Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Mario Priggione
| Born | 8 Oct 1913 | Genoa |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
CONSOLE GENERALE LIUZZI (S.T.V. officer): from 17.04.1940 to ?Promoted to T.V. on ?
ATROPO (T.V. resp.): from 01.02.1942 to 18.02.1942 (repairs at Taranto).
AVORIO (T.V. C.O.): from 01.02.1942 to 18.02.1942.
FRANCESCO RISMONDO (T.V. C.O.): from 23.06.1943 to 13.09.1943.
Commands listed for Mario Priggione
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | Minelaying | T.V. | 1 Feb 1942 | 18 Feb 1942 |
| Avorio (AV) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 20 May 1942 | 29 Jan 1943 |
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | T.V. | 23 Jun 1943 | 13 Sep 1943 |
Ships hit by Mario Priggione
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Mario Priggione
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 1 Feb 1942 | Taranto | 18 Feb 1942 | Taranto | At Taranto for repairs. | |||||
| Avorio (AV) | 25 May 1942 | 0900 | Monfalcone | 25 May 1942 | 1700 | Monfalcone | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 27 May 1942 | 0800 | Monfalcone | 27 May 1942 | 1900 | Monfalcone | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 1 Jun 1942 | 0800 | Monfalcone | 1 Jun 1942 | 1225 | Venice | Passage Monfalcone-Venice. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 2 Jun 1942 | 1140 | Venice | 2 Jun 1942 | 1315 | Venice | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 5 Jun 1942 | 0845 | Venice | 5 Jun 1942 | 1450 | Pola | Passage Venice-Pola. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 9 Jun 1942 | 1200 | Pola | 9 Jun 1942 | 1615 | Pola | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 12 Jun 1942 | 0730 | Pola | 12 Jun 1942 | 1625 | Pola | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 15 Jun 1942 | 0625 | Pola | 15 Jun 1942 | 2030 | Pola | Exercises escorted by the torpedo boat T.3. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 18 Jun 1942 | 0550 | Pola | 18 Jun 1942 | 1945 | Pola | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 22 Jun 1942 | 0635 | Pola | 22 Jun 1942 | 1515 | Pola | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 28 Jun 1942 | 1410 | Pola | 1 Jul 1942 | 1120 | Naples | Passage Pola-Naples with the submarine Granito. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 3 Jul 1942 | 0825 | Naples | 3 Jul 1942 | 1600 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 4 Jul 1942 | 0810 | Naples | 4 Jul 1942 | 1420 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 5 Jul 1942 | 0820 | Naples | 5 Jul 1942 | 1400 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 9 Jul 1942 | 0915 | Naples | 9 Jul 1942 | 1630 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 10 Jul 1942 | 0825 | Naples | 10 Jul 1942 | 1540 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 12 Jul 1942 | 0825 | Naples | 12 Jul 1942 | 1340 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 13 Jul 1942 | 0835 | Naples | 13 Jul 1942 | 1555 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 14 Jul 1942 | 0840 | Naples | 14 Jul 1942 | 1500 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 16 Jul 1942 | 0930 | Naples | 16 Jul 1942 | 1315 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 17 Jul 1942 | 0830 | Naples | 17 Jul 1942 | 1534 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 18 Jul 1942 | 0845 | Naples | 18 Jul 1942 | 1645 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 19 Jul 1942 | 0840 | Naples | 19 Jul 1942 | 1840 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 21 Jul 1942 | 0840 | Naples | 21 Jul 1942 | 1540 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 22 Jul 1942 | 0840 | Naples | 22 Jul 1942 | 1516 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 24 Jul 1942 | 0747 | Naples | 24 Jul 1942 | 0935 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 27 Jul 1942 | 1425 | Naples | 27 Jul 1942 | 2305 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 29 Jul 1942 | 1440 | Naples | 30 Jul 1942 | 0031 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 3 Aug 1942 | 0725 | Naples | 3 Aug 1942 | 1130 | Naples | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 4 Aug 1942 | 0905 | Naples | 5 Aug 1942 | 1030 | Cagliari | Passage Naples-Cagliari. | |||
| 1. | Avorio (AV) | 11 Aug 1942 | 1726 | Cagliari | 17 Aug 1942 | 1137 | Cagliari | ? | Patrolled off northern Tunisia, between 37°20' N and 38°00' N and between 09°40' E and 10°00' E, operating against the PEDESTAL convoy. | |
