Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Pier Vincenzo Di Domenico
| Born | 19 Nov 1909 | Milan |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
ETTORE FIERAMOSCA (T.V. First Officer): from 10.01.1938 to ?TURCHESE (T.V. C.O.): from 05.12.1940 to 27.10.1941.
TURCHESE (T.V. C.O.): from 01.12.1941 to 20.06.1942.
Promoted C.C. in February 1942.
Commands listed for Pier Vincenzo Di Domenico
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turchese (TC) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 5 Dec 1940 | 27 Oct 1941 |
| Turchese (TC) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 1 Dec 1941 | 20 Jun 1942 |
Ships hit by Pier Vincenzo Di Domenico
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Pier Vincenzo Di Domenico
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turchese (TC) | 5 Dec 1940 | 1212 | Fiume | 5 Dec 1940 | 1635 | Fiume | 18 | Diving exercises to 60 meters. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 6 Dec 1940 | 0836 | Fiume | 6 Dec 1940 | 1436 | Pola | 63 | Passage Fiume-Pola. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 7 Dec 1940 | 1410 | Pola | 7 Dec 1940 | 1440 | Pola | ? | Changed anchorage. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 9 Dec 1940 | 0805 | Pola | 9 Dec 1940 | 1725 | Pola | 61 | Exercises, escorted by the auxiliary Laurana. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 11 Dec 1940 | 0800 | Pola | 11 Dec 1940 | 1715 | Pola | 57 | Exercises. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 12 Dec 1940 | 0820 | Pola | 12 Dec 1940 | 1425 | Pola | 14 | Gyrocompass tests. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 13 Dec 1940 | 0810 | Pola | 13 Dec 1940 | 1710 | Pola | 57 | Sailed with the submarine Fieramosca, escorted by the tug Tenace, for torpedo firing exercises with the torpedo boat Audace. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 14 Dec 1940 | 1418 | Pola | 14 Dec 1940 | 1435 | Pola | ? | Changed anchorage. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 26 Dec 1940 | 1940 | Pola | 28 Dec 1940 | 1415 | Brindisi | 370 | Passage Pola-Brindisi. | ||
| 1. | Turchese (TC) | 30 Dec 1940 | 1000 | Brindisi | 10 Jan 1941 | 1730 | Brindisi | 887 | Patrolled south of Strait of Otranto and west of Corfu, in 39°30'N, 19°10'E. Uneventful, only heard H.E. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 21 Jan 1941 | 1005 | Brindisi | 21 Jan 1941 | 1114 | Brindisi | 1 | Changed anchorage? | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 22 Jan 1941 | 0900 | Brindisi | 22 Jan 1941 | 1230 | Brindisi | 18 | Exercises | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 29 Jan 1941 | 0842 | Brindisi | 29 Jan 1941 | 1230 | Brindisi | 18 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Turchese (TC) | 30 Jan 1941 | 1000 | Brindisi | 10 Feb 1941 | 1815 | Brindisi | 908 | Patrolled off Albanian coast, within 10 miles from 39°10'N, 19°20'E. Uneventful except for H.E. | |
| 3. | Turchese (TC) | 21 Feb 1941 | 1300 | Brindisi | 4 Mar 1941 | 1450 | Brindisi | 985 | Patrolled west of Corfu within 10 miles from 39°10'N, 19°20'E. Uneventful. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 15 Mar 1941 | 2200 | Brindisi | 16 Mar 1941 | 1735 | Crotone | 179 | Passage Brindisi-Crotone. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 20 Mar 1941 | 1400 | Crotone | 22 Mar 1941 | 1730 | Cagliari | 485 | Passage Crotone-Cagliari. Uneventful. | ||
| 20 Mar 1941 | On this date, some sources claim that Turchese carried out an attack an enemy destroyer and was depth charged. This is an error and is not recorded in her report. | |||||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 31 Mar 1941 | 0800 | Cagliari | 31 Mar 1941 | 1215 | Cagliari | 31 | Exercises. | ||
| 4. | Turchese (TC) | 3 Apr 1941 | 1250 | Cagliari | 9 Apr 1941 | 1715 | Cagliari | 552 | Patrolled north of Cape Blanc (Tunisia), within 20 miles from 37°30'N, 09°50'E, on a patrol line with Corallo. Uneventful, sighted only French ships. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 18 Apr 1941 | 2000 | Cagliari | 20 Apr 1941 | 1000 | Messina | 360 | Passage Cagliari-Messina. | ||
