Tazzoli / di Cossato, 5-Mar-1942
The exploits of Count Carlo Fecia di Cossato aboard the submarine Enrico Tazzoliare carefully detailed in the chapters on the Cygnet, Daytonian and Athelqeen, so it will suffice to recap the salient points here. She began her patrol on the 2nd of February sailing for the Betasom Flotilla/joint venture based in Bordeaux. Her assigned area was to the east of Florida and the Bahamas – because she was so busy sinking ships she would never have the need to approach Florida directly.
Tazzoli was the first Italian sub sent to the region, but not the first to arrive, as we have seen the Finzi preceded her. On the way to the patrol area, according to Cristiano D’Adamo of RegiaMarina.net, she encountered and fired three torpedoes at the 8,017-ton British tanker Rapana in daylight on March 3rd. Due to interference from the sea conditions, all missed, and the boat continued westwards.
Three days later, on March 6th, the Tazzoli came upon the 1,406-ton Dutch steamer Astreaand sank her. Later on that same day (a claim which is not supported by geography – the distances between the two reported sinkings being too far apart for even a fast boat to have covered in the same day), Tazzoli destroyed the Norwegian tanker Tonsbergfjordat 31 22N by 68 05W. There is evidence of the sinking in a photo of the Tazzoli crew displaying the Tonsbergfjord’s life ring on the conning tower, as well as extensive documentation at Warsailors.com.
Because the thirty-two surviving crew met survivors of the Montevideo, sunk by the same sub, and were rescued by the same ship (the Telamon) there is also ample evidence of how the Tonsbergfjordreached Haiti and then Curacao. The Montevideowas sunk on the 8th of March – she was a 5,785 steam ship from Uruguay which had been built in Italy (ironically) as the Adamelloin 1920. The position of her sinking is given as 29.13 north by 69.35 west.
Claims that the neutral ship was sunk by Germans inflamed anti-German nationalism in Uruguay and led to protests and that country’s eventual abandonment of its neutrality. Uruguay’s neutrality had crucially allowed the Germans to seek refuge there after the Battle of the River Plate earlier in the war on the cruiser Graf Spee.
Tazzoli’s next three attacks are carefully documented and verified elsewhere in this book – the Cygnet off San Salvador on the 10th of March, the British Daytonianoff Abaco on the 13th, and the Athelqueen, a large British tanker in ballast, also off Abaco on the 15th. The survivors of all three ships – over 100 in number – were landed in the Bahamas, eventually making Nassau. The Cygnetsurvivors were first led ashore at Dixon’s Point San Salvador by a boat skippered by the “one-legged American A.B. Narne”. They then voyaged on the Monarch of Nassau to the capital.
The Daytoniancrew were rescued at sea by – and travelled to the capital aboard – the Dutch ship Rotterdam, with one dead who was presumably buried at sea but possibly interred in Nassau. The Athelqueen’s crew rowed ashore at Hope Town Abaco, only to lose three members to drowning in the surf. The balance were brought to the capital in the government-chartered launch Constance S, the same ship which a week before had rescued the survivors of the O. A. Knudsen from southern Abaco (Knudsenwas sunk by a German not an Italian submarine, on 5 March 1942).
Because the Tazzoli had its starboard torpedo tubes damaged in the attack on the Athelqueen,it was forced to break off the patrol and make back for Bordeaux. Its arrival and passage up the Gironde estuary, with crew lining the rails, its impressive girth on display, and the damage visible, are well documented in photographs from a biography of di Cossato. She arrived on the 31st of March, culminating one of the most successful single missions to the region and of the war as a whole, with a ship attacked on average every day of the week for a period.
Count Carlo Fecia di Cossato was one of the most successful submarine commanders both in the Bahamas region and worldwide during World War II. di Cossato was born in Rome on the 25th of September 1908 to Carlo and Maria Luisa Gene. His was a noble Piedmont family and he was invested with the title of Earl, part of the Savoy dynasty.
