the Mediterranean, especially around Tobruk. In 1940 Ambra returned to Italy, and was assigned together with and to the 47th Squadron (IV Submarine Group) at Taranto. 1940-1942 In the first months of the war, Ambra was mostly employed in defensive missions in the Gulf of Taranto and patrols off Alexandria. For example, in August 1940 carried out five defensive patrols in the Gulf of Taranto. On September 23, 1940, she was deployed south of Crete along with and . On September 28, 1940, she attempted unsuccessfully to intercept a British convoy, part of Operation "MB5". December 12–21, 1940, Ambra patrolled southwest of Corfu along with with the goal of protecting traffic between Italy and Albania. In the early hours of December 16, 1940 Ambra was detected by two British anti-submarine ships. They continued hunting for twelve hours, but in the end Ambra was able to evade their attacks without taking any damage. December 31, 1940 – January 12, 1941 Ambra was deployed on patrol in the Strait of Otranto along with and to protect traffic between Italy and Albania. On January 19, 1941, captain Mario Arillo was appointed the new commander of Ambra. On March 5, 1941, she was deployed along with ten other submarines off Crete to search for British convoys on the route Alexandria to Piraeus. These convoys were a part of Operation "Lustre", an attempt by the British to bring in 58,000 men from Egypt to Greece in anticipation of the German invasion. Ambra failed to detect any enemy ships. On March 22, 1941, Ambra together with and was sent to patrol along Alexandria – Cape Krio line and arrived in her assigned area on March 24, 1941. The submarines deployed as a defensive screen for the Operation "Gaudo", an anticipated sortie by the Italian fleet into the Aegean which would end with a catastrophic Italian defeat in the Battle of Cape Matapan. On March 27, 1941, Ambra discovered that her hydrophones did not work. At 2:37 on March 31, 1941, she sighted a large escorted ship moving at an estimated speed of 10 knots. At 2:44 she launched three torpedoes at the target and remained on the surface to observe the results. Two torpedoes hit the ship in the middle, and Arillo, in the dark, assumed he had torpedoed a large tanker. The ship hit was actually British light cruiser escorting convoy GA8 from Greece to