Salvatore Pelosi (10 April 1906 – 24 October 1974) was an Italian naval officer who fought in

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 ...

. As commander of the submarine '' Torricelli'' he made a gallant last stand against overwhelming British naval forces in June 1940.

Early career

Pelosi was born in

Montella Montella is an Italian town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Avellino, Campania, with a population of 7,699. The zone was inhabited already in the neolithic period. The town was founded by the Samnites in the 1st millennium BC ...

, in the

province of Avellino The Province of Avellino ( it, Provincia di Avellino) is a province in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The area is characterized by numerous small towns and villages scattered across the province; only two towns have a population over 20,0 ...

, and entered the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

in 1921. In 1923 he was commissioned as a junior officer, and served aboard the battleship , and then the cruiser in the Far East, where he also served in the San Marco Battalion based at the

Italian concession of Tientsin The Italian concession of Tianjin (, it, Concessione italiana di Tientsin) was a small territory ( concession) in central Tianjin (formerly romanized as Tientsin), China, controlled by the Kingdom of Italy between 1901 and 1943, officially ced ...

. He returned to Italy to attend the Advanced Course at the Naval Academy, specializing in gunnery. He was promoted to '' Tenente di Vascello'' and served aboard the destroyers ''

Bettino Ricasoli Bettino Ricasoli, 1st Count of Brolio, 2nd Baron Ricasoli (; 9 March 180923 October 1880) was an Italian statesman. He was a central figure in the politics of Italy during and after the unification of Italy. He led the Moderate Party. Biography ...

'' and ''

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'' as gunnery officer, then aboard the cruiser as navigating officer. In 1933 he was transferred to the cruiser , in which he took part in operations during the conflict with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in 1935/36. He later commanded a squadron of

torpedo boats A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

in Sicily, and also took part in operations during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. He was promoted to '' Capitano di corvetta'', and commanded several submarines before taking command of the '' Torricelli'' at the start of the war.

Red Sea

In 1940 Pelosi was the commander of the submarine ''Torricelli'', part of the

Red Sea Flotilla The Red Sea Flotilla (''Flottiglia del mar rosso'') was part of the ''Regia Marina Italia'' (Italian Royal Navy) based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During World War II, the Red Sea Flotilla was active a ...

based in

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...

, Eritrea. ''Toricelli'' was on patrol in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

on 23 June 1940 when she was intercepted by a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

squadron comprising the destroyers , , and the sloop off

Perim Perim ( ar, بريم 'Barīm'', also called Mayyun in Arabic, is a volcanic island in the Strait of Mandeb at the south entrance into the Red Sea, off the south-west coast of Yemen and belonging to Yemen. It administratively belongs to Dhuba ...

. The ''Torricelli'' was trapped on the surface and unable to dive due to damage from a previous attack. Pelosi fought back with

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

and torpedoes at close range, and hit the ''Shoreham'', but with his submarine heavily damaged, and himself badly wounded, he eventually ordered that the submarine be

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

. He had elected to stay aboard and go down with his boat, but his men dragged him off the sinking submarine. A shell from the ''Torricelli'' may have also hit ''Khartoum'', which hours later suffered from an explosion and fire in a magazine. She was forced to beach and was later written off. Pelosi was awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor 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 ...

for this action, and spent the rest of the war as a

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

Post-war

Pelosi was repatriated in 1945 and was promoted to '' Capitano di fregata'', with seniority from 1942. He first served as Chief of Staff of Submarine Command, and later as Commander of Submarines. In 1948, after the period in command of the destroyer '' Alfredo Oriani'', he was promoted to ''

Capitano di vascello The rank insignia of the Italian Navy are worn on epaulettes of shirts and white jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels. Rank structure Officers Notes: 1 The rank of ''"ammiraglio"'' (admiral) is assigned to the only naval off ...

''. He attended the ''Istituto di Guerra Marittima'', and from December 1949 to August 1951 was commander of Italian Naval Forces in the

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, before serving as Chief of Staff at the maritime department of the lower Tyrrhenian. From 1952 to 1953 he was commander of Coastal Naval Forces, and then served aboard the cruiser as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Naval Division until July 1954, when he was appointed Chief of Staff at the Maritime Military Command of Sicily. Pelosi was a promoted to ''

Contrammiraglio The rank insignia of the Italian Navy are worn on epaulettes of shirts and white jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels. Rank structure Officers Notes: 1 The rank of ''"ammiraglio"'' (admiral) is assigned to the only naval off ...

'' on 1 January 1957, and attended the ''Centro Alti Studi Militari'' ("Center for High Military Studies"), and served as Inspector of the ''Corpi Equipaggi Militari Marittimi'' (CEMM) Schools. After promotion to '' Ammiraglio di divisione'', he served as commander of the Autonomous Maritime Military Command in Sicily, and on promotion to ''

Ammiraglio di squadra The rank insignia of the Italian Navy are worn on epaulettes of shirts and white jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels. Rank structure Officers Notes: 1 The rank of ''"ammiraglio"'' (admiral) is assigned to the only naval off ...

'' in 1964, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Maritime Department of the Ionian and Lower Adriatic Sea, and also served as President of the ''Commissione Ordinaria di Avanzamento'' ("Ordinary Commission of Promotion"). He also served as President of the ''Consiglio Superiore di Marina'' ("Superior Council of the Navy"). In 1969, having reached the mandatory age limit, he retired. Pelosi died on 24 October 1974. A , the ''S522 Pelosi'', is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelosi 1906 births 1974 deaths People from the Province of Avellino Regia Marina personnel of World War II Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Italian admirals Submarine commanders