| 5. | Turchese (TC) | 21 Apr 1941 | 1856 | Messina | 7 May 1941 | 1440 | Leros | 1451 | Patrolled off Mersa Matruh and Gulf of Sollum, within 20 miles from 32°10'N, 27°30'E on a NE-SW axis. | |
| 30 Apr 1941 | 1727 1939 (e) | At 1727 hours, Turchese was on a hydrophone watch, proceeding submerged, when suddenly she was shaken by two explosions believed to be from aircraft bombs. This was followed at 1842 hours, by eight more explosions and still more until 1940 hours. The submarine escaped by diving to 90-95 meters. Explosions were also heard the next day, but a distance. The diesel engines developed defects on 3rd May, perhaps due to the depth-charging, so the patrol was abandoned. This was most likely an attack by the destroyers HMS Juno and HMS Jaguar who claimed the submarine probably sunk. HMS Juno was damaged by the premature explosion of a depth-charge and had five killed and eleven wounded. | ||||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 19 May 1941 | 0950 | Leros | 19 May 1941 | 1048 | Leros | ? | Changed anchorage? | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 26 May 1941 | 0805 | Leros | 26 May 1941 | 1219 | Leros | 23 | Exercises. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 27 May 1941 | 0738 | Leros | 27 May 1941 | 1043 | Leros | 3 | Trials. | ||
| 6. | Turchese (TC) | 31 May 1941 | 0320 | Leros | 8 Jun 1941 | 1435 | Taranto | 1040 | Patrolled south of Kupho Island (southeast of Crete), within 20 miles from 33°50'N, 26°00'E. Returned to Taranto because of mechanical defects. | |
| 5 Jun 1941 | 2043 | (0) 20 miles SW of Cape Krio (Crete). | At 2043 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance of 2,000 metres. As Turchese was submerging, the submarine was recognized as Italian. This was Smeraldo. | |||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 20 Jun 1941 | 1445 | Taranto | 20 Jun 1941 | 1750 | Taranto | 2 | Gyrocompass tests. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 24 Jun 1941 | 1000 | Taranto | 24 Jun 1941 | 1010 | Taranto | ? | Changed anchorage. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 21 Aug 1941 | 1149 | Taranto | 21 Aug 1941 | 1930 | Taranto | 29 | Trials, escorted by the pilot vessel Limbara. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 23 Aug 1941 | 1414 | Taranto | 23 Aug 1941 | 1624 | Taranto | 2 | Gyrocompass tests. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 24 Aug 1941 | 0842 | Taranto | 24 Aug 1941 | 1752 | Taranto | 63 | Exercises. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 27 Aug 1941 | 0805 | Taranto | 27 Aug 1941 | 1710 | Taranto | 60 | Exercises. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 29 Aug 1941 | 1100 | Taranto | 29 Aug 1941 | 1810 | Taranto | 33 | Exercises with the torpedo boat Altair. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 1 Sep 1941 | 0855 | Taranto | 2 Sep 1941 | 1210 | Messina | 255 | Passage Taranto-Messina. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 3 Sep 1941 | 1900 | Messina | 5 Sep 1941 | 0707 | Cagliari | 351 | Passage Messina-Cagliari. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 9 Sep 1941 | 0730 | Cagliari | 9 Sep 1941 | 1355 | Cagliari | 26 | Exercises. | ||
| 7. | Turchese (TC) | 11 Sep 1941 | 1340 | Cagliari | 16 Sep 1941 | 0933 | Cagliari | 685 | Patrolled north of Cape Bougaroni, in 38°00'N, 06°00'E, then, on 14th September was ordered to 38°10'N, 04°00'E. Uneventful. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 22 Sep 1941 | 0708 | Cagliari | 22 Sep 1941 | 1224 | Cagliari | 35 | Exercises with the submarines Serpente and Adua, escorted by the torpedo boat Abba and the minesweeper Balear. | ||
| 8. | Turchese (TC) | 23 Sep 1941 | 1900 | Cagliari | 4 Oct 1941 | 2225 | Cagliari | 1258 | Patrolled South of Balearic Islands between Cape Palos and Cape Caxine, between 36°50'N (or 36°30'N?) and 37°30'N, and between 00°20'E and 00°40'E, on a patrol line with Adua. | |
