Italian
The enterprise of Luigi Durand de la Penne revisited in the story of his granddaughter Francesca
ROME. I’m waiting for Francesca in a bar near Ponte Milvio in Rome. It’s summer and a light breeze makes the temperature very pleasant. A wonderful day, one of those that Rome knows how to offer. A few minutes of waiting and here she comes, smiling and full of energy. She has a large binder under her arm… “Hi Carlo, I brought you a binder that holds many memories of my grandfather Luigi.” Francesca and her grandfather were very close. You can tell by the way her face lights up when she talks about him. She was able to live alongside him only for the first eleven years of her life, but she remembers well the special bond that united them. In the following years, her grandmother Valeria often told her the great adventure of him, a story that remained a vivid and precious memory for Francesca. An extraordinary grandfather, or, as we would say today, “a great man.”
I am talking about Luigi Durand de la Penne[1] and it is about his incredible feat in Alexandria that I want to tell, of which the eightieth anniversary is being celebrated these days. A feat that fascinated me since I was a boy, when I first read the account of that extraordinary event, which captivated me in many ways, not least because I am a diver and can imagine what it means to be alone at sea, at night with all its dangers. As if that weren’t enough, for a military action in enemy waters…
Francesca places the folder on the table, opens it gently, and one by one, she begins to show its contents: black and white photographs, letters, newspaper clippings.
Each piece is intact, organized, ready to tell a story. It’s not just about sentimental value. These memories represent a prominent historical testimony, to be preserved and shared. In the end, here is a copy of the volume “All’ultimo quarto di luna” by Luigi Romersa. I smile because it is indeed the volume I read with great interest when I was young and that I still keep. The book contains much of the diary and the official report of Durand de la Penne. And it is precisely through the stories of Francesca and the pages of the book that I will narrate that extraordinary undertaking, I would say brilliant, which had significant historical importance in the context of the military events of World War II on the maritime front.
It is October 1941 when a meticulously planned military operation is organized by men of the Royal Navy in the port of Alexandria, Egypt. The objective was to strike some important British warships anchored in the bay, using actual human torpedoes known as “pigs”! [2] On the night of December 18-19, 1941, the submarine Scirè, carrying “the pigs,” brought the commandos Durand de la Penne with his second diver Emilio Bianchi, the naval engineer Captain Antonio Marceglia with diver Spartaco Schergat, and officer Vincenzo Martellotta with diver Mario Marino, to the front of the bay of Alexandria, Egypt. The large British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant were anchored in waters protected by metal nets, other obstructions, and continuous patrolling. No one imagined that, beneath the surface of the sea, an undertaking was about to take place that would enter into legend.
“At 8 PM, according to an old custom, the submarine commander kicked us into the water. It was the rite for success. The Scirè, which had surfaced to let us out, sank back to the bottom. The operation to extract the pigs was laborious… Marceglia and I were to attack the battleships, while Martellotta was assigned to the aircraft carrier (which was believed to be anchored in the bay) or, if not, a tanker. The sea was like oil, there wasn’t a breath of wind. I looked up: the stars were so numerous that they made me dizzy. We set off, I in the center, Marceglia on the left, Martellotta on the right. … After an hour of navigation, a cliff appeared to us, followed by the dark mass of the royal palace of Ras-El-Tin. Since we were ahead of schedule, we opened the food container and had breakfast; working on a full stomach is better…”[3]” Can you imagine, Francesca? After an hour of navigation, in the cold, having breakfast on top of a torpedo, in the middle of a dark night, in enemy waters? It’s a clear sign of self-confidence, courage, determination, extraordinary strength. Just being in the water at night for a sports dive is nerve-wracking… imagine in those circumstances!” “But the best is yet to come, says Francesca…” Durand de la Penne and his companion Emilio Bianchi moved in the dark, with only their heads above water, and I imagine with considerable tension…” Read this passage, Carlo…” “The lighthouse light turned on and illuminated us completely; we went underwater and remained still. By 11 PM we had reached the outer dock. We were navigating on the surface, the darkness was thick. Suddenly, we encountered a steel cable. We were alone. Five minutes later, the first depth charge exploded. The English were scattering them like grains of rice. The seconds donned their respirators and began to glide with the stern submerged. Only the pilots kept their heads above water.” [4] It feels like reading a thriller: the narrative is a relentless succession of increasingly bold and dangerous situations, capable of generating a subtle anxiety and a growing interest. I imagine the commando’s heart beating very fast, as anxiety, fear, courage, and dread mix, but ultimately leaving room for the determination to complete the mission.
Durand de la Penne makes sure his companion is okay. Meanwhile, the underwater vehicles with Marceglia and Martellotta take different paths. They are alone, in the darkness of the night. Durand de la Penne is cold: the wetsuit is leaking. Then, in the faint glow of the port lights, they spot their target, described as “a dark mass,” the Valiant [5]. They encounter an obstruction they were unaware of, with buoys holding a net that will turn out to be a defense system against aerial torpedoes. They try to get past it by going to the bottom and attempting to lift it, but they can’t. The cold is becoming more intense, and their hands are freezing. They resurface and attempt to get past it on the surface, but the propeller gets tangled. They struggle to free it, their hands numb from the cold. With great effort, they manage to free the “pig,” and at 02:19 they find themselves just 30 meters from the battleship.
