Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Emilio Gariazzo
| Born | 31 Oct 1905 | Turin | |
| Died | 1985 | (79) | Genoa |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
AXUM (C.C. C.O.): from 15.03.1940 to 06.12.1941.ALAGI (C.C. C.O.): from 16.11.1940 to 19.11.1940.
From 17.02.1942 to at least early 1943, served at MARISOM MONFALCONE CAPO UFF. ALL. SMGG. GRANITO (C.C. C.O).: from 01.03.1942 to 19.05.1942.
AVORIO (C.C. C.O.): from 10.04.1942 to 27.04.1942.
PORFIDO (C.C. C.O.): from 19.05.1942 to 25.06.1942.
GOFFREDO MAMELI (C.C. resp.): from 18.6.1942 to 11.07.1943 (long refit at Monfalcone).
Commands listed for Emilio Gariazzo
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alagi (AL, N.58) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 16 Nov 1940 | 19 Nov 1940 |
| Axum (AX) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 15 Mar 1940 | 6 Dec 1941 |
| Avorio (AV) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 10 Apr 1942 | 27 Apr 1942 |
| Granito (GR) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 1 Mar 1942 | 19 May 1942 |
| Porfido (PO) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 19 May 1942 | 25 Jun 1942 |
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | Ocean going | C.C. | 18 Jun 1942 | 11 Jul 1943 |
Ships hit by Emilio Gariazzo
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Emilio Gariazzo
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Axum (AX) | 9 Jun 1940 | 2000 | Cagliari | 20 Jun 1940 | 1300 | Cagliari | 364 | Sailed to form a patrol line (S2) on the Cape Teulada meridian: Axum - 15 miles south of the Cape. Turchese - 35 miles south of the Cape. Adua - 55 miles south of the Cape. Aradam - 75 miles south of the Cape. Later ordered to patrol between the islands of S. Pietro and S. Antioco. | |
| 2. | Axum (AX) | 3 Jul 1940 | 1450 | Cagliari | 6 Jul 1940 | 0900 | Cagliari | 310 | Patrolled west of Sardinia, in 38°04'N, 07°12' E, on a barrage line with Aradam, Turchese and Alagi. The French battlecruiser Strasbourg, on passage from Oran to Toulon, passed 40 to 50 miles from the submarine. Uneventful. NOTE: the submarine sailed with just one pair of binoculars as the three others had been damaged at La Spezia and had not yet been replaced. | |
| 3. | Axum (AX) | 9 Jul 1940 | 0305 | Cagliari | 12 Jul 1940 | 0630 | Cagliari | 336,4 | Patrolled near Sardinia, 37°40'N, 09°20'E, on a patrol line with the submarine Glauco. During the night of 9/10th, she was moved 300° - 100 miles. | |
| 4. | Axum (AX) | 1 Aug 1940 | 0217 | Cagliari | 11 Aug 1940 | 1700 | La Maddalena | 1154 | Patrolled south of Balearic Islands, from a point 37°55'N, 06°50'E to 50-80 miles to the west, on a patrol line with Diaspro, Turchese and Scirè. Uneventful. | |
| 5. | Axum (AX) | 30 Aug 1940 | 2110 | La Maddalena | 5 Sep 1940 | 0900 | La Maddalena | 722 | Patrolled north of Cape Bougaroni, in 37°40'N, 03°00'E and as far west as 06°00'E, on a barrage line with Alagi, Diaspro and Medusa. Uneventful. | |
| Axum (AX) | 24 Sep 1940 | 1100 | La Maddalena | 25 Sep 1940 | 1000 | Cagliari | 187,9 | Passage La Maddalena-Cagliari. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 3 Oct 1940 | 1525 | Cagliari | 3 Oct 1940 | 1700 | Cagliari | 29 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 5 Oct 1940 | 1525 | Cagliari | 5 Oct 1940 | 1700 | Cagliari | 0,3 | Changed moorings? | ||
| Axum (AX) | 7 Oct 1940 | 0800 | Cagliari | 7 Oct 1940 | 1233 | Cagliari | 26 | Exercises. | ||
| 6. | Axum (AX) | 9 Nov 1940 | 1845 | Cagliari | 13 Nov 1940 | 1215 | Cagliari | 561 | Sailed to form a patrol line with Alagi, Axum, Diaspro and Medusa, 315° - La Galite - 110 miles, north of Cape Bougaroni. Uneventful. | |
| 7. | Alagi (AL, N.58) | 16 Nov 1940 | 0107 | Cagliari | 19 Nov 1940 | 1355 | Cagliari | 483 | Patrolled north of Cape Bougaroni in 38°00'N, 06°00'E. Uneventful. Gariazzo had taken over command from C.C. Nurra who was sick and sailed without an executive officer as the latter was also sick. | |
| 8. | Axum (AX) | 26 Nov 1940 | 0130 | Cagliari | 30 Nov 1940 | 1910 | Cagliari | 323 | Patrolled in 38°00'N, 09°20'E to a point 10 miles south of it, on a line with Alagi, Diaspro and Aradam. Uneventful. | |
| Axum (AX) | 9 Dec 1940 | 1123 | Cagliari | 9 Dec 1940 | 1445 | Cagliari | 20,6 | Exercises. | ||
