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{{Short description|Italian submarine base in Bordeaux, France}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = BETASOM
|native_name = Bordeaux Sommergibili
|partof =
|location = [[Bordeaux]], France
|image = Basesousmarine.JPG
|caption =
|map_type = France
|map_size =
|map_alt =
|map_caption = France
|type = Submarine base
|coordinates = {{coord|44.867534|-0.559341|type:landmark|display=inline}}
|code =
|built =
|builder =
|materials =
|height =
|used = August 1940 – September 1943
|demolished =
|condition =
|ownership =
|open_to_public =
|controlledby = {{flag|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|name=Kingdom of Italy}}
|garrison = 1,600
|past_commanders = [[Angelo Parona]] (August 1940 – September 1941)<br />[[Romolo Polacchini]] (September 1941 – December 1942)<br />[[Enzo Grossi]] (December 1942 – September 1943)
|occupants = ''{{navy|Kingdom of Italy}}''
|battles = [[Battle of the Atlantic]]
|events =
|image2 =
|caption2 =
}}
'''BETASOM''' (an Italian language [[acronym]] of '''''Bordeaux Sommergibile''''' or '''''Sommergibili'''''){{efn|"B" (for Bordeaux) is rendered with ''BETA'' and ''SOM'' is an abbreviation for ''sommergibile'' (plural ''sommergibili'') which is – along with ''sottomarino'' – an Italian word for [[submarine]]}} was a [[submarine base]] established at [[Bordeaux]], France by the ''[[Regia Marina]]'' during the [[Second World War]]. From this base, Italian submarines participated in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] from 1940 to 1943 as part of the [[Axis powers|Axis]] anti-shipping campaign against the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].

==Establishment==
[[Axis Powers|Axis]] naval co-operation started after the signing of the [[Pact of Steel]] in June 1939 with meetings in [[Friedrichshafen]], Germany, and an agreement to  exchange technical information. After the [[Italian invasion of France|Italian entry into the war]] and the [[Fall of France]], the [[Italian Royal Navy]] established a submarine base at Bordeaux, which was within the [[German occupation of France during World War II|German occupation zone]]. The Italians were allocated a sector of the Atlantic south of [[Lisbon]] to patrol. The base was opened in August 1940 and in 1941 the captured French passenger ship {{SS|De Grasse||2}} was used as a [[depot ship]] before being returned to the [[Vichy France|Vichy Government]] in June 1942.

Admiral [[Angelo Parona]] commanded the submarines at BETASOM under the operational control of ''[[Konteradmiral]]'' (Rear Admiral) [[Karl Dönitz]]. Dönitz was the "Commander of the Submarines" (''[[Befehlshaber der U-Boote]]'') for the German ''[[Kriegsmarine]]''. About 1,600 men were based at BETASOM.<ref name=adamo>{{cite web|last=D'Adamo |first=Cristiano |title=BETASOM |publisher=REGIAMARINA |date=1996–2008 |url=http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text.asp?nid=90&lid=1 |access-date=13 March 2012}}</ref>  A postal system was operated, using a distinctive stamp cancellation and [[overprint]]ed Italian stamps.  These are generally rare and have been counterfeited.<ref>[http://www.giorgiobifani.net/rsi14eee_eng.htm The Atlantic Base]</ref>

The base could house up to thirty submarines, it had [[dry dock]]s and two basins connected by [[Lock (water transport)|locks]]. Shore [[barracks]] accommodated a security guard of 250 men of the [[San Marco Regiment]]. A second base was established at [[La Pallice]] in [[La Rochelle]], France. This second base allowed submerged training which was not possible at Bordeaux.

==Operational detail==
From June 1940, three Italian submarines patrolled off the [[Canary Islands]] and [[Madeira]], followed by three more off the [[Azores]]. When these patrols were completed, the six boats returned to their new base at Bordeaux. Their initial patrol area was the [[Western Approaches|Northwestern Approaches]]. Dönitz was pragmatic about the Italians, seeing them as inexperienced, but useful for reconnaissance and likely to gain expertise.<ref name=ireland>{{cite book | last = Ireland| first = Bernard | title = Battle of the Atlantic | publisher = Pen & Sword Books | year = 2003 | location = Barnsley, UK | pages = 51–52 | isbn = 1-84415-001-1 }}</ref><ref name="apps.dtic.mil">[https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a613508.pdf The Italian submarine force in the battle of the Atlantic]</ref>

