Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Ferdinando Corsi
| Born | 24 Oct 1907 | Castellamare di Stabia | |
| Died | 1991 | (83) | Zoagli |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
ONICE (C.C. C.O.): from 23.05.1942 to 29.07.1942.ALPINO ATTILIO BAGNOLINI (C.C. C.O.): from 12.08.1942 to 20.01.1943.
Promoted to C.F. on 26.09.1942.
REGINALDO GIULIANI (C.F. C.O.): from 01.02.1943 to 20.02.1943.
ALPINO ATTILIO BAGNOLINI (C.F. resp.): from 22.05.1943 to 31.05.1943 (refit at Bordeaux).
GIUSEPPE FINZI (C.F. resp.): from 22.05.1943 to 09.06.1943 (refit at Bordeaux).
Commands listed for Ferdinando Corsi
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glauco (GU, I.24) | Ocean going | C.C. | 15 Feb 1940 | Aug 1940 |
| Onice (OC) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 23 May 1942 | 29 Jul 1942 |
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | Ocean going | C.C. | 12 Aug 1942 | 20 Jan 1943 |
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | Ocean going | C.F. | 1 Feb 1943 | 20 Feb 1943 |
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | Ocean going | C.F. | 22 May 1943 | 31 May 1943 |
| Giuseppe Finzi (FZ, I.2) | Ocean going | C.F. | 22 May 1943 | 9 Jun 1943 |
Ships hit by Ferdinando Corsi
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Ferdinando Corsi
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onice (OC) | 31 May 1942 | 0728 | Trapani | 31 May 1942 | 1211 | Trapani | 23,8 | Exercises escorted back by Levanzo. | ||
| 1. | Onice (OC) | 13 Jun 1942 | 0835 | Trapani | 17 Jun 1942 | 1510 | Trapani | 547 | Sailed in company with Dessiè and Aradam, escorted by the torpedo boat Dezza, for patrol west of Malta between 35°40'N and 36°00'N, and between 13°20'E and 13°40'E. | |
| 15 Jun 1942 | 1217 | At 1217 hours, information was received of an enemy convoy of fourteen ships had been sighted in Grid 8331/2, steering 090°. Shortly after, this was corrected to 120°, 8 knots. Onice surfaced and altered course to 060° to intercept. This was the HARPOON convoy proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta. | ||||||||
| 15 Jun 1942 | 1307 | At 1307 hours, an aircraft was seen and Onice dived. At 1405 hours, information was received that the enemy convoy was still in Grid 8331 but now steering 120°, 8 knots. | ||||||||
| 15 Jun 1942 | 1630 | At 1630 hours, an escort vessel was sighted proceeding at 16 knots at a distance of 15,000 metres. It disappeared from view. | ||||||||
| 15 Jun 1942 | 1707 | At 1707 hours, a steamer was sighted on the horizon at a distance of 20,000 metres, proceeding at 10 knots. Onice proceeded to attack and sighted three large steamers, escorted by four destroyers, steering 040° at 10 knots. At 1815 hours, the range had closed only to 9,000-10,000 meters and it became evident that they would pass out of range. At 1856 hours, the submarine surfaced and made an enemy report. | ||||||||
| 2. | Onice (OC) | 17 Jun 1942 | 1830 | Trapani | 20 Jun 1942 | 2050 | Messina | 379,5 | Patrolled near Malta between 37°20'N and 37°40'N, and between 09°00'E and 09°40'E. Uneventful. | |
| Onice (OC) | 20 Jun 1942 | 2141 | Messina | 21 Jun 1942 | 0602 | Trapani | 61,5 | Passage Messina-Trapani. | ||
| 3. | Onice (OC) | 21 Jun 1942 | 0939 | Trapani | 25 Jun 1942 | 1655 | Trapani | 567,1 | Patrolled off Malta between 35°50'N and 36°10'N, 13°00'E and 13°20'E. | |
| 23 Jun 1942 | 2039 | At 2039 hours, Onice was ordered to intercept an enemy tanker sighted off Ras Mahmur proceeding to Malta. She altered course to intercept and dived to listen with the hydrophones but heard nothing. | ||||||||
| 4. | Onice (OC) | 6 Jul 1942 | 1733 | Trapani | 21 Jul 1942 | 0105 | Trapani | 1164,1 | Patrolled east of La Galite, betweem 37°20'N and 37°50'N, 09°20'E and 09°40'E. Sighted many French ships. | |
| 10 Jul 1942 | 1436 | At 1436 hours, a derelict mine was sunk by machine gun fire. | ||||||||
| Onice (OC) | 21 Jul 1942 | 2002 | Trapani | 23 Jul 1942 | 1805 | La Spezia | 400 | Passage Trapani-La Spezia. | ||
| Onice (OC) | 25 Jul 1942 | 0630 | La Spezia | 25 Jul 1942 | 1305 | Genoa | 52 | Passage La Spezia-Genoa. | ||
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 2 Sep 1942 | 1120 | Bordeaux | 2 Sep 1942 | 1900 | Le Verdon | 55 | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon. | ||
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 3 Sep 1942 | 0756 | Le Verdon | 3 Sep 1942 | 1925 | La Pallice | 71 | Passage Le Verdon-La Pallice and trials at Le Pertuis d'Antioche. | ||
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 5 Sep 1942 | 1105 | La Pallice | 5 Sep 1942 | 1542 | La Pallice | 33,5 | Trials. | ||
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 8 Sep 1942 | 1215 | La Pallice | 8 Sep 1942 | 1625 | La Pallice | 32 | Trials. | ||
