Italian gunboat Sebastiano Caboto
History | |
---|---|
Italy | |
Name | Sebastiano Caboto |
Namesake | Sebastian Cabot (c. 1474–1557), Italian explorer |
Ordered | 1910 |
Builder | Cantieri Navali Riuniti, Genoa or Palermo, Italy (see text) |
Laid down | March 1911 |
Launched | 20 July 1913 |
Completed | November 1913 |
Commissioned | 23 November 1913 |
Reclassified | Submarine tender 1938 |
Fate |
|
Nazi Germany | |
Name | Sebastiano Caboto |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Acquired | 12 September 1943 |
Commissioned | never |
Fate | Sunk September–October 1943 (see text) |
General characteristics | |
Type | River gunboat |
Displacement |
|
Length | |
Beam | 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in) |
Draught |
|
Installed power | 1,100 hp (810 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 13.2 kn (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph) |
Range | 3,600 nmi (6,670 km; 4,140 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
Complement | either 6 enlisted men or 107 officers and enlisted men(see text) |
Armament |
Sebastiano Caboto was a vessel of the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in commission from 1913 to 1943. She operated as a river gunboat — some sources describe her as an "oceanic gunboat" or "colonial-service gunboat" — from 1913 to 1938, then as a submarine tender. She was named in honor of the Italian explorer Sebastian Cabot.
Design and construction
By the early 1900s, Italian traders and entrepreneurs were managing commercial activities in China, especially along the Yangtze. Italians had built textile factories in China and were managing other commercial interests; for example, the importation of coral, which was processed in Italy mainly by artisan companies in Naples and then exported again to East Asia, had become an important activity.[1] For economic reasons, the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") could no longer afford to station warships in East Asia, and in any event the Regia Marina′s ships were too large to operate without difficulty upstream of Woosung (now Wusong) or Hankow (now Hankou) on the Yangtze. For years, France had assumed the responsibility for the protection of Italian communities in China.[2] After the ambassador of the Kingdom of Italy in Peking (now Beijing) contacted him about a need for Italian protection of Italian communities along Chinese rivers, and in particular those on the upper Yangtze and the Peiho,[2] the Italian minister of foreign affairs requested that the Regia Marina take steps to address the issue. The Regia Marina decided to build two river gunboats for service in China.
The Regia Marina ordered the first
At 1,000
Sebastiano Caboto′s armament consisted of six
although another source places her total crew at 107.Sebastiano Caboto′s propulsion system consisted of two
In her operations, Sebastiano Caboto revealed excellent nautical qualities, proving to be manoeuvrable, easy to handle, sufficiently powerful, and capable of economical long-range operations: On 100 tons of coal she could steam 1,356 nautical miles (2,511 km; 1,560 mi).[1] One flaw was her tendency to roll, so her crew often used her sails to better stabilize her as well as slightly increase her speed.[3]
Operational history
1913–1915
After entering service on 23 November 1913, Sebastiano Caboto moved from Palermo to Naples for her
As soon as a reorganization, which lasted for almost a month after her arrival, was complete, Sebastiano Caboto began operations, departing Shanghai on 28 April 1914 and steaming up the rivers to the limit of their navigability, in particular up the Yangtze. Although her draft prevented her from operating on the upper Yangtze between
After completion of her drydock work, Sebastiano Caboto resumed operations on Chinese rivers.[3] In July 1914 she was in Nanking (now Nanjing)[9] and later in Tientsin (now Tianjin).[10] During this period, she sometimes became involved in armed conflict and had to use her weapons.[4] At the beginning of August 1914, as World War I broke out in Europe, she went to Tsingtao (now Qingdao).[11]
World War I
After Italy entered World War I on the side of the
1919–1934
World War I ended in November 1918. In 1921 a second Regia Marina gunboat, the smaller Ermanno Carlotto, whose construction had been interrupted by World War I, joined Sebastiano Caboto in China.[1] Between January and March 1923, Sebastiano Caboto was in Hong Kong.[13][14] On 6 April 1924, Lieutenant Commander Angelo Iachino, a future admiral, assumed command of Ermanno Carlotto and, noting the worsening of internal conflicts in China, expressed hope for the sending of an expeditionary force that could carry out international police duties: As a result, the Naval Division was established in East Asia.[15] During the summer of 1924, Sebastiano Caboto conducted a cruise in the waters of Siberia, stopping at Vladivostok and a number of smaller ports.[2][1][4]
During these years, Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto had the task of protecting Italian missions in China, which, as had occurred prior to World War I, often came under threat of looting by river pirates and the forces of Chinese warlords.[2] The two gunboats also policed shipping on Chinese rivers. Italian standards for the ownership and crewing of Italian-flagged vessels required that shipping companies that owned them have corporate capital that was majority Italian and that the ships themselves have an Italian captain and a crew that was at least two-thirds Italian, even if the crew's composition otherwise was in compliance with regulations in China. Many of the Italian-flagged ships Italian-Chinese shipping companies owned had come under the control of Chinese captains who used them to smuggle weapons. Although Italian agreements with China prohibited Chinese authorities from stopping and inspecting Italian-flagged ships — something viewed as intolerable for the credibility and prestige of the Italian shipping companies and, by extension, of Italy itself — Chinese authorities made several attempts to inspect Italian-flagged ships for illegal activities. Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto therefore monitored Italian-flagged ships belonging to Italian-Chinese shipping companies for compliance with Italian requirements and to detect any illegal activities, and they reported ships which did not comply with legal and regulatory requirements to Italian consulate authorities, who could withdraw authorization to use of the Italian flag.[2][1]