| 12 Aug 1942 | 1555 | 37° 35'N, 9° 50'E (0) Approximately. | At 1555 hours, a submarine was sighted. | |||||||
| 12 Aug 1942 | 1708 | 37° 35'N, 9° 50'E | At 1708 hours, an enemy force of three battleships who appeared to be American, several steamers and destroyers were sighted at at distances varying from 12,000 to 18,000 metres. Avorio attempted to close for an attack but two destroyers turned toward her. At 1725 hours, she submerged and, five minutes later, four depth charges exploded. The submarine escaped by diving to 100 meters and heard a total of 180 depth charges. | |||||||
| 2. | Avorio (AV) | 18 Aug 1942 | 0027 | Cagliari | 19 Aug 1942 | 1323 | Trapani | ? | Patrolled off north coast of Tunisia, between 37°20' N and 37°50' N, and between 09°20' E and 10°20' E. | |
| 18 Aug 1942 | 0255 | 38° 51'N, 9° 29'E | At 0255 hours, as Avorio was leaving Cagliari, a submarine was a sighted at a distance of 500 metres steering 050°. T.V. Mario Priggione prepared the two stern tubes but hesitated to attack as it could have been an Italian submarine and finally aborted. The submarine was HMS P 211 (Commander Ben Bryant, DSC, RN) (later to be named HMS Safari. Avorio was not noticed. | |||||||
| 18 Aug 1942 | 0600 | At 0600 hours, an Italian tanker, believed to be Perseo, was sighted at a distance of 10,000 metres. Avorio closed and made repeated visual signals but the vessel escaped at full speed. The submarine finally closed to 4,500 meters and transmitted in clear a warning that she had sighted a submarine 38°51'40" N, 09°29'40" E [HMS P 211] but the vessel did not respond and appeared to be arming her stern gun. At 0647 hours, Avorio gave up and returned on her original course. Three hours later Perseo was torpedoed and sunk by HMS P 211. | ||||||||
| Avorio (AV) | 22 Aug 1942 | 0515 | Trapani | 23 Aug 1942 | 0055 | Cagliari | Passage Trapani-Cagliari. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 25 Aug 1942 | 0825 | Cagliari | 25 Aug 1942 | 1115 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 28 Aug 1942 | 0630 | Cagliari | 28 Aug 1942 | 0840 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 5 Sep 1942 | 0750 | Cagliari | 5 Sep 1942 | 1110 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 13 Sep 1942 | 2100 | Cagliari | 15 Sep 1942 | 0800 | Augusta | Passage Cagliari-Augusta. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 26 Sep 1942 | 0830 | Augusta | 26 Sep 1942 | 1305 | Augusta | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 3 Oct 1942 | 0855 | Augusta | 3 Oct 1942 | 1315 | Augusta | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 15 Oct 1942 | 0840 | Augusta | 15 Oct 1942 | 1400 | Augusta | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 22 Oct 1942 | 0900 | Augusta | 22 Oct 1942 | 1245 | Augusta | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 5 Nov 1942 | 1630 | Augusta | 6 Nov 1942 | 1633 | Trapani | Passage Augusta-Trapani. | |||
| 3. | Avorio (AV) | 7 Nov 1942 | 1551 | Trapani | 8 Nov 1942 | 0200 | Trapani | Sailed for patrol, but very quickly recalled for new instructions. | ||
| 4. | Avorio (AV) | 8 Nov 1942 | 0245 | Trapani | 13 Nov 1942 | 1630 | Cagliari | Sailed for patrol off the north coast of Tunisia, between 37°18'N and 37°41'N, and between 09°54'E and 10°15'E and then ordered on 9th November to an area between 37°00'N and 37°20'N, and between 06°20'E and 06°40'E. Arrived at dawn on 9th November at the entrance of the Bay of Bone. Uneventful. The submarine heard H.E. but sighted nothing. Because she was leaking fuel, the submarine had to return to base. | ||
| 5. | Avorio (AV) | 16 Nov 1942 | 1817 | Cagliari | 26 Nov 1942 | 0940 | Cagliari | ? | Sailed for patrol between 37°40' N and 38°00' N, and between 07°40' E and 08°00' E. On the evening of the 19th, she made a reconnaissance of Bone. On 20th November, she was moved to an area between 37°20' N and the Algerian coast, and between 07°20' E and 07°40' E.On the evening of 23rd November, she made a reconnaissance of the Bay of Bougie. | |
| 17 Nov 1942 | 0625 | At 0625 hours, a submarine was observed to be diving. Avorio also submerged at 0649 hours. | ||||||||
| 19 Nov 1942 | 0221 | 37° 15'N, 7° 39'E | At 0221 hours, a corvette was sighted at a range of 5,000 metres. T.V. Mario Priggione did not try to attack the enemy vessel, fearing the presence of other enemy warships. | |||||||
| 22 Nov 1942 | 0234-0317 | At 0234 hours, the Italian submarine Argo was encountered and recognition signals were exchanged. This was followed by vocal exchange between the two commanders. | ||||||||
