At the end of an operational stop in the port of Haifa, in Israel, the crew of the submarine Scirè (class "Todaro" 1st series) wanted to pay homage to the boat of the same name which, during the Second World War, brought a lot of honor to the Navy.
Near the point where, on 10 August 1942, the Royal Submarine Scirè was sunk, the current crew of the submarine of the same name commemorated the 49 sailors and 11 divers who in those waters made the extreme sacrifice in the fulfillment of their duties as soldiers.
The Royal Submarine Scirè it was one of the 17 "Adua" series boats of the "600" class, whose name derives from the Ethiopian region of the same name, the scene of an important battle fought in the African theater in 1936.
During the Second World War it was subject to technical modifications to make it suitable for the transport of so-called Slow running torpedoes (SLC) and repeatedly used as the "mother unit" to carry these vehicles, led by the men of the "10a MAS flotilla "in proximity to their targets. As part of these missions, the boat made 4 raids in Gibraltar which resulted in the damage or sinking of an auxiliary cruiser and 2 tankers.
The most glorious action, however, was "the Alexandria Enterprise" when, in the night between 18 and 19 December 1941, the 3 SLCs released by the submarine not far from the port of Alexandria in Egypt managed to damage significantly two British battleships (Queen Elizabeth and Valiant), a destroyer (the Jervis) and a tanker. After this action, in July 1942, lo Scirè he left the port of La Spezia to head towards the British port of Haifa, where he had to leave eleven "gamma men" who would have forced the port to apply explosive charges under some British ships moored there. The action was supposed to take place on the night of 10 August. Up to that moment, communications with the Rhodes base, where Commander Candiani, ground commander of the operation was located, had been ensured, but from that date the boat did not give any news.
Candiani himself, on August 17, noted in his diary: "At 22pm, I am in possession of a photograph taken from 9 meters above sea level. No damaged ships or traces of forcing of the port. It is assumed that the Scirè, of which there is no news, has not come to the escape of the operators". When the reality became evident, on 31 August he was declared missing at sea in action of war.
Only later was it possible to ascertain the fate of the submarine and its crew: the "Enigma" encryption system, used by the Germans and the Italians, had been violated and allowed the British to locate the submarine during the approach. The Scirè, once near the mouth of the port, he was attacked with depth bombs from the corvette Islay and coastal defense batteries, up to complete sinking.
