Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Renato Frascolla
| Born | 24 Jan 1911 | Taranto |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
In May 1940 put on disponibility.GLAUCO (T.V. First Officer): from September 1940? to March 1941+.
In June 1942, unavailable because of health reasons.
ARGENTO (T.V. C.O.): from 25.11.1942 to 11.04.1943.
Promoted to C.C. in February 1943.
LUIGI SETTEMBRINI (C.C. C.O.): from 16.06.1943 to 18.10.1943.
MARCANTONIO BRAGADINO (C.C. C.O.): from 17.12.1943 to 09.03.1944.
TURCHESE (C.C. C.O.): from 01.04.1944 to 13.09.1944.
RUGGIERO SETTIMO (C.C. C.O.): from 27.09.1944 to 30.11.1944.
Commands listed for Renato Frascolla
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argento (AG) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 25 Nov 1942 | 11 Apr 1943 |
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | Ocean going | C.C. | 16 Jun 1943 | 18 Oct 1943 |
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | Minelaying | C.C. | 17 Dec 1943 | 9 Mar 1944 |
| Turchese (TC) | Coastal / Sea going | C.C. | 1 Apr 1944 | 13 Sep 1944 |
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | Ocean going | C.C. | 27 Sep 1944 | 30 Nov 1944 |
Ships hit by Renato Frascolla
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Renato Frascolla
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argento (AG) | 7 Dec 1942 | 0817 | Cagliari | 7 Dec 1942 | 1215 | Cagliari | 23 | Exercises. | ||
| 1. | Argento (AG) | 10 Dec 1942 | 1725 | Cagliari | 23 Dec 1942 | 0915 | Cagliari | 1592,5 | Sailed with the submarine Corallo for a patrol between 37°40'N and 38°00'N, and between 08°20'E and 08°40'E. Ordered to carry out a reconnaissance of Bougie on the night of 12/13th December. | |
| 12 Dec 1942 | 0110-0235 | 37° 41'N, 7° 24'E | At 0110 hours, the light from a vessel was sighted. The submarine dived to listen with the hydrophones. It appeared to be a small vessel. At 0125 hours, the submarine surfaced and moved away with the stern tubes loaded and ready for action if necessary. At 0200 hours, the shadow was sighted at a distance of 4,000 metres and was later recognised to be a submarine chaser or corvette. Argento turned away on the surface. | |||||||
| 13 Dec 1942 | 0045 | 36° 55'N, 5° 30'E | At 0045 hours, three corvettes following a small patrol vessel were sighted at a distance of 5,000 metres. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 14 Dec 1942 | 2125 | 37° 54'N, 8° 14'E | At 2125 hours, a submarine, believed to be Mocenigo, was sighted on a northerly course. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 15 Dec 1942 | 0515 | 38° 00'N, 8° 37'E | At 0515 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 15 Dec 1942 | 2035 | 37° 46'N, 8° 37'E | At 2035 hours, a submarine was sighted at a distance, steering 080°. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 15 Dec 1942 | 2200 | 37° 51'N, 8° 32'E | At 2200 hours, an enemy submarine was sighted at 1,500 metres. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 21 Dec 1942 | 0030 | 38° 07'N, 8° 25'E | At 0030 hours, a submarine was sighted diving at a distance of 1,500 metres. Argento returned to her patrol area. | |||||||
| 21 Dec 1942 | 2035 | 37° 44'N, 8° 21'E | At 2035 hours, a submarine was sighted. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 22 Dec 1942 | 2155-2215 | 38° 01'N, 8° 48'E | At 2155 hours, a submarine was sighted proceeding on a northerly course at high speed. It made garbled signals, one of them ending with "LLO". It was initially believed to be Corallo. Argento closed to 2,000 meters, but then realised it could not be Corallo as the distance from her patrol zone would have been too great. Argento kept her bow on the submarine, which finally submerged and, at 2350 hours, Argento resumed her northerly course. This was P 247 (Lieutenant M.G.R. Lumby, DSC, RN) (later named HMS Saracen). She had sighted the Italian submarine making quite a bit of smoke, steering 270° at 8 knots. She apparently sighted Argento again nearly two hours later. | |||||||
