The action off Bastia (French: ''bataille navale de Pietracorbara'') was a naval battle fought on 9 September 1943 off

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

principal port

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, part of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. It was one of the few successful Italian reactions to

Operation Achse Operation Achse (german: Fall Achse, lit=Case Axis), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. S ...

, and one of the first acts of resistance by the Italian armed forces against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

after the

armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

Background

When the armistice between Italy and the Allied forces was announced, on the evening of 8 September 1943, the harbour of Bastia, in Italian-occupied Corsica, was packed with both Italian and German vessels; moored in the harbor were the Italian s and , the Italian merchant ships ''Sassari'' and ''Humanitas'', and a small German flotilla which included the

submarine chasers A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

''UJ 2203'' (former

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

survey vessel A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

''Austral'') and ''UJ 2219'' (former Belgian

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

''Insuma'') and five

Marinefährprahm The ''Marinefährprahm'' (MFP, naval ferry barge) was the largest landing craft operated by the German during World War II. The MFP was use for transport, minelaying, as an escort and a gunboat in the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas as wel ...

e (''F 366'', ''F 387'', ''F 459'', ''F 612'' and ''F 623'').9 settembre 1943: l’impresa dell’Aliseo
/ref> The ''Cormorano'' was on watch off Bastia. The local Italian and German commanders soon reached a "gentlemen’s agreement" according to which the German forces would be allowed to safely retreat to mainland

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Meanwhile, however, the German forces secretly prepared to launch a surprise attack on the Italian ships moored inside the harbour, planning to capture them. The attack started at 23:45 on 8 September, when two groups of German soldiers, after hearing a whistle (the signal to attack), stormed ''Ardito''; the torpedo boat was heavily damaged (70 of her 180 crew were killed) and captured, and the merchant ships ''Sassari'' and ''Humanitas'' also fell into German hands. On board ''Humanitas'', German gunners manning the anti-aircraft guns turned their weapons on the Italian crew and soldiers aboard, and the Italian lookouts were stabbed or killed with hand grenades.

Action

''Aliseo'' had just left the harbour when the German attack began. Shortly after dawn on 9 September, a combat group of the Tenth

Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, which ...

Group (''10° Raggruppamento Celere Bersaglieri'') staged a

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

which led to the recapture of the port. ''Ardito'', ''Sassari'' and ''Humanitas'' were also recaptured. The German flotilla was ordered to leave the harbour, but as soon as they left, the ships were shelled by the Italian coastal batteries (armed with 76 mm guns), which damaged ''UJ 2203'' and some of the MFPs. ''Aliseo'' (under the command of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Carlo Fecia di Cossato Carlo Fecia di Cossato (25 September 1908 – 27 August 1944) was an officer in the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy), in command of submarines and torpedo boats during World War II. He was credited with the confirmed sinking of 23 enemy ships (16 ...

) was then ordered by the port commander to attack and destroy the German units. Shortly after 7:00 the flotilla, proceeding in a column led by ''UJ 2203'', opened fire on ''Aliseo'', which returned fire at 7:06, from a distance of ; at 7:30 ''Aliseo'' was hit by an 88 mm

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

in the engine room and temporarily left dead in the water, but the damage was quickly repaired and the torpedo boat closed in and engaged her adversaries in succession, destroying them one after the other. At 8:20 ''UJ 2203'', after suffering several hits, blew up; ten minutes later ''UJ 2219'' was also destroyed when her magazines exploded. Between 8:30 and 8:35 ''Aliseo'' also sank ''F 366'', ''F 459'' and ''F 623''; ''Cormorano'' intervened during the final phase of the battle and, together with ''Aliseo'', forced ''F 387'' and ''F 612'' to run aground, after which they were abandoned and destroyed.Historisches Marinearchiv – F 612.
/ref> ''Cormorano'' also sank the 43-ton

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

service motorboat ''FL B. 412''. Twenty-five German survivors were picked up by ''Aliseo'', which then (along with the damaged ''Ardito'') proceeded towards

Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest city. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...

, as ordered. The damage suffered by ''Ardito'' later caused this ship to be left behind in Portoferraio, where she was eventually captured by German forces.

References

Bibliography

Vincent P. O'Hara Vincent P. O’Hara (born 24 December 1951) is a naval author and historian, residing in California. Biography Vincent O’Hara is an independent scholar with a degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley. O’Hara has authore ...

, Enrico Cernuschi (2009) ''Dark Navy. The Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943.'' Nimble Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastia Naval battles of World War II involving Germany Naval battles of World War II involving Italy Conflicts in 1943 Italian naval victories in the battle of the Mediterranean History of Corsica Italian resistance movement September 1943 events Maritime incidents in France