In November 1940 there were 26 Italian boats at Bordeaux.<ref name="DvdW">{{cite book |last1=Van der Vat |first1=Dan |title=The Atlantic Campaign |year=2001 |publisher=Birlinn |isbn=978-1-84-158124-8 |page=216}}</ref> Initially, their activity did not meet much success; unacquainted with Atlantic weather conditions,  Italian submarines sighted convoys but lost contact and failed to make effective reports. As co-operation between the two navies was not working well, Dönitz decided to reassign the Italian boats to the southern area where they could act independently.<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/> In this way, about thirty Italian boats achieved more success, though without much impact on the most critical areas of the campaign.<ref name=ireland /><ref>Thirty two submarines operated in the Atlantic for the Italian Navy and sank 109 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships for a total of 593,864 tons.</ref>

[[File:Barbarigo 1.jpg|thumb|[[Italian submarine Barbarigo|Italian submarine ''Barbarigo'']]]]
Dönitz considered the Italians as displaying "great dash and daring in battle, often exceeding that of Germans", but less toughness, endurance and tenacity.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyYSERH9wrgC&q=onice&pg=PA149|title=Submarine Operational Effectiveness in the 20th Century: Part Two (1939–1945)|last=USN (RET.)|first=Captain John F. O'Connell |date=2011-08-18 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=	978-1-46-204261-6 |language=en}}</ref> By 30 November 1940, Italian submarines in the Atlantic each sank an average of 200 gross tons per day, while German [[U-boat]]s each averaged 1,115 gross tons per day during the same period. Italian submarines, had only been in the Atlantic for a few months and had not had yet the time to adapt to the new operational conditions, whereas the U-boats had been operating there for more than a year.<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/>

To improve the performance of the Italian submarines, several measures were taken, following the ''Kriegsmarine'', older Italian submarine commanders (some were 40 years old) were replaced with younger officers, who possessed more aggression and stamina; a "submarine school" was created in [[Gotenhafen]], where commanders, officers and bridge crews of the BETASOM submarines were trained according to the German model (the submarine ''Reginaldo Giuliani'' was assigned to this task, in cooperation with German naval units).<ref name="GG">{{cite book |last=Giorgerini |first=Giorgio |title=Uomini sul fondo: storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini a oggi |trans-title=Men on the Bottom: The Story of Italian Submersibles from the Beginning to Today |language=it |date=2002 |publisher=Mondadori |location=Milano |isbn=978-8-80-450537-2}}</ref>{{rp|471–481}} Italian submarines also underwent improvement work, such as the reshaping of their excessively large conning towers.

[[File:North Atlantic Ocean laea relief location map.jpg|thumb|{{center|Map of the North Atlantic Ocean}}]]
These measures significantly improved the performance of the remaining Italian submarines (in 1941, about half were recalled to the Mediterranean following the submarine losses there); the average tonnage sunk by BETASOM submarines rose from 3,844 [[Gross register tonnage|gross register tons]] (GRT) in 1940 to 27,335 GRT in 1942 (and, respectively, from 7,779 GRT to 68,337 GRT per submarine).<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/><ref name="DvdW"/><ref name="GG" />{{rp|692}} The tonnage sunk for every lost submarine was 32,672 GRT in 1940 (opposed to 188,423 GRT for German submarines), 20,432 GRT in 1941 (70,871 GRT for Germans submarines), 136,674 GRT in 1942 (68,801 GRT for German submarines) and 13,498 GRT in 1943 (11,391 GRT for German submarines).<ref name="GG" />{{rp|692}}

Between February and March 1942, five BETASOM submarines (along with six German U-boats) took part in [[Operation Neuland]], sinking 15 of the 45 Allied merchant ships destroyed during this operation. The top scoring BETASOM aces, [[Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia]] (90,601 GRT sunk) and [[Carlo Fecia di Cossato]] (96,553 GRT sunk), were among the few Italian recipients of the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]. Gazzana-Priaroggia's boat, {{ship|Italian submarine|Leonardo da Vinci|1939|2}}, was the top-scoring non-German submarine of World War II, with 17 ships sunk totalling 120,243 GRT.<ref>Clay Blair, ''Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters, 1939–1942'', p.740</ref><ref>The US Navy's most successful submarine, {{USS|Tang|SS-306|6}}, sank 116,454 GRT, while {{HMS|Upholder|P37|6}}, the Royal Navy's most successful submarine, sank 93,031 GRT of shipping.</ref> Another notable Betasom commander was [[Salvatore Todaro (commander)|Salvatore Todaro]], known for his habit of towing to safety the lifeboats containing the survivors of ships he had sunk.

