CB-class midget submarine

The former CB 20 in the Technical Museum, Zagreb
Class overview
Builders: Caproni
Operators:
Preceded by: CA class
Built: 1941–43
In commission: 1941–45
Planned: 72
Completed: 12 ?
Preserved: 1
General characteristics
Type: Midget submarine
Displacement: 35.4 tons surfaced, 44.3 tons submerged
Length: 14.99 m (49.2 ft)
Beam: 3.00 m (9.84 ft)
Draught: 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
Propulsion:
Speed: 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h) surfaced, 7 knots (13 km/h) submerged
Complement: 4
Armament: 2 externally mounted 450mm torpedoes or two mines

The CB class was a group of midget submarines built for the Italian Navy during World War II.

Design

The boats were designed as coast defence units with diesel-electric propulsion. There was a mini conning tower to aid navigation. The armament consisted of two torpedoes mounted externally which could be reloaded without removing the craft from the water.

Boats

Seventy two boats were ordered from Caproni of Milan, but only 22 were laid down. 12 boats were completed before the Armistice and nine after. Six boats were transferred to the Black Sea by rail and fought the Soviets sinking two submarines. In late 1942, the remaining five submarines were refitted at the Constanța Shipyard in Romania. After the Italian Armistice, the five survivors were transferred to the Royal Romanian Navy. Later, they were given to the navy of the Italian Social Republic.[1][2][3][4]

Ten more boats were tansferred by the Germans to the RSI Navy and served in the Adriatic. One was used for spare parts, seven were sunk and two were captured by the Allies.[5]

Four of the Black Sea submarines (CB 1, CB 2, CB 3 and CB 4) were captured by Soviet forces in 1944 and commissioned on 20 October as TM-4, TM-5, TM-6 and TM-7. They were stricken on 16 February 1945 and subsequently scrapped.[6]

Boat Completed Service / Fate
CB 1 27 January 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, later to the Italian Social Republic. Scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-4, scrapped 1945
CB 2 27 January 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, later to the Italian Social Republic. Scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-5, scrapped 1945
CB 3 10 May 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, later to the Italian Social Republic. Scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-6, scrapped 1945
CB 4 10 May 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea. Romania 1943, later to the Italian Social Republic. Scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-7, scrapped 1945
CB 5 10 May 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea, sunk by Soviet aircraft near Yalta, 13 June 1942
CB 6 10 May 1941 Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, later to the Italian Social Republic. Scuttled August 1944
CB 7 1 August 1943 Captured by Germany at Pola September 1943. Transferred to the Italian Social Republic, cannibalised for spare parts
CB 8 1 August 1943 Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948
CB 9 1 August 1943 Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948
CB 10 1 August 1943 Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948
CB 11 24 August 1943 Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948
CB 12 24 August 1943 Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948
CB 13 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk by Allied aircraft 23 March 1945
CB 14 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid
CB 15 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid
CB 16 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid
CB 17 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk by Allied aircraft 3 April 1945
CB 18 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk 31 March 1945
CB 19 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, broken up 1947
CB 20 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic. Captured by Yugoslav Partisans in Pola at the end of the War. In active service in Yugoslav Navy until 1959, as P-901. On display at the Technical museum Zagreb
CB 21 Late 1943 ? Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, rammed and sunk by a Marinefährprahm in the Adriatic 29 April 1945
CB 22 Captured by Germany in 1943, taken to Pola and abandoned at the end of the war. Wreck salvaged and preserved in Trieste

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jack Greene, Alessandro Massignani, The Black Prince and the Sea Devils: The Story of Valerio Borghese and the elite units of the Decima Mas, p.42
  2. ↑ "CB Class Midget Submarines". battleships-cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "M.A.S. and Midget Submarines in the Black Sea 1942–1943". comandosupremo.com. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Jamie Prenatt and Mark Stille, Axis midget submarines p. 15
  5. ↑ W. M. Thornton, Submarine Insignia and Submarine Services of the World
  6. ↑ Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935-1953, p. 275

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.