant ships repulsed the attack and ITALIAN DESTROYER Francesco Nullo was driven ashore and sunk by air attack the following day. The leading freighter of the convoy sustained minor splinter damage. HMS Kimberley (F50) was crippled by Italian shore batteries, with three wounded among her crew and had to be towed to Aden by the cruiser HMNZS Leander.

As Italian fuel stocks at Massawa dwindled, the offensive capability of the Red Sea Flotilla declined. The vessels of the flotilla became a fleet in being, offering a threat without action. In late March 1941, the three large destroyers, ITALIAN DESTROYER Pantera, ITALIAN DESTROYER Tigre and ITALIAN DESTROYER Leone, made a night attack on Suez but Leone ran aground off Massawa and had to be scuttled by gunfire, the delay caused the operation to be cancelled. The two remaining ships joined three smaller destroyers, ITALIAN DESTROYER Nazario Sauro, ITALIAN DESTROYER Cesare Battisti and ITALIAN DESTROYER Daniele Manin on a final raid on Port Sudan in early April. Engine problems kept Battisti in port, where she was subsequently scuttled to prevent her capture by the British. The Italian ships were spotted by aircraft while en route and came under attack from land and the Swordfish bombers of HMS Eagle (1918) flying from the airfield at Port Sudan. Pantera and Tigre were scuttled on the Arabian coast while Manin and Sauro were sunk by the Swordfish. On 8 April 1941, the light cruiser HMS Capetown (D88) was torpedoed and crippled by the Italian torpedo boat MAS 213 off Massawa and was towed to Port Sudan by Parramatta for preliminary repairs.

The armed merchant cruisers ITALIAN SHIP Ramb I, ITALIAN SHIP Ramb II and the colonial dispatch ship ITALIAN SLOOP Eritrea were ordered to escape and reach Japan. Ramb II and Eritrea reached Kobe but Ramb I was intercepted and sunk by Leander. The four remaining submarines were ordered to join BETASOM the Italian submarine flotilla at Bordeaux and succeeded, despite British attempts to intercept them. On 8 April 1941, Massawa fell to the British and the Red Sea Flotilla ceased to exist. Few vessels of the flotilla survived the East African Campaign.

Destroyers

 * 3rd Destroyer Division Sauro-class destroyer [1600 LT full load displacement]
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Francesco Nullo Severely damaged by Kimberley, destroyed by RAF, 22 November 1940
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Nazario Sauro Bombed and sunk by 813 Naval Air Squadron and 824 Naval Air Squadron FAA at 06:15, 3 April 1941 at 20°N, 30°W
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Cesare Battisti scuttled after engine breakdown, 3 April 1941
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Daniele Manin Sunk by RAF, 3 April 1941 at 20.33°N, 30.17°W
 * 5th Destroyer Division Leone-class destroyer [2600 LT full load displacement]
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Pantera Scuttled 3 April 1941 after damage from RAF
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Tigre Scuttled 3 April 1941 after damage from RAF
 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Leone Ran aground and scuttled 1 April 1941 at 16.15°N, 39.92°W

MAS (Motor torpedo boats)

 * 21st MAS Squadron
 * MAS 204 – Lost due to mechanical failure
 * MAS 206 – Lost due to mechanical failure
 * MAS 210 – Lost due to mechanical failure
 * MAS 213 – Scuttled 8 April 1941
 * MAS 216 – Lost due to mechanical failure

VIII Submarine Group

 * 81st Submarine Squadron
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Guglielmotti (896/1,265 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux, France 6 May 1941
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Galileo Ferraris (880/1,230 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux 9 May 1941
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Galileo Galilei (880/1,230 tons displacement) Captured 19 June 1940
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Galvani (896/1,265 tons displacement) Sunk 24 June 1940
 * 82nd Submarine Squadron
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Perla (620/855 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux 20 May 1941
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Macallé (620/855 tons displacement) Ran aground and scuttled 15 June 1940
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Archimede (880/1,230 tons displacement) Arrived Bordeaux, 7 May 1941
 * ITALIAN SUBMARINE Torricelli (880/1,230 tons displacement) Sunk 23 June 1940

Other vessels

 * Colonial ship ITALIAN SLOOP Eritrea (2,170 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan, and turned to the Allies in Columbo, Ceylon after the Armistice of Cassibile the Italian capitulation in September 1943
 * Torpedo boat ITALIAN TORPEDO BOAT Vincenzo Giordano Orsini (670 tons displacement) – Scuttled 8 April 1941
 * Torpedo boat ITALIAN TORPEDO BOAT Giovanni Acerbi (670 tons displacement) – Scuttled in the mouth of the harbour at Massawa as a blockship after suffering severe bomb damage
 * Gunboat G. Biglieri (620 tons displacement) – Captured
 * Gunboat Porto Corsini (290 tons displacement) – Scuttled
 * Minelayer Ostia (620 tons displacement) – Sunk by British Royal Air Force attack within the harbour at Massawa; all mines still racked
 * Auxiliary cruiser ITALIAN SHIP Ramb I (3,667 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan. Lost 27 February 1941 in battle against the light cruiser HMNZS Leander.
 * Auxiliary cruiser ITALIAN SHIP Ramb II (3,667 tons displacement) – Sailed to Kobe, Japan, and placed into the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy when Italy surrendered
 * Hospital ship Aquileia – former ITALIAN SHIP Ramb IV – Captured and placed into the service of the British Royal Navy