Royalist Submarine Ace Longanesi-Cattani

One of the most prominent Italian submarine commanders of World War II was Captain Luigi Longanesi-Cattani. Born in Bagnacavallo, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna on May 4, 1908, he attended the naval academy at Livorno, graduated and began his career as an undersea naval officer on the submarine Marcantonio Bragadin. Later, he was posted to Italian East Africa on the submarine Benedetto Brin. He was serving as commander of the Benedetto Brin, one of the Brin-class of submarines, in Taranto when the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II. His was then the only boat of his submarine squadron, the rest being on service in the Red Sea when war broke out. He served in the Mediterranean and earned the Cross of War for Valor after successfully saving his boat from an Allied air attack. In October of 1940 he was ordered to make the perilous journey through the Straits of Gibraltar to Bordeaux, home base of the Italian submarines operating in the North Atlantic.

The Italian submarine Benedetto Brin

Longanesi-Cattani crossed Gibraltar on November 4 but, upon surfacing, was surprised by two British destroyers which immediately opened fire. Thanks to his quick thinking, Longanesi-Cattani and his boat survived and escaped but he was forced to put in at Tangiers for repairs. Earlier that summer, Tangiers had been occupied by Spanish troops and, after the Brin was joined by another submarine, the Spanish were able to shield the Italians from the British destroyers. After a period of frenzied repairs, as well as a great deal of play-acting to fool British spies, both submarines were able to slip out of Tangiers in December and arrive in Bordeaux a few days later. For this little adventure, Captain Longanesi-Cattani was awarded his first Bronze Medal for Military Valor. However, that was not his only achievement. While on route to Bordeaux Longanesi-Cattani happened upon the British submarine HMS Tuna. The British mistook the Italian sub for one of their own and there was an exchange of signals before they realized they were in the presence of the enemy. The British sub fired one full salvo of six torpedoes followed by another of four torpedoes but, though extremely close, the Brin avoided them and fired two torpedoes of their own. These missed as well, though fire from the Italian deck gun did appear to hit the British sub, both survived the encounter.

Once arriving in Bordeaux, it took some time to repair the Brin and fully restore it to fighting shape after the ordeal it went through on the way there. Everything was finally in order for a proper war patrol in the summer of 1941 and on June 13, 1941 Longanesi-Cattani and his men participated in an attack on an Allied convoy. It was a great success with the Brin, in only about fifteen minutes, sinking two merchant ships (one a Greek vessel and the other a French ship in use by the British) as well as damaging two more. For this achievement, Longanesi-Cattani was awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valor as well as the German Iron Cross second class. The commander of all German submarines and all Axis submarines in the Atlantic, Admiral Karl Doenitz met with Captain Luigi Longanesi-Cattani and the two became good friends. However, little more than a month later he was ordered to return to Italy, making the dangerous passage in front of Gibraltar again, but arriving safely in Naples with several victory pennants flying.

Longanesi-Cattani on Leonardo daVinci

On October 6, 1941 Longanesi-Cattani was given a new command, the Marconi-class submarine Leonardo da Vinci, which would be the most successful Italian submarine of the war. He returned to France but was soon sent on something of a ‘refresher course’ in the latest submarine warfare tactics in what is now the Polish city of Gdynia, at the time part of Germany. Once completed, he took his boat to hunt in the waters around the Azores but soon had to turn back due to mechanical problems, even being forced to pass on attacking an Allied convoy a couple of days later. Still, his service was further recognized by promotion to lieutenant commander in December. In January of 1942, while on patrol northeast of the West Indies, Longanesi-Cattani had better luck, sinking a Brazilian ship by torpedo attack and two days later a Latvian ship with a combination of torpedoes and gunfire. Upon returning to port, he received a second Silver Medal for this.

By this time, pressure was being placed on Brazil to join the war and with Allied convoys in the North Atlantic so heavily guarded, it was correctly thought that the Brazilian shipping lanes would offer greater opportunities for the larger Axis submarines such as the Italian boats and the German Type-IX’s that had sufficient range to operate in the South Atlantic. Longanesi-Cattani was sent in and patrolled off the coast of Brazil but was later diverted to the African coast. On June 2, 1942 he sank a large schooner with his deck gun, the Reine Marie Stuart, and a few days later sank the British ship Chile with a single torpedo. On June 10 he successfully torpedoed the Dutch ship Alioth (also with gunfire which was not uncommon for Italian submarines since their torpedoes were not as effective as the German magnetic type) and later another steamer, the Clan McQuarrie. Longanesi-Cattani had become an “ace” sub skipper, sinking more than five ships and returned to port to receive another Silver Medal and the Iron Cross first class from his German ally. After a job well done, in August he was ordered back to Italy for a new assignment, his boat to be given to Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia who would gain fame as Italy’s most successful submarine commander.