| Argento (AG) | 31 Dec 1942 | 0809 | Cagliari | 31 Dec 1942 | 1230 | Cagliari | 35 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Argento (AG) | 4 Jan 1943 | 0415 | Cagliari | 6 Jan 1943 | 2235 | Cagliari | 322 | Sailed for a patrol off Bizerta, between 37°40'N and 38°00'N, and between 09°20'E and 09°40'E, then ordered to a position 80 miles to the northwest. Her starboard diesel broke down and the patrol was aborted. | |
| Argento (AG) | 19 Jan 1943 | 0820 | Cagliari | 19 Jan 1943 | 1300 | Cagliari | 32 | Trials and exercises. | ||
| 3. | Argento (AG) | 20 Jan 1943 | 2330 | Cagliari | 31 Jan 1943 | 1149 | Cagliari | ? | Sailed with the submarine Wolframio for a patrol east of Bougie, between 37°20'N and 38°00'N, and between 06°00'E and 06°20'E. On 24th January, she was ordered to reconnoitre Bougie and her patrol area was changed to between 37°20'N and the Algerian coast, and between 05°20'E and 05°40'E. | |
| 21 Jan 1943 | 0240 | (0) About 20 miles SW of Cagliari. | The submarine Wolframio was sighted. She was returning from patrol. | |||||||
| 21 Jan 1943 | 2218 | 38° 07'N, 6° 38'E | At 2218 hours, an aircraft, identified as a Vickers Wellington bomber, was sighted and it attacked from the moonlight. It violently strafed the submarine, passing astern of her and also firing with her rear guns as Argento replied with her machine-guns. The aircraft made two other strafing runs passing astern at 400-500 metres. It appeared to have been hit and flew away. At 2235 hours, the submarine took the opportunity to submerge. It is possible that this was Wellington 'U' of was 179 Squadron (see attack of 0400 hours on 22nd January). | |||||||
| 22 Jan 1943 | 0400-0435 | 37° 58'N, 6° 51'E | At 0400 hours, an aircraft was seen attacking from the moonlight at an altitude of 600 metres. It flew over the submarine at less than 100 metres away and was met by antiaircraft fire. The aircraft dropped four bombs, three narrowly missed to starboard and one fell on the port side of the submarine. It was then seen to be climbing to 800 metres before suddenly crashing in the sea. T.V. Renato Frascolla announced the success by the interphone to the crew members below and ordered cheers for the King and the Duce. At 0404 hours, Argento dived. The aircraft was most probably Wellington 'U' (HX.690) of 179 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer T.H. Gordon-Glassford. It failed to return to base and it is very likely this was the bomber shot down by Argento. At 0415 hours, four depth charges were heard and two more at 0435 hours. | |||||||
| 24 Jan 1943 | 2115 | 37° 25'N, 5° 41'E | At 2115 hours, a submarine was sighted steering between 270° and 300°. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 26 Jan 1943 | 1114 | 37° 20'N, 5° 38'E | At 1114 hours, a convoy was sighted at a range of 8-10,000 metres. It passed out of range. | |||||||
| 27 Jan 1943 | 0510 | 37° 21'N, 4° 22'E | At 0510 hours, a Wellington bomber was sighted. The submarine immediately dived. A large flame had just been sighted in the distance. | |||||||
| 29 Jan 1943 | 0346 | 37° 28'N, 5° 26'E | At 0346 hours, a submarine was sighted steering 190°. Argento turned away. | |||||||
| 29 Jan 1943 | 1103 | 37° 20'N, 5° 37'E | At 1103 hours, a large destroyer of the TRIBAL class was sighted proceeding at 20-25 knots, which appeared intent on ramming the submarine. Argento dived to 85 meters but was not attacked. | |||||||
| 29 Jan 1943 | 1842 | 37° 18'N, 5° 34'E | At 1825 hours, a vessel using ASDIC was detected with the hydrophones and noise from a turbine with weak intensity. At 1842 hours, four depth charges exploded, followed by six more patterns of four to six depth-charges but they caused no apparent damage. | |||||||
| Argento (AG) | 1 Feb 1943 | 1304 | Cagliari | 2 Feb 1943 | 0945 | La Maddalena | 224 | Passage Cagliari-La Maddalena. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 9 Feb 1943 | 1058 | La Maddalena | 10 Feb 1943 | 0849 | Cagliari | 224 | Passage La Maddalena-Cagliari. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 15 Feb 1943 | 0826 | Cagliari | 15 Feb 1943 | 1207 | Cagliari | 31 | Exercises. | ||
| 4. | Argento (AG) | 16 Feb 1943 | 2303 | Cagliari | 22 Feb 1943 | 0120 | Cagliari | 721 | She was sailed for a patrol between 37°40'N and the Algerian coast, and between 06°00'E and 06°20'E, off Philippeville (Skikda). | |
