Italian submarine Brin

History
Italy
Name:	Brin
Builder:	Tosi (Taranto, Italy)
Laid down:	3 December 1936
Launched:	3 April 1938
Commissioned:	18 April 1939
Out of service:	1 February 1948
Homeport:	Taranto
Fate:	Scrapped 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Brin-class submarine[1]
Displacement:	1,016 tons (standard) 1,266t (full load)
Length:	72.5 m
Beam:	6.7 m
Draught:	4.5 m
Propulsion:	(surfaced/submerged) diesel / electric , 2 shafts 3,200 hp / 1,200 hp
Speed:	17 / 8 knots (surfaced/submerged)
Range:	18,000nm at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement:	58
Armament:	1 × 100 mm gun 4 × 13.2 mm anti-aircraft 8 × 21" torpedo tubes (4 bow, 4 stern) 14 torpedoes

Brin was a Brin-class submarine built for and operated by Italy's Regia Marina during World War II.

When Italy declared war in June 1940, Brin was the sole vessel in the 42nd Squadron of the Italian submarine fleet.

At the end of 1940, Brin, captained by Luigi Longanesi-Cattani, became one of several Italian submarines that operated in the Atlantic, based in Bordeaux (BETASOM) under German command. In the early hours of 18 December 1940 she was attacked by the British submarine HMS Tuna with torpedoes and gunfire in the Bay of Biscay, about 55 nautical miles (102 km) east of the Gironde estuary. Brin was undamaged and escaped.^[2]

On 13 June 1941 she made three torpedo attacks on convoy SL75, succeeding in sinking two ships, the Greek Eirini Kyriakides (3,781 tons) and the British Djurdjura (3,460 tons).^[3] She performed five patrols from Bordeaux, sinking over 7,200 tons of allied shipping.^[4]

In August 1942 Brin contributed to the axis opposition to the Pedestal convoy. During the action she brought down an allied Short Sunderland flying boat. While in the Mediterranean, she performed 17 patrols.

At the Italian armistice, Brin was part of the Italian Fleet that surrendered to the allies in 1943. She was subsequently used on training operations in the Indian Ocean for the remainder of the war.^[4]

Notes

1. Bagnasco p159
2. Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2007). "HMS Tuna (N 94)". uboat.net. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
3. "Italian Submarine Operations - Atlantic Ocean". REGIAMARINA. 1996–2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
4. "DATABASE OF UNIT DIRECTOR OF MARINA IN SECOND WORLD WAR". Trentoincina. 2001–2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.

References

• Bagnasco, Erminio (1977) Submarines of World War Two, Cassell & Co, London. ISBN 1-85409-532-3
• Ireland, Bernard (1996). Warships of World War II. Glasgow: Harper Collins & Jane's. pp. 74–75.