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 14th 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 17th, 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 21st, 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 24th, 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:Â 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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Hello All,
Here is a list of the top 50 Submarines, in terms of tonnage sunk, of WW2.
German U Boats, 41. US Submarines, 6. Italian Submarines, 2. British Submarines, 1.
You will notice that the Leonardo Da Vinci is in 28th position, ahead of all the US and British Subs!
Source: Betasom.it
- Name – Nationality – Number of ships sunk- Tonnage
1) U48 ger 53 317.391
2) U99 ger 39 246.794
3) U103 ger 46 241.293
4) U124 ger 48 224.953
5) U123 ger 43 220.119
6) U107 ger 39 217.786
7) U37 ger 55 202.529
8) U66 ger 33 200.021
9) U68 ger 33 197.998
10) U47 ger 31 191.919
11) U96 ger 28 190.094
12) U38 ger 35 185.967
13) U552 ger 32 165.466
14) U130 ger 24 162.015
15) U515 ger 25 157.064
16) U160 ger 26 156.082
17) U172 ger 26 152.778
18) U129 ger 29 143.748
19) U155 ger 26 140.449
20) U181 ger 27 138.779
21) U106 ger 22 138.581
22) U100 ger 26 137.819
23) U94 ger 25 137.395
24) U108 ger 26 135.366
25) U46 ger 24 127.469
26) U126 ger 27 126.187
27) U43 ger 22 126.167
28) DA VINCI ita 19 120.265
29) U159 ger 23 119.684
30) U105 ger 22 117.377
31) U32 ger 20 116.836
32) U101 ger 23 113.808
33) U558 ger 21 109.705
34) U201 ger 24 109.055
35) FLASHER usa 21 106.667
36) RASHER usa 17 101.331
37) U158 ger 17 101.321
38) U34 ger 24 99.311
39) U156 ger 20 97.504
40) SPADEFISH usa 24 96.826
41) TAZZOLI ita 18 96.650
42) U564 ger 19 96.444
43) TRIGGER usa 17 95.744
44) U203 ger 22 94.660
45) BARB usa 18 94.614
46) TANG usa 27 94.046
47) UPHOLDER uk 14 93.031
48) U516 ger 16 89.385
49) U177 ger 14 87.388
50) U178 ger 13 87.030
Note: Now that I see true figures, I am suspicious of the sources for victories and tonnage sunk by British Subs. According to British Historians, the number of tons sunk was 1,500,000. So, does that amount include damaged ships as well and are the figures accurate?
Thanks for the info Vinman!!! Much like “kills” in aerial combat, I found while researching that tonnage sunk can often be subjective, and often varies by source.
TJ
Hello,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article on the Leonardo Da Vinci Submarine and also decided to do a little research myself.
Guess what, did you know that:
The Leonardo da Vinci was Italy’s most successful submarine in World War II, and her captain, Lt. Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia, Italy’s leading submarine ace. With a higher score than Britain’s Malcolm David Wanklyn, in HMS Upholder, or America’s Richard O’Kane in USS Tang (both later sunk), Prioroggia (108,656 tons sunk) and Leonardo da Vinci were the most SUCCESSFUL NON-GERMAN submariner and submarine in the conflict. Source: Blair, Clay “Hitler’s U Boat War”
I did some research on these two Allied Captains and their boats.
1. Malcolm David Wanklyn, I always thought, according to British books and sites, was the top scorer of the Allies, but after further review his score includes sunk plus damaged ships and the Upholder, which was the most successful British Sub’s score, is less than the Da Vinci!
Wanklyn’s score in the Upholder Sub is: 13 ships sunk , 87847 tons and 5 damaged, 31, 427 for a total of 119,274 tons. Source U-Boat net.
So, it looks like the British stats include damaged ships as well. Italian stats ONLY include ships sunk.
2. Richard O’Kane, the most successful US Submarine captain, 93,824 tons sunk: Source: JANAC:Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee.
History books always told us that Wanklyn had sunk over 128,000 tons, but in reality, his totals were less than 120,000 tons, which included damaged ships.
O’Kanes totals for his patrols was 227,824 tons sunk, but this total was revised in 1980 to 93,824 tons, from a review of Japanese war records and the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) a United States inter-service agency set up to analyze and assess Japanese naval and merchant marine shipping losses caused by U.S. and Allied forces during World War II.
So, the list now shows:
Leonardo Da Vinci: 120,00 tons sunk (does not include damaged ships)
Lt. Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia: 108,656 tons sunk (does not include damaged ships)
HMS Upholder: 119,247 tons (includes sunk and damaged)
Malcolm David Wanklyn: 87847 tons sunk, 31,427 tons damaged
USS Tang: 93,824
Richard O’Kane: 93,824 tons sunk.
This is definitely something the readers should know!!
Vincent Biondi
I wish to send you my great congratulations for a very fine detailed article. If I may suggest other sources for historical info I want to indicate the “BOLLETTINO D’ARCHIVIO DELLA MARINA MILITARE” edit by Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare Italiana a trimonthly publication .
Well done! bye-bye
Very well written article !
I think you guys do a wonderful job of reporting the truth about the Italian armed forces in the war. Which is very refreshing change as hollywood always down plays or out right lies about our forefathers.
Thanks and keep up the good work.