| 18 Feb 1943 | 0342 | 37° 36'N, 6° 36'E | At 0342 hours, an enemy twin-engine bomber was sighted at a distance of 7-8,000 metres. Argento dived 2 minutes later. | |||||||
| 18 Feb 1943 | 1104 | 37° 31'N, 6° 14'E | At 1104 hours, two corvettes were sighted at a distance of 1,000 metres. Argento did not attack hoping they may be preceding a convoy but nothing else was sighted. | |||||||
| 21 Feb 1943 | 1705 | 38° 46'N, 7° 40'E | At 1705 hours, a German Heinkel 111 bomber was sighted and exchanged recognition signals. | |||||||
| Argento (AG) | 26 Feb 1943 | 0821 | Cagliari | 26 Feb 1943 | 1305 | Cagliari | 22 | Exercises. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 28 Feb 1943 | 2115 | Cagliari | 1 Mar 1943 | 0752 | Cagliari | 31 | Exercises. | ||
| 1 Mar 1943 | 1317 1212.5 (e) | (0) 105° - Cavoli Island - 5 miles. | At 1317 hours, Argento sighted three torpedo tracks 40 metres on the starboard bow. The submarine turned hard to starboard. This was an attack by the Dutch submarine Dolfijn (Lieutenant Commander H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede). At 1300 hours, she had sighted the submarine, described as GEMMA or SIRENA class, on course 070° then 110° and fired four torpedoes at 1312.5 hours, from a distance of 3,500 yards. All missed ahead. The auxiliary Idria hunted the Dutch submarine with 50-kg depth charges set at 50 and 100 metres and believed the submarine damaged or sunk at 1620 hours, in position 022° - Cavoli Island - 11 miles. Dolfijn only heard distant explosions. | |||||||
| Argento (AG) | 1 Mar 1943 | 1040 | Cagliari | 2 Mar 1943 | 0922 | La Maddalena | 250 | Passage Cagliari-La Maddalena via (1) Point B Cagliari (2) 39°20'N, 10°20'E (3) 41°00'N, 10°20'E (4) Point A; 40°55'N, 09°30'E. She was followed by Argo. | ||
| 1 Mar 1943 | 1317 1212.5 (e) | (0) 105° - Cavoli Island - 5 miles. | At 1317 hours, Argento sighted three torpedo tracks 40 metres on the starboard bow. The submarine turned hard to starboard. This was an attack by the Dutch submarine Dolfijn (Lieutenant Commander H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede). At 1300 hours, she had sighted the submarine, described as GEMMA or SIRENA class, on course 070° then 110° and fired four torpedoes at 1312.5 hours, from a distance of 3,500 yards. All missed ahead. The auxiliary Idria hunted the Dutch submarine with 50-kg depth charges set at 50 and 100 metres and believed the submarine damaged or sunk at 1620 hours, in position 022° - Cavoli Island - 11 miles. Dolfijn only heard distant explosions. | |||||||
| Argento (AG) | 12 Mar 1943 | 1155 | La Maddalena | 13 Mar 1943 | 0800 | Naples | 250 | Passage La Maddalena-Naples. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 5 Apr 1943 | 0915 | Naples | 5 Apr 1943 | 1130 | Pozzuoli | 16 | Passage Naples-Pozzuoli. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 9 Apr 1943 | 0830 | Pozzuoli | 9 Apr 1943 | 1312 | Pozzuoli | 34 | Exercises. | ||
| Argento (AG) | 10 Apr 1943 | 0820 | Pozzuoli | 10 Apr 1943 | 1155 | Pozzuoli | 20,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 17 Jun 1943 | 0935 | Pola | 17 Jun 1943 | 1310 | Pola | 19 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 18 Jun 1943 | 1410 | Pola | 18 Jun 1943 | 2020 | Pola | 15 | Demagnetization. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 19 Jun 1943 | 1435 | Pola | 19 Jun 1943 | 1857 | Pola | 22 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 21 Jun 1943 | 0803 | Pola | 21 Jun 1943 | 1915 | Pola | 23 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 22 Jun 1943 | 0805 | Pola | 22 Jun 1943 | 1305 | Pola | 32 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 22 Jun 1943 | 1439 | Pola | 22 Jun 1943 | 1852 | Pola | 24 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 25 Jun 1943 | 0850 | Pola | 25 Jun 1943 | 1125 | Pola | 16,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 28 Jun 1943 | 0720 | Pola | 28 Jun 1943 | 1245 | Pola | 28 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 28 Jun 1943 | 1430 | Pola | 28 Jun 1943 | 