Carlo Cattaneo (Admiral)
Carlo Cattaneo (born October 6, 1883 in Sant'Anastasia , † March 29, 1941 at the Battle of Cape Matapan ) was an Italian vice admiral .
Life
Cattaneo joined the Italian Navy in 1902 and first attended the Accademia Navale . In the next few decades he received higher and higher ranks in the Navy. In 1937 he was promoted to Rear Admiral. In 1938 he was promoted to vice admiral. Cattaneo became the commander of the 3rd Cruiser Division. He led this association in the naval battle at Punta Stilo on July 9, 1940. For his service in the battle he was awarded the Medaglia d'oro al Valore Militare in silver.
In the battle of Cape Matapan against the British Royal Navy in the eastern Mediterranean between Cape Matapan and the island of Gavdos , he commanded the 1st Cruiser Division . The 1st cruiser division consisted of the three heavy cruisers Zara (flagship 1st cruiser division), Pola , Fiume and, as an assigned escort, the 9th destroyer flotilla with the ships Vittorio Alfieri (flagship 9th destroyer flotilla), Alfredo Oriani, Giosuè Carducci and Vincenzo Gioberti. An association of the Royal Navy, including the three battleships HMS Warspite , HMS Barham and HMS Valiant , was able to approach the 1st Cruiser Division unnoticed on the night of March 28, 1940. The Italian ships did not have radar . Despite fighting between Italian and British ships during the day, the Italians' guns were in rest position and the crews were not on alert. The British battleships opened fire at a distance of 3,500 m. The 1st Cruiser Division was shot down within three minutes. While several ships of the 1st Cruiser Division sank quickly, Cattaneo's flagship, the Zara, was initially badly damaged. To prevent the Zara fell into British hands, ordered Cattaneo the scuttling . The ship's crew then jumped into the sea. The destroyer HMS Jervis fired torpedoes on March 29 at 02:40 a.m. The Zara then sank. Cattaneo gave his life jacket to a wounded sailor without a life jacket. Cattaneo disappeared during the night. Only the severely damaged destroyers Alfredo Oriani and Vincenzo Gioberti were not sunk by the 1st Cruiser Division.
Cattaneo was posthumously awarded the highest military order in Italy, the Medaglia d'oro al Valore Militare (gold medal for bravery). He had already been awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery in 1911, 1919 and 1940 and the Bronze Medal for Bravery in 1915.
literature
- Geoffrey Martin Bennett: Naval Battles in World War II. Weltbild-Verlag, Augsburg 1989, ISBN 3-89350-065-0 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cattaneo, Carlo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian vice admiral |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1883 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sant'Anastasia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 29, 1941 |
| Place of death | at the battle of Cape Matapan |