The Italian naval historian Giorgio Giorgerini writes that Italian submarines did not perform as well as the U-boats but achieved good results considering the deficiencies of their boats (among which were the lack of modern torpedo fire-control systems, and their slower speed surfaced and submerged). Comparing the tonnages sunk by U-boats to the Italian submarines and their losses (16 Italian submarines lost against 247 U-boats), the "exchange rates" (gross tonnage sunk divided by the number of submarines lost) were respectively 40,591 t for the German units and 34,512 t for the Italian ones.<ref name="GG" />{{rp|423–425}} The strategic significance of Italy's participation in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] was small, as the number of Italian submarines that operated in the Atlantic was 30 at its peak, whereas the ''Kriegsmarine'' committed over 1,000 submarines to the battle of the Atlantic between 1939 and 1945.<ref name="GG" />{{rp|424}} Italian submarines operating in the Atlantic sank 109 Allied merchant ships totalling 601,425 tons, and lost 16 boats.<ref>[[Janusz Piekałkiewicz|Piekałkiewicz, Janusz]]. ''Sea War: 1939–1945''. Blandford Press, London - New York, 1987, pg. 106, {{ISBN|0-7137-1665-7}}</ref>

==German U-boat activities==
[[File:U-boat pens, Bordeaux, France-1Aug2009.jpg|thumb|Remains of U-boat pens in Bordeaux (2009)]]
Admiral Dönitz decided in mid-1941 to build protective [[Submarine pen|U-boat pens]] in Bordeaux. Construction began in September 1941, of [[reinforced concrete]], {{cvt|245|m}} wide, {{cvt|162|m}} deep, and {{cvt|19|m}} high, with a roof above the pens {{cvt|5.6|m|ftin}} thick and {{cvt|3.6|m|ftin}} thick above the rear servicing area. On 15 October 1942, the [[12th U-boat Flotilla]] was formed at Bordeaux by the ''Kriegsmarine'' under the command of ''[[Korvettenkapitän]]'' [[Klaus Scholtz]]. The first U-boat to use the bunker was {{GS|U-178||2}} on 17 January 1943.

==End of operations==
The base was bombed by the British on several occasions, especially in 1940 and 1941, but no significant damage was suffered, except for the sinking of the [[barracks ship]] ''Usaramo''.<ref>{{cite web |last=D'Adamo |first=Cristiano |title=The Bombardments of Bordeaux and the Italian submarine base "BETASOM" |publisher=Regiamarina |date=1996–2007 |url=http://www.regiamarina.net/subs/betasom/Bombardments/bombardments_us.htm
 |access-date=7 Jan 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207174216/http://regiamarina.net/subs/betasom/Bombardment/bombardments_us.htm |archive-date=7 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The base was indirectly attacked by [[Operation Josephine B]] in June 1941, a sabotage raid that destroyed the electricity substation that served the base.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foot |year=1966 |first=M. R. D. |title=SOE in France |author-link=M. R. D. Foot |publisher=HMSO |series=History of the Second World War |pages=157–159 |oclc=468556083}}</ref>

The remaining BETASOM boats ended their last offensive patrol in 1943, after which ''Bagnolini'', ''Barbarigo'', ''Comandante Cappellini'', ''Finzi'', ''Giuliani'', ''Tazzoli'' and ''Torelli'' were adapted to carry critical [[matériel]] from the [[Far East]] as part of an agreement between Italy and Germany; Italy had agreed to convert the surviving Betasom submarines, larger than German U-Boats and thus more suited for transport missions, in exchange for the transfer from the ''Kriegsmarine'' to the ''Regia Marina'' of an equal number of [[Type VIIC]] U-Boats, which would be manned by Italian crews and thus continue the Italian participation in offensive submarine operations in the Atlantic. Of the transport submarines, two were sunk by the Allies, three were captured in the Far East by the Japanese after the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], the Italian surrender of September 1943 and ceded to the Germans and two were captured in Bordeaux by the Germans. The U-Boats ceded to Italy were still training in [[Danzig]] with their new Italian crews when the armistice was announced and were immediately retaken by the ''Kriegsmarine''. ''Ammiraglio Cagni'', the newest Betasom submarine and the only one still on patrol at the time of the armistice, broke off her patrol and reached [[Durban]] in [[South Africa]] in compliance with the armistice orders.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosselli |first=Alberto |title=Italian Submarines and Surface Vessels in the Far East: 1940–1945 |work=Comando Supremo |url=http://www.comandosupremo.com/Fareast.html |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203154903/http://comandosupremo.com/Fareast.html |archive-date=3 February 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the Armistice the base was seized by the Germans. Some of the Italian personnel joined the Germans independently of the [[Italian Social Republic]]. During this period the Italian [[postage stamps]] on hand were [[overprinted]] to show loyalty to Mussolini's [[rump state]].<ref>[http://www.giorgiobifani.net/rsi14eee_eng.htm Stamps of the Italian Socialist Republic - The Atlantic Base]</ref> The last two U-boats left Bordeaux in August 1944 and the Allies occupied the base on 25 August. The German naval personnel attempted to march back to Germany but were captured by US forces on 11 September 1944.

