Italian submarines in World War Two

Italian Commanders


Guido Coscia

Capitano di Corvetta

Born  12 Aug 1908Forenza (Potenza)

Ranks

  T.V.Tenente di Vascello
30 Aug 1940 C.C.Capitano di Corvetta

Decorations

2 May 1945 Croce di guerra al valore militare

Career information

SANTORRE DI SANTAROSA (T.V. resp.): from 09.06.1940 to 13.06.1940.
MALACHITE (T.V. resp.): from 12.08.1940 to 26.08.1940 (refit at Pola).
Promoted to C.C. on ?
SANTORRE DI SANTAROSA (C.C. C.O.): from 30.08.1940 to 18.12.1940.
SALPA (C.C. C.O.): from 04.01.1941 to 28.04.1941. From 25.01.1943, served as First Officer of battleship DUILIO.

Commands listed for Guido Coscia


Submarine Type Rank From To
Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)Ocean goingT.V.9 Jun 194013 Jun 1940
Malachite (MH)Coastal / Sea goingT.V.12 Aug 194026 Aug 1940
Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)Ocean goingC.C.30 Aug 194018 Dec 1940
Salpa (SP)Coastal / Sea goingC.C.4 Jan 194128 Apr 1941

Ships hit by Guido Coscia

No ships hit by this Commander.

War patrols listed for Guido Coscia

 SubmarineDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)9 Jun 1940Trapani13 Jun 1940TrapaniChange in command.

Malachite (MH)12 Aug 1940Pola26 Aug 1940PolaRefit in Pola. Change in command.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)7 Sep 19400800Messina7 Sep 19401900Messina68,5Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)11 Sep 19400610Messina11 Sep 19401100Messina35Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)12 Sep 19400610Messina12 Sep 19401535Messina72,5Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)20 Sep 19401800Messina21 Sep 19401035Trapani180Passage Messina-Trapani.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)26 Sep 19400800Trapani26 Sep 19401220Trapani24Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)28 Sep 19400859Trapani28 Sep 19401230Trapani16,5Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)3 Oct 19400800Trapani3 Oct 19401055Trapani19Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)5 Oct 19400820Trapani5 Oct 19401200Trapani15Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)8 Oct 19401355Trapani9 Oct 19400702Messina184Passage Trapani-Messina.

1.Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)13 Oct 19400200Messina24 Oct 19400852Messina1317Patrolled between 34°10'N and 34°45'N, and between 23°20'E and 24°10'E.
  14 Oct 1940001437° 46'N, 17° 35'EAn enemy submarine was observed steering 270°. This was almost certainly HMS Triad. Santorre Di Santarosa fired a single torpedo from a bow tube at short range, but missed. The enemy submarine replied with a torpedo, which also missed. In a little more than 24 hours, HMS Triad would encounter a second Italian submarine, Enrico Toti, with fatal consequences.

2.Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)8 Nov 19401903Messina9 Nov 19401037Augusta122,5Sailed for patrol off Malta in 35°25'N, 15°45'E, but collided with sailing vessel Giuseppe e Maria (V.104) and had to turn back.
  9 Nov 19400311
(0) 176° - Murro Light - 5.7 miles.
Santorre Di Santarosa collided with the motor sailing vessel Giuseppe e Maria (V.104, 93 tons) which sank. The submarine was damaged and had to turn back after picking up ten survivors.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)6 Dec 19400830Augusta6 Dec 19401135Augusta10Exercises.

Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)11 Dec 19400705Augusta11 Dec 19401403Messina73,3Passage Augusta-Messina.

3.Salpa (SP)26 Jan 19411400Augusta27 Jan 19410907Augusta124Hydrophone Watch off Augusta. Uneventful except for H.E.

4.Salpa (SP)31 Jan 19411710Augusta5 Feb 19411250Augusta585Sailed for patrol off Cyrenaica. Damaged by A/S craft, but turned back due to defects.
  3 Feb 1941020035° 50'N, 18° 48'EAt 0200 hours, three enemy destroyers were sighted and they hunted the submarine until 1600 hours.

5.Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)1 Feb 19411507Trapani5 Feb 19411205Trapani495Patrolled west of Malta within 15 miles from 35°55'N, 13°35 E on a SE-NW axis. Uneventful except for distant explosions coming from the direction of Malta.

Salpa (SP)5 Feb 19410744Augusta6 Feb 19411426Messina585Passage Augusta-Messina [mileage is from 31st January].

6.Santorre Di Santarosa (SN)8 Feb 19412125Trapani11 Feb 19411611Trapani389Patrolled west of Malta within 15 miles from 35°55'N, 13°35'E on a SE-NW axis. Uneventful.

Salpa (SP)10 Feb 19410950Messina 11 Feb 19411515Taranto270Passage Messina-Taranto. Repairs until 20th March 1941.
  10 Feb 19411815
1752 (e)

(0) 278° - Punta Stilo - 5.5 miles.
At 1815 hours, two torpedo wakes were sighted on the starboard side. Salpa put the helm hard to port to avoid them.

This attack was made by the submarine HMS Rover (Lieutenant. Commander H.A.L. Marsham, RN). She had sighted a submarine of the PERLA class at a distance of 8,000 yards and, at 1752 hours, fired five torpedoes from a distance of 1,500 yards (a sixth misfired and Marsham believed it was the one that should have hit).

At 2300 hours, Salpa encountered a convoy (the Germans Arta, Heraklea and Maritza, all empty, on transfer from Bari to Messina) escprted by the destroyer Baleno and signalled the presence of the enemy submarine.

Salpa (SP)14 Feb 19410245Taranto14 Feb 19411220TarantoTrials.

Salpa (SP)24 Mar 19411128Taranto24 Mar 19411816Taranto36Exercises.

7.Salpa (SP)31 Mar 19411645Taranto14 Apr 19411545Taranto1413,5Patrolled off Albanian coast in 41°50'N, 18°25'E on a SE-NW axis, off Cape Krio. Sighted MAS boats and heard H.E.

8.Salpa (SP)25 Apr 19411837Taranto26 Apr 19411105Taranto88Hydrophone Watch in Gulf of Taranto. Uneventful.

9.Salpa (SP)27 Apr 19412110Taranto28 Apr 19411048Taranto95Hydrophone Watch in Gulf of Taranto. Uneventful.

26 entries. 26 total patrol entries (9 marked as war patrols) and 4 events.

Italian Commanders

Italian Submarines