Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Manlio Petroni
| Born | 25 Aug 1906 | Rome | |
| Died | 9 Sep 1943 | (37) | Killed in action |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
From 15.01.1940, S.C.S.M. Com. Capo 2° Squadra (?).VENIERO (C.C. C.O.): from 27.08.1940 to 05.07.1941.
GOFFREDO MAMELI (C.C. C.O.): from 15.07.1941 to 30.09.1941.
From 01.10.1941 to at least early 1943, served as Third in Command at MARINACCAD.
Killed on battleship Roma on 09.09.1943.
Commands listed for Manlio Petroni
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | Ocean going | C.C. | 27 Aug 1940 | 5 Jul 1941 |
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | Ocean going | C.C. | 15 Jul 1941 | 30 Sep 1941 |
Ships hit by Manlio Petroni
| Date | Submarine | Ship hit | Type | GRT | Nat. | Loss type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 18 Dec 1940 | Veniero | Anastassia | Cargo ship | 2,883 |  | Sunk |
| 2. | 24 Mar 1941 | Veniero | Agnete Maersk | Cargo ship | 2,104 |  | Sunk |
War patrols listed for Manlio Petroni
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 27 Aug 1940 | 0920 | La Spezia | 27 Aug 1940 | 1530 | La Spezia | 50 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 4 Sep 1940 | 0834 | La Spezia | 4 Sep 1940 | 1610 | La Spezia | 59 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 6 Sep 1940 | 0838 | La Spezia | 6 Sep 1940 | 1256 | La Spezia | 2,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 7 Sep 1940 | 0635 | La Spezia | 7 Sep 1940 | 1315 | La Spezia | 60,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 12 Sep 1940 | 1304 | La Spezia | 12 Sep 1940 | 1743 | La Spezia | 35 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 18 Sep 1940 | 0825 | La Spezia | 18 Sep 1940 | 1823 | La Spezia | 63 | Exercises. | ||
| Veniero (VN, I.22) | 21 Sep 1940 | 0848 | La Spezia | 21 Sep 1940 | 1500 | La Spezia | 73,5 | Exercises with a tug in 44°09.5'N, 09°30'40'E. | ||
| 1. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 28 Sep 1940 | 0640 | La Spezia | 2 Nov 1940 | 1415 | Le Verdon | 4676 | Patrolled south of Azores (between 35°25'N and 37°00'N, and between 16°50'W and 32°00'W before reaching Bordeaux. Passed Gibraltar on 3rd October 1940. Escorted in by M-13. | |
| 2 Nov 1940 | 0855 | 45° 25'N, 4° 00'W | At 0855 hours, two torpedo tracks were reported by the executive officer as the submarine was proceeding on the surface at 14 knots. They missed astern. These were probably porpoises as no British submarine carried an attack in this area on that day. | |||||||
| 2. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 2 Nov 1940 | 1500 | Le Verdon | 2 Nov 1940 | 1915 | Bordeaux | Passage Le Verdon-Bordeaux. | ||
| 2 Nov 1940 | 0855 | 45° 25'N, 4° 00'W | At 0855 hours, two torpedo tracks were reported by the executive officer as the submarine was proceeding on the surface at 14 knots. They missed astern. These were probably porpoises as no British submarine carried an attack in this area on that day. | |||||||
| 3. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 5 Dec 1940 | 1115 | Bordeaux | 5 Dec 1940 | 1515 | Le Verdon | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon. | ||
| 4. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 5 Dec 1940 | 1740 | Le Verdon | 2 Jan 1941 | 1440 | Le Verdon | 3589 | Sailed through 49°00'N, 19°00'W for an Atlantic patrol between 55°00'N and 56°00'N, and between 17°00'W and 20°00'W. | |
