CB-class midget submarine
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The former CB 20 in the Technical Museum, Zagreb
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Caproni |
| Operators: | |
| Preceded by: | CA class |
| Built: | 1941–43 |
| In commission: | 1941–45 |
| Planned: | 72 |
| Completed: | 12 ? |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Midget submarine |
| Displacement: | 35.4 tons surfaced, 44.3 tons submerged |
| Length: | 14.99 m (49.2 ft) |
| Beam: | 3.00 m (9.84 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h) surfaced, 7 knots (13 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 4 |
| Armament: | 2 externally mounted 450mm torpedoes or two mines |
The CB class was a group of midget submarines built for the Italian Navy during World War II.
Design
The boats were designed as coast defence units with diesel-electric propulsion. There was a mini conning tower to aid navigation. The armament consisted of two torpedoes mounted externally which could be reloaded without removing the craft from the water.
Boats
Seventy two boats were ordered from Caproni of Milan, but only 22 were laid down. 12 boats were completed before the Armistice and nine after. Six boats were transferred to the Black Sea by rail and fought the Soviets sinking two submarines. After the Italian Armistice, the five survivors were transferred to the Royal Romanian Navy. However, they needed significant repairs, and only 2 of them were made operational, most likely overhauled at the Galați shipyard, the only facility in Romania that had experience with submarines. They entered service on 1 July 1944 and performed only observation missions 30 miles from the coast.[1][2][3]
| Boat | Completed | Service / Fate |
|---|---|---|
| CB 1 | 27 January 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-4, scrapped 1945 |
| CB 2 | 27 January 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-5, scrapped 1945 |
| CB 3 | 10 May 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-6, scrapped 1945 |
| CB 4 | 10 May 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, scuttled August 1944, raised by USSR and commissioned as TM-7, scrapped 1945 |
| CB 5 | 10 May 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea, sunk by Soviet aircraft near Yalta, 13 June 1942 |
| CB 6 | 10 May 1941 | Transferred to the Black Sea. To Romania 1943, scuttled August 1944 |
| CB 7 | 1 August 1943 | Captured by Germany at Pola September 1943. Transferred to the Italian Social Republic, cannibalised for spare parts |
| CB 8 | 1 August 1943 | Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| CB 9 | 1 August 1943 | Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| CB 10 | 1 August 1943 | Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| CB 11 | 24 August 1943 | Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| CB 12 | 24 August 1943 | Surrendered to Britain 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| CB 13 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk by Allied aircraft 23 March 1945 |
| CB 14 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid |
| CB 15 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid |
| CB 16 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk during air raid |
| CB 17 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk by Allied aircraft 3 April 1945 |
| CB 18 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, sunk 31 March 1945 |
| CB 19 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, broken up 1947 |
| CB 20 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic. Captured by Yugoslav Partisans in Pola at the end of the War. In active service in Yugoslav Navy until 1959, as P-901. On display at the Technical museum Zagreb |
| CB 21 | Late 1943 ? | Captured by Germany 1943. Transferred to Italian Social Republic, rammed and sunk by a Marinefährprahm in the Adriatic 29 April 1945 |
| CB 22 | Captured by Germany in 1943, taken to Pola and abandoned at the end of the war. Wreck salvaged and preserved in Trieste |
See also
References
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- ↑ CB class submarines in Romanian serivce
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