Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia
| Born | 30 Jul 1911 | Syracuse | |
| Died | 15 Dec 1942 | (31) | Killed in action |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
MEDUSA (T.V. First Officer): from ? to 30.01.1942 (sunk, one of the two survivors ). He was training at MARISCUOLASOM.UARSCIEK (T.V. First Officer): from 11.06.1942 22.06.1942.
UARSCIEK (T.V. C.O.): from 22.06.1942 to 15.12.1942 (sunk, killed).
Commands listed for Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uarsciek (UR) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 22 Jun 1942 | 15 Dec 1942 |
Ships hit by Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Uarsciek (UR) | 23 Jun 1942 | 0600 | Cagliari | 24 Jun 1942 | 0715 | Cagliari | 209 | Sailed to form a patrol line with Velella, Malachite and Giada off Cape Blanc, between 37°20'N and 37°50'N, and between 09°20'E and 09°40'E, but then recalled at 2010 hours on the 23rd. | |
| Uarsciek (UR) | 1 Jul 1942 | 1600 | Cagliari | 2 Jul 1942 | 1110 | La Maddalena | 200 | Passage Cagliari-La Maddalena. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 25 Jul 1942 | 0728 | La Maddalena | 25 Jul 1942 | 1312 | La Maddalena | 44 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Uarsciek (UR) | 4 Aug 1942 | 0404 | La Maddalena | 17 Aug 1942 | 0818 | La Maddalena | 889 | Sailed with Giada for a patrol north-west of Cape Caxine, between 37°40'N and 38°00'N, and between 01°40'E and 02°00'E. | |
| 11 Aug 1942 | 0442 0431 (e) | 37° 52'N, 1° 48'E | At 0340 hours, the hydrophones picked up vessel noises to the west. The submarine surfaced at 0400 hours and proceeded toward them in low visibility. At 0438 hours, a shadow was sighted and soon recognised as an aircraft carrier of the SARATOGA class (but later believed to have been perhaps HMS Furious) steering 090° at 16 knots on opposite course. At 0442 hours, three torpedoes (533mm) were fired from the bow tubes at a range of 1,000 metres. However the phosphorescence of the tracks must have been observed and T.V. Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia decided to dive before firing the fourth torpedo (450mm). He had barely slid down to the control room when two loud explosions were heard about 50 seconds after firing. At 0447 hours, the first depth charges exploded, followed by several more. The targets were vessels of Force "R": Fleet oil tankers Brown Ranger (3,417 GRT, built 1941) and Dingledale (8,145 GRT, built 1941) with the tugs HMS Jaunty and HMS Salvonia screened by the corvettes HMS Jonquil, HMS Coltsfoot, HMS Geranium and HMS Spiraea (operation PEDESTAL). All the torpedoes missed. HMS Coltsfoot, screening force "R", reported two torpedoes breaking surface and dropped five depth charges at 0447 hours. This was followed by three patterns of five, five and ten depth-charges. | |||||||
| 13 Aug 1942 | 0605 | 37° 14'N, 0° 31'E | At 0605 hours, the submarine submerged and in the next hours heard several explosions, some distant and some quite near, attributed to aircraft bombs. | |||||||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 2 Sep 1942 | 2050 | La Maddalena | 4 Sep 1942 | 0900 | Messina | 368 | Passage La Maddalena-Messina. Slightly damaged while docking upon arrival. | ||
| 3 Sep 1942 | 1030 | 40° 17'N, 12° 02'E | At 1030 hours, two German sumarines were sighted on opposite course (probably U-565 and U-83 on passage from Messina to La Spezia). | |||||||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 15 Sep 1942 | 1105 | Messina | 15 Sep 1942 | 1340 | Messina | 12,6 | Trials, escorted by AS.45. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 16 Sep 1942 | 0907 | Messina | 16 Sep 1942 | 1130 | Messina | 13 | Trials. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 5 Oct 1942 | 0830 | Messina | 5 Oct 1942 | 1209 | Messina | 24 | Exercises. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 17 Oct 1942 | 0843 | Messina | 17 Oct 1942 | 1134 | Messina | 16 | Exercises. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 22 Oct 1942 | 0842 | Messina | 22 Oct 1942 | 1142 | Messina | 1 | Exercises. | ||
| 3. | Uarsciek (UR) | 31 Oct 1942 | 1833 | Messina | 4 Nov 1942 | 1310 | Tobruk | Transport mission to Tobruk (19 tons of ammunition). | ||
