The Leonardo da Vinci: Italian Terror of the Atlantic

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The da Vinci with her crew on deck. Picture courtesy of merchantships2.com

The spring of 1943 found the da Vinci and her crew in the extreme southern Atlantic waters off Africa, and even venturing into the Indian Ocean.  The journey to her patrol area was long and tedious, but the da Vinci would make the trip pay off.  On the 14^th of March, the da Vinci would sink the largest vessel of her career, the massive 21,517 ton troop transport EMPRESS OF CANADA.  The EMPRESS’s primary role had been to transport troops from Australia and New Zealand to the Mediterranean and European war zones from their home countries.  The day of her demise, she had been carrying Polish and Greek refuges away from the horrors they had experienced in their own lands, along with over 500 Italian POWS.  It was a perfectly executed attack by the da Vinci that day, and although a great success in eliminating a valuable Allied vessel, it unfortunately took many civilian lives as well.  The knowledge that the crew of the da Vinci had inadvertently killed several of their own countrymen offset any fulfillment they would have felt from the successful completion of their assignment.

The sailors of the da Vinci carried on however, and just four days later engaged and sank its next victim, the LULWORTH HILL.   By mid April the da Vinci was now operating off the coast of South Africa, officially in the Indian Ocean.  On consecutive days starting on the 17^th, her torpedoes struck fatal blows to both the Dutch SS SEMBILAN, and the British MANAAR. These successful endeavors were followed by yet another engagement on the 21^st, as the 7,177 ton American Liberty ship JOHN DRAYTON was intercepted and destroyed by the da Vinci.

The shipping rich waters here would provide one last victim in April, which as fate would dictate, would be the last ever for the da Vinci. The British oil tanker DORYESSA, en route to the Persian Gulf, would flounder and sink minutes after torpedoes from the da Vinci found their mark against her hull.  Almost a month after this last attack, the Leonardo da Vinci radioed home to BETASOM that she was heading back to the port.  The journey home was scheduled to last approximately a week.  The next day, May 24^th, the da Vinci came across Allied convoy WS-30 – KMF-15.  Although the convoy was well guarded, the da Vinci would try for one more strike on the patrol before continuing home.  Time and luck had run out for the da Vinci however, and as so often happened in this epic Battle of the Atlantic, the hunter became the hunted. Working in tandem, the British frigate HMS NESS and the British destroyer HMS ACTIVE, who were providing part of the escort for the convoy, detected, trapped, and then sank the Leonardo da Vinci with an intense depth charge attack.  The tables had been turned on the da Vinci and her crew, and the fearsome standard bearer of the Italian Atlantic submarine force was now sent down into the same crushing depths that she herself had sent so many others.

The fight for control of the Atlantic would fluctuate back and forth between the Axis and the Allies for years.  Each side made technological and tactical improvements to counter those made by the opposing side. The Allies would slowly take control of this bitter fight, and would eventually be able to claim victory on this battlefield.  Although the Axis had come precariously close to achieving their goal of strangling Britain out of the war through their massive submarine blockade, they would fall short on this critical endeavor.  The Italians were forced out of their role in this battle, and later from the Axis partnership altogether, as their battered armed forces, war weary populace, and tumultuous political situation forced the countries signing of the Armistice in 1943.  The Germans would continue the fight in the Atlantic till nearly the end of the War in Europe, but by 1944 the outcome of an eventual Allied victory was becoming apparent.

The Leonardo da Vinci and her crew had shown their worth to the Axis cause during her time in the Atlantic.  She would sink 17 Allied merchant vessels from over a half a dozen different countries during her participation in the war.  The da Vinci’s sphere of action was immense, with war patrols that spanned from the cold waters off Ireland, to the routes off South America, to the tip of Africa.  She performed admirably in her role, and will always be remembered as one of the brightest stars of the Regia Marina.

References:
The Atlantic Campaign:  Dan van der Vat
Hitler’s U-Boat War: Clay Blair
www.merchantships2.tripod.com
Wikipedia.com Articles
RegiaMarina.net
www.britannica.com
www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsItalianNavy2.htm

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Strong interest in WW2. My Father served in the Pacific with 710 Tank BTL at Anguar, Peleliu, and Philippines. Grandfather was in Italian Army shortly after WW1.

Peleliu81

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