| 5. | Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 15 Sep 1942 | 1650 | La Pallice | 17 Nov 1942 | 1109 | Le Verdon | 9447,1 | Sailed with the submarine Archimede [a U-boat equipped with Metox for the Biscay passage was to accompany them, but the it had to turn back because of defects] and patrolled in Gulf of Guinea and off Freetown, between 01°00'N and 03°00'S, and between 07°00'E and the coast of French Equatorial Africa. On her return, met Archimede with the German escort to Bordeaux. Bagnolini reported that during the Biscay passage, she had not encountered particularly heavy air searches. | |
| 16 Sep 1942 | 1458 | 44° 29'N, 4° 16'W | At 1458 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 16 Sep 1942 | 1640 | 44° 21'N, 4° 32'W | At 1640 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 17 Sep 1942 | 0950 | 44° 08'N, 6° 05'W | At 0950 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 18 Sep 1942 | 1041 | 43° 57'N, 8° 58'W | At 1041 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 21 Sep 1942 | 1304 | 37° 54'N, 16° 48'W | At 1304 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 28 Sep 1942 | 2330 2204Z (e) | 19° 33'N, 20° 06'W | At 2330 hours, Bagnolini was steering 180° when the light of a steamer was observed on a parallel course astern and slowly closing. At 2355 hours, the port side lookout spotted a destroyer approaching at 10-12 knots at 2,200 metres. C.C. Corsi ordered stern tube no.5 to be fired but the torpedo did not leave, as too little time had been given. The destroyer was now steering for the submarine and at 2359 hours, Bagnolini dived. At 0007 hours on 29th September, six depth charges were heard astern at about 500 metres, followed by two more a little farther. At 0110 hours, the submarine surfaced and sighted the destroyer at 800 metres on the port beam and a little beyond, the steamer now fully illuminated (a neutral?). There was now a full moon which would make the approach difficult and Corsi gave up the chase. | |||||||
| 15 Oct 1942 | 1030 | 5° 01'N, 18° 45'W | At 1030 hours, masts were seen on the horizon. At 1043 hours it could be identified as a destroyer. Bagnolini dived, but hydrophone contact was lost at 1254 hours. | |||||||
| 18 Oct 1942 | 1554 | 6° 11'N, 17° 05'W | At 1554 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 18 Oct 1942 | 1715 | 6° 07'N, 18° 02'W | At 1715 hours, four aircraft were seen. They were apparently flying from Brazil to Freetown and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 26 Oct 1942 | 1433 | 9° 57'N, 20° 40'W | At 1433 hours, three aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 29 Oct 1942 | 0010 | 16° 06'N, 20° 24'W | At 0010 hours, an illuminated ship was observed, steering 220°, 12-13 knots . Bagnolini could not close to less than 3,000 metres. The submarine intercepted a signal identifying the vessel as the Portuguese Cujaba. This was probably the Brazilian Cuyaba, (6,489 GRT, built 1906). C.F. Corsi decided to give up the chase. | |||||||
| 2 Nov 1942 | 1530 | 26° 18'N, 15° 49'W | At 1530 hours, an illuminated ship was sighted steering 210°. This turned out to be a Spanish 4,000-ton vessel, typically of the NERVION company. Bagnolini aborted the attack. | |||||||
| 4 Nov 1942 | 0944 | 28° 44'N, 13° 07'W | At 0944 hours, an illuminated ship was sighted steering 220°. This turned out to be a Spanish 4,000-ton vessel. Bagnolini aborted the attack. | |||||||
| 5 Nov 1942 | 0520 | 28° 10'N, 13° 32'W | At 0520 hours, an illuminated ship was sighted steering 070°. This turned out to be a Spanish 800-ton vessel. Bagnolini aborted the attack. | |||||||
| 7 Nov 1942 | 0235 | 32° 46'N, 12° 50'W | At 0235 hours, an illuminated ship was sighted steering 030° (toward the Spanish coast) at 12 knots. This turned out to be a Spanish vessel. Bagnolini aborted the attack. | |||||||
| 7 Nov 1942 | 1144 | 34° 10'N, 13° 00'W | At 1144 hours, an illuminated ship was sighted steering toward the Spanish coast. This turned out to be a 5,000-ton Spanish vessel. Bagnolini aborted the attack. | |||||||
| 8 Nov 1942 | 1638 | 37° 07'N, 13° 00'W | At 1638 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 9 Nov 1942 | 0535 | 38° 11'N, 13° 00'W | At 0535 hours, a ship was sighted, which turned out to be Spanish. | |||||||
| 9 Nov 1942 | 1426 | At 1426 hours, the conning tower of a submarine was sighted. Bagnolini turned away. | ||||||||
| 6. | Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 17 Nov 1942 | 1140 | Le Verdon | 17 Nov 1942 | 1537 | Bordeaux | Passage Le Verdon-La Pallice, after a brief stop to pick up the pilot. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 1 Feb 1943 | Bordeaux | 20 Feb 1943 | Bordeaux | At Bordeaux. Change in command. | |||||
| Alpino Attilio Bagnolini (BI, I.12, UIT.22) | 22 May 1943 | Bordeaux | 31 May 1943 | Bordeaux | In Bordeaux. | |||||
| Giuseppe Finzi (FZ, I.2) | 22 May 1943 | Bordeaux | 9 Jun 1943 | Bordeaux | Refit in Bordeaux (change in command). | |||||
38 entries. 17 total patrol entries (6 marked as war patrols) and 25 events.