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Marek Sobski
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Betasom: Italian Submarines In The Battle Of The Atlantic 1940-1945 (Mussolini's War) Kindle Edition

by Marek Sobski (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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This book describes the operations of a group of Italian submarines that took part in the Atlantic conflict during the World War Two. A total of 32 submarines flying the tricolour flag of the Regia Marina passed through the Betasom base, located at the French port of Bordeaux. Almost two hundred of their combat patrols are presented in detail, all victories and defeats being discussed. The work also covers the story of the base itself, the doctrine of Italian submarines, biographies of commanders, submarines and other factors influencing successes and failures. The Italians commenced their operations in the Atlantic badly, due to a lack of previous experience they turned out to be unprepared for the actions that awaited them, but with stubbornness and hard work, they managed to transform their Atlantic contingent into a very effective fighting machine. Thanks in large part due to the efforts of Betasom’s personnel, the Italian Navy can be proud of being the sixth most effective submarine fleet in the history of this type of weapon. A separate chapter presents the history of the Italian blockade runners, which, based in Bordeaux, were to break into the Far East, carrying in both directions material of strategic importance, urgently needed for the war-fighting of Italy, Germany and Japan.

The book is illustrated with 100 photos or drawings and 15 maps.

List of chapters:

I. Betasom Is Formed
II. Doctrine, Ships And Commanders
III. Road To Bordeaux
IV. The First Patrols From The Betasom Base
V. Hard Winter In The North Atlantic
VI. In The Waters Between The Azores And Gibraltar
VII. The Turn Of 1941/1942 In The South Atlantic
VIII. In American Waters
IX. Twilight Of The Gods
X. Italians In The Far East
XI. Bordeaux As Base For Italian Blockade Runners

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  1. Part of series
    Mussolini's War
  2. Print length
    499 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    November 23, 2022
  6. File size
    149430 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BN87WHVG
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 23, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 149430 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 499 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

About the author

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Marek Sobski

Marek Sobski

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Marek Sobski (born November 26, 1983), a graduate of the University of Zielona Góra, is a historian. Author of several books (including some published in English like "Lictorian Fasces Over England. Regia Aeronautica In Action Against Britain 1940–1941" and the two-volume "Crickets Against Rats. Regia Aeronautica In The Spanish Civil War"), as well as articles in specialist magazines. Since late 2011, he has been a promoter of interest in the history of the Italian military in the first half of the 20th century, and his expertise has been made available to readers of the "Mussolini's War" blog and on social media.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Raphael A. Riccio
5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate research
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is an extremely well-researched account of the operations of Italian submarines based in Bordeaux, France - the base was named BETASOM) - from 1940 to 1943. Essentially, the book lists each and every patrol made by all of the submarines operating from BETASOM and into the Atlantic. It is written in an easy to read and understand style, and highlights some of the differences between German and Italian operational philosophies; for instance, Italian skippers would often surface and provide assistance to sailors from ships they had just sunk, while this was anathema to the Germans. Also surprising to me was the fact that the Italians chose to stay on the surface and fight enemy aircraft rather than diving to avoid them. It is interesting to note that Italy's leading submarine ace, Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia, was the highest-scoring non-German submarine ace of the war, outdoing both the British and American aces. The text is supplemented by many excellent maps, and the appendices slice and dice the information relating to Italian subs in several different, informative ways. There are some almost inevitable misspelling of Italian names and a few grammatical errors, but those are the fault of either the translator (who otherwise did an outstanding job) or the proofreader, not of the author himself. Overall, this book is highly recommended.
4 people found this helpful
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William Sumrall
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
Excellent research!!! Never have heard about subs such as the Italian high scoring Leonardo da Vinci. The Italians had a peculiar habit of replacing a submarine’s skipper seemingly after returning from every patrol. Also, the Italians preferred to fight it out on the surface against enemy aircraft. These are tactics that contrast starkly against US submarine tactics of the time.
4 people found this helpful
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Jay Foersterling
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing POD book
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2023
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Only a fair quality Print On Demand book. Don't think it's the original cause it's not. Useful for research, but not something for your library.
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Scott Bailey
5.0 out of 5 stars Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2023
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Covers each type of class of sub and its employment with many pictures and detail on training and what happened to each sub
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Top reviews from other countries

militaryman-WMAHM
5.0 out of 5 stars The Italian WWII Submarine Fleet operated in more than the Mediterranean.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
A brilliant reference book on the Italian Submarines that operated not only in both the North and South Atlantic, but in both the Western and Eastern areas, although they also were known to have opetated in the Indian Ocean, with voyages to Singapore. Though only a relatively small number of the larger submarines helped sink allied vessels, against the number of German U-boats that Donitz was able to use, their presence and the number of ships either sunk or badly damaged was a surprise to both the Germans as well as the Allied Maritime forces employed in combatting anti-submarine warfare against what seemed to be a part of the Italian Navy that was able to show their captains were well trained plus quick to learn the tactical skills needed in the underwater warfare during the time the Italian forces worked with the Germans, before the Italian's surrendered before the end of WWII.
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Dog of the Bay
3.0 out of 5 stars Great source material, needs more work as a history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book covers a little-known aspect of the Atlantic war with impressive research and attention to detail. 62 German U-boats entered the Mediterranean, 9 were sunk attempting to run the Straits of Gibraltar and another 10 forced to turn back. None of those which entered the Med ever got out again.
By contrast large Italian submarines routinely (if not easily) made the passage to and from their Atlantic base at Bordeaux. Only one was lost at the Straits.
Every patrol by every boat in the Atlantic force is covered in detail, with a great deal of information given about their victims. The title is a slight misnomer, as there are also useful (if short) chapters on Italian submarines in the Far East and blockade breakers. There are well-reproduced and selected maps and photographs.
My niggle is that, having done such exhaustive research, the author clearly feels the need to build it all into the text. Much of the detail (e.g. the specifics of each victim's tonnage, age, ownership, captain etc) would be better relegated to the appendix than left as a catalogue of events. This would leave space to explore underlying themes such as the reliability of Italian vessels and weapons compared to their German peers, their extended maintenance periods between patrols, and the apparently rapid turnover of commanders.
There are appendices giving Italian naval ranks vs their British equivalents, a summary of the fate of the Bordeaux group submarines, ships sunk and damaged by them, and key dates. As noted above, I feel the three middle appendices could be expanded to take some of the load off the main text. There is a bibliography but no index - this is a serious omission.
It's worth mentioning here that this is a self-published book. In this context it is understandable that the English translation is clearly produced by someone for whom it is not their native language. Many sentences are clunky, and a few not actually sentences. That's tolerable, but it's a pity the translator didn't know that in the Anglophone world submarines are always 'boats', not 'ships'. Mind you, that applies to a few journalists I have come across!
To conclude, Marek Sobski has done a remarkable piece of work in tracking down and assembling information about a neglected aspect of the WW2 naval conflict. Viewed as source material, a platform for further development, the book has a great deal to recommend it (it is here that the lack of an index will be most keenly felt). Seen as history, it needs a more coherent narrative, stepping back from the detail to look at the wider issues.
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