Red Sea boats faced poison and immediate retaliation

Italy opened the war with eight submarines in the Red Sea flotilla, extending active naval warfare beyond Europe. On this reading, Italian operations against the Royal Navy helped make the conflict operationally global in 1940, when few actions were taking place outside Europe. Leaking chloromethane refrigerant poisoned crews when submerged operations recirculated the boats' air. Galileo Galilei sank a tanker before capture by a naval trawler, Torricelli sank a destroyer before being overwhelmed by its companions, and Galvani sank a sloop before another sloop destroyed her. Technical failures and isolated patrol conditions compounded the danger of attacking escorted targets.