The ''Liuzzi'' class was a class of four

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s built by Tosi in Taranto for the

Royal Italian Navy 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'' (" ...

( it, Regia Marina). The submarines were built in 1939 and began their Second World War service in the Mediterranean Sea, where ''Liuzzi'' was sunk. The three surviving boats were transferred to the BETASOM Atlantic submarine base at Bordeaux in 1940. After ''Tarantini'' was sunk, ''Bagnolini'' and ''Giuliani'' were selected for conversion to " transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from between 20 and 25% to between 3.5 and 6%; and armament was reduced to defensive machine guns. They submarines saw action in the Second World War during which they collectively sunk 5 freighters and 1 light cruiser and were eventually either sunk or captured.

Ships

''Console Generale Liuzzi''

was launched 17 September 1939. Two weeks after the Italian declaration of war, ''Liuzzi'' was sunk by Royal Navy

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 in ...

s south of Crete on 27 June 1940.

''Alpino Bagnolini''

''Bagnolini'' (

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

BI) was launched 28 October 1939 and completed on 22 December 1939. ''Bagnolini'' was at sea when Italy declared war, and torpedoed the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

south of Crete on 12 June 1940. A second Mediterranean war patrol was unsuccessful. ''Bagnolini'' sailed on 9 September 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 13 September for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 30 September. En route ''Bagnolini'' torpedoed the neutral Spanish freighter ''Gabo Tortosa''. ''Bagnolini'' sank a single ship on its first BETASOM patrol before being damaged by anti-submarine patrols. A July 1941 patrol off Gibraltar and a patrol off the Azores from 18 January to 22 February 1942 were unsuccessful; and three patrols to the South Atlantic from 24 April to 28 June, from 15 September to 7 November 1942, and from 14 February to 13 April 1943 were similarly unproductive. After conversion to a German transport submarine, ''Bagnolini'' sailed as ''UIT-22'' on 26 January 1944 and was sunk off the

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by No. 262 Squadron RAF Consolidated PBY Catalinas on 11 March.Brice pp. 145–149

''Reginaldo Giuliani''

''Giuliani'' (pennant number GN) was launched 3 December 1939. After two unsuccessful Mediterranean war patrols, ''Giuliani'' sailed on 29 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 10 September for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 30 September. After an unsuccessful BETASOM patrol in November, ''Giuliani'' sailed on 16 March 1941 to serve as a training submarine at Gdynia to instruct Italian officers in attack techniques and methodologies employed by the Germans. From April 1941 to April 1942 training courses of two to five weeks including Baltic Sea cruises of ten to twenty days were completed by seven Italian crews. ''Giuliani'' returned to Bordeaux on 23 May 1942. ''Giuliani'' sank three ships during a patrol off the Cape Verde Islands from 24 June to 3 September 1942. ''Giuliani'' remained in the Spanish port of Santander, Cantabria until 8 November 1942 repairing damage inflicted by Short Sunderlands on 1 September and No. 304 Squadron's Wellington on 2 September. After return to France and conversion to a transport submarine, ''Giuliani'' sailed on 16 May 1943 with 130 tonnes of

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

and reached Singapore on 1 August 1943.Brice pp. 131–133 When Italy surrendered on 8 September 1943 ''Giuliani'' was seized by Germany in Singapore and renamed ''UIT-23''. ''UIT-23'' sailed for France on 15 February 1944 with 135 tonnes of rubber and 70 tonnes of tin, and was torpedoed three days later by . There were 14 survivors from the crew of forty.

''Capitano Tarantini''

''Tarantini'' (pennant number TT) was launched 7 January 1940 and was on patrol in the Mediterranean when Italy declared war. ''Tarantini'' sank one ship on its second Mediterranean war patrol, but then had two unsuccessful patrols. ''Tarantini'' sailed on 31 August 1940 and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on 10 September for an Atlantic patrol to Bordeaux on 5 October. ''Tarantini'' began its first BETASOM patrol on 11 November and was torpedoed by in the Gironde estuary while returning to base on 15 December 1940. Five of the crew were rescued.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Brice, Martin ''Axis Blockade Runners of World War II'' (1981) Naval Institute Press * Erminio Bagnasco, ''Submarines of World War Two'', Cassell & Co, London. 1977 * Kafka, Roger & Pepperburg, Roy L. ''Warships of the World'' Cornell Maritime Press (1946)