weak noises through her hydrophones, but again the distant was far too great to attempt an attack. On November 27, 1940, while patrolling south of Sardinia, at 21:35 she sighted three destroyers and submerged to avoid detection. In January 1941 she was deployed to the coast of Algeria and Tunisia. On June 16, 1941, Axum, under command of captain Emilio Gariazzo, was sent to patrol between Ras Uleima, and Marsa Matruh to prevent coastal bombardments by British naval ships conducted in support British troops retreat. On June 20, 1941, received orders to move closer to Benghazi. On June 23, 1941, around 22:26 she sighted a ship heading west and launched a torpedo, but it missed due to irregular running. Axum launched a second torpedo, but it also missed the ship, passing a few meters by the stern. The ship returned fire and the submarine was forced to dive and get through a brief but intense depth charge attack, without suffering any damage. During 19–28 July 1941 she got on patrol off Tobruk and detected intense aerial and naval activity, but there were no attacks. After that Axum was relocated to Leros. Upon arrival and surfacing, she was mistaken for an enemy submarine, and a MAS boat attacked her with machine guns and a torpedo. Fortunately, Axum was not hit, and no one was wounded or killed. Subsequently, she was transferred first to Messina, and then in September to Cagliari. In September 1941 Axum was deployed to an area east of Balearic Islands and south of Menorca together with three other submarines (Aradam, Diaspro and Serpente) to intercept British ships during Operation Halberd, but British ships did not pass through her area of operation. On October 24, 1941, she patrolled in the waters of Malta. In December 1941 she patrolled in the area off Cape Bougaroun. On January 4, 1942 Axum was deployed to an area south of Malta with the task of detecting and attacking any British naval forces, but no sightings were made. In February 1942 she patrolled off the coast of Algeria. In mid-June 1942 she was deployed in the Ionian Sea, then transferred to patrol northwest of Algiers. On June 22, 1942 she was transferred to patrol off Linosa. In July 1942 Axum, under command of captain Renato Ferrini, was on patrol between the island of Cani and the island of La Galite, and in the late