Greeted by the admiral returning to port

All in all, Captain Luigi Longanesi-Cattani had, during his participation in the Battle of the Atlantic, sunk eight Allied merchant ships for a total of 34,439 tons of Allied shipping destroyed. Once back home, he was given what seemed to have been an even more critical assignment, being attached to the elite Xth Flotilla MAS, which was rather like the special forces branch of the Italian submarine fleet. These were the men who launched attacks on ships in heavily guarded enemy ports using “human torpedoes” or mini-subs and it was intended that Longanesi-Cattani would command a special team of CB-class midget submarines in operations against the Soviets in the Black Sea. However, that assignment never came to be. Instead, he was attached to the command of the zealous Fascist and overall X Flotilla MAS commander Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, aka “the Black Prince” and was to command the submarine Murena for a special mission against an Allied pipeline that was under construction. However, before that could get underway, the entire Italian war effort was thrown into confusion by the dismissal of Mussolini by King Vittorio Emanuele III and his replacement by a new government led by Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio.

Longanesi-Cattani on the bridge of his submarine

The military had no warning about this and Marshal Badoglio announced publicly that he would be continuing the war alongside the Germans (in reality, he immediately began trying to secretly arrange an armistice with the Allies). Longanesi-Cattani put aside his personal views and remained committed to his duty and carried on preparing his submarine for the attack on the pipeline at Gibraltar. Everything was just about in order when Marshal Badoglio announced an armistice with the Allies and ordered all Italian forces to cease hostilities. Longanesi-Cattani had been at sea performing tests when this happened and learned of it only after returning to port. Like many, he was shocked and rather bewildered by this abrupt change. He almost had to sink his own boat until the last-minute intervention of Prince Borghese had the order revoked. Many Italian soldiers, sailors and airmen were torn by this sudden turn of events. Prince Borghese gathered his men and asked who among them would stay with him to carry on the fight against the Allies alongside Germany. Most agreed and Longanesi-Cattani decided to as well but only after being assured by Borghese that this would not compromise his oath of loyalty to the King of Italy.

During the confusion of the armistice period, Longanesi-Cattani was dispatched to Florence to protect the family of Prince Aimone, nominal King of Croatia. The Prince’s wife, Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark, who was heavily pregnant and her sister-in-law Princess Anne of Orleans, Duchess of Aosta, were there. The veteran submariner was there, watching over the family in Florence, when Prince Amedeo the current Duke of Aosta was born on September 27, 1943. He was also there when, only a few days earlier, the Italian Social Republic was proclaimed, formed by Mussolini at the insistence of Hitler, and that was a deal breaker for Captain Longanesi-Cattani. He refused to break his oath of loyalty to the King of Italy, which came before all else for him, and immediately wrote to Prince Borghese informing him of this. He also wrote to the republican Secretary of the Navy, Captain Feruccio Ferrini, handing in his resignation. This was a major risk for him as he was trapped in northern Italy which had been occupied by the Germans and were taking into custody anyone who opposed the Italian Social Republic. Regardless, his loyalty to the King was all that mattered and he willingly surrendered himself to the authorities and, along with Princess Irene and Princess Anne, was sent to the concentration camp at Hirschegg near Innsbruck, Austria on July 26, 1944.

The camp was eventually liberated by American troops and, as King Umberto II of Italy had, upon going into exile after the farcical referendum, released everyone from their oath, Captain Longanesi-Cattani returned to duty with the navy of the new Italian republic, eventually rising to the rank of Squadron Admiral. His only other prominent part in a public issue was sitting on the commission of inquiry into the former commander of the BETASOM Italian submarine base in Bordeaux during the war, Captain Enzo Grossi, where Longanesi-Cattani had served. Captain Grossi was ultimately cleared. After a lifetime of service to his country, including becoming one of the top Italian submarine commanders of World War II and earning four Silver Medals, two Bronze Medals, the War Cross and the first and second classes of the Iron Cross from Germany, Admiral Luigi Longanesi-Cattani died in Rome on March 12, 1991.

Saga of the Submarine Leonardo da Vinci

At the beginning of World War II the Italian Regia Marina had the largest submarine fleet, by tonnage, in the world. Today, of course, the Italian contribution tends to be overshadowed by that of the German submarine campaign with Germany building many more boats during the war than any other power and being by far the most successful with them. The Italian submarines, however, did a great deal of damage to Allied shipping and operated in areas as far flung as the north and south Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and even in the Pacific. Of all the famous named associated with the Italian underwater war effort none are as famous as that of the submarine Leonardo da Vinci, the most successful Italian submarine of the war, and her most famous commander Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia who was the most successful non-German submarine captain of the entire war. The story of the Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most exciting in the history of submarine warfare and it fully deserves its status as the most famous Italian submarine of all time and one of the most famous boats of any country.