| 24 Nov 1942 | 0154 | 36° 42'N, 5° 11'E | At 0116 hours, a dark shadow was sighted at a distance of 800 metres at the limit of a rain squall. At 0147 hours, the submarine surfaced to close and recognised the vessel to be a one-funnel destroyer with two guns forward. At 0154 hours, three torpedoes (a fourth misfired) were fired from bow tubes at a range of 600 metres and Avorio dived. After 40 seconds, almost simultaneous explosions were heard. The submarine surfaced at 0342 hours with nothing on the horizon. Allied records have not confirmed this attack. | |||||||
| Avorio (AV) | 10 Dec 1942 | 1350 | Cagliari | 10 Dec 1942 | 1635 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 11 Dec 1942 | 1020 | Cagliari | 11 Dec 1942 | 1245 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 13 Dec 1942 | 1415 | Cagliari | 13 Dec 1942 | 1655 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 14 Dec 1942 | Cagliari | 14 Dec 1942 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||||
| Avorio (AV) | 22 Dec 1942 | 1355 | Cagliari | 22 Dec 1942 | 1620 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 23 Dec 1942 | 0905 | Cagliari | 23 Dec 1942 | 1015 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 30 Dec 1942 | 0840 | Cagliari | 30 Dec 1942 | 1050 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| 6. | Avorio (AV) | 2 Jan 1943 | 1210 | Cagliari | 2 Jan 1943 | 1505 | Cagliari | Sailed for patrol between 37°30' N and the Algerian coast, and between 06°40' E and 07°00' E but was very quickly recalled. | ||
| 7. | Avorio (AV) | 4 Jan 1943 | 0418 | Cagliari | 11 Jan 1943 | 0750 | Cagliari | ? | Sailed for patrol between 37°40' N and 38°00' N, and between 09°20' E and 09°40' E. On 7th January, she was ordered to an area between 37°20' N and the Algerian coast, and between 04°20' E and 04°40' E. | |
| 9 Jan 1943 | 2347 0016/10 (e) | 37° 43'N, 4° 45'E | At 2347 hours, Avorio was steering 090°, when an aircraft, believed to be a Liberator, illuminated her with a projector (Leigh Light) and dropped four bombs. The submarine crash-dived, but the diesel exhaust pipe could not be immediately shut and a quantity of water entered the submarine and the dive was not stopped before a depth of 97 metres had been reached. The submarine had to surface again, but the aircraft with the projector was sighted just above her at a height of 50 metres, forcing her to crash-dive again. It was noticed that the torpedo cap of tube no. 6 (stern) was not shut properly but this had not caused a leak even though the submarine had reached a depth of 100 metres . However, it was difficult to keep the boat down at a safe depth and Avorio had to surface again. Some 30 tons of water had entered the submarine and it was not possible to start the dielsels, so electric motors had to be used. The aircraft was still circling around. At about 0010 hours on 10th January the aircraft returned, still using its projector and, dropped four bombs. The nearest fell 10 metres from the submarine, starboard aft of the forward hydroplanes. The bomber was observed to fire with its stern gun but the burst fell short of Avorio who was firing back with her three machine-guns and apparently hit the projector. The submarine was slightly damaged and had to abort her mission. The attack was made by Wellington 'W' (HX.531) of 179 Squadron, piloted by Flight Sergeant A.D.S. Martin. It had detected the submarine by radar at a range of 11 miles. It was steering 090° at 4 knots. The bomber attacked at 0016 hours, dropping four Mark XI Torpex depth charges from a height of 300 feet set at shallow depth and two flame floats. | |||||||
| 10 Jan 1943 | 0310 | At 0310 hours, the repatriation ships Giulio Cesare and Duilio were sighted at a distance of 1,000 metres. Avorio turned away. | ||||||||
| 10 Jan 1943 | 1035 | 38° 35'N, 6° 20'E | At 1035 hours, a Sunderland was sighted at a range of 1,000 metres. Avorio crash-dived but the acid vapours caused by the damages incurred on 9th January forced the submarine to emerge at 1750 hours and continue her return passage on the surface. | |||||||
| Avorio (AV) | 14 Jan 1943 | 0847 | Cagliari | 14 Jan 1943 | 1056 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 15 Jan 1943 | 0835 | Cagliari | 15 Jan 1943 | 1102 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| 8. | Avorio (AV) | 20 Jan 1943 | 0220 | Cagliari | 24 Jan 1943 | 0815 | Cagliari | ? | Patrolled off Bougie. | |
| 21 Jan 1943 | 2350 | At 2350 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance of 3,000 metres. Avorio dived | ||||||||