| 18 Dec 1940 | 0515+ | 54° 24'N, 19° 04'W | At 0515 hours, Veniero sighted a merchant vessel at 3,500 metres. When the range had closed to 800 metres, a torpedo (450mm) was fired from a bow tube. It missed astern. The target was the Greek steamer Anastassia (2,883 GRT, built 1905) from convoy SC.15d on passage from Halifax to Belfast. At 0525 hours, Veniero had reverted course to make a stern shot (533mm) from a distance of 500 metres but and it hit amidship. Shortly after, as Anastassia was settling very slowly, Veniero fired off three rounds, two of which hit to accelerate her sinking. In fact, she had not yet sunk as she would be found derelict on 20th December. Veniero later returned and picked up eight survivors although this was against her orders. Nineteen were killed or missing. | |||||||
| 27 Dec 1940 | 1115 1020 (e) | (e) 53° 41'N, 16° 03'W | At 1115 hours, Veniero sighted an aircraft approaching. She could not make a recognition signal as the cartridge did not work. As a precaution, the submarine dived and had reached a depth of 20 metres when three explosions were heard. The attack had been made by Sunderland 'B' (N9049) of 10 Squadron (RAAF) piloted by Flying Officer V.A. Hodgkinson. It had been looking for a convoy to escort, when a half submerged U-boat was sighted at a distance of 3 miles. The aircraft swooped down to a height of 100 feet and a stick of four depth charges was released after the U-boat had totally submerged. The first depth charge fell 100 yards in front of the swirl and along the estimated track. The remaining three fell along the track at 125 foot intervals. The Sunderland remained in the vicinity for an hour but no results to the attack were observed. | |||||||
| 5. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 3 Jan 1941 | Le Verdon | 3 Jan 1941 | Blaye | Passage Le Verdon-Blaye. | ||||
| 6. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 5 Jan 1941 | 1000 | Blaye | 5 Jan 1941 | 1220 | Bordeaux | Passage Blaye-Bordeaux. | ||
| 7. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 4 Mar 1941 | 1020 | Bordeaux | 4 Mar 1941 | ? | Le Verdon | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon. | ||
| 8. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 5 Mar 1941 | 1830? | Le Verdon | 31 Mar 1941 | 1020 | Bordeaux | 4204 | Sailed for Atlantic patrol between 54°00'N and 55°00'N, and between 13°00'W and 25°00'W. | |
| 8 Mar 1941 | 1330 | 46° 00'N, 9° 50'W | At 1330 hours, an unidentified aircraft was seen and the submarine dived. | |||||||
| 9 Mar 1941 | 0220 | At 0220 hours, Veniero was informed of a convoy in 53°30' N, 14°30' W. The submarine altered course to 290° at 11 knots to intercept but was then ordered by BETASOM to resume her course to her patrol area. | ||||||||
| 18 Mar 1941 | 0220 | 54° 44'N, 19° 52'W | At 0220 hours, a drifter was observed at 8,000 metres. Veniero dived to avoid being seen. | |||||||
| 19 Mar 1941 | 1153 | At 1153 hours, Veniero was informed of a convoy of 25-30 ships in 55°05' N, 21°15' W. The submarine altered course to 105° at 11 knots to intercept, but again altered course as she received more signals reporting the convoy. However, at 2156 hours, she had to stop her engines due to defects but managed to effect some repairs and resume her course. By 2000 hours on the 20th, she still had not made contact. | ||||||||
| 21 Mar 1941 | 1645 | At 1645 hours, an enemy destroyer was observed at periscope depth at a distance of 8,000 metres after the hydrophones had picked up sounds. Veniero remained submerged and heard several noises during the following hours and believed she was being hunted by two or three destroyers. | ||||||||
| 23 Mar 1941 | 1430 | 48° 12'N, 17° 20'W | At 1430 hours, Veniero was informed of a convoy in 50°35' N, 18°45' W, steering 235° at 7 knots. The submarine altered course to 280° at 10 knots to intercept. | |||||||