The Leonardo da Vinci was one of six Marconi-class submarines built at Monfalcone in 1938 and 1939. The Marconi-class were fairly large boats, 251ft long with 1,510 tons submerged displacement and a crew of 57 men. Armed with four bow and four stern torpedo tubes, one 3.9in deck gun and four 13.2mm machine guns (mainly for anti-aircraft defense) they had a range of nearly 3,000 miles, a top surface speed of just over 17 knots and so were formidable weapons capable of operating far from home. Of course, their size also came with drawbacks particularly in being slow to submerge. However, all of the Marconi-class proved successful boats and the Leonardo da Vinci was the most successful of all. She was launched in 1939 and when the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II in 1940 the Leonardo da Vinci, commanded by C.C. Ferdinando Calda, was ordered from her home port of Naples to Bordeaux in German-occupied France where the Italian submarine base for operations in the Atlantic was being established, BETASOM. Slipping past the British fortress at Gibraltar was always problematic and the submarine was spotted by two British destroyers but managed to crash dive and elude them.

On the way to Bordeaux the Leonardo da Vinci made several attacks on enemy vessels but none succeeded. One hunt was spoiled by attacking planes from a nearby British aircraft carrier, other targets were able to outrun the submarine and so on. However, the boat arrived finally at Bordeaux and after less than two months was dispatched again into the north Atlantic in December of 1940. Once again, the results were disappointing. A signal came in from HQ to join in an attack on a British convoy while off the coast of Ireland. Captain Calda quickly raced to join the attack but, due to a navigational error, their position was off and no target was to be found. No other targets were sighted during the patrol and on the way back Captain Calda launched an audacious attack on a British destroyer (vessels submarines generally try to avoid) but neither side got any joy. The destroyer and submarine escaped unscathed and Leonardo da Vinci returned to port. The first patrols of 1941 likewise proved frustrating. The first had to be abandoned because of a mechanical problem with one of the boat’s electric motors and the second, again off the Irish coast, ended with no enemy ships being sighted.

This, however, was fairly typical as the life of a submariner is mainly characterized by long periods of boring inactivity followed by the sudden explosion of mind-shattering danger. In June of 1941 the Leonardo da Vinci took up a new hunting ground in the very dangerous waters west of Gibraltar. Soon enough a British aircraft carrier was spotted but the efforts of her destroyer escorts prevented the Leonardo da Vinci from being able to make an attack. Finally, however, a victory was achieved toward the end of the month when a large oil tanker was attacked and sunk with four torpedo hits. At 8,030 tons this ship, the Auris, was quite a first prize indeed. In August the submarine was spotted and attacked by a Catalina flying boat. The Leonardo da Vinci survived and because Italian submarines tended to slow to dive necessity made them highly proficient anti-aircraft gunners and many Allied planes that attacked Italian submarines found them much more deadly prey than others. Later, other targets were sighted but powerful escorts always prevented an attack and the sub had to return to port with no victories for a lengthy period of refit and repairs.

While in port, the Leonardo da Vinci received a new commanding officer when Captain Caldo was replaced by C.C. Luigi Longanesi Cattani. When the boat finally put to sea again to hunt in the waters off the Azores there was, again, no successes and the sub had to return to port due to a rudder malfunction. As 1942 dawned the Leonardo da Vinci was dispatched to a new and distant hunting ground, off the Brazilian coast. It would take time to get there but the shipping route from New York City to Brazil was expected to be ripe with targets and less heavily defended than the north Atlantic shipping lanes. This time, such expectations were met and in February of 1942 the submarine scored two solid successes with the sinking of a Brazilian and a Latvian freighter for a combined total of 7,201 tons. After returning to home base, the Leonardo da Vinci was back in action off the Brazilian coast again in June and met with even greater success, sinking a Panamanian schooner, a Danish freighter, a Dutch freighter and a British collier for a combined total of 19,997 tons. The Italian submarine returned to port covered in glory and to receive some special modifications for a top secret assignment.

By 1942 the Kingdom of Italy was also at war with the United States and at the outset Mussolini asked for proposals on how to take the war to the Americans. One idea showed promise. During the war Italy had scored several astounding successes with the use of human-guided torpedoes. These were attached to the hull of a submarine which would approach an enemy port. Men in diving gear would then ride these “torpedoes” piggyback (hence their nickname of ‘pigs’) into the enemy harbor and, from underwater, attach mines to the hulls of enemy ships, sinking them when detonated. Italy had successfully carried out such daring attacks on heavily defended British ports such as Gibraltar and Alexandria, Egypt during the war. In 1942 it was decided to try such an attack on the vital American port of New York City. The damage from such an attack would not be too materially significant but it would have a devastating impact on morale for the United States and force the American military to inordinately redeploy forces to defend against another such attack that, in all likelihood, would never come. The operation was authorized and Leonardo da Vinci was modified to carry the special mini-subs to be taken to America’s largest city.