1800 | Pola | 18 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 30 Jun 1943 | 0735 | Pola | 30 Jun 1943 | 1250 | Pola | 31 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 30 Jun 1943 | 1430 | Pola | 30 Jun 1943 | 1915 | Pola | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 1 Jul 1943 | 0815 | Pola | 1 Jul 1943 | 1203 | Pola | 21 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 2 Jul 1943 | 0800 | Pola | 2 Jul 1943 | 1335 | Pola | 28 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 8 Jul 1943 | 0800 | Pola | 8 Jul 1943 | 1335 | Pola | 38 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 8 Jul 1943 | 1500 | Pola | 8 Jul 1943 | 1815 | Pola | 24 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 10 Jul 1943 | 0815 | Pola | 10 Jul 1943 | 1125 | Pola | 22,5 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 10 Jul 1943 | 1415 | Pola | 10 Jul 1943 | 1750 | Pola | 25 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 15 Jul 1943 | 0015 | Pola | 16 Jul 1943 | 1520 | Brindisi | 392 | Passage Pola-Brindisi. | ||
| 16 Jul 1943 | 1408 1403 (e) | (e) 40° 41'N, 18° 18'E (0) 050° - Cape Gallo (of Brindisi) - 10 miles. | A torpedo track was sighted crossing Settembrini's wake 200 metres astern. This was one of six torpedoes fired at her by HMS Tactician (Lieutenant Commander A.F. Collett, DSC, RN). The submarine increased speed and turned to starboard and a second torpedo missed her 15 metres astern. Frascola estimated that they were fired from 2,500 to 3,000 metres. Settembrini successively sighted the torpedo-boat Stocco and the submarine Menotti and informed them of the presence of the enemy submarine. | |||||||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 27 Jul 1943 | 1340 | Brindisi | 27 Jul 1943 | 1925 | Brindisi | 25 | Trials. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 29 Jul 1943 | 1320 | Brindisi | 29 Jul 1943 | 1855 | Brindisi | 28 | Tests. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 9 Aug 1943 | 1954 | Brindisi | 12 Aug 1943 | 0710 | Taranto | 328 | Passage Brindisi-Taranto. Uneventful. | ||
| 5. | Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 15 Aug 1943 | 0500 | Taranto | 23 Aug 1943 | 0730 | Taranto | 753,5 | Patrolled in Ionian Sea, between 37°49'N and 38°02'N, and between 15°36'E and 16°00'E. | |
| 22 Aug 1943 | 0310-0315 | 38° 14'N, 17° 15'E | A violent naval bombardment was observed coming from the direction of Crotone. The submarine attempted to close, but lost contact with the enemy force. Jalea also witnessed of the same bombardment. | |||||||
| 6. | Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 3 Sep 1943 | 0208 | Taranto | 10 Sep 1943 | 1630 | Augusta | 998 | Sailed for patrol between 38°39'N and Italian coast, 16°45'E and 16°54'E, then diverted to Augusta to surrender. | |
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 18 Sep 1943 | 0600 | Augusta | 18 Sep 1943 | 1650 | Malta | 119 | Passage Augusta-Malta. | ||
| Luigi Settembrini (ST) | 3 Oct 1943 | 0830 | Marsa Scirocco (Malta) | 3 Oct 1943 | 1100 | Sliema (Malta) | 17 | Passage Marsa Scirocco-Sliema (Malta). | ||
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | 17 Dec 1943 | Taranto | 9 Mar 1944 | Taranto | Refit in Taranto. | |||||
| Turchese (TC) | 1 Apr 1944 | Brindisi | 13 Sep 1944 | Brindisi | Refit in Brindisi. Change in command. | |||||
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | 27 Sep 1944 | 0631 | Taranto | 27 Sep 1944 | 1900 | Taranto | 44,6 | Exercises. | ||
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | 7 Nov 1944 | 1145 | Taranto | 7 Nov 1944 | 2100 | Taranto | 39 | Exercises. | ||
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | 14 Nov 1944 | 0625 | Taranto | 14 Nov 1944 | 1144 | Taranto | 24,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | 21 Nov 1944 | 0613 | Taranto | 21 Nov 1944 | 1430 | Taranto | 31,4 | Exercises. | ||
| Ruggiero Settimo (RS) | 25 Nov 1944 | 0605 | Taranto | 25 Nov 1944 | 1615 | Taranto | 38 | Exercises with the torpedo boats Animoso, Sirio and Ariete and the corvettes Folaga, Driade and Danaide. | ||
67 entries. 49 total patrol entries (6 marked as war patrols) and 25 events.