| 24 Mar 1941 | 1630 1430 (e) | 48° 50'N, 22° 45'W (e) 49° 00'N, 21° 55'W | At 1609 hours, a vessel was observed at a distance of 8,000 metres. It tried to escape. At 1630 hours, Veniero opened fire. She stopped and was abandoned. This was the British steamer Agnete Maersk (2,104 GRT, built 1924), a straggler from convoy O.G.56. Shortly after, Veniero fired two torpedoes at Agnete Maersk to finish her off. They missed under. At 1650 hours, gunfire was resumed to try to finish off Agnete Maersk but she still did not sink. At 1656 hours, a third torpedo was fired, but it also missed under. At 1725 hours, gunfire was resumed again and this time Agnete Maersk was set afire and sank. Twenty-eight men were killed, there were no survivors. | |||||||
| 9. | Veniero (VN, I.22) | 20 May 1941 | 1410 | Bordeaux | 19 Jun 1941 | 1600 | Bordeaux | 5550,5 | Sailed for Atlantic patrol in approximate area 35°00'N, 11°00'W. On 2nd June, ordered to area between 33°00'N and the coast, and and between 08°00'W and 09°00'W. Escorted from Gironde buoy no.1 to le Verdon by Sperrbrecher III. | |
| 25 May 1941 | 1257 | 44° 30'N, 11° 00'W | At 1257 hours, an unknown submarine was sighted. Veniero prudently turned away. | |||||||
| 27 May 1941 | 1000 | 38° 26'N, 11° 04'W | At 1000 hours, a steamer was sighted at 12,000 metres. Veniero closed and at 1112 hours, she dived for a submerged attack. At a distance of 1,500 metres, the vessel was recognised as the Spanish steamer Navemar (5,321 GRT, built 1921) steering 090° and the attack aborted. Navemar was sunk by the submarine Barbarigo in January 1942. | |||||||
| 30 May 1941 | 0118 0022 (e) | 35° 40'N, 10° 32'W (e) 35° 41'N, 10° 00'W | At 2345 hours on the 29th, Veniero received a BETASOM signal with the position of a convoy discovered by Argo. She had altered course to intercept when, at 0116 hours, a destroyer or sloop steering 250° was encountered. Two minutes later, she fired a torpedo (450mm, type W 200) from a stern tube. A hit was heard but the torpedo had missed. A second destroyer appeared and hunted the submarine for two hours, dropping 28 depth charges. Veniero escaped at depths between 30 and 50 metres and finally surfaced at 0305 hours. The target had been the destroyer HMS Forester and she was later joined by HMS Fury. | |||||||
| 30 May 1941 | 0658 | (0) 35.00 N, 11.00 W approx. | At 0635 hours, a signal had been received from BETASOM relating to an enemy force and Veniero altered course to 260° to intercept. At 0658 hours, an aircraft carrier and two destroyers were sighted at a distance of 8-10,000 metres. Veniero dived immediately. At 0730 hours, three depth charges were heard but by 0840 hours, the noises had faded away. At 1035 hours, three distant explosions were heard. | |||||||
| 1 Jun 1941 | 0437 | 37° 40'N, 11° 16'W | At 0437 hours, two patrol vessels were sighted. | |||||||
| 5 Jun 1941 | 1510 | 33° 44'N, 9° 20'W | At 1510 hours, the Spanish steamer Sil (2,522 GRT, built 1928) was sighted. | |||||||
| 6 Jun 1941 | 0215 | 34° 35'N, 11° 05'W | At 0215 hours, Veniero observed a 7,000-ton steamer and fired a torpedo (450mm, type W 200) from a bow tube. A hit was claimed and Petroni wrote that he saw her sinking, but this has not been confirmed. This was probably the British Ariosto (2,176 GRT, built 1940) from convoy OG.64 who reported being missed by torpedoes. | |||||||
| 6 Jun 1941 | 0219 | 34° 35'N, 11° 05'W | At 0219 hours, as Veniero was turning she sighted a second ship estimated at 6,000 tons and fired a stern torpedo (450mm, type W 200). Another hit was claimed, but again it was not confirmed. | |||||||
| 8 Jun 1941 | 1346 | 34° 38'N, 15° 00'W | At 1346 hours, a steamer was sighted. Veniero attempted to close but lost her in the mist. | |||||||
| 9 Jun 1941 | 0110 | 34° 30'N, 14° 06'W | At 0110 hours, an illuminated steamer was seen. It was assumed to be neutral and was not disturbed. | |||||||
| 9 Jun 1941 | 0850 | 34° 33'N, 14° 07'W | At 0850 hours, an aircraft was sighted at 10,000 metres and Veniero dived. An aircraft was again observed at 1050 hours, at the same distance. It was perhaps the same aircraft and the submarine dived again. | |||||||