| 9. | Axum (AX) | 7 Jan 1941 | 1828 | Cagliari | 14 Jan 1941 | 1051 | Cagliari | 505 | Patrolled east of La Galite, on axis NE/SW from 37°10'N, 08°10'E. Uneventful, except for sighting two Italian convoys. | |
| Axum (AX) | 19 Jan 1941 | 0720 | Cagliari | 20 Jan 1941 | 1800 | Messina | Passage Cagliari-Messina. | |||
| Axum (AX) | 24 Jan 1941 | 0114 | Messina | 27 Jan 1941 | 1240 | Pola | Passage Messina-Pola. May have been sighted by the submarine HMS Rorqual on 25th January. | |||
| Axum (AX) | 30 Jan 1941 | 0751 | Pola | 30 Jan 1941 | 1455 | Monfalcone | 1245 | Passage Pola-Monfalcone for refit at Monfalcone. Sighted only Italian ships. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 29 Apr 1941 | 0900 | Monfalcone | 29 Apr 1941 | 1612 | Monfalcone | 62,7 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 30 Apr 1941 | 0900 | Monfalcone | 30 Apr 1941 | 1630 | Monfalcone | 60,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 9 May 1941 | 1030 | Monfalcone | 9 May 1941 | 1725 | Pola | 64 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 12 May 1941 | 0835 | Pola | 12 May 1941 | 0920 | Pola | 2 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 13 May 1941 | 0600 | Pola | 13 May 1941 | 1915 | Pola | 152 | Exercises escorted by auxiliary San Giorgio. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 16 May 1941 | 0745 | Pola | 16 May 1941 | 1632 | Pola | 36 | Exercises escorted by auxiliary San Giorgio in zone 4. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 17 May 1941 | 1030 | Pola | 17 May 1941 | 1430 | Pola | 21,3 | Exercises with the submarine Alagi, escorted by auxiliary Parenzo. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 22 May 1941 | 0200 | Pola | 23 May 1941 | 1645 | Brindisi | 346 | Passage Pola-Brindisi. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 27 May 1941 | 1530 | Brindisi | 28 May 1941 | 2400 | Messina | 303 | Passage Brindisi-Messina. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 6 Jun 1941 | 2255 | Messina | 7 Jun 1941 | 0620 | Augusta | 70,8 | Passage Messina-Augusta. | ||
| 10. | Axum (AX) | 11 Jun 1941 | 2045 | Augusta | 27 Jun 1941 | 0130 | Leros | 1248 | Patrolled between 32°00'N and 32°13'N, and between 25°00'E and 25°20'E. Bombed by aircraft on 25th June, 60 miles east of Crete. | |
| 23 Jun 1941 | 2229 2325 (e) | 32° 18'N, 25° 10'E (0) Near Ras El Melh. | At 2226 hours, a darkened vessel, which could not be identified, was sighted at a distance of 1,500 metres on a westerly course. At 2229 hours, a single torpedo was fired at a range of 800 metres. It had an erratic course and missed. At 2230 hours, a second torpedo was fired from about the same range and missed astern. The target was most likely the minesweeper HMS Derby, who reported missed by a torpedo on this day near Ras El Melh. The destroyers HMAS Stuart and HMAS Voyager were sent to hunt the submarine. | |||||||
| 26 Jun 1941 | 1020-1210 | 34° 00'N, 25° 00'E (0) 070° - Punta Castello - 2 miles (Scarpanto Straits). | At 1015 hours, an Italian aircraft was sighted. Axum made the recognition signal. Between 1020 and 1210 hours, Axum came under air attack from Italian and German aircraft (three Savoias 82, two Savoias 79 and five Junker 87 bombers). The submarine had been reported by the coastal station of Menetes (Scarpanto) at 0800 hours. The British submarine HMS Tetrarch had attacked the Italian motor sailing vessel Alleanza in this area the previous day, but local authorities had not received the signal from Rome informing them of the arrival of Axum. To fend off the attack, Axum opened fire with her machine-guns, thereby increasing the perception that she was enemy. Despite the repeated air attacks, the submarine had no casualties and damage was minimal, which did not reflect well on the antisubmarine capabilities of the two Axis air arms. In addition, a coastal battery opened fire straddling Axum, despite the frantic efforts to wave a large Italian flag. At 1123 hours, to compound the error, MAS 542 fired one torpedo at the submarine as she was not aware of her presence. Axum sighted the torpedo at about 100 meters and managed to avoid it. The submarine was finally recognised and the attacks ceased. She continued her route toward Leros. This attack was the object of an inquest presided by C.V. Aldo Cocchia (futur author of books on Italian submarines and Italian convoys). | |||||||