He attended the Royal College at Moncalieri, run by the Barnabiti brothers. Naval service ran in di Cossato’s family: his father had lost an eye on the China station and his brother Luigi had received the silver medal for bravery for leadership during landings in Bargal, Somalia in 1925. Because Luigi had died during other exercises in Calabria, Carlo was denied his request to serve as an aircraft observer. Source: piombino-storia.blogspot.com/2010/09/capitano-carlo-fecia-di-cossato.html
In 1923 he completed the equivalent of high school and entered the Naval Academy in Leghorn, graduating in 1928 with the rank first of Midshipman and then of Acting Sub-Lieutenant at the age of 19. His early assignments were aboard the submarine Bausan, a crusier named Ancona, and a destroyer named Nicotera. After further classes he was assigned to the cruiser Libia in China, where he led amphibious troops in Shanghai. In 1933 the Libia returned to Italy and di Cossato participated in the defence of Massawa, in the Italian colony of Abyssinia.
After a brief staff asignment under Admiral De Feo in East Africa, Di Cossato’s next assignments were all in Libya – on the torpedo boat San Martino, Pollux and Alcione. During the Spanish Civil War he served on submarines, taking part in two special missions to the coast of Iberia. In 1939 he enrolled in submarine school. He became a Lieutenant aboard the submarine Menotti of the 34thSquadron in Messina. Then in the fall of 1940 he was transferred to Bordeaux France to join the Betasom flotilla, the joint venture between the Regia Marina and the German Kriegsmarine.
Di Cossato served as second in command to Victor Raccanelli on the Enrico Tazzoli. Together they sank the Yugoslav steamer Orao off Scotland, and the British Ardanhan on 14 January. Then in early 1941 he was promoted from Tenente di Vascello (Lieutenant), then to Capitano di Corvetta (Lieutenant Commander). The next promotion, all going well, would be Capitano di Fregata (Commander). Then on 5 April 1941 Raccanelli was removed from command and di Cossato was promoted and given his own command. After vigorous testing the boat began its first patrol just two days later. A week later they found and sank the British ship Aurillac. The Norwegian ships Fernlane Alfred Olsen followed. Di Cossato was establishing a level of success for himself in submarines.
On July 15th di Cossato and crew began another cruise from Bordeaux, this time to Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. He attacked a convoy on 10thAugust without success. On the 12th of August di Cassato was given unconfirmed credit for damaging a ship called either the Sangara or Zangara of British registry. On the 19th of August he sank the Norwegian tanker Sildra.
Later in the year, just before Christmas, the British cruisers HMS Devonshire and HMS Dorsetshire used Allied Enigma code-breaking to intercept and ship two of the most active German raiders of either world war: the Atlantis under Bernard Rogge, and the Python, in the southern Central Atlantic. This left over 414 men in need of rescue. As a result Admiral Donitz activated all the larger Italian submarines they could spare, reducing their manning to a minimum to make room for the passengers. In an extraordinary rescue, Tazolli and other Italian and German submarines managed to load 254 men on their deck casings and in a slow convoy proceed back to Saint Nazaire France by Christmas.
On a macro level, D’Adamo witeses that Donitz, “attempted to integrate the Italian forces in the Wolf-pack strategy, but the Italian boats were technically poor, slow to dive and possessed a large and easily detectable profile. As a result, most Italian submarines operated in the Central and Southern Atlantic in solitary missions.” Indeed it is precisely these kind of missions which the Finzi, Tazzoli, Morosini and Calvi undertook to the Bahamas area – lone wolves supported above all else by each other in the transfer of fuel and torpedoes in the operational area.
Enrico Tazzolibegan her patrol on the 2nd of February 1942, sailing from Bordeaux. Her assigned area was to the east of Florida and the Bahamas – because she was so busy sinking ships she would never have the need to approach Florida directly. Tazzoli was the first Italian sub sent to the region, but not the first to arrive, as the Finzi preceded her. On the way to the patrol area she encountered and fired three torpedoes at the British tanker Rapana in daylight on March 3rd. Due to interference from the sea conditions, all missed, and the boat continued westwards.
Three days later, on March 6th, the Tazzolicame upon the Dutch steamer Astreaand sank her. Later on that same day (a claim which is not supported by geography – the distances between the two reported sinkings being too far apart for even a fast boat to have covered in the same day), Tazzoli destroyed the Norwegian tanker Tonsbergfjord.