In August of 1942, the Leonardo da Vinci received a new commanding officer, one who would be its most famous; T.V. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia. Born in Milan in 1912 of Genoese ancestry, Gazzana-Priaroggia had been executive officer under one of the greatest submarine commanders; Carlo Fecia di Cossato, and he would pay his old superior the highest complement by surpassing his record. Meanwhile, the Leonardo da Vinci was refitted and put through a number of tests for the attack on New York before her commander finally informed the high command that she was ready to undertake the mission. However, to his dismay, the high command replied that the mission would be postponed for at least a year. No one then knew why but evidence indicates that Mussolini was counting on an even more powerful weapon to be ready by that time: an atomic bomb. Of course, that never came about and so the submarine had its deck gun restored but left the fittings for the attachment of the mini-subs in place so that it would be ready to undertake the attack on New York at a later time. That mission, however, was to remain unfulfilled and is rarely ever remembered today. Still, there was plenty more for Leonardo da Vinci to do in the Battle of the Atlantic with her new captain at the helm.

Again, the initial patrol off Cape Verde was disappointing with no targets being sighted. The next, however, off Cape San Rocco, was a crushing success. In November, in quick succession the submarine torpedoed and sank a British freighter, a Greek freighter, an American ‘liberty ship’ and a Dutch freighter for a combined total of 26,042 tons of enemy shipping sent to the bottom. The Leonardo da Vinci had been so successful in fact that the Dutch freighter had to be sunk with the deck gun because the submarine had fired all of its torpedoes. The boat and crew returned to port to a hero’s welcome. When they put to sea again it would be 1943 and an initial cruise had to be aborted because of mechanical problems but once these were addressed they were soon back in action with orders to prey on Allied shipping from the South Atlantic to Indian Oceans. In March of 1943 they had their first success of the new year when they torpedoed the Canadian troopship the RMS Empress of Canada. This was by far the biggest target that the Leonardo da Vinci or her captain had ever sunk at 21,517 tons. However, it was a bitter-sweet victory as among the many Allied troops killed in the sinking were about 500 Italian prisoners-of-war. Only one Italian prisoner was able to be rescued so that, despite an enormous victory, no one on the submarine felt very cheerful.

Still, the war went on and a few days later the Leonardo da Vinci sank another British freighter before moving into the waters of the Indian Ocean. There, in April, the submarine sank a Dutch freighter, a British freighter, another American ‘liberty ship’ and a British tanker for a total of 29,828 tons. It was another resoundingly successful campaign for Italy’s most famous submarine. Sadly, those victories in a far distant sea were to be the last for Captain Gazzana-Priaroggia and the Leonardo da Vinci. On their way back to port the submarine was spotted and attacked by two British warships; the destroyer HMS Active and the frigate HMS Ness west of Cape Finisterre, Spain. The Leonardo da Vinci submerged, going deeper and deeper, trying to evade and elude the enemy but it was ultimately to no avail. Subject to fierce depth charge attack, the boat was finally destroyed and lost with all hands. Captain Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor by the Kingdom of Italy and the Knight’s Iron Cross by Germany in recognition of his great achievements.

With that sad day of May 23, 1943 the saga of the Leonardo da Vinci came to a tragic end. Yet, it had established itself as one of the most successful submarines in naval history. During its wartime career, spanning from June 1941 to May 1943 the Leonardo da Vinci had sunk 17 Allied ships for a total of 112,615 tons of enemy shipping destroyed, more than any other non-German submarine of the entire war. The story of this remarkable submarine is one that all Italians can look back on with pride and respect.

Italian Underwater Ace Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia

When it came to submarine warfare in World War II, numerous countries produced great, successful commanders and undoubtedly the Germans were at the top, sinking more enemy ships than anyone else by a considerable margin. However, apart from the German U-Boat commanders, the most successful submarine commander of World War II was an Italian officer, Lieutenant Commander Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia. During his career, this Italian submarine ace sent more enemy shipping to the bottom than anyone from the Soviet, Japanese, British or American navies. When it came to undersea warfare, he was the best Italy had, the best anyone outside of Germany had and his name will always be remembered as one of the great, legendary figures in the submarine community. He was born in Milan to a family of Genoese ancestry on August 30, 1912 and entered the Italian Naval Academy in 1931. In January, 1935 he earned his appointment as a midshipman and in January of the following year was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant to complete his training on board the cruisers Trento and Trieste. In 1937 he volunteered for service in the submarine force.

