__NOTOC__ Enzo Grossi (

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 20 April 1908 -

Corato Corato ( Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Italy. It is located in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, in southeastern Italy. Founded by the Normans, it became subject to Alfonso V, king of Aragon, at the end of the 15th century, and later ...

, 11 August 1960); was an officer in the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

(Italian Navy) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life and the ''Barbarigo'' affair

During

he commanded the submarines ''Medusa'' and '' Barbarigo''. While commanding the latter, Grossi claimed that on May 20, 1942 he attacked and sank a ''Maryland''-class battleship. He also claimed that he had likewise torpedoed and sank a ''Mississippi''-class battleship on October 6, 1942. These attacks, widely publicized in Italy, gained him two Gold Medals of Military Valour and two promotions, respectively to ''Capitano di Fregata'' and to ''Capitano di Vascello'', despite the doubts of his immediate superior,

BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines particip ...

commander

Romolo Polacchini Romolo Polacchini (May 20, 1897 – October 16, 1968) was an Italian admiral during World War II. Early life and career Romolo Polacchini was born in La Spezia in 1897 and attended the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno from November 6, 1911 ...

. On 29 December 1942, Grossi replaced Polacchini as commander of the Italian submarines in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. After the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

, he joined the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, remaining to command the Atlantic base.

Postwar enquiries

After the war, Grossi fled abroad. A first enquiry in 1949 summarily concluded that Grossi and his crew had imagined everything, and stripped him of the promotions and medals he had received for the actions. Subsequently, in 1962 a new enquiry (motivated by imprecisions of the first one, also accused of being motivated by political reasons) concluded that the crew of the ''Barbarigo'' might have been under the belief of a successful attack, but criticized Grossi for his certainty about his sinkings, and did not restore his promotions and awards. It was established that in the first attack, Grossi had unsuccessfully attacked the cruiser USS Milwaukee, while on the second instance he had fired torpedoes at the corvette HMS Petunia (K 79), which likewise missed.Giorgerini, p. 539 and 541

Awards

* Italian ** Silver Medal for Military Valor (24 September 1940) ** Bronze Medal for Military Valor (June 1941) ** Bronze Medal for Military Valor (June 1942) ** War Cross for Military Valor (1942) * German ** Iron Cross, 2nd Class ** Iron Cross, 1st Class (11 September 1942) **

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

(7 October 1942)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Regia Marina personnel of World War II Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1908 births 1960 deaths Submarine commanders People stripped of awards {{Italy-mil-bio-stub