Instructions for the transfer of Italian warships and merchant ships .
Having agreed that all Italian warships and merchant ships will leave Italy's waters as quickly as possible upon the proclamation of the armistice by the United Nations, the following general instructions have been prepared to facilitate and facilitate the necessary transfers.
WAR SHIPS
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Meeting ports
The ports in which warships will be able to go are the following: Gibil. land, Palermo, Malta, Augusta, Tripoli, Haifa and Alessandria.
2. Routes for ships located on the west coast [of Italy]
a) All warships located on the western coasts of Italy north of the 42 "parallel will have to go north of Corsica and then head south passing west of Corsica and Sardinia in order to arrive offshore during the day. of the port of Bona. There they will meet [allied ships] who will give them instructions for the further route. The ships - unless otherwise specified - should not approach the port of Bona more than 5 miles.
b) Warships located in the western ports of Italy south of the 42nd parallel must head north along the coast until they reach the aforementioned parallel; they will then have to head west to the east coast of Corsica, then head south along Corsica and Sardinia and finally continue to Bona where they will receive instructions, as indicated in letter a).
c) The small units located north of the 42nd parallel will have to sail for La Maddalena following the east coast of Corsica and then head for Bona as soon as possible. The small units located south of the 42 "parallel will have to remain in port, unless there is immediate danger of capture by the Germans. In this case the units located in Naples or Naples nopd will have to sail for Augusta following the coast and through the Strait of Messina.
3. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136 located in the eastern cnsta_bad5cf58d in Italy [Rnsta] in eastern Italy Aegean
a) All warships located in Taranto, in the Adriatic or in the eastern ports of Italy will have to head for Malta arriving directly, coming from the east, during the day.
b) Minor units and small units may sail directly to Augusta.
c) All warships in the Aegean must travel to Haifa.
4. Instructions for transfer and arrival
a) The ships shall set sail as soon as possible, after sunset, on the day of the proclamation [of the armistice] and sail at the highest speed until daybreak.
b) The speed shall be adjusted so that the arrival within range of the cannons of the Allied ports or coastal defenses does not occur before the day is done.
c) The approach to the coast must be carried out at low speed (no more than 12 knots).
d) It is important that warships arrive in groups. Isolated arrival is not convenient and should be avoided as much as possible.
5. Instructions about the weapons
All main armament guns and torpedo launchers must be keel-swept. On the other hand, freedom of action is granted for anti-aircraft weapons, but the fire can only be opened in the event of a hostile clarification by an aircraft.
6. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136badonoscimento58d
All warships during the day will have to raise a black or dark blue brush, as large as possible, to the mainmast (or to the mast they have, for those that only have one). Large black discs can be placed on deck as a recognition signal for aircraft. If other ships are encountered during the night, dimmed navigation lights will be switched on to be recognized and the "GA" signal will be transmitted.
7. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136_bad5cfibili
a) Submarines must navigate on the surface both day and night.
b) Those coming from the ports of continental Italy or Sardinia must follow the same routes prescribed for other warships and must be escorted, if possible, by surface units.
c) Submarines at sea must sail, on the surface, to the nearest of the ports indicated in paragraph 2 above.
8. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d General conditions
It should be clear that the ships will have to be ready, after they have made contact with the allied authorities, to receive on board those allied naval personnel that the aforementioned authorities may deem convenient and that for the moment those disarmament measures that the authorities themselves will be able to implement will be implemented. to establish. These disarmament measures aim to ensure the necessary security of allied ports in which Italian warships may be at anchor.
9. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136_bad5cf58d
Radio silence must be observed to the greatest extent possible, but if Italian or Allied warships wish to communicate with each other, this must initially take place over 500 kilocycles. It is foreseeable that arrangements will be made subsequently to switch to a more suitable frequency, should long communications be made.
MERCHANT NAVY
1. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d
Merchant ships west of the 17th meridian will have to sail for Gibraltar; ships in the Adriatic or east of this parallel will have to head for Alexandria.
Ships located on the western coasts of Italy north of the 42nd parallel will have to pass north of Corsica or north of Sardinia and then make a direct route to Gibraltar, fuel permitting. If the fuel does not allow it, they will have to head for the ports of Bona or Algiers arriving there during the day. They will have to ask for instructions before entering as they are not allowed to do so without having been authorized. Ships located south of the 42nd parallel must follow the route indicated in letter b) of paragraph 3 until they have passed Sardinia towards the south.
Ships located east of the 17th meridian or in the Adriatic will sail directly to Alexandria arriving in daytime hours at least 12 miles from this port; hence they will require instructions.
2. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136badonoscimento
Merchant ships will need to raise a black or dark blue paintbrush to the mainmast.
3. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136_bad5cf for the transfer and the arrival
The arrival in the allied ports must always take place during the day, the approach must be carried out at low speed (no more than 12 knots).
4. _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136_bad5cf58d
About 500 kilocycles
September 4, 1943.
For the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Commodore ROYER DICK