| 10 Jun 1941 | 0750 (e) | (e) 35° 31'N, 14° 12'W | At 0750 hours, a Swordfish on A/S patrol for Force H sighted a submarine which had surfaced and then submerged. The aircraft attacked from a very low altitude and dropped six 100 lb A/S bombs. They failed to explode. The submarine may have been Veniero, who was in the area. Her patrol report is very brief and she may not have been aware of the attack. | |||||||
| 10 Jun 1941 | 0615 | 35° 38'N, 15° 00'W | At 0615 hours, three destroyers were observed straight ahead. Veniero dived and prudently remained submerged until 1600 hours. Possibly, they were HMS Vansittart, HMS Wild Swan and HMS Wrestler, detached from Force H to Gibraltar. | |||||||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 16 Jul 1941 | 0753 | Pola | 16 Jul 1941 | 1700 | Pola | 62 | Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boats Audace and Insidioso, the auxiliary Jadera and the tug Grado. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 19 Jul 1941 | 0750 | Pola | 19 Jul 1941 | 1740 | Pola | 67 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 21 Jul 1941 | 0745 | Pola | 21 Jul 1941 | 1835 | Pola | 61 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 23 Jul 1941 | 0745 | Pola | 24 Jul 1941 | 0230 | Pola | 61 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 26 Jul 1941 | 0750 | Pola | 26 Jul 1941 | 1335 | Pola | 49 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 28 Jul 1941 | 0740 | Pola | 28 Jul 1941 | 1810 | Pola | 62 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 30 Jul 1941 | 0807 | Pola | 30 Jul 1941 | 1715 | Pola | 61 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 2 Aug 1941 | 2000 | Pola | 3 Aug 1941 | 0300 | Pola | 56 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 4 Aug 1941 | 0740 | Pola | 4 Aug 1941 | 1805 | Pola | 66 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 13 Aug 1941 | 1205 | Pola | 13 Aug 1941 | 1915 | Pola | 42 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 15 Aug 1941 | 0740 | Pola | 15 Aug 1941 | 1815 | Pola | 58 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 21 Aug 1941 | 0800 | Pola | 21 Aug 1941 | 1725 | Pola | 55 | Exercises with the submarines Bausan and Adua, escorted by the auxiliary Salvore and the torpedo boat Insidioso. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 23 Aug 1941 | 1945 | Pola | 24 Aug 1941 | 0200 | Pola | 55 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 26 Aug 1941 | 0745 | Pola | 26 Aug 1941 | 1740 | Pola | 65 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 29 Aug 1941 | 0915 | Pola | 29 Aug 1941 | 1805 | Pola | 55 | Sailed with the submarine Toti, escorted by the auxiliary Morrhua, for torpedo firing exercises against the torpedo boat Insidioso. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 1 Sep 1941 | 1035 | Pola | 1 Sep 1941 | 0130 | Pola | 117 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 1 Sep 1941 | 1035 | Pola | 2 Sep 1941 | 0130 | Pola | 117 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 6 Sep 1941 | 0745 | Pola | 6 Sep 1941 | 1515 | Pola | 46 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 22 Sep 1941 | 0800 | Pola | 22 Sep 1941 | 1645 | Pola | 55 | Exercises. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 23 Sep 1941 | 0755 | Pola | 23 Sep 1941 | 1645 | Pola | 52 | Exercises with. the submarines Des Geneys, Jalea and Bausan, escorted by the torpedo boat Audace, Salvore and Jadera. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 24 Sep 1941 | 0756 | Pola | 24 Sep 1941 | 1545 | Pola | 49 | Exercises with the submarines Des Geneys, Toti and Bausan, escorted by the auxiliaries Salvore and San Giorgio. | ||
| Goffredo Mameli (GM) | 29 Sep 1941 | 0810 | Pola | 29 Sep 1941 | 1610 | Pola | 51 | Exercises. | ||
57 entries. 38 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 24 events.