Royal Torpedo Boat Lupo
The History
The LUPO was a torpedo boat of the Alcione series of the Spica class, built at the Cantieri del Carnaro in Fiume and launched in 1937. It was 81.42 meters long, 7.92 meters wide, and had a displacement of 1050 tons at full load. Its armament consisted of three 100/47 mm guns, eight 13.2 mm machine guns (replaced in 1941 by eight 20/65 mm machine guns), four 450 mm torpedo tubes, and two depth charge throwers. It entered service with the Italian Regia Marina on February 20, 1938.
At the outbreak of the war, LUPO was the flagship of the VIII Torpedo Boat Squadron, based in Rhodes.
Following a brave defense action of a convoy transporting German troops in the context of the invasion operations of the island of Crete, attacked by a force of three cruisers and four British destroyers, LUPO was awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valor, while its commander, Captain of Frigate Francesco Mimbelli, was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor.
After intensive activity in the Aegean waters, from mid-1942 LUPO began operating on the routes to Libya for convoy escort duty.
On November 30, 1942, LUPO sailed from Naples under the command of Lieutenant Commander Giuseppe Folli to escort Convoy “C”, composed of the steamers CHISONE and VELOCE, bound for Tripoli, along with the torpedo boats SAGITTARIO (which later returned to Trapani due to damage), ARDITO, and ARETUSA.
Around 8:00 PM on December 2, the convoy was attacked by Albacore torpedo bombers from Squadrons 821 and 828, launched from Malta. During the attack, the steamer VELOCE, after shooting down one of the attacking aircraft, was hit by a torpedo and immobilized in flames. LUPO remained on the scene to provide assistance, while the rest of the convoy continued to Tripoli. During the rescue operations of the shipwrecked, around 11:30 PM, the ships were attacked by Force K, coming from Malta and composed of the British destroyers JERVIS, NUBIAN, KELVIN, and JAVELIN. Caught completely by surprise and subjected to the fire of the four destroyers’ guns, LUPO had no way to react and sank in a few minutes. The British ships then finished off VELOCE with gunfire, sinking it, before disappearing into the night. Only 29 men of LUPO’s crew were saved, picked up by the torpedo boat ARDENTE the next morning. 134 officers, petty officers, and sailors lost their lives, including Captain Folli.
Photos: Historical Institute of the Italian Navy, by kind permission.
The Model
The model was created by processing approximately 11,000 photographs taken in 2023 during four dives. Model processing required several days of computation.
Photos: S. Gualtieri, M. Arena, C. De Seta.
Processing: S. Gualtieri, K. Beemster Leverenz, N.S. Arena.
The Wreck
The wreck of LUPO was discovered by a team from SDSS (M. Arena, M. Cottafava, L. Pasqui, and D. Gualdani) in 2011, at position 34°27’N, 11°28’E, about 96 miles southwest of Lampedusa and 20 miles off the Kerkennah Islands. The wreck lies at a depth of 50 meters, in a single section, listing about 30° to starboard, with the starboard end of the main deck practically in contact with the seabed. The last meters of the bow are broken into a section bent perpendicular to the left of the rest of the hull.
The 100mm bow gun is in place, traversed 5° to the right of the bow, with an elevation of about 20°. The 100 mm guns no. 3 and 4, aft, are respectively traversed to the right, with elevation 0, no. 3, and to 45° relative to the hull and elevation of about 20°, no. 4. The twin torpedo launcher aft is in place, traversed 45° to the left relative to the hull; the two warheads of the torpedoes have fallen to the ground, on the wreck’s deck, confused among the wreckage and the nets. The forward installation, which in 2011 was also erected and traversed to the right, has been knocked down by a net that tore the two launch tubes and now covers the entire installation. One of the warheads is on the ground, on the ship’s deck. On the left side, at the height of the superstructure that housed the bridge, there is a twin 20/65 mm machine gun.
Otherwise, the ship is completely devastated and covered with nets. Certainly, part of the devastation is due to the combat and sinking dynamics, but the nets entangled on the wreck over the years have done much of the damage. Between the first dive conducted in 2011 and those carried out ten years later, in 2021, the condition of the wreck has deteriorated significantly: the structure of the bridge, which in 2011 was clearly distinguishable and partially erect, is now completely collapsed and covered by nets to the point of being unrecognizable. In general, it is a great pity that such a historical wreck, a glorious ship and a war cemetery, is disfigured in this way. On several occasions, attempts have been made to clean the wreck at least partially from the nets, and some nets have been removed in collaboration with the Ghost Diving organization, specialized in these operations. But the quantity of nets covering the wreck is such that it is discouraging, and many dedicated dives would be necessary before obtaining an appreciable result.
The seabed near the wreck is composed of fine and muddy sediment, and the site of the wreck has always been found with turbid water and poor visibility.
Explosives and Pollutants
At least three torpedo warheads are visible among the wreckage of the ship. Furthermore, it is to be presumed that a certain number of depth charges are present on the wreck, covered by the nets.
Life on the Wreck
The wreck of LUPO is populated by encrusting organisms, sponges, algae, fish, and damselfish. Given the quantity of surrounding nets lost on the wreck, it is to be assumed that it is also frequented by shoals of jacks.
