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Thread on the Alexandria raid (it will be quite long)
On the night of the 18/12 1941, the submarine Scirè, commanded by Junio Valerio Borghese, was stationing submerged near the British base of Alexandria.
On the night of the 18/12 1941, the submarine Scirè, commanded by Junio Valerio Borghese, was stationing submerged near the British base of Alexandria.
Six men aboard three S.L.C. “human torpedo” of the X° M.A.S. flotilla of the Regia Marina were released around 20:45 to start a daring raid against the enemy base.
They managed penetrate the harbour through the main gate, exploiting the fact that three British destroyers appeared at the last moment to enter the port
Once inside they headed for their targets. Luigi Duand de la Penne and Emilio Bianchi (SLC 1) headed for the HMS Valiant, Antonio Marceglia and Spartaco Schergat (SLC 2) headed for the HMS Queen Elizabeth while Vincenzo Martellotta and Antonio Marino (SLC 3) towards an oil tanker
Things went relatively smoothly for the crews of SLC 2 and SLC3, since they were able to place the explosive charges of their S.L.C., set the countdown and escape
De La Penne and Biachi were less lucky, their S.L.C. stopped working near their target and sunk in the shallow waters while the breathing device of Bianchi jammed. De La Penne literally dragged the S.L.C. on the sea bottom right under the keel of the Valiant and set the countdown
When surfaced, they were captured and brought on board the Valiant to be interrogated. They kept their silence until 6:00 a.m. when De La Penne informed Commander of the Valliant that the explosion was about to occur occur in 10 min and he had to order the crew to abandon ship
At 6:15 an explosion paralyzed the Valiant which listed 5 degrees and sunk in the shallow waters of the port. A second explosion hit the Queen Elizabeth and suffered the same fate while the charge on the tanker Sagona exploded at 05:54, damaging the nearby destroyer Jervis
The Valiant was knocked out of action until late summer 1942 while the Queen Elizabeth re-entered service only in June 1943. This attack left the Mediterranean fleet without any battleship until August 1942
The day after the raid, Martellotta, Marino, Schergat and Marceglia were caught by the Egyptian police and handed over to the British. The six operators remained in captivity until 1943 when they were repatriated immediately after the armistice between Italy and the Allies
They were decorated with the Gold Medal for Military valour during a ceremony at Taranto in march 1945. During that occasion, Commodore Charles Morgan, commander of the Valiant in 1941 personally appointed the Gold Medal on De la Penne’s chest.
