Italian submarine Console Generale Liuzzi

The launch of Console Generale Liuzzi in 1939
History
Italy
Name	Console Generale Liuzzi
Builder	Tosi, Taranto
Laid down	1 October 1938
Launched	17 September 1939
Fate	Sunk, 27 June 1940
General characteristics
Class and type	Liuzzi-class submarine
Displacement	1,166 tons surfaced 1,484 dived
Length	252.5 ft (77.0 m)
Beam	23 ft (7.0 m)
Draught	13.7 ft (4.2 m)
Propulsion	2 × Tosi diesels 2 × Ansaldo electric motors
Speed	18 kn (33 km/h) (surfaced)
Complement	58
Armament	1 × 100 mm (4 in) deck gun 4 × 13.2mm machine-guns 8 × 21-inch torpedo tubes

Console Generale Liuzzi was an Italian Liuzzi-class ocean-going submarine of the Regia Marina, launched in 1939 and sunk in 1940 by Royal Navy destroyers. It was named after Alberto Liuzzi (1898–1937), a console generale (brigadier general) of the Blackshirts.

Design

Armament

The four submarines of the Liuzzi-class were armed with a single 100 mm (4 in) deck gun, four 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns in twin mounts and eight 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes, with four reloads for a total of twelve torpedoes carried.

History

Liuzzi was built at the Tosi Shipyard in Taranto. She was laid down on 1 October 1938 and launched on 17 September 1939.

Loss

Liuzzi was attacked on 27 June 1940 by the British destroyers Dainty, Ilex, Decoy, Defender and the Australian destroyer Voyager south of Crete; fatally damaged, she was abandoned and scuttled. Her commanding officer at the time of the attack was Capitano di Corvetta Lorenzo Bezzi. He received the Italian Navy Gold Medal in recognition of the choice to go down with his ship after ordering his crew to abandon the sinking submarine.

Legacy

Even if the submarine was destroyed without sinking any enemy ships, it is remembered because of the sacrifice of its commander Lorenzo Bezzi. The Italian Submarine Naval school in Taranto was named in his honour.

External links

• Liuzzi Class submarines at Photo Gallery of World War II
• Console Generale Liuzzi Marina Militare website