Operation HARPOON

[Jim P.]

Nothing recorded for the Italians.

[CENTURION]

Hi Andrzej,

14.06.1942
2 SM-79s of 36° Stormo (256 Sq. and 259 Sq. took off at 8:00 with 8 CR42s carrying bombs.
Losses:
SM-79 259 Sq. (36° Stormo) Ten Leonardi Alberto, Serg. M. pilota Spina Riccardo, St. di V. Fiorini Guglielmo, Serg. M. marc. Cordano Oreste, 1° Av. mot. Magno Amerigo, 1° Av. arm. Zucco Martino - shot down by enemy fighters @ about 9:00.


15 SM-84s of 36° Stormo (2 of 256 Sq. - 4 of 257 Sq. - 4 of 258 Sq. and 5 of 259 Sq) took off at 9:00 escorted by 19 Cr.42s and 20 Mc.200s.
At 10:05 they attacked the convoy but were in turn engaged by enemy fighters.
Losses:
SM-84 Ten. Col. Farina Giovanni (commander of the 36° Stormo), Mag. Turba Mario (commander of the del 109° Gruppo), Av. sc. marc. Magris Lonardo, Av. sc. mot. Pirrello Michele, 1° Av. arm. De Santa Cavaldo, Av. sc. fot. Bontempi Giulio;
SM-84 Cap. Simeoni Paolo (commander of the 259 Sq.), Serg. M. pilota Musa Adelmo, Av. sc. marc. Gambini Raffaele, 1° Av. mot. Salemmi Albino, Serg. arm. Drobertisi Antonio, 1° Av. fot. Fioriti Vincenzo;
SM-84 Ten. Bedosti Oreste, Serg. pilota Spazzoli Gildo, Av. sc. marc. Cappelli Lorenzo, Av. sc. arm. Paulatti Angelo, Av. sc. fot. Negri Emilio;
SM-84 Ten. Abate Angelo, Maresc. Bolzetta Angelo, Av. sc. mot. Rossetta Luigi, Av. sc. marc. Urbano Michele, Av. sc. arm. Coruzzo Francesco, Av. sc. fot. Capello Fiorenzo;
SM-84 Ten. Zanelli Angelo, Serg. M. pilota Masoni Curzio, Av. sc. mot. Zuliani Vinicio, Av. sc. arm. Antonucci Angelo, Av. sc. fot. Bertinetti Luciano;
SM-84 St. Donati Oliviero, Maresc. pilota Monaco Guido, 1° Av. arm. Bertani Andrea, Av. sc. mot. Valentini Giovanni, Av. sc. marc. Giordano Emanuele, Av. sc. fot. Tiralongo Sebastiano.
The last SM-84 ditched and the crew was rescue.


10 SM-79s of 104° Gruppo - 46° Stormo (5 of 252 Sq. - 5 of 253 Sq.) took off at 9:00 from Decimomannu.
Near the convoy they were attacked by enemy fighters.
Losses:
SM-79 Ten. Vivarelli Colonna Giovanni, Serg. M. Gaggini Alessandro, 1° Av. arm. Sotgiu Francesco, Av. sc. mot. Ghelli Pasquino, Av. sc. marc. Fionda Piero;
SM-79 Ten. Ingrellini Mario, Serg. M. Compiani Giorgio, 1° Av. arm. Valentini Ivo, Av. sc. mot. Pirro Francesco, Av. sc. marc. Bazzichi Giuseppe.
The SM-79 (253 Sq.) of Ten. Marescalchi, Serg. M. pilota Guerrini Eugenio, Av. sc. mot. Grigolon Ottavio, 1° Av. marc. Vernier, Av. sc. arm. Ferretti was hit by AA and fighters and crash landed in a field at 4 Km. from Capo Teulada.


2 SM-79s of 104° Gruppo - 46° Stormo (1 of 252 Sq. - 1 of 253 Sq.) took off at 16:00 from Decimomannu.
Losses:
SM-79 Ten Giacomello Giovanni, Maresc. pilota Gada Costantino, 1° Av. arm. Sala Ruggero, 1° Av. mot. Dandi Orfeo, Av. sc. marc. Pettinau Efisio.


14 SM-79s of 132° Gruppo (7 of 278 Sq. - 7 of 281 Sq.) took off at 17:45 from Castelvetrano escorted by 17 Re-2001s and 7 Mc-200s of the 51° Stormo.
At 19:10, 15 miles N.W. of Capo Blanc they were attacked by enemy fighters.
Losses:
SM-79 St. Negri Giannino, Serg. M. pilota Mutolo Salvatore, Av. all. mot. Semproni Sergio, Serg. marc. Balzano Alessandro.
The SM-79 of St. Moretti, De Luca, Serg. M. Buda, 1° Av. Gulla, 1° Av. arm. Paoloni Romano was damaged by fighters and crashed at base.

15.06.1942

2 SM-79s of 132° Gruppo took off at 12:25 from Castelvetrano.
The SM-79 of Aichner, Del Bianco, Fantuzzi, Picerno, De Sanctis, Pragliola was shot down by HMS Bedouin.

10 JU-87s of 102° Gruppo Tuffatori took off at 10:50 from Gela escorted by 25 Mc.202s of 155° Gruppo Caccia. They attacked the convoy between the 12:00 and the 12:15.
Losses:
The JU-87 of Maresciallo Marchetti Antonio and Av. sc. mont. Grosso Luigi was shot down by Spitfire and ditched 50 Km. S.E. of Pantelleria.

Source:
Carlo Unia, Storia degli Aerosiluranti Italiani
Giuseppe Pesce, Il Walzer del 102° Gruppo

Hope this helps.
Best regards.

Marco

[crolick]

Yes, it does a lot Marco!! Thank you

One more thing - do you know the MM number for the lost planes and their respective Squadriglias??

Do you know a good descriptive source which deal with the attacks from 14 VI (especially the one made by 17 SM.79 and 15 SM.84)?

Thank you once again for your help


All the best,
Andrzej

[CENTURION]

Hi Andrzej,

sorry, I don't have those data.

My only source regarding the 14 VI attacks of the SM.79s and SM.84s is the book "Storia degli Aerosiluranti Italiani" by Carlo Unia, ed Bizzarri - Roma 1974, but only some of those attacks are described in detail.

Best regards

Marco