British trawler captures Italian submarine. June 22nd 1940

[Owen]

From The First Year Of The War In Pictures.

Caption reads,
Italy's efforts to establish naval supremacy in Near Eastern waters were not marked by very conspicuous success. The capture of a submarine by any surface vessel is an almost unheard-of event in naval warfare ; but on 22 June it was announced that the large Italian submarine "Galileo Galilei" , captured by the British trawler "Moonstone" had been brought into harbour as a prize. On sighting the enemy's periscope "Moonstone" brought her to the surface with depth charges and replied to her fire with her four-inch gun, four shells from which were enough to induce her to surrender. Above , "Moonstone" prize is being towed into Aden Harbour.

From here,
22 June 1940

GULF of ADEN: Saga of the Galileo. The boat was finding it very difficult to stay surfaced long enough to adequately ventilate the crew compartments, and the noxious gasses were reaching dangerous levels inside, affecting the crew with serious symptoms of gas poisoning (chiefly fainting spells, nosebleeds, and a grotesque and painful swelling of the ankles). Repeatedly it seemed that the sub broke surface only to have to dive again almost at once at the sight of mastheads over the horizon or an approaching aircraft. Finally, on the morning of June 23rd, the GALLILEO's skipper realized that his men were at the end of their endurance, and determined to try to run for home on the surface. But the familiar pattern re-asserted itself. All too soon, the Italian boat was spotted by a British plane. The GALLILEO's captain took her down again, not realizing that his vessel was still quite visible from the air in the clear water. Thus the Italian sub continued to be tracked, until surface elements summoned by radio arrived on the scene. The first British sub-chaser to show up was the MOONSTONE, a converted trawler. With a large percentage of the Italian crew now incapacitated by the effects of the malfunctioning air conditioning, the GALLILEO's skipper made a decision. He had correctly guessed, by the sound of the screws, that his single adversary was a fairly small craft. Since the circling British plane had now also departed (I'm assuming due to lack of fuel), and since the GALLILEO was one of those large ocean-going subs which mounted not one but two 100-mm deck guns, he decided to take his chances shooting it out on the surface. This was not a bad decision, since the Italian boat indeed had the advantage against the MOONSTONE, which had a single 4-inch (102-mm) gun forward. And the Italian skipper's faith in his men's efficiency was also apparently warranted. When the GALLILEO burst to the surface, surprisingly close to its pursuer, it was the Italian sub's forward gun which got off the first shot. However, they missed, despite the point-blank range, and the crew of the MOONSTONE did not give them another chance. Demonstrating their own proficiency at gun drill, the British trawler's gunscrew rapidly replied with two shots of their own. One of these scored a direct hit on the GALLILEO's conning tower, which in effect ended the fight, killing the Italian commander and also killing or wounding virtually everyone else on the bridge and in the control room. With many of the crew already disabled by the poisonous gas, and most of the healthy sailors manning the guns (or their ammunition chain) fore and aft, the boat was literally left adrift. The British subsequently boarded it, a fortuitous coup because they thereby recovered documents including one which detailed the adjacent patrol area of the Italian sub GALVANI. Armed with this precise information, the British proceeded to lay on a careful search for the GALVANI, which in due course was also found and sunk. (Mike Yaklich)

[slaphead]

I thought trawlers used net to "fish".. Depth charges? 4" gun???
Not so much a trawler as a Q ship then!

[sol]

HMT Moonstone



Ship on the first picture is destroyer HMS Kandahar.

June 19 1940 On patrol in the Red Sea (Bosun William Moorman), captured the Itallian submarine GALILEO GALILEI; towed to Aden by HMS KANDAHAR

from here

[CL1]

thanks Owen good post
another piece here
His Majesty's Ships - H.M.S. Moonstone - The War Illustrated

[Drew5233]

Ref the citations:

There isn't a DSC book on the market that I'm aware of but as for the DSM:

For daring, enterprise and skill in capturing an Italian U-Boat of superior gunpower in the Red Sea

LG 5.7.40 p4153

Petty Officer Frederick George Quested, C/J.93236, Gunlayer, H.M.S. Moonstone.

The Distinguished Service Medal - W H Fevyer