We have been reading about some pretty tough Italian submariner sailors, especially the ‘Charioteers” who gave the Royal Navy fits in the Mediterranean. Here are some of their stories. Remember, these were very stylized reports, but these men died for their country. The bios are written by Italian historians.

Nazario Sauro

This man, martyr and patriot from the Italian town of Capodistria under the Austro-Hungrian Empire, joined the Italian Navy at the beginning of WW I with the purpose of giving his contribution to free the Italian northeastern territories still under the enemy Empire. He was a skilled captain who knew the Dalmatian coastline very well where the Austro-Hungarian fleet used to hide. So his service in the Italian Navy as submarine officer was valuable but during an action with his submarine GIACIMO PULLINO at Fiume (now the Croatian town of Rijeka) he was captured by the enemy. He was found to be a man coming from Capodistria and so was condemned to death as a traitor. During the trial, even his mother tried to save him by not recognizing him as her son. It was to no avail, as on 10 August 1916, he died on the gallows shouting ‘Viva Italia!” Today a class of Italian submarine carries his name.

Luigi Rizzo

The Mas Captain Rizzo was nicknamed the ‘Sinker’ and also the ‘Milazzo Corsair’ by the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. He performed some of the most amazing feats during WW I. On 9 December 1917 he raided the post at Trieste, heart of the enemy Navy, and sank the battleship WIEN (Vienna). Again on 10 February 1918 he entered the Buccari Bay in the face of strong Austro-Hungarian surveillance, and sank a cargo ship and returning safely to port. On 10 June 1918 the entire Austro-Hungarian Fleet sailed to attack the Italian installation on the Otranto Channel, led by the battleships VIRIBUS UNITIS and TEGETHOFF. Rizzo, in company with another Mas commanded by Aonzo, attacked this huge formation and sank the battleship SZENT ISTVAN. His Mas now rests into the Unknown Soldier Monument in Rome.

Luigi Durand de la Penne

Winston Churchill said ‘An extraordinary example of courage and geniality’ with regard to an action of this man. de la Penne and his comrades Bianchi, Martellotta, Marino, Marceglia and Schergat accomplished one of the most effective naval victories of World War II – without killing anyone! During November of 1941 the British Mediterranean Fleet was in a critical situation. Only the battleships HMS VALIANT and HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH were available. The Italian Navy studied carefully how to take advantage of this predicament. If these two battleships were destroyed, all the Italian convoys to Libya could sail safely with a very positive effect on the Italian campaigns in North Africa.

The mission to destroy the British battleships was given to X Flottiglia Mas. On 18 December, the submarine SCIRÉ, commanded by Junio Valerio Borghese, stealthily approached Alexandria harbor after having overcome many serious difficulties and obstacles. They released three ‘Maiali’ (pigs) driven by Durand and his men.

Durand and Bianchi’s target was HMS VALIANT. Marceglia and Schergat’s target was HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH. Martellotta and Marino’s target was a 16,000 tanker. Plans were for the men to come back to SCIRÉ upon completion of the mission.

The British were not so easily fooled, and there was security everywhere – metal nets with explosive charges, sentries always looking for anything unusual, constant harbor patrols. Penetrating the harbor was more difficult than anticipated. Finally, de la Penne and Bianchi got through the security and came alongside HMS VALIANT, but their ‘Maiale’ lost depth keeping and sank to the bottom of the harbor just under the battleship; Bianchi disappeared. de la Penne was able to get his explosive charge loose and attached to the belly of the battleship, came to the surface and found Bianchi who had passed out due to a malfunction of his scuba gear.

They tried to reach the pier, but sentries spotted them and they were captured. The British Admiral Cunningham ordered that they be locked in the powder magazines, hoping to make them tell the location of the charges.

They did not, and in a short while, an explosion was heard in the harbor. Marceglia and Schergat succeeded to hit the tanker SAGONA. This 7,554 ton (not 16,000 ton) tanker was damaged by the blast as was the destroyer HMS JERVIS nearby.

After waiting for some time, de la Penne looked at his watch and asked to speak with the commander, Captain Charles Morgan. They informed him that the charges would explode in about ten minutes, and he should evacuate his men. Morgan again asked where the charges were placed & again, they would not reveal the location so they were taken back to their lockup. Fortunately for the two men, the British sailors were honorable and did not lock the cell door. Within a few minutes, a tremendous blast shook HMS VALIANT.

As they left the sinking battleship, another tremendous blast was heard across Alexandria Harbor – HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH was the victim of the ‘Charioteers’.

In 1945, de la Penne and Bianchi had the Gold Medal pinned on their chests by then Vice Admiral Charles Morgan, Chief of the RN Mediterranean Fleet and former Skipper of HMS VALIANT.