View source for Italian submarine Barbarigo

{{other ships|Italian ship Agostino Barbarigo}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2015}}
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|Ship image= Barbarigo 1.jpg
|Ship caption=''Barbarigo''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= Italy
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Italy}}
|Ship name= ''Barbarigo''
|Ship namesake=[[Agostino Barbarigo]]
|Ship ordered= 
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|Ship builder=[[Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico|CRDA]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship launched= 12 June 1938 
|Ship completed= 
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|Ship commissioned=19 September 1938
|Ship in service=
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|Ship identification=
|Ship fate= Presumed sunk, {{circa}} 17–19 June 1943
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Marcello|submarine|3}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1060|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|1313|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length= {{convert|73|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam= {{convert|7.19|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= {{convert|5.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship propulsion=*[[Diesel-electric]]
*2 × CRDA diesels
*2 × CRDA electric motors
|Ship speed=*{{convert|17.4|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|8|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} submerged
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|Ship complement=58
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament=*8 × {{convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s (4 bow, 4 stern)
*2 × [[Škoda 10 cm K10|{{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}}]]/47 guns
*4 × [[Breda Model 1931 Machine Gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] machine guns
|Ship notes=
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'''''Barbarigo''''' was a [[World War II]] Italian {{sclass|Marcello|submarine}}. It was built by the [[Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico]], and was commissioned on 19 September 1938.

==History==

After early peacetime training activity, and two fruitless missions in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], the ''Barbarigo'' was assigned to the [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic theater]], reaching its [[BETASOM|base]] in [[Bordeaux]] on 8 September 1940, after an unsuccessful patrol.

From October 1940 to May 1941, she went on three missions around [[Ireland|Irish]] waters, which obtained only the damaging of a merchantman. In July, she sailed to the west of the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] and obtained its first successes, sinking the British ship ''Macon'' (5135 tls) on 25 July, and then the oiler ''Horn Shell'' (8272 tls), before turning for port. On 22 October, ''Barbarigo'' sailed again, under the command of ''Capitano di Corvetta'' [[Enzo Grossi]], but the patrol was unsuccessful. On the next patrol, the submarine met a lighted ship, but Grossi torpedoed and sank her nonetheless (it was the neutral Spanish ship [[SS Navemar]]), on 23 January 1941.

Afterwards, ''Barbarigo'' was sent to [[Brazil]]ian waters, departing Bordeaux on 30 April. She was responsible for the first Brazilian war action of World War II; she attacked the Brazilian merchant ship ''Comandante Lyra'' on 18 May 1942, without sinking her, and she was chased by Brazilian aero-naval forces for five days. The submarine managed to escape two attacks by Brazilian [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25]] aircraft.<ref>Barone, 2013. Section ''"Amigos, amigos, guerra à parte (War is war)"''.</ref>

On 20 May, the ''Barbarigo'' met the cruiser {{USS|Milwaukee|CL-5|6}} and the destroyer {{USS|Moffett|DD-362|6}}; wrongly recognizing the former as a {{sclass|Maryland|battleship}}, Grossi fired two torpedoes at the cruiser. With he and his crew being convinced they had seen and felt the "battleship" being struck and sinking, ''Barbarigo'' sailed away, while the American ships had not even been aware of the attack. Grossi reported his "sinking", and, despite the doubts and misgivings of BETASOM commander [[Romolo Polacchini]], the action was widely publicized on Italian and German press; Grossi was awarded with a [[Gold Medal of Military Valour]] and promoted to ''Capitano di Fregata'' (Commander). On its way home, ''Barbarigo'' attacked and sank the ship ''Charlbury'' (4836 tls), 28 May.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Giorgerini|first1=Giorgio|title=Uomini sul fondo : storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini a oggi|date=2002|publisher=Mondadori|location=Milano|isbn=8804505370|pages=535–8}}</ref>

On 29 August, the submarine sailed again, this time for a mission around the African coast. On the night of 6 October, ''Barbarigo'' met the [[corvette]] {{HMS|Petunia|K79|6}}, and Grossi "recognized" her as a {{sclass|New Mexico|battleship|}}; he fired four torpedoes, and again he was convinced he had successfully sunk an enemy battleship,<ref>Associated Press, "Italy Asserts Battleship of U.S. Destroyed: Sinking of 33,000 Ton Vessel By Submarine Not Confirmed From Any Other Source", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 7 October 1942, Volume 49, page 2.</ref> while ''Petunia'' had escaped unharmed. ''Barbarigo'' returned to port on the night of 29 October. Again, Grossi's "success" was widely reported, and he was promoted to ''Capitano di Vascello'' (Captain) and awarded a second Gold Medal; he left the submarine to replace Polacchini as BETASOM commander. After the war, Grossi's actions would be the object of two enquiries in 1949 and 1962, which concluded that he and his crew had been in good faith, but stripped him of his promotions and awards.<ref>Giorgerini, p. 539-43</ref>

On 24 January 1943, the submarine departed for its last mission as an attack submarine, in which it sank the ships ''Monte Igueldo'' (3453 tls) on 24 February, ''Alfonso Pena'' (3540 tls) on 2 March, and ''Staghound'' on 3 March, before returning to Bordeaux on 3 April.

After a period of time for repairs, as well as some replacements and retraining of crew, the submarine was converted into a transport to carry [[materiel]] between Germany and Japan in 1943, with guns, torpedoes and all but one periscope being removed; it departed Bordeaux on 16 June, with 130 tons of valuable load, but disappeared. After the war, British records{{Which|date=July 2019}} showed that an unidentified submarine had been attacked and presumed sunk between 17 and 19 June, in the area where ''Barbarigo'' might have been.

==See also==

* [[Italian submarines of World War II]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book|first=Erminio |last=Bagnasco |title=Submarines of World War Two |publisher=Cassell & Co |location=London |date=1977 |isbn=1-85409-532-3}}
* [http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=84&lid=1&cid=9 ''Barbarigo'' at regiamarina.net] {{in lang|it}}
* Barone, João (2013) ''"1942: O Brasil e sua guerra quase desconhecida" (1942: Brazil and its almost forgotten war)'' {{in lang|pt}} Editora Nova Fronteira {{ISBN|8520933947}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{YouTube|id=aAnJBU4L9g4|title=Italian submarine ''Barbarigo'' on a successful mission in the Atlantic Ocean. 1942 Italian newsreel}}
* [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/Smg/marcello_02_barbarigo.aspx Barbarigo] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}
{{Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico}}
{{Marcello class submarines}}
{{June 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbarigo}}
[[Category:Marcello-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Monfalcone]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of Italy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1943]]
[[Category:Missing submarines of World War II]]
[[Category:Ships built by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico]]
[[Category:Merchant submarines]]