Italian submarine Acciaio

The Italian submarine Acciaio was the lead vessel of the Acciaio class submarines serving in the Regia Marina during World War II.

Service history
Acciaio was built in OTO's shipyard at Muggiano on the Ligurian coast. She was laid down on 21 November 1940 and launched on 22 January 1941. She was commissioned on 30 October of the same year. The name Acciaio means “Steel” in Italian.

Acciaio’s first patrol was on 29 March 1942 and she carried out nine offensive patrols during her service career, against Allied naval forces in the Mediterranean. She had one success, when she sank British armed trawler Tervani on 7 February 1943 off the Algerian coast. Her last patrol was on 10 July from La Maddalena to act against Allied forces involved in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.

Fate
On 13 July 1943, off coast of Calabria, Acciaio was sighted by British submarine Unruly. Unruly fired a spread of four torpedoes, one of which hit. Accaio sank immediately with loss of all her crew.