Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Vittore Raccanelli
| Born | 4 Jul 1904 | Venice | |
| Died | 1 Apr 1942 | (37) | Killed in action (sinking of light cruiser BANDE NERE by HMS URGE) |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
ENRICO TAZZOLI (C.C. C.O.): from 17.05.1940 to 18.01.1941.Promoted to C.F. ca. January 1941.
REGINALDO GIULIANI (C.F. C.O.): from 20.01.1941 to 10.04.1941. Promoted to C.F. ca. January 1941.
Commands listed for Vittore Raccanelli
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | Ocean going | C.C. | 17 May 1940 | 18 Jan 1941 |
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | Ocean going | C.F. | 20 Jan 1941 | 10 Apr 1941 |
Ships hit by Vittore Raccanelli
| Date | Submarine | Ship hit | Type | GRT | Nat. | Loss type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 Oct 1940 | Enrico Tazzoli | Orao | Cargo ship | 5,135 |  | Sunk |
| 2. | 27 Dec 1940 | Enrico Tazzoli | Ardanbhan | Cargo ship | 4,980 |  | Sunk |
War patrols listed for Vittore Raccanelli
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 3 Jun 1940 | 2326 | La Spezia | 5 Jun 1940 | 0332 | Cagliari | 329 | Passage La Spezia-Calgari with the submarines Glauco, Finzi, Cappellini, escorted by the torpedo boat Curtatone). | ||
| 1. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 21 Jun 1940 | 1941 | Cagliari | 28 Jun 1940 | 1300 | Cagliari | 947 | Patrolled off Cape Tenès in 36°40'N, 01°20'E. | |
| 22 Jun 1940 | 0945 | 38° 20'N, 3° 40'E (0) Approximately. | Enrico Tazzoli was navigating with Glauco in view bearing 240°. An aircraft was observed and Glauco dived. These were Italian aircraft. RACCANELLI thought that they were under air attack and also took his submarine down. No attack developed. | |||||||
| 22 Jun 1940 | 1255 | 38° 20'N, 3° 40'E (0) Approximately. | A Cant Z.506 seaplane dropped, in error, a bomb estimated at 150kg (160kg?) on the submarine. It had not been advised of the presence of the submarine in the area and had made an error in navigation. Enrico Tazzoli was missed by five meters, but fortunately the bomb did not explode. The submarine escaped by diving to 35 meters. | |||||||
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 1 Jul 1940 | 0410 | Cagliari | 2 Jul 1940 | 1015 | La Spezia | 379 | Passage Cagliari-La Spezia. | ||
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 27 Jul 1940 | 0646 | La Spezia | 27 Jul 1940 | 1758 | La Spezia | 67 | Trials with the submarine H.4, 3.5 miles south of Moneglia. | ||
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 30 Jul 1940 | 0840 | La Spezia | 30 Jul 1940 | 1545 | La Spezia | 7 | Trials. | ||
| 2. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 1 Aug 1940 | 0100 | La Spezia | 9 Aug 1940 | 0840 | La Spezia | 1664 | Attempted passage to Bordeaux, but turned back because of defects. Repairs at La Spezia from 9th August to 9th September 1940. | |
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 23 Sep 1940 | 0816 | La Spezia | 23 Sep 1940 | 1820 | La Spezia | 48 | Trials. | ||
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 27 Sep 1940 | 0810 | La Spezia | 27 Sep 1940 | 1846 | La Spezia | 68 | Trials. | ||
| 3. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 2 Oct 1940 | 0045 | La Spezia | 24 Oct 1940 | 1245 | Bordeaux | 3521 | Passed Gibraltar on 7th October 1940. Passage La Spezia-Bordeaux and patrolled first between (1) 36°00'N, 10°20'W (2) 36°00'N, 10°56'W (3) 35°30'N, 10°20'W (4) 35°30'N, 10°56 W and between 11°00'W and Portuguese coast between 40°00' and 42°00'N. With the submarine Calvi, escorted in by the German minesweepers M-6, M-9 and M-10. | |
