Steamship Veloce

The VELOCE was a steamer of 5464 tsl, built at the Linthouse shipyard of Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd. in Govan (Glasgow) for the Anchor Line Ltd. of Glasgow, under the name Media. It was 125 meters long and 16.2 meters wide.

In 1935, it was purchased by the shipowner Achille Lauro of Naples, and in June 1940, it was requisitioned by the Navy for wartime needs.

At 11:00 PM on November 30, 1942, it set sail in a convoy from Naples bound for Tripoli, carrying a cargo of gasoline, artillery pieces, about fifty vehicles, artillery tractors, 10 tanks, and 79 military personnel including Italian soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Regiment and German soldiers, along with the 56 men of its crew.

It was a particularly dramatic moment in the North African campaign, with Axis forces retreating in the desert after the defeat at El Alamein. The cities of Tobruk and Benghazi had already fallen, and this would be one of the last convoys destined for Tripoli, which would also fall after a few weeks.

Convoy “C”, in addition to the VELOCE, consisted of the steamers CHISONE and the military tanker DEVOLI (the latter headed to Trapani), escorted by the torpedo boats LUPO, ARETUSA, and SAGITTARIO. During the voyage, on December 1st, the torpedo boat ARDENTE joined the convoy escort, while the SAGITTARIO suffered damage and was forced to return to Trapani.

Information regarding the composition and departure of the convoy was intercepted by the British ULTRA service, which alerted operational commands. The convoy was intercepted and shadowed by aerial reconnaissance from the night of departure: Supermarina intercepted their communications several times regarding the convoy’s position.

On December 2nd, 11 Albacore torpedo bombers took off from Malta and attacked the ships around 8:00 PM after illuminating the scene with the launch of a large number of flares. The VELOCE managed to avoid a first torpedo and shoot down the torpedo bomber that launched it, but at 8:15 PM, it was hit aft by a second torpedo, igniting the ship and immobilizing it. The LUPO remained to assist the stricken steamer while the rest of the convoy proceeded to Tripoli.

Meanwhile, at 2:00 PM, the Force K set sail from Malta, consisting of destroyers from the 14th Destroyer Flotilla: JERVIS, NUBIAN, KELVIN, and JAVELIN, to intercept and attack the convoy ships. Around 11:30 PM, the radar of NUBIAN located the VELOCE and LUPO, which shortly became visible to the naked eye due to the fire raging on the VELOCE. The British destroyers, after maneuvering to position themselves conveniently for the attack, fired some illuminating shells, then targeted the LUPO catching the ship completely by surprise, hitting it with shots and sinking it within 5 minutes before it could attempt any reaction. Almost the entire crew of the LUPO perished in the attack and sinking. Around 11:45 PM, the VELOCE was also sunk by gunfire. 63 people on board lost their lives, including the ship’s captain, Captain Pietro Vasta.