Italian Submarine " COMANDANTE FAA' DI BRUNO "

(translation by the courtesy of Mr. D'Adamo - www.regiamarina.net)

This submarine (commonly called FAA DI BRUNO) was one of the two boats (the other one was the Smg. COMMANDER CAPPELLINI) of the class MARCELLO “improved”. They were both built by the O.T.O. shipyard of Muggiano (La Spezia) between 1938 and 1939, and were named after two Italian Captains who fought in the battle of Lissa.

The FAA DI BRUNO was laid down on April 28th, 1938, launched on June 18th, 1939, and delivered to the Regia Marina the on October 23rd, 1939.

Technical specifications:

- Displacement: 1.059 t (surfaced) - 1.313 t (submerged)
- Max Diving Depth. : 100 m (safety factor 3)
- Dimensions: 73 m (Lenght) - 7,2 m (Beam) - 5,09 m (Draft)
- Engines Power: 3.000 HP (Diesel) - 1.100 HP (electric)
- Max Speed: 17 kts (surf.) - 8 kts (subm.)
- Range: surfaced: 2.825NM (at 17 kts) in overload; 9.760 NM (at 8 kts) in overload; submerged: 110 NM (at 3 kts) - 8 NM (at 8 kts)
- Armament: 8 x 533 mm torp. tubes (4 bow and 4 aft); 2 deck guns 100 mm/47 cal.; 2 Anti-Aircraft guns 13.2 mm
- Crew: 57 (7 Officers).

Here, in synthesis, its short history.

Upon Italy’s entry into World War II (June 10th, 1940), the FAA DI BRUNO, under the commando of the Lieutenant Aldo ENRICI, was assigned to the 12ª Squadron of 1° the Submarine division based in La Spezia.

After two missions in the Mediterranean (from the 10th to the 16th of June and from the 15th to the 23rd of July 1940, off the cost of Oran), the boat was destined to operate in Atlantic. Assigned to BETASOM, the Command of the Italian Submarines base of Bordeaux, the FAA DI BRUNO departed La Spezia on August 28th, 1940 and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar between the 2nd and the 3rd of September. The underwater crossing was troubled by a strong submarine currents; with the sounding apparatus damaged, the boat twice sank to 140 meters, also crawling on the bottom, but fortunately without damages.

Crossed the strait, the boat moved to its patrol area south of the Azores, where it remained from the 8th to the 24th of September. During this period, it made five sightings, three of which were follow by attacks, damaging vessels on the 8th and the 19th. On the 9th, the British tanker AURIS of 8,000 t. was also damaged. This ship was destined to become victim of an Italian submarine: on June 28th, 1941 it was sank with four torpedoes by the Smg. DA VINCI (Lieutenant Ferdinando Calda), just North of Madeira. On September 24th, the boat left the patrol area navigating to Bordeaux were it arrived on October 5th, 1940.

On the 31st of October, the FAA DI BRUNO departed for its first, and unfortunately only mission in Atlantic: patrolling west of Scotland. It was assigned the zone between 57°20’N and 58°20 N, west of the 20° meridian west. It should have re-entered on the 5th of January 1941.

After the departure all contacts to with the boat were lost. The causes of its loss are still unknown. The enemy could have sunk it, but it could have also succumbed to a breakdown, possibly due to the rough sea, which in that season plagues the North Atlantic; or due to an internal fault, such as the explosion of hydrogen gas from the batteries. We do not even know if the boat even reached the assigned patrol area.

Bases on British documentation, in the post-war period it was possible to attribute the sinking of the FAA DI BRUNO to the British destroyer HMS HAVELOCK, which reported having attacked, on November 8th in position 56°01’N, 17°50’W, a submerged submarine and having seen emerge broken off pieces, air bubbles, and fuel.

Later, and considering that the events reported by the HAVELOCK had happened in a zone much distant from that the FAA DI BRUNO would have crossed, a more accurate study of the positions and the events indicated that the boat attacked by the British vessel was the Smg. MARCONI. From this attack, the MARCONI had escaped almost unharmed.

Therefore, it is not even possible to define when this boat was lost and we have to conceal its loss under the generic and bureaucratic label “lost on an undefined date between October 31st, 1940 and May 1st, 1941”.

With the FAA DI BRUNO, first Italian submarine lost in Atlantic, disappeared:

- Cap.Corv. Aldo ENRICI, Comandante (CO)
- Ten.Vasc. Corrado BISA’, Ufficiale in 2ª (XO)
- Cap. GN Sergio ZIGROSSI, Direttore di Macchina (CE)
- S.T.V. Loris SANTON
- G.M. Vittorio ARNONE
- Ten. GN Piergiorgio PINNA
- Ten. GN Carlo FRUMENTO

- C°2ª Romeo BICCHERI
- C°2ª Riccardo PASSERONI
- C°3ª Lilio CECCANTI
- C°3ª Teodoro LANZILLO
- 2°C° Aristide DE MARCELLO
- 2°C° Eligio FRUSTA
- 2°C° Mario NOVELLI
- 2°C° Osvaldo PATRUCCO
- Sgt. Alfredo AVIGLIANO
- Sgt. Carlo CHIARUGI
- Sgt. Valentino CHIESA
- Sgt. Francesco RAFFA
- Sc. Pasquale AGOSTO
- Sc. Libero BAGARINI
- Sc. Edmondo DE BARBIERI
- Sc. Giovanni DONATO
- Sc. Armando GERI
- Sc. Giuseppe MOTTINI
- Sc. Francesco VELLAN
- Com. Amilcare ANELLI
- Com. Enrico BORIOLI
- Com. Venanzio BULGHERINI
- Com. Battista CORSETTI
- Com. Giuseppe COZZOLINO
- Com. Mario DE SIMONE
- Com. Antonio FILIPPIN
- Com. Vincenzo FORLENZA
- Com. Pasquale GAMBONE
- Com. Angelo GIASTI
- Com. Alessandro GIUSSO
- Com. Michele LA FRANCESCA
- Com. Carmelo LA PLACA
- Com. Francesco LEONARDI
- Com. Andrea LOFFREDO
- Com. Corrado LORENZINI
- Com. Romeo MAMINI
- Com. Antonino NICOLOSI
- Com. Gregorio PAGNOTTA
- Com. Giovanni PAINI
- Com. Giuseppe PALAZZO
- Com. Cesare POZZI
- Com. Giacinto PRATOLA
- Com. Michele RICEVUTI
- Com. Salvatore TRAPANESE
- Com. Angelo TROIAN
- Com. Vincenzo VENDOLA
- Com. Antonio VILLA
- Com. G. Teodoro ZANDONELLA

Honour to Them !

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