| 11 Oct 1940 | 0800 | 35° 05'N, 10° 57'W (0) 220° - Cape St. Vincent - 150 miles. | A convoy of forty ships with escort was sighted over the horizon. It was on a northerly course, 7.5 knots. This was convoy HG.45 from Gibraltar to the UK (forty-nine ships escorted by the destroyers HMS Hotspur, HMS Firedrake and HMS Wishart. The bad weather prevented the submarine from mounting an attack. RACCANELLI waited ten hours before making an enemy report, incurring the wrath of Admiral PARONA. The submarines Viniero, Leonardo da Vinci and Glauco had joined Tazzoli to form a patrol line, while Calvi was farther to the southwest and might have joined. Because of this delay, the convoy managed to slip by. | |||||||
| 12 Oct 1940 | 1631 1538 (e) | 35° 39'N, 10° 19'W (e) 35° 43'N, 10° 20'W | At 1252 hours, a smoke was sighted over the horizon. Enrico Tazzoli closed on the surface until 1345 hours when she dived to avoid being seen. At 1520 hours, the submarine surfaced again and eighteen minutes later, the vessel was heard to make an SOS to Gibraltar. At 1631 hours, despite range still at 13,000 metres the submarine opened fire, claiming several hits. This was the Yugoslav Orao (5,135 GRT, built 1919), she had been intercepted at 2300 hours on 11th October 1940, in 35°12' N, 12°40' W by HMS Hotspur and was proceeding to Gibraltar with an armed guard on board. Orao had sailed from Rio de Janeiro bound for Freetown and eventually the UK, but (due to trouble with the crew) had elected instead to go to Lisbon when it was seized. Subsequently, survivors reported that their ship sustained about ten hits. Enrico Tazzoli closed and fired a stern shot (533mm, W type) and left her in sinking condition. The destroyers HMS Gallant, HMS Griffin, HMS Wishart and HMS Vidette arrived on the scene, the first two picked up the thirty-three members of her crew and HMS Hotspur's boarding party. Two men were missing. The four destroyers carried out a hunt for the submarine but without success. HMS Wishart finished her off with a single torpedo. | |||||||
| 22 Oct 1940 | 0755 | 45° 49'N, 1° 43'W | At 0755 hours, Enrico Tazzoli came under attack from the submarine HMS Talisman (Lt. Cdr. P.S. Francis, RN). The British submarine had fired a salvo of six torpedoes from a distance of 3,000 yards and opened fire with her 4inch gun. Apparently, a torpedo hit but was a dud. RACCANELLI took his submarine deep and was later criticised by Admiral PARONA who believed the Italian submarine could have engaged the enemy submarine with her two 120mm guns. | |||||||
| Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 10 Dec 1940 | 1535 | Bordeaux | 10 Dec 1940 | 1900 | Pauillac | 28 | Passage Bordeaux-Pauillac. | ||
| 4. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 13 Dec 1940 | 0900 | Pauillac | 14 Jan 1941 | 1125 | Le Verdon | 5202 | Sailed through 49°30'N, 18°00'W then northward for patrol west of Scotland, between 58°00'N and 59°30'N, and between 17°00'W and 20°00'W. First Officer C.C. Carlo Fecia di Cossato was highly critical of C.C. Raccanelli for his extreme caution during the actions. | |
| 20 Dec 1940 | 2206 | 58° 50'N, 22° 30'W | At 2200 hours, a tanker was sighted at distance of 1,000 metres. Six minutes later, the submarine fired a torpedo from no.2 tube (450mm) at a range of 400 metres but missed. | |||||||
| 21 Dec 1940 | 1607 | A smoke was sighted over the horizon, however the submarine could not close because of the heavy seas (Force 8). | ||||||||
| 25 Dec 1940 | 1408-1559 1015 AT (e) | 58° 50'N, 21° 20'W (e) 58° 36'N, 21° 58'W | The submarine surfaced at 1345 hours and sighted a steamer at 10,000 metres. At 1408 hours, the submarine opened fire with 29 rounds claiming the vessel damaged. This was the British Everleigh (5,222 GRT, built 1930) bound from Halifax to Manchester with 9,000 tons of wheat and general cargo, steering 080°. She replied with her 4" gun firing at least 20 rounds and escaped undamaged. | |||||||
