Italian submarines in World War Two

Italian Commanders


Candido Corvetti

Born  26 Feb 1900Florence

Ranks

  C.F.Capitano di Fregata

Decorations

8 Apr 1939 Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare
3 Oct 1941 Medaglia d'argento al valore militare

Career information

GLAUCO (C.F. C.O.): from 15.02.1940 to August 1940?
From 03.04.1941 to June 1942+, served as Head of 4° GRUPSOM (Taranto).
ATROPO (C.F. C.O.): from 08.04.1942 to 15.04.1942.
GIOVANNI DA PROCIDA (C.F. resp.): from 21.05.1942 to 30.06.1942? (not operational at Taranto).
RUGGIERO SETTIMO (C.F. resp.): from 22.05.1942 to 30.06.1942 (refit at Taranto).
LUIGI SETTEMBRINI (C.F. resp.): from 23.05.1942 to 30.06.1942 (refit at Taranto).
TITO SPERI (C.F. resp.): from 23.05.1942 to 01.07.1942 (in reserve at Taranto).
From 01.11.1942. Com. in Capo Squadra Sommergibili S.C.S.M.

Commands listed for Candido Corvetti


Submarine Type Rank From To
Atropo (AT, N.51)MinelayingC.F.8 Apr 194215 Apr 1942
Giovanni da Procida (DP)Ocean goingC.F.21 May 194230 Jun 1942
Ruggiero Settimo (RS)Ocean goingC.F.22 May 194230 Jun 1942
Luigi Settembrini (ST)Ocean goingC.F.23 May 194230 Jun 1942
Tito Speri (TS)Ocean goingC.F.23 May 19421 Jul 1942

Ships hit by Candido Corvetti

No ships hit by this Commander.

War patrols listed for Candido Corvetti

 SubmarineDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Glauco (GU, I.24)3 Jun 19402300La Spezia5 Jun 19400250CagliariPassage La Spezia-Calgari with the submarines Tazzoli, Finzi and Cappellini, escorted by the torpedo boat Curtatone.

1.Glauco (GU, I.24)21 Jun 19401820Cagliari28 Jun 19400130CagliariPatrolled west of Cape Carbon near Cape Corbelin, in 37°20'N, 04°00'E on the parallel.
  26 Jun 19400250+
0200 (e)

(e) 37° 16'N, 4° 45'E
Two merchant ships were sighted proceeding on a 270° course at 13 knots. One was described as a 10,000-ton and the other as a 1,500-ton transport. The submarine fired one torpedo (533mm) at 1,700 metres at the largest. The torpedo missed ahead. These were the British freighters Baron Erskine (3,657 GRT, built 1930) and Baron Newlands (3,628 GRT, built 1930), on passage from Oran to Bizerta, when they were recalled to Gibraltar due to the French Armistice.

Shortly after, a second torpedo (533mm) was fired from 1,400 metres at Baron Erskine. This time the torpedo missed astern.

C.C. Corvetti ordered his gun crew to open fire from 1,200 metres on Baron Erskine. The forward gun alone could be used as the aft gun crew was exposed to the heavy seas. Although many hits were claimed, only one round hit the British ship causing minor damage. Not to be outdone, Baron Erskine replied with her gun, claiming two hits from a distance of 2.5 cables (about 450 metres) but the submarine escaped damage. Corvetti wanted to fire a third torpedo, but the British ship was coming head on, intending to ram the submarine, and presented a poor target. As Baron Newland was now coming to the assistance of her sister ship and was opening fire, the Italian captain decided to take his submarine down. He thought that his victim was slowly sinking and he now attempted to fire another torpedo from periscope depth to finish her off. He could not regain contact and the two ships escaped.

2.Glauco (GU, I.24)3 Jul 19401437Cagliari6 Jul 19402205Cagliari330Short patrol in 37°31'N, 10°14'E and on axis 125-305°. Uneventful.

3.Glauco (GU, I.24)9 Jul 19400225Cagliari12 Jul 19401225Cagliari360Short patrol near Sardinia within 5 miles from 38°00'N, 09°20'E, on a patrol line with Ascianghi, Turchese and Axum. On 10th July, ordered to move 305° - 100 miles.
  12 Jul 19401025
(0) Between Cape Spartivento (Sardinia) and Cape Pula.
An Italian seaplane was observed flying at an altitude of 400 metres on opposite course. The plane returned on a second run to fly over the submarine from the stern. Despite the Italian flag being well displayed on the conning tower, it appeared to be threatening and the Glauco machine gun crew fired off 56 rounds before the error was recognised and the aircraft left.

4.Glauco (GU, I.24)31 Jul 19401540Cagliari8 Aug 19400150Naples1515Sailed for the Atlantic. However, experienced fuel leaks which apparently revealed her presence to enemy aircraft and had to turn back.
  3 Aug 1940082537° 35'N, 0° 38'WThe submarine was submerged at a depth of 30 meters, when four explosions were followed by two more very close. Glauco had apparently come under air attack, but was undamaged. RAF records do not seem to show such an air attack and the aircraft may have been Italian.

Glauco (GU, I.24)25 Aug 19400940Naples25 Aug 19401500Naples19Exercises.

Atropo (AT, N.51)11 Apr 19420916Taranto11 Apr 19421646Taranto36,5Trials escorted by MAS D.3.

Giovanni da Procida (DP)21 May 1942Taranto30 Jun 1942TarantoIn Taranto. Change in command. Not operational until Armistice.

Ruggiero Settimo (RS)22 May 1942Taranto30 Jun 1942TarantoChange in command. Responsible during refit at Taranto.

Luigi Settembrini (ST)23 May 1942Taranto30 Jun 1942TarantoRefit at Taranto. Change in command.

Tito Speri (TS)23 May 1942Taranto1 Jul 1942TarantoIn reserve at Taranto.

11 entries. 11 total patrol entries (4 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.

Italian Commanders

Italian Submarines