During the first half of the 1920s, Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto, reinforced at different times by the protected cruiser Libia, the torpedo boat Calabria, and the armored cruiser San Giorgio, found the task of protecting Italian communities and interests in China complicated by Chinese civil conflicts.[1] Sebastiano Caboto often visited Chinese "treaty ports" and steamed up the Yangtze to Hankow, remaining mainly in the lower reaches of the river because of her draft.[10]
During the second half of the 1920s and the early 1930s, the destroyer Muggia alternated on duties in China, joining Sebastiano Caboto, Ermanno Carloto, and Libia in forming the Italian naval squadron there. The transport Volta, the heavy cruiser Trento. and the destroyer Espero also made deployments to China.[1] In March 1925 the Far East Naval Command included Libia, Sebastiano Caboto, Ermanno Carlotto, and San Giorgio.[1] In 1926 Sebastiano Caboto deployed to Shanghai to protect Italian interests in the city, but in the following years, except for regular visits to Shanghai and Hankow, she was mainly based at Tientsin.[10] In 1932, following the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria and problems that resulted from it, the Far Eastern Naval Division was reconstituted under the command of Admiral Domenico Cavagnari and consisted of Trento (Cavagnari's flagship), Libia, Espero, Sebastiano Caboto, and Ermanno Carlotto.[1] Later the protected cruiser Quarto replaced Trento, Libia, and Espero in East Asia.[1]
By 1934, after 20 years of service on Chinese rivers, Sebatiano Caboto was worn out and losing operational efficiency: Her
1935–1940
During her voyage to Italy, Sebastiano Caboto received orders to place herself under the command of the Italian East Africa Naval Command at Massawa; sources disagree on whether she received the orders on 19 January 1935 while in port at Aden
World War II
With its
On 25 May 1941, during the preparation of a
The Kingdom of Italy proclaimed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, and Nazi Germany immediately began the Dodecanese campaign to seize control of the Italian islands in the Aegean, including Rhodes. Sebastiano Caboto was still at Rhodes, under the orders of Lieutenant Commander Corradini.[18] The ship was in no condition to either participate in the Battle of Rhodes or flee the island, so Corradini disembarked weapons and supplies to reinforce the Italian defenses ashore. According to one source, the ship was scuttled in shallow water at Rhodes on 9 September 1943 to prevent her capture intact by the Germans.[6] According to other sources, Sebastiano Caboto was moored in port with her engines stopped and only a small crew aboard — most of her crew having disembarked without Corradini's consent so as to avoid having to fight the Germans — when armed German soldiers boarded the ship on 11 September 1943. Sources agree that German forces captured her on 12 September 1943[4][6][19][20] when Corradini and the remaining crew, after destroying documents and archives, disembarked, bringing with them the ship's battle flag, after receiving the salute from German sentries. However, the ship's Italian flag was not lowered until 17 September 1943.
After capturing Sebastiano Caboto, the Germans refloated her,[6] but her time under Kriegsmarine control was short. Sources provide differeng accounts of her fate. Some sources claim she was sunk in an Allied air attack in September 1943, perhaps on 15 September 1943[21] while repairs were underway, sinking in the same place where she had scuttled herself.[6] According to some sources, however, she suffered damage at Rhodes in an Allied air raid on 19 September 1943, hit near the forecastle. Some sources claim she was sunk in an Allied air raid in October 1943.[2][1][4][6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Achille Rastelli, Italiani a Shanghai. La Regia Marina in Estremo Oriente, pp. 32–42 (in Italian).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o ANMI Taranto Archived 10 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u La Regia Cannoniera Oceanica Sebastiano Caboto (in Italian).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Agenziabozzo (in Italian)
- ^ a b c d e Caboto e Quarto nelle foto della Cina – Proietti (in Italian).
- ^ Almanacco storico navale {in Italian)
- ^ naval-history.net HMS Minotaur
- ^ a b naval-history.net HMS Cadmus
- ^ a b c Konstam, Angus (2011). Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49. Oxford, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- ^ "Britain's East Fleet Sails," New York Times, 1 August 1914.
- ^ ITALIAN INFLUENCE IN THE "NAPLES OF JAPAN," 1859-1941
- ^ naval-history.net HMS Petersfield
- ^ naval-history.net HMS Ambrose Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Angelo Iachino" in the Enciclopedia Treccani
- ^ Aldo Cocchia, Convogli. Un marinaio in guerra 1940-1942, p. 130 (in Italian).
- ^ "Dodecaneso". Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ Gruppo di Cultura Navale
- ^ "Warships 1900-1950". April 2018.
- ^ "Gunboat ocean-going 'Sebastiano Caboto' (1911)". April 2018.
External links
- Photo of Sebastiano Caboto on Italian Wikipedia
- Photo of Sebastiano Caboto on Italian Wikipedia
- Photo of Sebastiano Caboto on Italian Wikipedia
- Photo of Sebastiano Caboto on Italian Wikipedia
- "La Regia Cannoniera Oceanica Sebastiano Canoto". Yacht Digest (in Italian).
- "Le cannoniere Caboto e Carlotto" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2009.