Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Alfredo Criscuolo
| Born | 14 Aug 1904 | Naples |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
MOROSINI (C.C. C.O.): from 01.12.1938 to 11.04.1941.Promoted to C.F. on ?
From 04.05.1941, Head of GRUPSOM NAPOLI.
LUCIANO MANARA (C.F. resp.): from 01.11.1941 to 08.01.1942 (refit at Naples).
From 21.04.1942 to June 1942+, Head of 7° GRUPSOM CAGLIARI.
Joined RSI.
Commands listed for Alfredo Criscuolo
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | Ocean going | C.C. | 1 Dec 1938 | 11 Apr 1941 |
| Luciana Manara (MR) | Ocean going | C.F. | 1 Nov 1941 | 8 Jan 1942 |
Ships hit by Alfredo Criscuolo
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Alfredo Criscuolo
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Morosini (MS, I.20) | 5 Jun 1940 | 1800 | Naples | 24 Jun 1940 | 2130 | Naples | Sailed with Provana and patrolled off Cape Palos (Spain) in 36°40'N, 00°16'E. Reported by MARICOSOM on 23rd June in 37°50'N, 07°20'E. | ||
| 12 Jun 1940 | 0745 | (0) 85 miles SE of Palos. | At 0745 hours, a steamer was sighted and closed to 400 metres. It was identified as the Greek Styliani (sic, Stylianos Chandris? 6,060 GRT, built 1920). The attack was aborted. | |||||||
| 15 Jun 1940 | 0143 | (0) 85 miles SE of Palos. | At 0136 hours, a shadow was sighted. It was identified as a French 1,000-ton two-funnel torpedo boat. At 0143 hours, Morosini fired a torpedo (533mm) from 400 metres. Due to an error in drill, the wrong torpedo tube was fired and the torpedo, which was not angled as intended, missed. | |||||||
| 15 Jun 1940 | 0630 | (0) About 85 miles SE of Palos. | At 0547 hours, turbine noises were heard. At 0630 hours, a convoy of three large ships escorted by destroyers was sighted at 14,000 metres. They passed out of range. | |||||||
| 17 Jun 1940 | (0) Approx. 36.50 N, 00.10 E (Cape Palos). | A Spanish ship was sighted steering 070° at a distance of 3,000 metres,. | ||||||||
| 21 Jun 1940 | 0335 | 36° 50'N, 0° 10'E | At 0315 hours, a dense smoke was observed. Morosini proceeded for a stern attack and at 0335 hours, fired one torpedo (533mm) at a medium sized merchant vessel (steamship of 7-8,000 GRT about 140 metres in length), zigzagging on a NNE course, 8-9 knots. After 56 seconds, a loud explosion was heard and the vessel claimed sunk. There was no confirmation of this attack. | |||||||
| 2. | Morosini (MS, I.20) | 11 Jul 1940 | 2350 | Naples | 26 Jul 1940 | 0900 | Naples | 2066,4 | Patrolled south of Alboran Island with Nani, between Cape Sacratif and Cape Quillates and between Cape de Gata (Almeria) and Cape Tres Forcas (Morocco). Sighted only a few vessels in Spanish territorial waters. | |
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 10 Aug 1940 | 0907 | Naples | 10 Aug 1940 | 1640 | Naples | 36 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 12 Aug 1940 | 0908 | Naples | 12 Aug 1940 | 1415 | Naples | 35 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 24 Aug 1940 | 1440 | Naples | 24 Aug 1940 | 1530 | Naples | 1 | Changed moorings. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 29 Aug 1940 | 1645 | Naples | 2 Sep 1940 | 2230 | Taranto | Passage Naples-Taranto. | |||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 15 Sep 1940 | 0930 | Naples | 15 Sep 1940 | 1030 | Naples | 1 | Changed moorings. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 24 Sep 1940 | 0730 | Naples | 24 Sep 1940 | 0800 | Naples | 0,5 | Changed moorings. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 30 Sep 1940 | 0830 | Naples | 30 Sep 1940 | 1715 | Naples | 49,4 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 4 Oct 1940 | 0825 | Naples | 4 Oct 1940 | 1600 | Naples | 38,8 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 7 Oct 1940 | 0827 | Naples | 7 Oct 1940 | 1747 | Naples | 50,7 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 10 Oct 1940 | 0800 | Naples | 10 Oct 1940 | 1405 | Naples | 32 | Exercises. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 18 Oct 1940 | 0726 | Naples | 18 Oct 1940 | 1202 | Naples | 32 | Exercises. | ||
