Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Renato D'Elia
| Birth details unknown |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
MALACHITE (C.C. C.O.): from 15.12.1939 to 11.08.1940.REGINALDO GIULIANI (C.C. C.O.): from 13.08.1940 to 12.01.1941.
From 27.11.1942, served on the staff of MARINA BRINDISI.
Commands listed for Renato D'Elia
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malachite (MH) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 15 Dec 1939 | 11 Aug 1940 |
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | Ocean going | C.C. | 13 Aug 1940 | 12 Jan 1941 |
Ships hit by Renato D'Elia
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Renato D'Elia
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malachite (MH) | 10 Jun 1940 | Taranto | 10 Jun 1940 | Taranto | At Taranto. | |||||
| 1. | Malachite (MH) | 17 Jun 1940 | 2330 | Taranto | 2 Jul 1940 | 0750 | Taranto | 2169,8 | Patrolled between 40°40'N and 41°20'N and 02°40'E and 03°20'E, 40 miles southeast of Barcelona up to 27 June. | |
| 21 Jun 1940 | 1144 1045 (e) | 39° 51'N, 5° 10'E | At 1144 hours, a formation of twelve aircraft was sighted at a distance of 3,500 metres. They attacked Malachite who dived. She reached 44 meters when she was shaken by an explosion, which caused slight damage. This could have been French T 2 Squadron (Laté.29-8 seaplanes evacuating from Berre to Bougie) which attacked a submarine with five aircraft. The attack is reported as havinf occured on 22 June, but refers to a signal from Marine Bougie of 1325 hours on 21st June, so the date is probably an error. The attacks were carried out by T 21 piloted by L.V. Lamiot (unable to drop his bomb), T 22 (did not attack), T 23 piloted by L.V. Jourdain (dropped a bomb, which did not explode), T 210 piloted by E.V. Grosclaude (dropped a bomb which exploded), T 27 piloted by Maître Le Gall (dropped a bomb) and T 21 which made a second run and dropped a bomb, but it did not explode. | |||||||
| 24 Jun 1940 | 2202 | 41° 18'N, 2° 44'E | At 2202 hours, a tanker was sighted at a distance of 5,000 metres followed shortly after another four merchant vessels. Malachite tried to close the range unsuccessfully and the heavy seas prevented a gun action. | |||||||
| 28 Jun 1940 | 1350 | 39° 48'N, 5° 22'E | At 1350 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance of 3,500 metres, steering 340° in heavy seas. C.C. Renato d'Elia decided not to attempt an attack as he believed it might be Nani. This could not be, as she had already reached Naples. Possibly this could have been either Ascianghi, Cappellini or Mocenigo but their patrol reports are not precise enough to determine which one. | |||||||
| Malachite (MH) | 15 Jul 1940 | 0545 | Taranto | 17 Jul 1940 | 1800 | Pola | 614 | Passage Taranto-Pola. Then refit. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 13 Aug 1940 | 0725 | Taranto | 13 Aug 1940 | 1139 | Taranto | 18 | Trials. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 14 Aug 1940 | 0729 | Taranto | 14 Aug 1940 | 1515 | Taranto | 32,9 | Trials. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 16 Aug 1940 | 0735 | Taranto | 16 Aug 1940 | 1431 | Taranto | 26,8 | Trials. | ||
| Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 27 Aug 1940 | 1345 | Taranto | 28 Aug 1940 | 2015 | Trapani | 431,6 | Passage Taranto-Trapani. | ||
| 2. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 29 Aug 1940 | 1855 | Trapani | 5 Oct 1940 | 1020 | Le Verdon | 5122,2 | Passage to Bordeaux. Passed Gibraltar on 10th September 1940. Patrolled in area between 32°00'N and 33°40'N, and between 16°50'W and 30°05'W. On 30th September 1940, the submarine had water damage to the diesel plant. Note: in the early hours of 11th September, a French squadron also crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, HMS Hotspur, HMS Griffin and HMS Encounter were hunting a submarine at the time but Giuliani does not seem to have been much disturbed. Met Baracca and escorted in by the German minesweepers M-9 and M-13. | |
| 26 Sep 1940 | 1120 | 33° 25'N, 21° 35'W | (Time not given) A steamer was sighted steering 030°. The flag could not be distinguished, but appeared to be red. At 1120 hours, from a distance of 5,000 metres, the vessel opened fire on the submarine with a stern gun, the shells fell short but with a yellow colouring. She escaped when Giuliani's gun jammed. | |||||||
| 5 Oct 1940 | 0815+ 0716 (e) | 45° 39'N, 1° 41'W | At 0815 hours, Giuliani was proceeding in company of Baracca, escorted by the German minesweepers M-9 and M-13 and by the Sperrbrecher Cap Hadid, when three torpedo wakes were sighted. They apparently missed 300 metres astern and exploded at the end of their run. The attacker was the submarine HMS Tigris (Lieutenant Commander H.F. Bone, RN). She had sighted what was believed to be three U-boats (only two were present) escorted by two ELAN class boats and had fired a salvo of four torpedoes from 2,500 yards range. Two explosions were heard after 124 and 131 seconds and then only two U-boats were sighted, leading Lt. Cdr. Bone to believe that a U-boat had been sunk. | |||||||
| 3. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 5 Oct 1940 | 1827 | Le Verdon | 5 Oct 1940 | 2010 | Pauillac | Passage Le Verdon-Pauillac. | ||
| 5 Oct 1940 | 0815+ 0716 (e) | 45° 39'N, 1° 41'W | At 0815 hours, Giuliani was proceeding in company of Baracca, escorted by the German minesweepers M-9 and M-13 and by the Sperrbrecher Cap Hadid, when three torpedo wakes were sighted. They apparently missed 300 metres astern and exploded at the end of their run. The attacker was the submarine HMS Tigris (Lieutenant Commander H.F. Bone, RN). She had sighted what was believed to be three U-boats (only two were present) escorted by two ELAN class boats and had fired a salvo of four torpedoes from 2,500 yards range. Two explosions were heard after 124 and 131 seconds and then only two U-boats were sighted, leading Lt. Cdr. Bone to believe that a U-boat had been sunk. | |||||||
| 4. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 6 Oct 1940 | 0800 | Pauillac | 6 Oct 1940 | 1057 | Bordeaux | Passage Pauillac-Bordeaux. | ||
| 5. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 10 Nov 1940 | 1550 | Bordeaux | 10 Nov 1940 | 1840 | Pauillac | Passage Bordeaux-Pauillac. | ||
| 6. | Reginaldo Giuliani (GN, I.14, UIT.23) | 11 Nov 1940 | 1515 | Pauillac | 7 Dec 1940 | 1440 | Bordeaux | 2505,6 | Patrolled west of Ireland between 54°00'N and 54°40'N, and between 15°00'W and 21°00'W. Her commanding officer was criticised by Admiral Parona and was removed from his submarine command. | |
| 24 Nov 1940 | 1915 | 49° 10'N, 19° 50'W | At 1915 hours, suddenly an armed merchant cruiser was sighted coming out of a rain squall at a distance of 3,500 metres, steering 000°, 14 knots. It may have sighted the submarine as she turned toward her and increased speed. Giuliani dived and lost hydrophone contact at 2000 hours. At 2130 hours, she surfaced and made an enemy report. | |||||||
15 entries. 12 total patrol entries (6 marked as war patrols) and 7 events.