| 11. | Axum (AX) | 16 Jul 1941 | 2045 | Leros | 8 Aug 1941 | 0130 | Messina | 1278 | Made outward passage between Cape Prassonisi and Rhodes to area between 32°00'N and the Egyptian coast, and between 26°40'E and 27°40'E. Patrolled northeast of Ras Azzaz, then to Sicily at 2100 hours on 28th July through Point K (33°20' N, 26°40' E). Heard several H.E. and many explosions, some in the vicinity of the submarine. | |
| 26 Jul 1941 | 0316 | 34° 00'N, 25° 00'E (0) Approximately. | At 0316 hours, several bombs were heard and felt near the submarine. A periscope scan revealed nothing. | |||||||
| Axum (AX) | 28 Aug 1941 | 0815 | Messina | 28 Aug 1941 | 1435 | Messina | 33 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 2 Sep 1941 | 1900 | Messina | 4 Sep 1941 | 0625 | Cagliari | 320 | Passage Messina-Calgliari. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 8 Sep 1941 | 0730 | Cagliari | 8 Sep 1941 | 1430 | Cagliari | 22,5 | Exercises. | ||
| 12. | Axum (AX) | 11 Sep 1941 | 1525 | Cagliari | 16 Sep 1941 | 1130 | Cagliari | 695 | Patrolled south of Minorca, between 39°20'N and 39°40'N, and between 04°00'E and 05°20'E, on a barrage line with Turchese and Adua. On 14th September, ordered to 38°50'N, 03°40'E. Uneventful. | |
| 13. | Axum (AX) | 25 Sep 1941 | 1830 | Cagliari | 2 Oct 1941 | 0910 | Cagliari | 651 | Sailed with the submarines Diaspro, Aradam and Serpente, for patrol west of Sardinia, between 39°20'N and 40°20'N, and between 05°40'E and 06°00'E. On the 27th, she was moved 100 miles to the south and later further south. Then ordered to attack a damaged enemy vessel reported in 27°20'N, 07°30'E. On her return trip followed the North African coast at a distance of 32 miles, between 06°40'E and 09°00'E. Uneventful. Heard only H.E. effect. | |
| Axum (AX) | 9 Oct 1941 | 0730 | Cagliari | 9 Oct 1941 | 1610 | Cagliari | 26 | Exercises, escorted by the minesweeper Balear. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 10 Oct 1941 | 0923 | Cagliari | 10 Oct 1941 | 1630 | Cagliari | 24 | Exercises. | ||
| 14. | Axum (AX) | 23 Oct 1941 | 2340 | Cagliari | 2 Nov 1941 | 1025 | Cagliari | 852 | Patrolled east of Cape Bougaroni, between 37°10'N and 37°40'N, and between 06°50'E and 07°10'E. Sighted many ships, all French. | |
| Axum (AX) | 12 Nov 1941 | 1535 | Cagliari | 12 Nov 1941 | 1850 | Cagliari | 22 | Exercises. | ||
| Axum (AX) | 4 Dec 1941 | 0825 | Cagliari | 4 Dec 1941 | 1210 | Cagliari | 27 | Exercises, escorted by the minesweeper Balear. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 7 Apr 1942 | 0921 | Monfalcone | 7 Apr 1942 | 1500 | Monfalcone | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 9 Apr 1942 | 0912 | Monfalcone | 9 Apr 1942 | 1352 | Monfalcone | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Avorio (AV) | 10 Apr 1942 | Monfalcone | 27 Apr 1942 | Monfalcone | In reserve, change in command. | |||||
| Granito (GR) | 23 Apr 1942 | 0900 | Monfalcone | 23 Apr 1942 | 1520 | Monfalcone | 18 | Exercises. | ||
| Avorio (AV) | 24 Apr 1942 | 0910 | Monfalcone | 24 Apr 1942 | 1230 | Monfalcone | Exercises. | |||
| Porfido (PO) | 29 May 1942 | 0840 | Monfalcone | 29 May 1942 | 1224 | Monfalcone | 26 | Exercises. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 3 Jun 1942 | 0806 | Monfalcone | 3 Jun 1942 | 1111 | Monfalcone | 18 | Exercises. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 5 Jun 1942 | 0717 | Monfalcone | 5 Jun 1942 | 1235 | Venezia | 69 | Passage Monfalcone-Venezia. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 6 Jun 1942 | 0928 | Monfalcone | 6 Jun 1942 | 1251 | Monfalcone | 8,5 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Salvore. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 10 Jun 1942 | 0935 | Venezia | 10 Jun 1942 | 1659 | Pola | 72 | Passage Venezia-Pola. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 12 Jun 1942 | 0543 | Pola | 12 Jun 1942 | 2110 | Pola | 143 | Exercises. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 13 Jun 1942 | 0840 | Pola | 13 Jun 1942 | 1716 | Pola | 5 | Exercises. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 15 Jun 1942 | 0809 | Pola | 15 Jun 1942 | 1700 | Pola | 12 | Exercises. | ||
| Porfido (PO) | 17 Jun 1942 | 0825 | Pola | 17 Jun 1942 | 1950 | Monfalcone | 71 | Passage Pola-Monfalcone. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 18 Jun 1942 | Monfalcone | 31 Dec 1942 | Monfalcone | Long refit. | |||||
55 entries. 54 total patrol entries (14 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.