Millelire

Gazzana-Priaroggia’s first action in the submarine force was two special missions during the Spanish Civil War aboard the Balilla class submarine Domenico Millelire. This was the second boat of the Balilla class which were the first Italian subs built after the First World War. In October of 1938 he was posted to the Malachite, one of the Perla class submarines of the 600 Series. He was serving on the Malachite when the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II but was soon promoted to full Lieutenant and executive officer on the submarine Durbo, one of the Adua class of the 600 Series. Later, he served again as second-in-command of the submarine Tazzoli, after April 5, 1941 under the command of the Italian submarine ace Lieutenant Commander Carlo Fecia di Cossato. In that capacity he contributed to the sinking of twelve Allied ships, accounting for 68,000 tons. This was in the difficult waters of the Atlantic, heavily guarded by the massive British Royal Navy but one day Gazzana-Priaroggia would go on to break the record of even his capable commander who would himself go on to sink a total of 18,000 tons of Allied shipping.

After gaining all of this valuable experience, Gazzana-Priaroggia was finally given command of his own submarine, the Archimede, one of the five Brin class subs built to replace those handed over to the Spanish Nationalists. It had made a harrowing escape from Italian East Africa to reach the French coast to participate in the war in the Atlantic. On August 10, 1942 Gazzana-Priaroggia was given his most famous command, the Marconi class submarine Leonardo da Vinci which would prove the most successful Italian submarine of the war. Operating out of Bordeaux, the Italian submarine base in the Atlantic (Betasom), Gazzana-Priaroggia took a terrible toll as he hunted along the Allied shipping lanes. On May 6, 1943 he was given a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant Commander and during his career earned 3 Bronze Medals of Military Valor and 2 Silver Medals of Military Valor. Ultimately, his total would be 90,601 Gross Registered Tons of Allied shipping sunk, higher than any other non-German submarine commander. Because of his record of success and the regard the sailors who served under him had for their captain, he was nicknamed Ursus atlanticus.

Leonardo da Vinci

However, for a captain who saw so much action and faced death so fearlessly, his good fortune was bound to run out. On his way back to base from another successful patrol (for which he earned his promotion to Capitano di corvetta) his submarine was spotted by the British destroyer HMS Active and the frigate HMS Ness just west of Cape Finisterre. Hopelessly outmatched, Gazzana-Priaroggia and his sailors fought to the last but the Leonardo da Vinci was sunk and lost with all hands, the captain going down with his boat. This was a terrible blow for the Regia Marina and the Italian nation as a whole as their most successful submarine commander was gone. In death, he was given his final recognition being posthumously awarded the Knight’s Iron Cross from Germany and the Gold Medal for Military Valor by King Vittorio Emanuele III. He had not survived the war but his name will live on forever in the submarine community as one of the best there has ever been. As a testament of his legacy, in 1993 the Italian navy named the last of the Nazario Sauro class boats, the Primo Longobardo sub-class boat S525 the Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia in his honor.

MM Movie Review: Submarine Attack

“La Grande Speranza” (‘The Great Hope’) or in the English dubbed version, “Submarine Attack” or “Torpedo Zone” is a 1955 World War II naval drama about an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic on a standard war patrol but which, in the course of sinking Allied ships, collects a diverse group of survivors. It is a simple tale, well told (though the English dubbing leaves much to be desired and is best in the original Italian) with a very straightforward story. That is, if one can call it a “story” at all. There is not much to it really, however, it means to convey a simple message in a more subtle fashion, a message about war and peace and, as the original title indicates, a message of hope for the world that the problems between nations can be overcome. It was directed by Duilio Coletti and stars Lois Maxwell as British Lt. Lily Donald (the only woman in the film) who would go on to play Miss Moneypenny in fourteen 007 films, Renato Baldini as the Italian submarine captain (we are never told his name) and Folco Lulli as Nostromo, the First Mate. The film opens with a dedication to the men who lost their lives in the 91 Italian submarines that went to sea in World War II and never returned. We are also told at the outset that what follows is a true story, which it is, however not exactly. The events portrayed did occur but happened on various Italian subs at various times.

The submarine where our film takes place

We start with a submarine making an underwater attack on a freighter and then surfacing to pick up survivors. One man is injured, another is a very bellicose French resistance fighter and the other is a British woman, Lt. Lily Donald who, we learn later, is a war widow, having lost her fiancé at Tobruk at the hands of the Italians of course. Frenchie would be happy to get tossed back in the ocean and die for his country, but they are taken below and added to the collection of survivors the sub has already accumulated in the course of their war patrol. There is a British author of some note named Mr. Steiner who acts as spokesman, a Black American named Johnny Brown from Texas, a Dutch merchant captain and a rather odd, mercenary type fellow from South America. Everyone seems fine with their presence, though at least one Italian sailor notes that for every survivor taken on, the amount of breathable air decreases when the boat is forced to remain submerged due to enemy attack. Still, they all make the best of it and the survivors are not very restricted at all, conversing with the crew and being allowed to come up on deck for fresh air when on the surface.