Because the 32surviving crew met survivors of the Montevideo, sunk by the same sub, and were rescued by the same ship (the Telamon) the story of how the Tonsbergfjord reached Haiti and then Curacao makes for colorful reading. The Montevideowas sunk on the 8th of March – she was a steam ship from Uruguay which had been built in Italy (ironically) as the Adamelloin 1920. Claims that the neutral ship was sunk by Germans inflamed anti-German nationalism in Uruguay and led to protests and that country’s eventual abandonment of its neutrality. Uruguay’s neutrality had crucially allowed the German cruiser Graf Spee to seek refuge there after the Battle of the River Plate earlier in the war.
Enrico Tazzoli was forced to break off the patrol and make back for Bordeaux. She arrived on the 31st of March, culminating one of the most successful single missions to the region and of the war as a whole, with a ship attacked on the average every day of the week for a period of six days. Tazzoli spent April and May undergoing maintenance and repairs, and the crew rested. Her next patrol would be to the Caribbean, but the submarine would access that area by a more southern route and bypass the Bahamas. She left port on the 18th of June and by the 2nd of August intercepted and sank the Greek Kastornear the equator. On the 6th of August, Tazzolisank the Norwegian ship Havsten. Two men were taken prisoner. Following this success, the boat returned to France on the 5th of September. Again, two months of repairs in the naval yard were required, having motored 10,348 miles over 71 days.
Di Cossato began his last patrol on the Tazzolion the 14th of November, 1942, bound for the coast of Brazil. On the 12th of December, they intercepted and sank the British ship Empire Hawk and apparently, on the same day, – though it is not confirmed – the Dutch ship Ombilin (named by others as the Sumatra). On the 21st of December, the boat is credited with attacking and sinking the British Queen City. On Christmas Day 1942, the crew found and sank the American Dona Aurora. Again, two of the crew were taken prisoner, and though seven died, 62 survived. It was to be the last ship sunk by Tazzoli under di Cossato’s command. The submarine returned to base in Bordeaux, on the 2nd of February 1943.
After roughly four years in submarines, di Cossato was transferred back to torpedo boats. He assumed command of the Aliseo in the Mediterranean. The Tazzoli, meanwhile, was stripped of its armament to enable it to serve as a supply boat to Japan. It left Bordeaux on the 16th of May 1943 loaded with 165 tons of materials. The following day, communication with the submarine was lost. According to Cristiano D’Adamo, it is likely that the USS Mackenzie sank the submarine by a depth-charge attack on either the 16th or the 22nd of May. As a result, all the officers and crew of the Enrico Tazzoli remain on “eternal patrol.”
The loss of his former crew mates, so soon after he left them, made di Cossato distraught. He suffered severely from what might today be called “survivor’s guilt.” Nevertheless, he again proved himself a dashing and capable commander when aboard the Aliseo, in an extremely fluid situation; in September 1943 he sank a number of German ships escaping the port of Bastia on the island of Corsica. However, he was overtaken by events larger than himself. The Italian navy surrendered, and as a consequence, officers were no longer required to swear allegiance to the King, but rather to the new government. Di Cossato could not accept those terms, and refused to serve. For this he was imprisoned and ignored.
Then the royal court would not receive him in Naples. To a man, whose family for generations had fought for noble causes, and whose busy life had been devoted to the same goals, it was too much for him. Unable to reunite with his family in the north due to the fighting there, and unwilling to take up arms with the Allies, he became deeply depressed.
The authorities were unsure exactly what to do with di Cossato. From Naples, in the last letter to his mother, dated August 21st 1944, he wrote: “For months I have been thinking about my sailors of the Tazzoli who are honorably on the bottom of the sea, and I think that my place is with them.” Carlo Fecia di Cossato took his own life the day he wrote his final letter, which he ended with the instructions: “Hug Father and sisters, and to you, Mother, all of my deep, untouched love. In this moment, I feel very close to you and you all and I am sure that you will not condemn me.”
SOURCES: Cristiano D’Adamo, www.regiamarina.net, 2011, Sir Holm Lawson, www.warsailors.com, 2011, Gudmundur Helgason, Rainer Kolbicz, www.uboat.net, 2013, Kenneth Wynn, U-boat Operations of the Second World War, Volume 1 and Volume 2, 1997, R. Busch, and H.-J. Röll, German U-boat Commanders of World War II, 1988, Franz Kurowski, Knights Cross Holders of the U-boat Service, Antonio Maronari, “The Submarine Which Didn’t Return”