Italian submarines in World War Two


Console Generale Liuzzi (LZ)
Liuzzi

TypeOcean going 
ClassLiuzzi (16) 
Laid down 10 Nov 1938 Cantieri Navale Tosi di Taranto, Taranto
Launched17 Sep 1939
Commissioned21 Nov 1939
End service
Stricken
Loss date27 Jun 1940
Loss position33° 46'N, 27° 27'E
History
Fate Sunk on 27th June 1940 south-east of Crete in position 33°46'N, 27°27'E by the destroyers HMS Dainty, HMS Decoy, HMS Defender, HMS Ilex and HMAS Voyager.

Commands


CommanderDate fromDate toCommand notes
C.C. Lorenzo Bezzi 194027 Jun 1940

Ships hit

No ships hit by this submarine.

Patrols and events

 CommanderDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Bezzi, Lorenzo10 Jun 1940Taranto10 Jun 1940TarantoAt Taranto at the outbreak of the war

Bezzi, Lorenzo14 Jun 1940Time???Taranto14 Jun 19401345TarantoExercises?

1Bezzi, Lorenzo16 Jun 19401100Taranto27 Jun 19401945+SunkSailed for patrol off Famagusta (southeast of Cyprus) between 34°20'N and 35°40'N and 33°00'E and 35°00'E. She had left her patrol at midnight on 25 June 1940 and was returning home when she was sunk by the destroyers HMS Dainty, HMS Decoy, HMS Defender, HMS Ilex and HMAS Voyager in 33°46'N, 27°27'E. Ten killed (including Bezzi), fifty-eight (or fifty-six?) survivors. Bezzi was awarded the Medaglia D'Oro.
  27 Jun 1940
1830-1945+ (e)
At 1830 hours, the destroyers HMS Dainty, HMS Decoy, HMS Defender, HMS Ilex (of 2nd D.F.) and HMAS Voyager (of 10th D.F.) were proceeding on a northerly course, when a submarine was detected on the surface by HMS Dainty.

This was Console Generale Luizzi. She submerged and attempted to escape. HMS Dainty obtained a contact and dropped a first pattern of depth charges at 1850 hours. This was followed by a pattern from HMS Ilex at 1857 hours and another ten minutes later. At 1926 hours, it was the turn of HMS Decoy to drop a pattern. The destroyer HMAS Voyager was very noisy and disturbed the ASDIC operators, she was instructed to stay away and does not appear to have dropped any depth-charges. At about 1928 hours, HMS Defender dropped a pattern and the submarine was brought to the surface after she had attempted to escape by going down to 170-180 metres. HMS Dainty attempted to sink her by gunfire, but could not score any hits in the heavy seas. She finally dropped a single depth charge 30 feet from the submarine and Liuzzi sank at about 2000 hours.

There were fifty-eight survivors in all. Thirteen survivors were picked up by HMAS Voyager and the remainder were picked up by other destroyers. Ten were killed (including Bezzi, who was awarded the Medaglia d'Oro posthumously).

Survivors from Liuzzi and/or Rubino are shown arriving at Alexandria on the MovieTone newsreel of 8th August 1940.

3 entries. 3 total patrol entries (1 marked as war patrols) and 1 events.

All Italian submarines