Barbarigo reached Cape San Rocco of the Brazilian coast on May 17, 1942 and on the following day, attacked the Brazilian merchant ship Comandante Lyra with torpedoes and deck gun. C.C. Grossi was certain that the merchant ship was left sinking, but it was not. Comandante Lyra was ultimately towed to port by a Brazilian tugboat. However, during the attack the merchant ship’s crew managed to send an emergency signal which was picked up by U.S. Navy Task Force 23 operating nearby. T.F. 23 included the old cruisers Milwaukee and Omaha and destroyers Moffett and McDougal. On May 19th, lookouts on Barbarigo spotted an airplane launched by USS Omaha which failed to see the submarine. However, on the 20th, Barbarigo sighted the warships of T.F. 23 heading south to her location. Barbarigo moved into position and fired two torpedoes from her aft tubes at USS Milwaukee. C.C. Grossi and his crew were convinced that their target was hit and sunk and they later managed to evade the destroyers. C.C. Grossi informed BETASOM (the Regia Marina submarine base at Bordeaux) that he sank either a Maryland or California-class battleship, later confirming that it was a California-class battleship. Ironically, none of the American warships were even aware of the torpedo attack. While there was still some doubt as to the target, the news of the sinking of a U.S. battleship was reported home and was too good a bit of propaganda not to be widely publicized in Italian and German newspapers. Barbarigo returned to Bordeaux on June 16th and C.C. Grossi was hailed a hero. He was given a Gold Medal of Military Valour and promoted to Capitano di Fregata.

However, the tall tales of now C.F. Grossi did not end with this episode. On August 29, 1942, Barbarigo left for a new mission off the African coast. On the night of October 6th, the submarine encountered the Flower-Class corvette HMS Petunia. Apparently still on cloud 9 from his previous success and possibly with some grappa flowing, C.F. Grossi identified the 205 foot long, 925-ton corvette as a 382 foot long, 13,000-ton Mississippi-class battleship! Clearly C.F. Grossi did not know that both ships in this class were sold to the Greek navy in 1914 and sunk while in the port of Salamis by German aircraft on April 23, 1941. The submarine fired a total of 4 torpedoes at the “battleship” and all completely missed the corvette. However, C.F. Grossi and crew were once again convinced that they sank a battleship and reported this latest success to BETASOM. When the submarine returned to base on October 29th, C.F. Grossi was given another hero’s welcome, a promotion to Capitano di Vascello and a second Gold Medal of Military Valour. He was also reassigned as the new BETASOM commander.

Barbarigo conducted one final mission as an attack submarine in early 1943, with bona fide sinkings of three merchant ships and inflicting damage on another. Afterwards, Barbarigo was converted to a transport submarine, with decks guns removed, ammo magazines replaced with additional fuel storage and some crew accommodations converted to cargo space. These transport submarines were to be used to exchange commercial goods between Germany and its Axis ally Japan. She left Bordeaux on June 16, 1943 but disappeared enroute to Japan. Her loss remains a mystery, though British records indicate that an unidentified submarine was attack and presumed sunk between June 17th and 19th, in the area where Barbarigo might have been at that time.

While Barbarigo’s saga came to a close during the war, that of C.V. Grossi did not. Grossi’s actions were the subject of two enquiries, in 1949 and 1962. The 1949 enquiry concluded that Grossi and his crew, while wildly incorrect, had acted in good faith. However, Grossi was stripped of his promotions and gold medals. The 1962 enquiry upheld the conclusions of the 1949 enquiry. Enzo Grossi died in 1960 in Corato, Italy.

The hull is well detailed with chocks and bollards, strakes and torpedo tubes. The aft tubes are recessed and more pronounced while the bow tubes are represented by subtle recessed lines. The hull has deep recesses over which the photoetch deck sections will sit. This will allow for some of the photoetch hatches to be affixed in open positions. There is a recess along the hull to accommodate the photoetch bilge keels, but it is hard to see behind the raft print supports.

The second fret has the main hull decks, which are nicely detailed with wood planking and other features. Only the deck sections are used, the remaining items are omitted.

The third fret is the only one designed specifically for the Barbarigo kit and it provides the decking for the sail, an antenna, rigging supports that are attached to the sail and sections of railing to be fitted around the sail on the main deck. Railing 92 appears not to have been fully etched, with some leftover bits of brass that needs to be carefully removed. The larger sections of railings, parts 86 and 87, have individual stanchions while the other railing sections have a bottom gutter rail. I have already stated my dislike for individual stanchions, but I guess fitting these in between the other railing sections may make it a little easier to attach and they do not have the option to be omitted like the main deck railings.

The fourth and final fret provides parts for a display stand, propellers, rudder and the forward and aft diving planes assemblies. A handful of parts on this fret are not used.