| 30 Sep 1941 | 1039 | 36° 49'N, 0° 24'E | At 0503 hours, information was received that, at 0350 hours, the submarine Adua had sighted a squadron of eleven destroyers. However, it appeared this force would pass much farther north of Turchese. At 1017 hours, smokes were sighted at a distance of 14,000 metres. At 1039 hours, Turchese had closed to 6,000 metres and two cruisers of the ARETHUSA class and two destroyers could be made out. At 1110 hours, the submarine was at a depth of 19 metres, when six explosions were heard near the submarine. Turchese was taken down to 40 metres. At 1339 hours, the hydrophone noises had ceased. These were probably HMS Gurkha and HMS Legion, screening Force H and returning from operation HALBERD. They were shortly to sink Adua. | |||||||
| 2 Oct 1941 | 0650 | 37° 15'N, 3° 12'E | At 0650 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance of 2,000 metres. It was probably Italian. Visibility was poor and Turchese took avoiding action. | |||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 15 Oct 1941 | 0805 | Cagliari | 15 Oct 1941 | 1230 | Cagliari | 30 | Exercises. | ||
| 9. | Turchese (TC) | 16 Oct 1941 | 2340 | Cagliari | 21 Oct 1941 | 1116 | Cagliari | 552 | Patrolled off Cape de Fer, with the submarines Alagi, Aradam, Serpente and Diaspro between 37°40'N and 37°50'N (or 37°10'N and 37°20'N?), and between 06°40'E and 07°20'E. Uneventful. Sighted only French ships. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 27 Oct 1941 | 1310 | Cagliari | 27 Oct 1941 | 1615 | Cagliari | 15 | Exercises, escorted by the minesweeper Balear. | ||
| 10. | Turchese (TC) | 18 Dec 1941 | 2025 | Cagliari | 25 Dec 1941 | 1630 | Cagliari | 763 | Patrolled off Cape Bougaroni, between 37°30'N and Algerian coast, and between 06°20'E and 06°30'E. Sighted only French ships. | |
| 19 Dec 1941 | 0940 | 38° 05'N, 7° 47'E | At 0940 hours, a German U-boat (possibly U-74), sighted at a distance of 3,000 metres, made an unintelligible signal. Turchese proceeded on her course. | |||||||
| 21 Dec 1941 | 0124 | 37° 21'N, 6° 22'E | At 0124 hours, a steamer believed to be French was sighted. | |||||||
| 22 Dec 1941 | 0255 | 37° 32'N, 6° 28'E | At 0124 hours, a steamer believed to be French was sighted. | |||||||
| 23 Dec 1941 | 1705 | 37° 21'N, 6° 26'E | At 1445 hours, hydrophone noises were heard bearing 248°. The direction varied considerably. Turchese steered toward them. At 1705 hours, two cruisers of the NEWCASTLE class and four destroyers of the JERVIS class were sighted at a distance of 12,000 metres, proceeding at 25 knots. The submarine could not close to less than 7,000 meters. These were probably HMS Dido and the destroyers HMAS Nestor, HMS Zulu, HMS Gurkha, HMS Arrow and HMS Foxhound. | |||||||
| 11. | Turchese (TC) | 1 Jan 1942 | 2000 | Cagliari | 2 Jan 1942 | 1650 | Trapani | Sailed for patrol with Axum, Alagi and Aradam, between 34°20'N and 34°40'N, and between 14°00'E and 14°40'E, on a line 60-100 miles south of Malta. Diverted to Trapani because of defects. | ||
| 12. | Turchese (TC) | 2 Jan 1942 | 1900 | Trapani | 8 Jan 1942 | 1940 | Cagliari | 1027 | Sailed for patrol with Axum, Alagi and Aradam, between 34°20'N and 34°40'N, and between 14°00'E and 14°40'E on a line 60-100 miles south of Malta via 35°00'N, 13°00'E. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 16 Jan 1942 | 1345 | Cagliari | 16 Jan 1942 | 1715 | Cagliari | 14 | Trials. | ||
| 13. | Turchese (TC) | 28 Jan 1942 | 1420 | Cagliari | 28 Jan 1942 | 1930 | Cagliari | 46 | Sailed for patrol with Alagi, Aradam, Brin and Axum, between 37°30'N and 38°00'N, and between 07°00'E and 07°10'E but was recalled at 1646 hours on the 28th. | |
| Turchese (TC) | 3 Feb 1942 | 1225 | Cagliari | 3 Feb 1942 | 1735 | Cagliari | 33 | Exercises. | ||
| 14. | Turchese (TC) | 9 Feb 1942 | 1535 | Cagliari | 21 Feb 1942 | 1110 | Cagliari | 1143 | Patrolled off Philippeville, between 37°30'N and 38°00'N, and between 06°00'E and 06°10'E, on a line with Aradam and Axum. | |
