View source for Italian submarine Lafolè

{{Short description|Italian submarine}}
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|Ship image= [[File:Lafolè.jpg|300px|RIN Lafolè]]
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|Ship country=[[Kingdom of Italy]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Italy|naval}}
|Ship name=''Lafolè''
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|Ship builder= [[Oto Melara|OTO]], [[Muggiano]]
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|Ship laid down=30 June 1937
|Ship launched=10 April 1938
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|Ship commissioned=13 August 1938
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|Ship fate=Sunk, 20 October 1940
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|600-Serie Adua|submarine}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|680|LT|t|0}} surfaced
*{{convert|844|LT|t|0}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|60.28|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|6.45|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|4.64|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|1400|hp|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesels)
*{{convert|800|hp|abbr=on}} (electric motors)
|Ship propulsion=*[[Diesel-electric]]
*2 × [[Fiat S.p.A.|FIAT]] [[diesel engine]]s
*2 × [[Magneti Marelli|Marelli]] [[electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|7.5|kn}} submerged
|Ship range= *{{convert|3180|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10.5|kn|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|74|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|4|kn}} submerged
|Ship test depth={{convert|80|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=44 (4 officers + 40 non-officers and sailors)
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|Ship armament=*1 × [[Škoda 10 cm K10#OTO 100.2F47 History|{{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} / 47&nbsp;caliber]] [[deck gun]]
*2 x 1 – [[Breda Model 1931 Machine Gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] [[anti-aircraft gun]]s
*6 × {{convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s (4 forward, 2 aft)
*12 × torpedoes
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'''Italian submarine ''Lafolè''''' was an {{sclass|Adua|submarine}} built for the [[Royal Italian Navy]] (''Regia Marina'') during the 1930s. It was named after a "massacre at Lafolè", an ambush set up by Somalis on November 25, 1896, against a travelling Italian party near a village of Lafolè.

==Design and description==
The ''Adua''-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding {{sclass|Perla|submarine|4}}. They [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|680|LT|t|sp=us}} surfaced and {{convert|844|LT|t|sp=us}} submerged. The submarines were {{convert|60.18|m|ftin|sp=us}} long, had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|6.45|m|ftin|sp=us}} and a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|4.7|m|ftin|sp=us}}.<ref name=c5>Chesneau, pp. 309–10</ref>

For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|600|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} [[diesel engine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]]. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|400|hp|0|adj=on}} [[electric motor]]. They could reach {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|7.5|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the ''Adua'' class had a range of {{convert|3180|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10.5|kn}}, submerged, they had a range of {{convert|74|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|4|kn}}.<ref name=b4>Bagnasco, p. 154</ref>

The boats were armed with six internal {{convert|53.3|cm|in|1|abbr=on|sp=us}} [[torpedo tube]]s, four in the bow and two in the stern. One reload torpedo was carried for each tube, for a total of twelve. They were also armed with one [[Škoda 10 cm K10#OTO 100.2F47 History|{{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}}]] [[deck gun]] for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of [[Breda Model 1931 Machine Gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|in|abbr=on}}]]  machine guns.<ref name=c5/>

==Construction and career==

Upon entering the service, in December of 1938 she was assigned to [[Leros]] as part of the V Submarine Group. Later re-assigned to [[Tobruk]] as part of the 62 Squadron (VI Submarine group) under command of Piero Riccomini.

After the declaration of war on June 10, 1940, ''Lafolè'' along with other submarines from the 62 Squadron was posted to [[Sollum]] to protect the harbors of [[Cyrenaica]] from a possible British attack. Later on she was sent off to [[Tobruk]] on an offensive mission. On June 20, 1940, she returned to the base without any sightings.

On July 3, 1940, ''Lafolè'' along with other submarines patrolled along the [[Gavdos|Gaudo]]–[[Derna, Libya|Derna]] line. On July 7–8, 1940, she detected ongoing large anti-submarine activity, but could not locate the enemy units.<ref name=bertke2_0>{{cite book|last1=Bertke |first1=Donald |last2=Smith |first2=Gordon |last3=Kindell |first3=Don |title=World War II Sea War, Volume 2: France Falls, Britain Stands Alone  |year=2011 |publisher= Bertke Publications |page=369}}</ref> On July 14, 1940, she returned to the base, again without sighting any enemy units.

During September of 1940, she was involved in defensive missions in the [[Gulf of Taranto]].

On October 8, 1940, ''Lafolè'' left [[Taranto]] for her new area of operation east of [[Gibraltar]] along the coast of [[Morocco]]. On October 15, 1940, she arrived in her designated patrol area, southeast of the island of [[Alboran Island|Alboran]] and north of [[Cape Three Forks]], close to [[Melilla]].

On October 20, 1940, at approximately 11:00 ''Lafolè'' sighted 2 British destroyers, {{HMS|Gallant|H59|6}} and {{HMS|Griffin|H31|6}}, 12 miles north of [[Cape Three Forks]]. Enemy ships were moving slowly, conducting what looked like a submarine search, and apparently unaware of ''Lafolè'''s presence. Captain Riccomini closed in to within 500 meters and fired one aft torpedo at the target. Captain Riccomini, of course, couldn't possibly know that the British were fully aware of his submarine's presence. Two days earlier, {{sclass|Adua|submarine}} {{ship|Italian submarine|Durbo||2}} was sunk not far from ''Lafolè''{{'}}s location. Among the documents captured from {{ship|Italian submarine|Durbo||2}} were coordinates of ''Lafolè''.<ref>Rohwer, p. 45</ref> The British immediately sent out a search group composed of six destroyers ({{HMS|Gallant|H59|6}}, {{HMS|Griffin|H31|6}}, {{HMS|Forester|H74|6}}, {{HMS|Hotspur|H01|6}} and 2 others) to hunt for the submarine. While ''Lafolè'' was closing in on two "unsuspecting" British destroyers, a third one, {{HMS|Hotspur|H01|6}}, was rapidly approaching the submarine from her back, and thus closing the trap on unsuspecting boat. Once captain Riccomini fired his torpedoes, all three ships immediately counterattacked with depth charges. The first barrage damaged electric motors and pumps, bent the propeller shafts and caused flooding. ''Lafolè'' could no longer maintain the depth, and started continuously surfacing and submerging, yet the crew managed to keep her down for the next seven hours. At 18:30 ''Lafolè'' has surfaced one last time, and {{HMS|Hotspur|H01|6}} going full force rammed the submarine. The collision was so violent, that it threw out several men out of submarine. Second in command Giuseppe Accardi, and 8 more men were the only survivors, captain Riccomini, 3 officers and 35 other men all went down with the submarine. ''Lafolè'' sank in the position {{Coord|36|00|N|3|00|W}}.

{{HMS|Hotspur|H01|6}} also suffered serious damage in the collision, and had to go back to [[Gibraltar]] for repairs. It only returned to action on February 20, 1941.

Captain Riccomini was posthumously awarded [[Silver Medal of Military Valor]] for his bravery and leadership in combating superior enemy forces.

== Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Bagnasco |first=Erminio |title=Submarines of World War Two |year=1977 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-962-6}} 
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|authorlink=Jürgen Rohwer}}
*{{cite book|last=Giorgerini|first=Giorgio|title=Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini ad oggi|publisher=Mondadori|year=2002|edition=Second|isbn=8804505370}}

{{Coord|35|50|N|02|53|E|display=title}}

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}
{{Adua-class submarine}}
{{October 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafole}}
[[Category:Adua-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of Italy]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of Italy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1940]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by OTO Melara]]
[[Category:Ships built in La Spezia]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by British warships]]