SS Olterra being used as an undercover base for manned torpedoes

SS Olterra being used as an undercover base for manned torpedoes

Two manned torpedoes are exiting from a hidden hatch in the hull of the Italian auxiliary ship Olterra. Each torpedo has two figures sitting on it wearing diving suits and equipment.

Label reads “74”; signed by the authors; caption reads “1940. ALGESIRAS. L’Olterra del comandante D. Amoretti, una nave cisterna da 5000 to affondata dal suo equipaggio, davanti a Gibilterra, dalla stiva della petroiera appositamente attrezzata, partirono il 7 Dicembre 1942 i famosi maiali della squadriglia dell’Orsa Maggiore che violarono la munitissma piazzaforte di Gibilterra.

Caption translates as: “1940 – Algeciras. The Olterra, captained by D. Amoretti was a tanker 5,000 gross register tonnage tanker, sunk by its crew in front of Gibraltar. From the cargo hold of the tanker, which had been specifically fitted, on the 7 December 1942, departed the famous slow-moving torpedoes of the ‘Ursa Major’ squadron. They violated the heavily defended stronghold of Gibraltar.

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

PFilliputtiA16010037