| 11 Feb 1942 | 1500 | At 1500 hours, a submarine on a westerly course was sighted. It was believed to be Benedetto Brin. | ||||||||
| 15. | Turchese (TC) | 27 Feb 1942 | 1238 | Cagliari | 4 Mar 1942 | 1630 | Cagliari | 765 | Patrolled off Algerian coast between 37°20'N and 37°30'N, 03°40'E and 04°40'E, on a line with Axum, Aradam and Brin. Sighted only French ships. | |
| 16. | Turchese (TC) | 27 Mar 1942 | 2205 | Cagliari | 2 Apr 1942 | 0938 | Cagliari | 643 | Patrolled off Cape Bougaroni, between 37°10'N and 37°20'N, and between 05°20'E and 06°20'E, on a line with Aradam. | |
| 30 Mar 1942 | 1712 | 37° 25'N, 6° 29'E | At 1712 hours, an aircraft was seen at a distance of 7,000 metres and Turchese dived. At the time, the submarine was proceeding to intercept an enemy cruiser reported SE of La Galite, at 2009 hours. It was believed that the cruiser had passed some ten miles away. | |||||||
| 1 Apr 1942 | 0300 0200 (e) | 37° 40'N, 6° 26'E | At 0300 hours, a large seaplane, believed to be a Catalina, was sighted a distance of 1,000 metres. Turchese crash-dived as five bombs exploded, but they caused only minor damages. Indeed, this was Catalina 'J' (AJ.160) of 202 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer I.F. Edgar. The submarine had first been detected by radar at 8 miles and then sighted steering 075°. The attack was delivered from a height of 75 feet, as the submarine submerged. Seven depth charges were released (an 8th hung up) and a large oil slick was observed. | |||||||
| 17. | Turchese (TC) | 4 Apr 1942 | 0118 | Cagliari | 11 Apr 1942 | 0850 | Cagliari | 674 | Patrolled north of Cape Bon in zone K.1 (between 37°12'N and Tunisian coast, 11°00'E and 11°05'E) with Aradam in zone K.2. | |
| 8 Apr 1942 | 2120 | (0) Off Cape Bon. | At 2120 hours, information was received that a cruiser and a destroyer had been sighted proceeding west. Turchese and Aradam were told to close the North African coast. Turchese moved to a position 2 miles from Cape Bon but sighted nothing. | |||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 18 Apr 1942 | 1405 | Cagliari | 19 Apr 1942 | 1040 | Trapani | 181 | Passage Cagliari-Trapani. Uneventful. | ||
| 18. | Turchese (TC) | 20 Apr 1942 | 1540 | Trapani | 20 Apr 1942 | 2155 | Trapani | 50 | Sailed for patrol between 38°00'N and 38°40'N, and between 09°20'E and 09°40'E following a signal reporting an enemy force, but was then recalled at 1341 hours on the 20th. | |
| 19. | Turchese (TC) | 1 May 1942 | 1952 | Trapani | 17 May 1942 | 1015 | Trapani | 1842 | Patrolled south of Formentara [38°42'N, 01°27'E] between 37°40'N and 38°20'N, 01°20'E and 01°40'E. On the evening of 8th May, was moved 20 miles to the south and, on the evening of 11th May, a further 40 miles to the south. | |
| 8 May 1942 | 0010 | 38° 18'N, 1° 31'E | At 0010 hours, Turchese was informed that a convoy was sighted proceeding east. The submarine was not in a position to intercept but, at 2000 hours, she received an order to move 20 miles south from her present position. | |||||||
| 9 May 1942 | 1243 | 37° 27'N, 1° 37'E | At 1243 hours, a Sunderland was sighted at a distance of 7,000 metres. No action was taken. | |||||||
| 11 May 1942 | 1700 | 37° 27'N, 1° 37'E (0) Approximately. | At 1700 hours, information was received of a cruiser sighted SW of La Galite proceeding eastward. Turchese moved to intercept and at 2000 hours received the order to move 40 miles south of her position, which she reached at 2353 hours. The submarine submerged to listen with her hydrophones, but nothing was detected. | |||||||
| 15 May 1942 | 1433 | 38° 05'N, 4° 20'E | At 1433 hours, the French steamer Île Rousse (1,367 GRT, built 1918) was sighted steering 325°. | |||||||
| Turchese (TC) | 21 May 1942 | 2108 | Trapani | 23 May 1942 | 2125 | La Spezia | 400 | Passage Trapani-La Spezia. Uneventful. | ||
| Turchese (TC) | 29 May 1942 | 0730 | La Spezia | 29 May 1942 | 1343 | Genoa | 56 | Passage La Spezia-Genoa, escorted by MAS 566 for refit. | ||
64 entries. 56 total patrol entries (19 marked as war patrols) and 17 events.