Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia (30 August 1912 – 23 May 1943) was an officer in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Royal Navy (''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...

''), and was the highest-scoring Italian submarine captain of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

World War II

During the war, Gazzana-Priaroggia served on several submarines, most famously on the '' Enrico Tazzoli'' (as second-in-command of the fellow submarine ace

Carlo Fecia di Cossato Carlo Fecia di Cossato (25 September 1908 – 27 August 1944) was an officer in the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy), in command of submarines and torpedo boats during World War II. He was credited with the confirmed sinking of 23 enemy ships (16 ...

); then he was appointed commander of the ''Archimede'' and finally of . He was responsible for sinking 120,243 GRT (''Bruttoregistertonnen'', or BRT). With a higher score than Britain's Malcolm David Wanklyn in , or America's

Richard O'Kane Richard Hetherington O'Kane (February 2, 1911 – February 16, 1994) was a United States Navy submarine commander in World War II, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for commanding in the Pacific War against Japan to the most successful record o ...

in (both later sunk), Gazzana-Priaroggia and ''Leonardo da Vinci'' were the most successful non-German submariner and submarine in the conflict.Blair p.740 On 23 May 1943, Gazzana-Priaroggia, returning from his last successful patrol (for which he had earned a battlefield promotion to the rank of ''Capitano di corvetta''), died alongside his crew when the ''Leonardo da Vinci'' was sunk by the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

and the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

west of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

. He was posthumously awarded the

Medaglia d'oro al valor militare The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

and

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' ...

Legacy

Two submarines have been named after him. The USS ''Pickerel'' which was transferred from the US Navy in 1972 and a ''Sauro''-class submarine.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Blair, Clay, ''Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters, 1939-1942''.

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1996. * 1912 births 1943 deaths Regia Marina personnel Italian military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Submarine commanders Military personnel from Milan Captains who went down with the ship {{Italy-mil-bio-stub