BETASOM
Sign in to saveBETASOM (an Italian language acronym of Bordeaux Sommergibile or Sommergibili) was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Regia Marina during the Second World War. From this base, Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic from 1940 to 1943 as part of the Axis anti-shipping campaign against the Allies.
Key facts
- Military installation.name
- BETASOM
- Military installation.native_name
- Bordeaux Sommergibili
- Military installation.location
- Bordeaux, France
- Military installation.image
- Basesousmarine.JPG
- Military installation.map_type
- France
- Military installation.map_caption
- France
- Military installation.type
- Submarine base
- Military installation.used
- August 1940 – September 1943
- Military installation.garrison
- 1,600
- Military installation.past_commanders
- Angelo Parona (August 1940 – September 1941)Romolo Polacchini (September 1941 – December 1942)Enzo Grossi (December 1942 – September 1943)
- Military installation.occupants
- ''''
- Military installation.battles
- Battle of the Atlantic
via Wikipedia infobox
Key dates
- Inception
- 1941
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- submarine base
- Country
- France
- Located in
- Bordeaux
- Material used
- reinforced concrete
- Image
- Basesousmarine.JPG
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Establishment
- Operational detail
- German U-boat activities
- End of operations
- BETASOM submarines
- Ex-Red Sea submarines
- {{lang|it|Ammiraglio Cagni}}
- Post-World War II
- Notes
- Footnotes
- References
- External links
BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of Bordeaux Sommergibile or Sommergibili) was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Regia Marina during the Second World War. From this base, Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic from 1940 to 1943 as part of the Axis anti-shipping campaign against the Allies.
==Establishment== Axis naval co-operation started after the signing of the Pact of Steel in June 1939 with meetings in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and an agreement to exchange technical information. After the Italian entry into the war and the Fall of France, the Italian Royal Navy established a submarine base at Bordeaux, which was within the German occupation zone. The Italians were allocated a sector of the Atlantic south of Lisbon to patrol. The base was opened in August 1940 and in 1941 the captured French passenger ship was used as a depot ship before being returned to the Vichy Government in June 1942.