Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Gabriele Battistini
| Born | 11 Apr 1921 | Lucca |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
C.B.3 (G.M. C.O.): from ? to 25.08.1944.C.B.6: (ex C.B.17) (G.M. C.O.): from January 1945? to 03.04.1945 (sunk, Battistini survived).
Commands listed for Gabriele Battistini
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB 3 () | G.M. | 1944 | 25 Aug 1944 | |
| CB 17 () | G.M. | Jan 1945 | 3 Apr 1945 |
Ships hit by Gabriele Battistini
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Gabriele Battistini
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB 3 () | 25 Aug 1944 | Costanza | 25 Aug 1944 | 1700 | Scuttled | ? | The midget sailed to operate against Soviet forces, but was scuttled two miles off the coast (Rumania had capitulated on 23rd August) and the crew of three swam ashore and managed to join the retreating column of the personnel of the Gruppo CB M.O. Livio Piomarta under C.F. Zingarelli. They all managed to reach Italy. | |||
| 1. | CB 17 () | 29 Jan 1945 | 1700 | Pola | 2 Feb 1945 | 0600 | Pola | Sailed with CB 20 for patrol south of Island of Lussino or southwest of Premuda and Scirda, on traffic lane between Ancona and Zara. Recalled on 31/1, on account of Operation KOGGE. Operation KOGGE was a minelaying operation carried out by the German torpedo boats TA-41 and TA-45 (KOGGE 1 during the night of 31st January, KOGGE 2 at 0400 hours, on 4th February 1945. | ||
| 2. | CB 17 () | 31 Mar 1945 | 1800 | Pola | 3 Apr 1945 | 0030 | Sunk | Sailed for special mission operation MOEWE (under German orders) to land two saboteurs from the EULENSPIEGEL detachment at Castel di Mezzo (about 2,000 meters south of Cattolica). At about 1900 hours, surfaced near Pessaro but shortly after was seen by allied aircraft and attempted to escape by diving several times. The mission was abandoned and Battistini decided to turn back but was bombed at 2200 hours on 2nd April. At 0030 hours on 3rd April, she surfaced and was abandoned. The crew was rescued at 0730 hours the same day. | ||
| 2 Apr 1945 | 0815 (e) | At 0815 hours, a midget submarine, probably CB 17, was attacked by cannon fire from a Spitfire (1435 Squadron). The submarine submerged and escaped. | ||||||||
| 2 Apr 1945 | 2040 (e) | At 2040 hours, a midget submarine, believed to be CB 17, was sighted by a Wellington (38 Squadron) which dropped two sticks of 250 lb Torpex depth charges. The results were not observed. | ||||||||
| 3 Apr 1945 | 0107 (e) | At 0107 hours, CB 17 was attacked by a second and then a third Wellington bomber (38 Squadron). Four 250-lb bombs were dropped by the former, who sighted a green flash and a column of water. Nine 250-lb depth charges were dropped by the latter who sighted wooden wreckage. C.B.17 (she is also reported to have been renamed CB 6) was sunk and her crew of four and two agents were picked up by a Catalina (two agents had been captured on the morning of 2nd April, probably from CB 18). A midget submarine had been sighted at 0800 hours on the 4th, in 44°25' N, 13°45' E. It was later reported that C.B.18 returned to Pola undamaged and attacked by aircraft. HMS Belvoir and HMS Whaddon and three Yugoslav PT boats (probably PT-211, PT-213 and PT-217) were summoned to the scene but saw nothing. | ||||||||
5 entries. 3 total patrol entries (2 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.