Romolo Polacchini
Romolo Polacchini | |
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Romolo Polacchini (20 May 1897 – 16 October 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 6 November 1911 to 7 June 1914, graduating as an ensign.[1] His first assignment was on the protected cruiser Etna; he then served on the battleships Dante Alighieri and Andrea Doria during World War I, receiving his first a War Merit Cross. In 1918, with the rank of sub-lieutenant, he became the executive officer of the submarine H 3, taking part in some missions in the Adriatic Sea.[1][2] He remained in the submarine branch after the war; in 1923 he received his first command, the submarine N 3.[1] In 1924 he was assigned for a year to the La Maddalena naval base; then, as a lieutenant, he was the commanding officer of the submarine H 1 and then (for four months) of the coastal torpedo boat 69 PN.[1][2] In the following year, after promotion to lieutenant commander, he was given command of the minelaying submarine X 2; in 1929 he commanded the submarine F 19.[1][3]
Between 1930 and 1931 Polacchini was the commanding officer of the submarine Tito Speri;[4] in 1931 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Ismail by the King of Egypt Fuad I, and in 1932 he was promoted to commander.[1] For some time he was given shore assignments in the Taranto Naval Department and the Castellammare di Stabia Naval Command.[1] In 1933 he served as deputy chief of staff on the light cruiser Alberto di Giussano and then on its sistership Giovanni delle Bande Nere.[1] He then commanded the submarines Argonauta, Otaria and the Taranto Submarine Group, after which he participated in some clandestine missions during the Spanish Civil War in command of the submarines Des Geneys and Santorre Santarosa.[1] In 1936 he was promoted to captain and appointed commander of the Venice Naval Base.[1]
World War II and later years
In 1940 Polacchini was given command of the light cruiser
On 15 April 1941 Polacchini became chief of staff of the Italian BETASOM Atlantic submarine base in Bordeaux, replacing Captain Aldo Cocchia.[5] After promotion to rear admiral, on 18 September 1941, he replaced Vice Admiral Angelo Parona as the commanding officer of BETASOM. During Polacchini's command, BETASOM submarines saw the peak in their activity, successfully participating in Operation Neuland and obtaining their greatest successes.[6] During this period, Polacchini was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy by Italy, and the Iron Cross first class and second class by Germany.[1]
Probably as a result of his vocal skepticism concerning the claimed sinking of two American battleships by submarine commander Enzo Grossi, on 29 December 1942 Polacchini was called back to Italy, with Grossi replacing him as the commander of BETASOM.[1][7][8] In January 1943 Polacchini was given command of the Palermo Naval Command; he participated in the organization of supply convoys to North Africa during the Tunisian campaign, receiving a Silver Medal of Military Valor for his efforts while Palermo was subjected to heavy Allied bombings.[1]
In June 1943 Polacchini was appointed commander of the
In May 1944, in order to avoid being deported to Germany, Polacchini took a formal oath to the Italian Social Republic, but at the same time he began to work secretly with the Northern Italy National Liberation Committee. On 8 August 1944 he was arrested by the
On 19 February 1950, having contracted serious illness to the lungs during the period spent in prison, he was forced to leave the service on health grounds and was placed in an absolute discharge and enrolled to the Role of Honour of the Navy. He was promoted to full admiral on 27 June 1958.[1] He then retired to live in Venice Lido, where he died in 1968.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Uomini della Marina 1861-1946 | Dizionario Biografico Uomini della Marina Militare". difesa.it. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
- ^ a b Erminio Bagnasco, Maurizio Brescia, I sommergibili italiani 1940–1943. Parte 1ª-Mediterraneo, in Storia Militare Dossier, nº 11, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, November–December 2013, p. 62.
- ^ Erminio Bagnasco, Maurizio Brescia, I sommergibili italiani 1940–1943. Parte 1ª-Mediterraneo, in Storia Militare Dossier, nº 11, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, November–December 2013, p. 64.
- ^ Erminio Bagnasco, Maurizio Brescia, I sommergibili italiani 1940–1943. Parte 1ª-Mediterraneo, in Storia Militare Dossier, nº 11, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, November–December 2013, p. 13.
- ^ Elio Andò, BETASOM. I sommergibili italiani negli oceani, Campobasso, Italia Editrice, 1997, p. 64.
- ^ Giorgio Giorgerini, Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini ad oggi, p. 503.
- ^ Giorgio Giorgerini, Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini ad oggi, pp. 535 to 538.
- ^ Erminio Bagnasco, Maurizio Brescia, I sommergibili italiani 1940–1943. Parte 2ª-Oceani, in Storia Militare Dossier, nº 11, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, January–February 2014, p. 198.
- ^ Giuseppe Fioravanzo, La Marina dall’8 settembre 1943 alla fine del conflitto, p. 129.
- ^ Giuseppe Fioravanzo, La Marina dall’8 settembre 1943 alla fine del conflitto, p. 127.