The captain of the sub

Next night, the captain spots a ship, a large, armed, troop transport and the sub dives to make an underwater attack. However, when the torpedoes miss the captain decides to surface and take on the enemy vessel in an old-fashioned gunfight. They about have the ship finished off when aircraft appear and join in attacking the submarine. One of the Italians is hit by machinegun fire from an airplane but rather than being taken below, he insists on staying on deck to watch the captain sink the enemy vessel which is finally mortally wounded. As soon as he hears this, the wounded sailor passes away and as the captain gives the order to dive to safety, his body must be left behind. However, their diving planes have been damaged and are jammed in diving position, causing the sub to plunge deeper and deeper toward the limit when the water pressure will crush the hull like an empty tin can. Internal communications fail and all the while the Allied aircraft are continued to drop bombs on their position. They plummet deeper and deeper and blowing all ballast tanks and all auxiliary tanks has no effect. However, at the last minute, the diving planes are repaired and the boat is able to come to the surface.

Ready for surface action

We take some time out for some mundane activities, the crew missing home, the survivors dwelling on their state, a man getting a shave and so on. But, the next crisis breaks out when Frenchie attacks one of the Italian sailors and starts messing with the diving equipment in an effort to sink the sub. He is stopped of course and all is put back in order but some, like Lt. Donald asks the captain why the Frenchman was not punished. The captain only says that it is because he would have done the same if the roles had been reversed. After some more quiet time, the crew prepares special decorations and refreshments for Christmas, as a surprise for the captain. There is even a makeshift Christmas tree and some scarce champagne. The captain invites the enemy survivors to join the festivities, feasting, singing Christmas carols and even placing a tiny baby Jesus in a crèche. It is remarked upon, how the war seemed to have stopped and how this assortment of people, British, Italians, Americans and so on, can all get along despite their countries being at war (the Frenchman refuses to participate). This make it seem all the more bewildering when an Allied freighter is spotted and the Italian sailors swing into action to sink it.

Survivors on deck

The singing and dancing come to end as battle stations are manned and torpedoes are prepared. The sub races through the black, stormy night toward the target as the captain says if they can’t sink her before dawn, she will get away. They close in, fire two torpedoes and send the freighter to the bottom. A boat full of survivors finds the sub the next morning, the Italians being alerted to the new arrivals by the barking of a dog that was brought along. The survivors are Danish merchant sailors but the Italian sub has no more room for any more passengers and their lifeboat cannot make the 700 miles to the nearest port. The captain decides to shelter them in the conning tower on deck but warns them that, as unfortunate as it would be, if his submarine is attacked, he will have to submerge and the Danish survivors will be left to their fate. At one point, it looks as though this will happen, but, luckily for the Danes, the Allied warship turns away and the sub can remain on the surface. They make their way across the North Atlantic to the Azores, what the captain calls the “last hope” for the survivors who are exposed to the elements and suffer terribly from the wind and water. The other survivors below have pity on them and volunteer to take their place, rotating in turns below and on deck.

The Captain and Lt. Donald

At last, the submarine arrives at the Azores and the survivors are all put ashore, save for the Frenchman who must be taken back to base as a prisoner of war and the little dog who was given to the Italians by the Danes as a mascot. The Danish captain asks the Italian captain his name so that he can pray for him when he gets home. The Italian captain only replies, “pray for a sailor”. Donald has softened by this time and there is a short, touching moment as she leaves on the last boat to the shore while the Italian sailors stand on the deck of their submarine and wave goodbye before setting out to return to their patrol area and hunt for more Allied ships. Bring up “The End” title card and fade to black

Sailing toward neutral shores

“Submarine Attack” is a pretty humble, little movie. There is not much to it and we never get to know too much about any of the characters really. Again, it is meant to be a simple tale, well told, about humanity coming together in wartime and suggesting that if individuals can get along and remain compassionate even while their countries are at war, then, perhaps, there is hope for humanity after all. The transfer to DVD is not terribly good but it seems unlikely it will get better treatment in the future, being a mostly unknown film. It probably would not appeal to your average viewer and there are the occasional mistakes here and there, however, if one is a submarine enthusiast it is worth seeing simply for the setting. The movie was filmed on an actual Italian submarine of World War II vintage and so, seeing one in action was worth the ‘price of admission’ for me at least. There is probably not enough of a narrative and character work to interest most people, but it was worth it for me since films about the submarines of the Regia Marina are so rare and since the contribution of the Italian submarine force (which took a heavy toll on Allied shipping) is so often forgotten.

Resuming the hunt...