| 27 Dec 1940 | 1955 1902 (e) | (e) 59° 16'N, 20° 27'W | At 1445 hours, a steamer was sighted at 12,000 metres proceeding approximately on a 270° course. The submarine maneuvered to gain a favourable position and at 1600 hours submerged to close unseen. However, the vessel appeared to alter course away, so Enrico Tazzoli had to surface again to close the range. At 1625 hours, a new change of route forced her to submerge again. The submarine surfaced again at 1705 hours and took a parallel course, intending to close after dusk. At 1955 hours, a torpedo (533mm) was fired from tube no.7. It missed. This was the British Ardanbhan (4,980 GRT, built 1929), a straggler of convoy OB.263. At 2025 hours, a torpedo was fired from tube no.2 (450mm) and squarely hit Ardanbhan. She sank at 2030 hours. The destroyer HMS Antelope, escorting convoy O.B.264, was sent to her assistance but found no survivors, the entire crew of thirty-eight men had gone down with her. | |||||||
| 30 Dec 1940 | 1932 | Enrico Tazzoli had been directed to the area by a signal reporting two vessels damaged in a collision. A vessel was sighted at 1731 hours, but this proved to be a destroyer. The submarine escaped by submerging. | ||||||||
| 31 Dec 1940 | 1415 | The submarine sighted a silhouette, which proved to be destroyer. It took avoiding action by submerging. | ||||||||
| 5. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 14 Jan 1941 | 1440 | Le Verdon | 14 Jan 1941 | 1540 | Pauillac | Passage Le Verdon-Pauillac, escorted by the German minesweeper M-9 and the submarine chasers UJ-E and UJ-128. | ||
| 6. | Enrico Tazzoli (TZ, I.3) | 18 Jan 1941 | 0900 | Pauillac | 18 Jan 1941 | 1130 | Bordeaux | Passage Pauillac-Bordeaux. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 30 Jan 1941 | Bordeaux? | 30 Jan 1941 | Date? | Le Verdon? | According to the KTB of 2.MSFL, Giuliani made a sortie on this date escorted by M-12 and M-21. Italian documents do not confirm such a movement. | ||||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 5 Mar 1941 | 1040 | Bordeaux | 5 Mar 1941 | 1450 | Le Verdon | Passage Bordeaux-Le Verdon and tested her gyro-compass. | |||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 6 Mar 1941 | 0855 | Le Verdon | 6 Mar 1941 | 1650 | La Pallice | 105,6 | Passage Le Verdon-La Pallice escorted by M-6 and M-21? [mileage is from Bordeaux]. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 8 Mar 1941 | 0800 | Le Verdon | 8 Mar 1941 | 1400 | La Pallice | 19 | Exercises. | ||
| 7. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 16 Mar 1941 | 1850 | La Pallice | 30 Mar 1941 | 1845 | Brunsbüttel | 1458,5 | Transfer to Gotenhaven and brief Atlantic patrol, passage via 47°30'N, 14°00'W and 53°00'N, 18°00'W then route north to 60°00'N and passage between Iceland and Faroes. Met by Sperrbrecher 32 and escorted in. | |
| 19 Mar 1941 | During the day, the submarine was informed of an enemy convoy of five merchant ships escorted by gunboats at 1100 hours in 55°05' N, 12°35' W (Italian Grid 0607/44), course 230°, 8 knots. Giuliani altered course to intercept. At 1945 hours, a new signal received indicated that the convoy at 1700 hours was now in Grid 0645/13 on course 260°, 8 knots. This forced a new alteration of course, but visibility was only a few hundred meters and the submarine submerged to use her hydrophones, but without success. At 0505 hours the following day, the intersection point had been reached and Giuliani searched an area 10 miles wide along the presumed path. Visibility was only a few hundred meters and the submarine submerged at 0606 hours to use her hydrophones, again without success. At 0900 hours, the chase was abandoned. | |||||||||
| 8. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 31 Mar 1941 | 0800 | Brunsbüttel | 31 Mar 1941 | 1410 | Kiel | 1816,5 | Passage Brunsbüttel-Kiel [mileage is from La Pallice]. | |
| 9. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 4 Apr 1941 | 0610 | Kiel | 6 Apr 1941 | 0920 | Gotenhaven | 358 | Passage Kiel-Gotenhaven escorted by the German submarine tender Isar. | |
28 entries. 20 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 12 events.