| 3. | Morosini (MS, I.20) | 25 Oct 1940 | 0800 | Naples | 28 Nov 1940 | 1700 | Bordeaux | 4150,27 | Passage Naples to Bordeaux. Patrolled off Oporto (Portugal) and then to 20'W, between 40°00'N and 42°00'N and 12°00'W and 17°00'W. Passed Gibraltar on 31st October 1940. | |
| 3 Nov 1940 | 1135-1235 | At 1135 hours, a steamer was sighted and the submarine proceeded submerged to attack but, at a distance of 1,000 metres, it was recognised to be a hospital ship. | ||||||||
| 10 Nov 1940 | 0630 | At 0630 hours, an illuminated ship was observed steering 100°, toward the Portuguese coast. It was assumed neutral and was not chased. | ||||||||
| 20 Nov 1940 | 2000 | At 2000 hours, Morosini was informed that a convoy of thirty ships had sailed at 1400 hours from Gibraltar. The submarine moved to the eastern edge of her patrol area and awaited further information, but nothing was sighted and, at 2000 hours on the 26th, she left her patrol. | ||||||||
| 27 Nov 1940 | 1037 | (0) Near the Spanish coast. | At 1037 hours, two vessels were sighted proceeding eastward. Morosini closed the coast, but no further contacts were made. | |||||||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 7 Dec 1940 | 1000 | Bordeaux | 7 Dec 1940 | 1040 | Bordeaux | 0,5 | Moved to dock. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 13 Dec 1940 | 1140 | Bordeaux | 13 Dec 1940 | 1210 | Bordeaux | 0,5 | Undocked and move back to quay. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 4 Jan 1941 | 1140 | Bordeaux | 4 Jan 1941 | 1210 | Le Verdon | 55 | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 5 Jan 1941 | 1004 | Le Verdon | 5 Jan 1941 | 1910 | La Pallice | 64 | Passage Le Verdon-La Pallice, escorted by the minesweeper M-9 and submarine chasers UJ-D, UJ-E and UJ-128. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 15 Jan 1941 | 0850 | La Pallice | 15 Jan 1941 | 1708 | La Pallice | 20 | Trials. | ||
| Morosini (MS, I.20) | 17 Jan 1941 | 0905 | La Pallice | 17 Jan 1941 | 1815 | La Pallice | 22,7 | Trials. | ||
| 4. | Morosini (MS, I.20) | 22 Jan 1941 | 1600 | La Pallice | 24 Feb 1941 | 1800 | Bordeaux | 4558,6 | Sailed for patrol off Irish coast (1) between 54°00'N and 55°00'N and 18°00'W and 25°00'W (2) between 54°00'N and 55°00'N and 15°00'W and 18°00'W. | |
| 30 Jan 1941 | 1200 | 55° 44'N, 20° 20'W | At 1200 hours, the submarine Baracca was encountered and recognition signals exchanged. | |||||||
| 1 Feb 1941 | Time? | 54° 23'N, 17° 24'W | Morosini sighted an unidentified submarine which submerged. | |||||||
| 7 Feb 1941 | 2208 | 54° 19'N, 18° 00'W | At 2208 hours, a large sloop was observed but was not attacked according to instructions (?). | |||||||
| 8 Feb 1941 | 2005 | 54° 30'N, 17° 20'W (0) Approximately. | At 2005 hours, a U-boat was sighted at 1,000 metres. It turned back after making a signal. Immediately after, a steamer was sighted. | |||||||
| 8 Feb 1941 | 2030 | 54° 30'N, 17° 20'W | As soon as the steamer was sighted, Morosini proceeded for a surface attack. At 2030 hours, a torpedo (533mm) was fired, followed two minutes later by a second one (also 533mm) at less than 500 metres. Both missed. At 2132 hours, a third torpedo (450mm) was launched from 400 metres, but it immediately turned to port. At 2141 hours, a loud underwater explosion was felt. The steamer was now transmitting an SOS and was identified as the Dutch Prins Fredrik Hendrik (1,288 GRT, built 1936). C.C. Criscuolo was discouraged of having failed to secure a hit, although three torpedoes had been fired at point blank range. He decided to abandon chase. | |||||||
| Luciana Manara (MR) | 1 Nov 1941 | Naples | 8 Jan 1942 | Naples | Refit in Naples. | |||||
33 entries. 22 total patrol entries (4 marked as war patrols) and 14 events.