Italian Underwater Ace Carlo Fecia di Cossato

The Italian submarines of the Regia Marina, though overshadowed by the U-Boats of Germany, had an excellent record of service in World War II, taking a heavy toll on Allied ships throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Italy had some great boats and some great commanders and when the two came together, it made the Sommergibili something to be feared by the Allies. One of the top submarine "aces" of the Second World War was Captain Carlo Fecia di Cossato. A Roman, born in 1908, he graduated from the Naval Academy at Livorno in 1928 and was first posted to the Italian outpost in China. Later he began serving on submarines during the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War. In World War II his first command was the submarine Ciro Menotti. He went up against the Royal Navy in that boat but his real moment of glory came with his next command, the Calvi class submarine Enrico Tazzoli. This was definitely a winning combination for the Regia Marina as was soon proven when di Cossato took his boat into the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean to hunt for ships. At 1,332 tons the Enrico Tazzoli was a big submarine built for long cruises to hunt in distant waters. The operational limit of the boat was 21,600 km. With a crew of 66 trained and motivated volunteers, two 4.7in deck guns and four AA guns with eight torpedo tubes, it was a formidable weapon and in the hands of a talented captain like Carlo Fecia di Cossato, it took a terrible toll on the Allied shipping lanes.

During his service in the Atlantic (mostly the south Atlantic) di Cossato sank 18 Allied merchant ships for a total of 96,553 tons with a further 5,000 tons of enemy shipping damaged but not sunk outright. For his exemplary service the captain was awarded two Silver Medals for Military Valor and one Gold Medal for Military Valor from the King of Italy and the Iron Cross first and second class and the Knight's Iron Cross from the Germans. The Enrico Tazzoli hunted a great deal in southern waters, in the shipping lanes near Brazil and sank ships that were Greek, British, Yugoslav, Norwegian, Dutch, Uruguayan and one American freighter which was its last victory. Captain Carlo Fecia di Cossato was promoted to command a squadron of torpedo boats and the Enrico Tazzoli was converted to be a submarine freighter rather than an attack submarine. It was sailing on a transport run to the Empire of Japan when it was sunk in the Bay of Biscay in 1943.

Unfortunately, her famous captain came to an unhappy end as well. The 1943 armistice troubled him deeply, as it did many men in uniform who had been fighting the Allies so hard only to suddenly find themselves on the opposite side. Captain di Cossato gave valiant service fighting against his former German allies off Bastia in 1943. However, the way the Kingdom of Italy was being treated by Britain and France as well as continued emotional trauma and confusion over the armistice and declaration of war on Germany left him unable to continue. The final terms of the armistice, which called for the total surrender of the Regia Marina was the last straw for the proud captain. He wrote, we "have committed an ignominious act without any result" and in 1944 he took his own life in Naples. It was a tragic end to a brilliant naval career for one of the most successful submarine commanders in history.

The Battle of Lissa

It was on this day in 1866 that the naval battle of Lissa was fought, during the Third Italian War of Independence, which was a stunning defeat for the Kingdom of Italy. In the end, the Prussian victory over Austria eventually brought Venice back into the Italian nation but no more, with other formerly Venetian territories remaining under Austrian control. The battle was a loss for a variety of reasons, paramount of which was probably the feuding Italian commanders failing to put personal squabbles aside for the sake of the country and work together but also some faulty naval ordinance. Austrian shells penetrated Italian ships while Italian shells often bounced off the Austrian vessels (many of which included Italian sailors as well). However, despite being a defeat, there were still moments of extreme heroism and sacrifice on the part of the Italian fleet; such as the sailors of the Palestro refusing to abandon ship but staying with their captain and going down fighting. It did not help that the battle was first reported as a victory which only made the eventual news of defeat all the more shocking and terrible. Worse, it was mostly hushed up by the high command whereas it should have been looked at honestly to learn from the mistakes made.

The Strange Case of the Luigi Torelli

In the Italian submarine fleet, or most any naval force in the world, few ships had such an odd and colorful career as the Torelli, a Marconi class submarine (pennant number TI) launched on January 6, 1940. It was an extremely successful submarine, sinking seven enemy vessels for a total of 43,000 tons during her short career as a raider. The Torelli made one patrol in the Mediterranean and then slipped past the British at Gibraltar on September 8, 1940 to join the Italian submarine forces in the Atlantic operating out of Bordeaux, France. On her first patrol in the Atlantic, the Torelli sent four enemy ships to the bottom. The sub had no such luck on her second patrol but did add another ship to her score card on her third patrol. In December of 1941 the Torelli along with three Calvi class submarines aided in the rescue of 254 sailors from the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis. During "Operation Neuland" the intrepid Italian sub sent two more enemy ships to the bottom but her closest call was to come from the air rather than the sea.

