The launch of Console Generale Liuzzi
The launch of Console Generale Liuzzi in 1939
History
Italy
NameConsole Generale Liuzzi
BuilderTosi, Taranto
Laid down1 October 1938
Launched17 September 1939
FateSunk, 27 June 1940
General characteristics
Class and typeLiuzzi-class submarine
Displacement
  • 1,166 tons surfaced
  • 1,484 dived[1]
Length252.5 ft (77.0 m)[2]
Beam23 ft (7.0 m)[2]
Draught13.7 ft (4.2 m)[2]
Propulsion
  • 2 × Tosi diesels
  • 2 × Ansaldo electric motors[1]
Speed18 kn (33 km/h) (surfaced)
Complement58[2]
Armament

Console Generale Liuzzi was an Italian Liuzzi-class ocean-going submarine of the Regia Marina, launched in 1939 and sunk in 1940 by Royal Navy destroyers. It was named after Alberto Liuzzi (1898–1937), a console generale (brigadier general) of the Blackshirts.

Design

Armament

The four submarines of the Liuzzi-class were armed with a single 100 mm (4 in) deck gun, four 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns in twin mounts and eight 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes, with four reloads for a total of twelve torpedoes carried.[2]

History

Liuzzi was built at the Tosi Shipyard in Taranto. She was laid down on 1 October 1938 and launched on 17 September 1939.

Loss

Liuzzi was attacked on 27 June 1940 by the British destroyers Dainty, Ilex, Decoy, Defender and the Australian destroyer Voyager south of Crete; fatally damaged, she was abandoned and scuttled.[3] Her commanding officer at the time of the attack was Capitano di Corvetta Lorenzo Bezzi. He received the Italian Navy Gold Medal in recognition of the choice to go down with his ship after ordering his crew to abandon the sinking submarine.[4]

Legacy

Even if the submarine was destroyed without sinking any enemy ships,[5] it is remembered because of the sacrifice of its commander Lorenzo Bezzi. The Italian Submarine Naval school in Taranto was named in his honour.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Liuzzi Class submarines at Photo Gallery of World War II". Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "World War II Archives Foundation". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  3. ↑ "US Navy Department Library - Italian World War II submarine losses". Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  4. ↑ History of the Submarine Liuzzi and the extreme sacrifice of her commander Bezzi (in Italian)
  5. ↑ Sinking by Italian submarines during WWII

33°46′0″N 27°27′0″E / 33.76667°N 27.45000°E / 33.76667; 27.45000

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