Ammiraglio Cagni

The Story of Ammiraglio Cagni

With a coastline as long as Italy, the country has a responsibility to promote a strong naval firepower in the Mediterranean and all its important waterways and trade routes. While the Italian surface fleet of World War II was represented by various battleships and other powerful surface ships, an important underwater component was their submarine fleet.

One of her U-boats, turned into Ammiraglio Cagni, served in Italian hands throughout the war, although she eventually changed allegiance as the nation ended support for Germany and its Axis powers in late 1943.

The Ammiraglio Cagni serves with the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) as the lead ship of the Ammiraglio Cagni-class attack submarines and is correctly classified as an ocean-going merchant vessel responsible for attacking enemy ships. Her prime period of service was World War II (1939-1945), during which she made 23 sorties and sank several ships before the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies.

Cagni was launched on July 20, 1940, and her sisters included Caracciolo, Millo and Saint-Bon - none survive today (2014) because they either sank or sank in action.

Ammiraglio Cagni is named after Umberto Cagni, an admiral who served in the Italian Royal Navy, known for exploring the North Pole when trying to reach it at the turn of the century. He served during World War I (1914-1918) and finally retired in 1923 after receiving the rank of general.

When completed, Cagni displaces 1,650 tons when it surfaced and 2,140 tons when submerged. She features a running length of 88 meters, a width of up to 7.8 meters, and a draft of 5.7 meters. Propulsion is via a diesel-electric combined system driving two axles, 4,370 hp and 1,800 hp. Diesel power is used when the boat is surfaced - the dominant form of movement - while the electric system propels the boat when submerged, albeit more slowly and for a shorter duration.

Like all "hybrid" submarines of the era, the Carney had to surface to recharge her batteries, vent dangerous carbon dioxide gas and provide her crew with a fresh supply of oxygen. This is their most vulnerable period of positive action. The boat is capable of 17 knots when surfaced and 9 knots when underwater.

Her crew totaled 85, including officers and men.

The weapon is arranged around an impressive 14 x 450mm torpedo tube, 8 in front and rear. However, they were much smaller in caliber than the 533mm type widely accepted by other attack submarines of the time - the reason being that the Italian Navy's 450mm torpedoes proved sufficient to attack smaller enemies such as merchant ships.

Carney is also equipped with 2 x 100mm deck guns for surface attack and 4 x 13.2mm machine guns for air defense deterrence. In total, the Carney received 36 torpedo reloads.

Carney began operating services, conducting various patrols throughout the Mediterranean. During her career in the region, she sank two enemy ships - the British tanker Dagonba and the Greek dhow Argo. Both were attacked and sank on November 29, 1942. In total, she completed some 21 missions (five of which were transport) during her Mediterranean tour before being transferred to the South Atlantic in 1943.

Once there, they did just two missions before receiving news of the government's surrender. Carney, in turn, was handed over to the Allies (UK) in Durban, South Africa, on September 20.

After serving as an Axis submarine, Carney began operating as part of an Allied task force. She began her training duties in January 1944 and survived until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.

Ultimately, the ship was decommissioned from active duty in 1948, scrapped and scrapped, ending her official maritime career.

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