==BETASOM submarines==
In 1940, all twenty-eight Italian submarines which were to be based at BETASOM initially had to sail from bases on the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and transit the [[Straits of Gibraltar]] to reach the [[Atlantic Ocean]]; all succeeded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=84&lid=1&cid=24|title=Regia Marina Italiana|publisher=Cristiano D'Adamo|access-date=2012-07-31}}</ref><ref name="GG" />{{rp|439–470,690–691}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Italian submarines at BETASOM<ref name=Blair>[[Clay Blair]], ''Hitler’s U-Boat War Vol I '' (1996) App 8 (p739). {{ISBN|0-304-35260-8}}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" width="160px"  |Name
! scope="col" width="120px"  |Arrival date
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Patrols
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Ships<br>sunk
! scope="col" width="15px" |[[gross register tons|GRT]]
! Notes
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Alessandro Malaspina||2}}|| 4 September 1940  || 6 || 3 ||align="right"|16,384 ||Lost, all hands, September 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Barbarigo||2}} || 8 September 1940 || 11 || 7 ||align="right"| 39,300 ||Converted transport boat, sunk all hands June 1943
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Dandolo||2}} || 10 September 1940 || 6 ||  2 ||align="right"| 6,554 ||Returned Mediterranean, June–July 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Guglielmo Marconi||2}} || 29 September 1940 || 6 || 7 ||align="right"|19,887 ||Lost, all hands, September 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Giuseppe Finzi||2}} || 29 September 1940 || 10 || 5 ||align="right"|30,760 ||Converted transport boat, seized after Armistice
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Alpino Bagnolini||2}} || 30 September 1940 || 11 ||  2 ||align="right"|6,926 ||Converted transport boat, seized after Armistice
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Emo||2}} || 3 October 1940 || 6 ||  2 ||align="right"|10,958 ||Returned Mediterranean, August 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Capitano Tarantini||2}} || 5 October 1940 || 2 || — ||align="right"| — ||Sunk {{HMS|Thunderbolt|N25|6}}, 15 December 1940
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Luigi Torelli||2}} || 5 October 1940 || 12 ||  7 ||align="right"|42,871 ||Converted to transport boat, seized after Armistice
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Comandante Faà di Bruno||2}} || 5 October 1940 || 2 || —||align="right"|—||Lost, all hands, October 1940
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Otaria|1935|2}} || 6 October 1940  || 8 || 1 ||align="right"|4,662 ||Returned Mediterranean, September 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Maggiore Baracca||2}} || 6 October 1940 || 6 || 3 ||align="right"|8,989 ||Sunk {{HMS|Croome|L62|6}}, 8 September 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Reginaldo Giuliani||2}} || 6 October 1940 || 3 || 3 ||align="right"|13,603 ||To [[Gdynia]] as training boat, converted, seized at Armistice
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Glauco||2}} || 22 October 1940 || 5 || — ||align="right"|—  ||Sunk {{HMS|Wishart||6}}, 27 June 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Pietro Calvi||2}} || 23 October 1940 || 8 || 6 ||align="right"|34,193 ||Sunk [[USCGC Chelan|HMS ''Lulworth'']], on 15 July 1942
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Enrico Tazzoli|1935|2}} || 24 October 1940 || 9 || 18 ||align="right"|96,650 ||Converted to transport boat, lost all hands May 1943
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Argo|1936|2}} || 24 October 1940 || 6 || 1 ||align="right"|5,066 ||Returned Mediterranean, October 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Leonardo da Vinci|1939|2}} || 31 October 1940 || 11 ||  17 ||align="right"|120,243 ||Lost all hands, May 1943{{efn|Best performing non-German submarine in World War II. Blair lists 13 ships totalling 90,415 GRT only for BETASOM, with the 4 ships totalling 29,828 GRT sunk in the Indian Ocean counted separately}}
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Veniero||2}} || 2 November 1940 || 6 || 2 ||align="right"|4,987 ||Returned Mediterranean, August 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Nani||2}} || 4 November 1940 || 3 || 2 ||align="right"|1,939 ||Lost all hands, January 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Comandante Cappellini||2}} || 5 November 1940 || 12 ||  5 ||align="right"|31,648 ||Converted to transport boat, seized after Armistice
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Morosini||2}} || 28 November 1940  || 9 || 6 ||align="right"|40,933 ||Lost all hands, August 1942
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Marcello||2}} || 2 December 1940 || 3 || 1 ||align="right"|1,550 ||Lost all hands, February 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Michele Bianchi||2}} || 18 December 1940  || 4 || 3 ||align="right"|22,266 ||Sunk, all hands, {{HMS|Tigris|N63|6}}, 4 July 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Brin||2}} || 18 December 1940  || 5 || 2 ||align="right"|7,241 ||Returned Mediterranean, August–September 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Velella|1936|2}} || 25 December 1940  || 4 || — ||align="right"|—||Returned Mediterranean, August 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Mocenigo||2}} || 26 December 1940  || 4 || 1 ||align="right"|1,253 ||Returned Mediterranean, August 1941
|-
|}