Then they dive down to seven meters deep, touching the hull. His hands, stiff from the cold, feel like marble. He tries to stop the engine, but he can’t. For a moment, he remains in contact with the ship, but then the device moves away and Durand de la Penne falls to the bottom at seventeen meters, finding himself in the mud.
I can’t imagine what he was feeling… as if the darkness and the cold weren’t enough, the mud also complicated the situation.
Without losing heart, he resurfaces and realizes that his companion has disappeared. He searches for him, without success. He dives again and discovers that the pig is stuck. The situation becomes increasingly critical. Here are his words: “The mud had clouded the water. My glasses were fogged up. Under the mask, I was soaked with sweat. My mouth was full of brine and my throat burned with thirst …”[6] He feared he might not make it, perhaps even physically, but he does not give up: clarity, coolness, and courage do not abandon him. He drags the torpedo and at 14 meters the water is clearer, allowing him to verify that the course is right …” Can you imagine the scene, Francesca? Moving along the seabed, dragging ‘alone’ a device that isn’t working, detaching the magnetic charge and positioning it under the ship… under the ship! It’s incredible! “The magnetic mine is placed. Durand de la Penne resurfaces, frees himself from the respirator that sinks to the bottom and is discovered. He sees Bianchi clinging to a buoy of the Valiant. The ship fires a few shots, then they capture them. Meanwhile, the timer continues its countdown. They interrogate them separately, but neither speaks. Then an officer orders that Durand de la Penne be taken ashore for a new interrogation, convinced that he has not managed to place the charge but, in doubt, to find out if, and where, he has positioned the explosive. But he remains stubborn and reveals nothing. At that point, they bring him back on board the Valiant, and lock him in a cabin below the ship’s waterline. A few minutes before the explosion, Durand de la Penne asks to speak with the commander: Sir Charles Morgan…” He had a hard face and a cold gaze. He was worried. I said: “There’s nothing to be done, in ten minutes the ship will blow up, I’m telling you if you want to save the crew… Sir Charles Morgan… he stared into my eyes. He asked: “Where is the charge?”[7] Durand de la Penne remains unfazed. He replies that he will never speak. So they take him back to the cabin, locking him in the dark. He was calm: he had done his duty. He heard, from the speakers of the Valiant, the orders given to abandon the ship. A few minutes later, around 6 in the morning, the tremendous explosion. Durand de la Penne and Bianchi, locked in two rooms below the waterline, miraculously survive. Then follow the explosions of the warship Queen Elizabeth, sunk by Marceglia and Schergat, and that of the tanker Sagona sunk by Martellotta and Marino, which, in the explosion, also damages the destroyer Jervis. The commandos survive, but are later captured once on land in the following days.
In March 1945, in Taranto, the six soldiers of the Royal Navy were awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor. It was presented by the English admiral Sir Charles Morgan, once their enemy, commander of the Valiant. A gesture that transcended war, honoring courage with the chivalrous spirit of bygone times.
It has gotten late, time has flown by. Ponte Milvio is illuminated by the colors of the sunset, and it is truly time to go. Francesca picks up her folder and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for sharing this story with me, also from a personal and emotional perspective. She greets me with a smile.
The memory of that feat, passed down through the stories of Grandma Valeria, is well etched in Francesca’s mind…
An adventure that seems straight out of a fantasy novel or a James Bond film, yet, incredibly, it is all true!
[1] Source: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/durand-de-la-penne-luigi/ “Naval officer and Italian politician (Genoa 1914 – there 1992). In December 1941, he entered the port of Alexandria in command of assault vessels that sank a tanker and the two British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant; captured aboard the Valiant, before the explosion he had refused to indicate the position of the explosive device; awarded the gold medal for valor. In June 1944, during the liberation war, he participated in the forcing of the port of La Spezia. Member of parliament, first on the DC list, then (1963-76) for the PLI. Undersecretary for Merchant Navy in the Andreotti government (1972-73).”
[2] Source: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siluro_a_lenta_corsa:: “The slow-running torpedo (abbreviated SLC), also known as the “pig”, was a human torpedo used as an underwater assault vehicle by the Royal Navy. Shaped like a torpedo, it was designed to carry two operators equipped with autonomous underwater breathing apparatus at low speed, straddling it, and to apply an explosive charge covertly to the hull of the enemy ship at anchor. It was conceived in 1935 by the naval engineer captains Teseo Tesei and Elios Toschi… The nickname “pig” was adopted as a code name by Tesei to protect the secrecy of the vehicle.”
[3] Luigi Romersa: “In the Last Quarter of the Moon” ed. Mursia 1977 pp. 116 -124
[4] Luigi Romersa: op. cit.
[5] HMS Valiant is a battleship of the British Royal Navy that played a significant role in notable battles including the Battle of Jutland in World War I and the Battle of Cape Matapan in World War II.
[6] Luigi Romersa, op. cit. pp. 116-124
[7] Luigi Romersa, op. cit. pp. 116-124