| 2 Nov 1942 | 0808 | 35° 18'N, 21° 54'E | At 0808 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. Numerous Italian aircraft were also seen during the forenoon. | |||||||
| 2 Nov 1942 | 1252 | 34° 54'N, 22° 31'E | At 1252 hours, three aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 3 Nov 1942 | 0124 | 33° 11'N, 23° 31'E | At 0124 hours, an Axis barge convoy was seen. Uarsciek turned away. | |||||||
| 4. | Uarsciek (UR) | 4 Nov 1942 | 1830 | Tobruk | 9 Nov 1942 | 0134 | Tripoli | Return trip. Ordered to intercept an enemy convoy, but developed engine defects and had to be diverted to Tripoli. | ||
| 5 Nov 1942 | 0530 | 32° 34'N, 23° 28'E | At 0530 hours, a vessel initially believed to be a submarine was sighted. Since an enemy submarine had been reported in the area, Uarsciek investigated it but discovered that it was actually a minesweeper. | |||||||
| 6 Nov 1942 | 0915 | 34° 22'N, 21° 23'E | At 0915 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. She later sighted several aircraft, a convoy and sailing vessels. | |||||||
| 6 Nov 1942 | 1317 | 34° 56'N, 20° 58'E | At 1317 hours, a German aircraft was seen and exchanged recognition signals. At 1815 hours, the submarine was informed of the passage of an enemy convoy and proceeded to intercept, but engine defects forced her to be diverted to Tripoli for repairs. | |||||||
| 7 Nov 1942 | 1445 | 34° 44'N, 16° 28'E | At 1445 hours, an aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 5. | Uarsciek (UR) | 14 Nov 1942 | 1300 | Tripoli | 16 Nov 1942 | 1434 | Messina | 1906 | Passage Tripoli-Messina. | |
| 15 Nov 1942 | 1351 | 34° 59'N, 16° 20'E | At 1351 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 30 Nov 1942 | 1430 | Messina | 30 Nov 1942 | 1830 | Messina | 27 | Trials. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 1 Dec 1942 | 1700 | Messina | 2 Dec 1942 | 1207 | Naples | 195 | Passage Messina-Naples, transporting four G7e torpedoes. | ||
| Uarsciek (UR) | 8 Dec 1942 | 1700 | Naples | 9 Dec 1942 | 1904 | Augusta | 255 | Passage Naples-Augusta. | ||
| 6. | Uarsciek (UR) | 11 Dec 1942 | 1725 | Augusta | 15 Dec 1942 | 1133 | Sunk | Sailed for patrol between 35°00'N and 35°20'N, and between 14°30'E and 14°50'E (or 35°00'N and 35°10'N, 14°20'E and 14°40'E) via 37°00'N, 15°40'E, this was to cover, with Topazio, the passage of convoy Foscolo escorted by the destroyer Freccia. Sunk south of Malta by the destroyers HMS Petard and RHS Vasilissa Olga. Two officers and fifteen ratings were killed, thirty were rescued. | ||
| 15 Dec 1942 | 0305 (e) | (e) 35° 08'N, 14° 22'E | At 0305 hours, Lieutenant Dunbar Nasmith, Officer of the Watch of the destroyer HMS Petard, sighted a vessel at 3,000 yards on the port bow. This was soon recognised to be a surfaced submarine. As there was a possibility that the British submarine HMS P 35 was in the area, a challenge was made. The submarine did not reply and dived. The destroyer turned to the attack and dropped a single depth charge. This was Uarsciek and she fired her two stern torpedoes at the destroyer. The depth charge explosion was mistaken for a torpedo hit. The British destroyer was soon joined in the hunt by the Hellenic destroyer RHS Vasilissa Olga (aka Queen Olga) who dropped a pattern of six depth charges. The submarine was seen to break surface on the port bow of HMS Petard and she opened fire with her 4.7" guns. In a short span of time, ten rounds were fired of which four were direct hits. The submarine crew was observed to abandon ship and the British destroyer tried to come alongside but she came too fast and collided with Uarsciek. During this time, the smaller weapons were raking the unfortunate submarine, killing a number of men. A whaler was lowered and Lieutenant Nasmith managed to board the submarine and recover a number of books (among them the SM45S Codice Operativo Sommergibili and Meteo Marina Code S.M.502S Allegato no.5). An attempt was made to take the U-boat in tow and bring her to Malta but, at 1133 hours, she sank rapidly in 35°18'N, 14°25'E. T.V. Gaetano Arezzo Della Targia, another officer and fifteen ratings were killed. Thirty men were rescued. | |||||||
23 entries. 17 total patrol entries (6 marked as war patrols) and 12 events.