===Ex-Red Sea submarines===
In 1941, the four surviving Italian submarines based in [[Italian East Africa]] (''Africa Orientale Italiana'', AOI) sailed around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to BETASOM after the fall of colony during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]].<ref name="GG" />{{rp|439–470,690–691}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Red Sea submarines, transferred to BETASOM<ref name=Blair/>
|-
! scope="col" width="100px" |Name
! scope="col" width="80px" |Arrival date
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Patrols
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Ships<br>sunk
! scope="col" width="15px" |[[gross register tons|GRT]]
! Notes
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Archimede|1939|2}} || 7 May 1941 || 3 ||2 ||align="right"|25,629 || Sunk by aircraft, 15 April 1943
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Guglielmotti|1938|2}} || 7 May 1941 || — || —||align="right"| —||Returned Mediterranean, September–October 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Galileo Ferraris|1934|2}} || 9 May 1941 || 1 || —||align="right"|—|| Sunk {{HMS|Lamerton|L88|6}}, 25 October 1941
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Perla||2}} || 19 May 1941 || —||— || align="right"|—||Coastal boat, returned Mediterranean, September–October 1941
|-
|}

In 1941, it was decided to return some of the boats to the Mediterranean. ''Perla'', ''Guglielmotti'', ''Brin'', ''Argo'', ''Velella'', ''Dandolo'', ''Emo'', ''Otaria'', ''Mocenigo'', and ''Veniero'' made the passage. ''Glauco'' also made the return voyage but was sunk by the [[Royal Navy]] off [[Cape Spartel]]. The submarine cruiser {{ship|Italian submarine|Ammiraglio Cagni||2}} was dispatched from the Mediterranean to patrol off South Africa in October 1942. On completion she returned to Bordeaux, transferring to BETASOM in February 1943. She was converted there for transport to the Far East but was overtaken by the Italian Armistice in September 1943 and was interned at Durban.

==={{lang|it|Ammiraglio Cagni}}===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Submarine cruiser, transferred to BETASOM<ref name=Blair/>
|-
! scope="col" width="120px" |Name
! scope="col" width="120px" |Arrival date
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Patrols
! scope="col" width="40px"  |Ships<br>sunk
! scope="col" width="15px" |[[gross register tons|GRT]]
! Notes
|-
| {{ship|Italian submarine|Ammiraglio Cagni||2}}|| 20 February 1943 || 2 || 2 ||align="right"|5,840 ||Converted to transport submarine, interned at Armistice
|-
|}

==Post-World War II==
The submarine pens have proved to be infeasible to demolish due to their massive reinforced construction which had been designed to withstand aerial bombardment. {{as of|2010}}, after conversion several years previously, approximately {{cvt|12000|m2}} of the {{cvt|42000|m2}} building are open to the public as a cultural centre for the performing arts, exhibitions, and evening events.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bordeaux: Base sous-marine |url=http://www.bordeaux.fr/o271 |access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|id=QF8m61_ernk|title=Italian newsreel: Italian submarines on the Atlantic}}
* [http://www.bordeaux.fr/o271 Official site by the city of Bordeaux] {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://uboat.net/flotillas/bases/bordeaux.htm History of the Bordeaux submarine base plus construction details]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.ubootwaffe.net/|title=U-boat history of boats, operations etc.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205113119/http://www.ubootwaffe.net|archive-date=5 February 2005}}
* [http://regiamarina.net/ Regia Marina]
* [http://www.exordio.com/1939-1945/militaris/fuerzas-armadas-ITA/betasom.html Base de submarinos, BETASOM] {{in lang|es}}

{{World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betasom}}
[[Category:Italian Navy submarine bases]]
[[Category:Regia Marina]]
[[Category:Military history of Italy during World War II]]
[[Category:Battle of the Atlantic]]
[[Category:France–Italy relations]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Bordeaux]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Bordeaux]]