On July 10, 1940, while on patrol in the western Mediterranean, French cargo ship SS Cheik (1058 GRT) was torpedoed and sunk by Scirè 54 nm from the Asmare Light, north of Sardinia.

On September 24, 1940 Scirè, under command of captain Junio Valerio Borghese, sailed from La Spezia for her first special mission to be performed in Gibraltar.

In the evening of September 29, upon reaching the Strait of Gibraltar, Sciré received an order from Supermarina to suspend the mission and return to the base as Force H had left the Mediterranean to operate in the Atlantic.

They organised for boats to drop small charges into the water each night that would have proved fatal to any diver in range of the shock wave.

They sank the British battleships HMS Valiant and Queen Elizabeth in shallow water and damaged the tanker Sagona and the destroyer Jervis.

In 1934 the Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline was completed and in 1939 a large refinery became operational in the port of Haifa, creating a strategic asset for the British and a magnet for ships during the war.

During a mission to launch manned torpedoes, on 10 August 1942, Scirè was depth charged by the British naval trawler Islay in Haifa bay, about 11 kilometres (5.9 nmi) from the harbour.

[5] Islay was captained by Lieutenant Commander John Clements Ross of North Shields, Tyne and Wear who was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.