Submarine Iride

Iride

Country	Italy
Ship Class	Perla-class Submarine
Builder	Odero-Terni-Orlando Navy Yard, La Spezia, Italy
Laid Down	3 Sep 1935
Launched	30 Jul 1936
Commissioned	6 Nov 1936
Sunk	21 Aug 1940
Displacement	691 tons standard; 858 tons submerged
Length	197 feet
Beam	21 feet
Draft	15 feet
Machinery	Two diesel engines (1,200bhp), two electric motors (800hp), 2 shafts
Speed	14 knots
Crew	45
Armament	1936-1940: 4x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 2x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, 1x100mm deck gun. 1940: 4 manned torpedoes
Submerged Speed	7.5 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIride, commissioned into service in 1936, was a submarine of the Italian Navy. As a conventional fleet submarine, she participated in the Spanish Civil War, during which she engaged in combat with British destroyer HMS Havock off Spain; both escaped without harm. In 1940, she was converted into a carrier for manned torpedoes. In this role, while conducting a test with four manned torpedoes, she was discovered and sank (along with depot ship Monte Gargano and torpedo boat Calypso) in the Gulf of Bomba off Libya by British Swordfish torpedo bombers of carrier HMS Eagle. British Royal Marines Captain Oliver Patch was credited with the sinking; he would later receiving the Distinguished Service Order award for this action. A large number of Iride's crew were killed in the sinking.

ww2dbaseSources:
Piero Crociani, Italian Navy & Air Force Elite Units & Special Forces 1940-45
Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Nov 2013

Submarine Iride Interactive Map

Photographs

Iride Operational Timeline

3 Sep 1935	The keel of submarine Iride was laid down at the Odero-Terni-Orlando Navy Yard in Muggiani, La Spezia, Italy.
30 Jul 1936	Submarine Iride was launched at La Spezia, Italy.
6 Nov 1936	Submarine Iride was commissioned into service.
31 Aug 1937	Italian submarine Iride attacked British destroyer HMS Havock off Spain, and HMS Havock responded with depth charges; neither incurred any damage.
12 Aug 1940	Iride departed La Spezia, Italy for Libya with four manned torpedoes on board.
21 Aug 1940	Iride, with four manned torpedoes on board intended for an attack on British ships in Alexandria in Egypt, was sunk by British torpedo bombers in the Gulf of Bomba off Libya.
22 Aug 1940	Three Swordfish torpedo bombers of 824 Squadron of HMS Eagle sank Italian submarine Iride, killing most of the crew of 45, and the depot ship Monte Gargano in the Gulf of Bomba, Libya. Italian torpedo boat Calypso was also damaged.

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Iride