| 23 Jan 1943 | 0350 | 37° 27'N, 6° 08'E (0) Approximately. | At 0350 hours, a submarine was sighted at 5,000 metres. Avorio dived. | |||||||
| Avorio (AV) | 28 Jan 1943 | 1345 | Cagliari | 28 Jan 1943 | 1606 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Avorio (AV) | 30 Jan 1943 | 1404 | Cagliari | 30 Jan 1943 | 1655 | Cagliari | Exercises. | |||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 23 Jun 1943 | 0710 | La Spezia | 23 Jun 1943 | 1404 | La Spezia | 44,6 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 26 Jun 1943 | 0710 | La Spezia | 26 Jun 1943 | 2012 | La Spezia | 36 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 30 Jun 1943 | 0725 | La Spezia | 30 Jun 1943 | 1815 | La Spezia | 30,6 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 2 Jul 1943 | 0710 | La Spezia | 2 Jul 1943 | 2109 | La Spezia | 46,6 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 4 Jul 1943 | 0604 | La Spezia | 4 Jul 1943 | 1150 | La Spezia | 26,8 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 6 Jul 1943 | 0705 | La Spezia | 6 Jul 1943 | 2040 | La Spezia | 61,9 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 12 Jul 1943 | 0720 | La Spezia | 12 Jul 1943 | 1654 | La Spezia | 36,5 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 14 Jul 1943 | 1250 | La Spezia | 14 Jul 1943 | 1835 | La Spezia | 39 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 16 Jul 1943 | 0632 | La Spezia | 16 Jul 1943 | 1700 | La Spezia | 63,7 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 17 Jul 1943 | 0735 | La Spezia | 17 Jul 1943 | 1725 | La Spezia | 68,6 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 21 Jul 1943 | 0747 | La Spezia | 21 Jul 1943 | 1330 | La Spezia | 33,4 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 24 Jul 1943 | 0750 | La Spezia | 24 Jul 1943 | 1315 | La Spezia | 39,9 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 26 Jul 1943 | 1415 | La Spezia | 26 Jul 1943 | 1845 | La Spezia | 28 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 28 Jul 1943 | 0817 | La Spezia | 28 Jul 1943 | 1440 | La Spezia | 50,3 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 29 Jul 1943 | 1515 | La Spezia | 30 Jul 1943 | 0750 | La Spezia | 50,3 | Exercises with the submarine H 4 and gunboat Zagabria. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 31 Jul 1943 | 1540 | La Spezia | 1 Aug 1943 | 0750 | La Spezia | 43 | Exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 11 Aug 1943 | 0710 | La Spezia | 11 Aug 1943 | 1925 | La Spezia | 28,2 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 13 Aug 1943 | 0715 | La Spezia | 13 Aug 1943 | 1530 | La Spezia | 43 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 16 Aug 1943 | 0715 | La Spezia | 16 Aug 1943 | 1830 | La Spezia | 56,9 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 17 Aug 1943 | 2000 | La Spezia | 18 Aug 1943 | 1345 | La Spezia | 2 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 17 Aug 1943 | 2000 | La Spezia | 18 Aug 1943 | 1345 | La Spezia | 2 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 19 Aug 1943 | 0730 | La Spezia | 19 Aug 1943 | 1345 | La Spezia | 33,4 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 20 Aug 1943 | 0730 | La Spezia | 20 Aug 1943 | 1815 | La Spezia | 43,4 | A/S exercises. | ||
| 9. | Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 25 Aug 1943 | 1318 | La Spezia | 25 Aug 1943 | 0835 | La Spezia | 76,4 | Hydrophone Watch in Ligurian Gulf. | |
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 27 Aug 1943 | 0723 | La Spezia | 27 Aug 1943 | 1535 | La Spezia | 26 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 31 Aug 1943 | 0730 | La Spezia | 31 Aug 1943 | 1345 | La Spezia | 33,4 | A/S exercises. | ||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 4 Sep 1943 | 0739 | La Spezia | 4 Sep 1943 | ? | La Spezia | Exercises. | |||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 7 Sep 1943 | 1530 | La Spezia | 8 Sep 1943 | 1530 | Bonifacio | Passage La Spezia-Bonifacio with the submarine H 6. | |||
| Francesco Rismondo (ex-N.1, ex-Osvetnik) (RI) | 13 Sep 1943 | 1205 | Bonifacio | 13 Sep 1943 | 1205 | Bonifacio | Captured by the Germans and later sunk by gunfire. | |||
| 13 Sep 1943 | 1205 (e) | (0) Bonfacio harbour. | At 1205 hours, a party from the German minesweepers R-198 and R-161 (or R-200?) of the 11th R-Flottille boarded the submarine and captured her without meeting resistance. | |||||||
97 entries. 89 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 14 events.