Because of their large size, most Italian submarines tended to be slower to submerge compared to some others and this made them particularly vulnerable to air attack. However, as a result, Italian submariners became very skilled anti-aircraft gunners. While most other subs would crash dive on spotting an enemy plane, since they most likely could not get underwater fast enough, Italian subs would stay on top and shoot it out with enemy aircraft. In the eastern Atlantic, while returning from hunting around the Bahamas the Torelli was attacked by a British flying-boat on June 5, 1942 and suffered heavy damage. Because of this, the submarine was unable to dive and had to try to make it back to Bordeaux only on the surface. Only two days later the Torelli was spotted by the British and quickly attacked by two Sunderlands. However, the Italian anti-aircraft fire was so fierce that their bombing runs were ruined, though they did manage to spray the sub with gunfire that killed Sergeant Flavio Pallucchini and wounding Captain Antonio de Giacomo and another officer. Still, one of the planes was hit and both were finally forced to retreat and the Torelli returned to port for repairs.

Once at sea again, the Torelli was on patrol off the coast of Brazil when she was attacked by three Catalina American torpedo planes and, because of a valve malfunction, was unable to submerge and again had to shoot it out on the surface. The Italian gunners shot down one of the Catalinas and forced the other two to retreat but took several casualties and suffered a lot of damage. The radio-man was killed, the chief engineer, an assistant engineer and the captain were all wounded and the captain was forced to turn command over to his first lieutenant. Still, they made it back in one piece but because of the extensive damage suffered, the days of the Torelli as a commerce raider were over. Her offensive weapons were removed and she was converted to a long-range transport with her torpedo tubes being converted into extra fuel tanks. On June 14, 1943 she left Bordeaux loaded with supplies as well as a German engineer, two civilian mechanics and Japanese Colonel Kinze Sateke, a telecommunications specialist who has just undergone training in Germany. These passengers were to be delivered to Singapore to help in modernizing the Japanese war effort.

The Allied code-breakers found out about this special voyage and had aircraft searching from Gibraltar to the Cape but they failed to locate the Torelli which made the passage through the Atlantic and Indian Oceans without incident to Japanese-held Singapore. However, by the time they arrived the King had dismissed Mussolini and taken Italy out of the war. After that time the Germans grabbed all Italian personnel and equipment they could get their hands on and that included the Torelli which was drafted into the German navy, as part of their Far East submarine flotilla (the 12th and later 33rd U-Boat Flotilla) and the crew were thrown into a POW camp. However, once Mussolini established his puppet regime in Salo the Italian crew were given the choice of joining the Italo-German navy of the Italian Social Republic. They decided to join Mussolini's navy, unfortunate, but not surprising given that their only other option was prison camp. So, the Torelli was joined by more Germans and renamed the UIT-25. However, the strange career of the Torelli did not end there. When the Salo Republic collapsed and Germany surrendered the sub was taken over by the Japanese and continued on as I-504 of the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving in the Pacific until the Japanese surrender with a German-Italian-Japanese crew. Communications onboard must have been rather complicated! They ended up scoring the last Axis victory of World War II when they were attacked by American bombers when the Italians on the 13.2mm Breda shot down one of the American planes in Kobe, Japan. After the Japanese surrender the submarine was scuttled by the U.S. Navy, ending a long and colorful career.

The Sommergibili of the Regia Marina

At the start of World War II the Regia Marina could boast of having the largest submarine fleet by tonnage in the world. Only the Soviets had more in terms of numbers and these were of a smaller size. The King's underwater fleet consisted of 172 submarines that were quite capable at hunting enemy ships, scouting for the surface fleet, carrying valuable cargo through dangerous waters and laying mines. Almost half were quite large vessels capable of operating for cruises of up to six months with an effective range of 20,000 miles, well beyond the ability of the submarine forces of other powers. Their torpedoes were reliable, their crews were all-volunteer and very well trained and during the course of the war proved to be extremely capable at bringing down enemy planes with their anti-aircraft guns. Of course, there were also some problems. The vessels were made for operations in the Mediterranean and could not operate well in the fierce seas of the North Atlantic. They were slower to turn and took twice as long to crash dive as the average German submarine. Nonetheless, they performed feats that others were incapable of. Lt. Commander Franco Tosoni Pittoni of the submarine Bagnolini was the first to slip through the British-held Straits of Gibraltar. No Italian submarine was ever lost going through the straits even though the Germans lost numerous submarines in their runs in and out of the Mediterranean. At one point there were actually more Italian submarines operating in the North Atlantic against Allied convoys than German ones. The most successful Italian submarine of the war was the Leonardo Da Vinci which sank 120,243 tons of enemy shipping. In 39 months of combat, from the start of the war until the King sacked Mussolini and declared an armistice, Italian submarines sank 13 enemy warships of 24,554 tons and 129 merchant ships for a total of 668,311 tons of enemy shipping.