Giuseppe Cigala Fulgosi

Giuseppe Cigala Fulgosi (1940)

Count Giuseppe Cigala Fulgosi (born July 25, 1910 in Piacenza , † November 1, 1977 in Rome ) was an officer in the Italian Navy .

Life

When the Second World War broke out , Cigala Fulgosi served on the destroyer Ascari , with which he also took part in the sea ​​battle at Punta Stilo and the sea ​​battle at Cape Teulada . In November 1940 he took over the Sagittario torpedo boat , with which he escorted numerous convoys . During the fighting for the Greek island of Crete, he escorted a German troop transport convoy. On May 22, 1941, the convoy was surprised by a superior British cruiser formation. The torpedo boat Sagittario took up the fight alone against the cruisers HMS Naiad ( flagship of Force C ), HMS Calcutta , HMAS Perth and HMS Carlisle as well as against three destroyers, one of which was damaged by torpedoes and one by cannon fire. The unit led by Admiral King had previously been attacked from the air several times (the day before, German bombers had sunk its destroyer HMS Juno ) and immediately withdrew after further German air raids and the assault of Cigala Fulgosis, which was carried out with great determination, thereby saving the German convoy (King was relieved of his post because of this). Francesco Mimbelli had carried out a similar mission a few hours earlier with his torpedo boat Lupo . Both officers received the highest Italian military medal for bravery in gold for these missions .

After his promotion to Capitano di Corvetta , Cigala Fulgosi commanded the destroyer Euro , with which he protected the German Duisburg convoy against British cruisers in November 1941 . He then led the 6th torpedo boat squadron, with which he again accompanied numerous convoys. In 1942 he refused to accept an award from Mussolini . After the armistice of September 8, 1943 , he accompanied the Italian fleet to Malta with the torpedo boats Pegaso and Orsa , where they had to go due to the Allied armistice conditions. He took part in the search for survivors of the Italian battleship Roma . He was able to bring several seriously injured castaways to the Balearic Islands . On September 13, 1943, Cigala Fulgosi decided on Mallorca to sink his torpedo boats Impetuoso and Pegaso himself to prevent a handover to the Allies. Cigala Fulgosi was initially interned in Spain , but returned to Italy in July 1944 , where he was promoted to Capitano di Fregata in November . In 1946, after the referendum for the republic , he left active service at his own request.

He later became President of the Italian Equestrian Federation Federazione Italiana Sport Equestri .

family

Patrol ship Comandante Cigala Fulgosi

Giuseppe Cigala Fulgosi's younger brother Agostino was a fighter pilot with the 51º Stormo ( Fighter Squadron ) of the Regia Aeronautica . He fell over Sardinia on June 11, 1943 . The father of the two brothers, Alfonso Cigala Fulgosi, was reactivated as a general at the start of the war. German troops shot him in September 1943, when he refused, the Italian garrison in Split ( Croatia to hand over).

Ship names

The Italian Navy has named a new patrol ship class, the Cigala Fulgosi class, and a ship of the class as Comandante Cigala Fulgosi after Giuseppe Cigala Fulgosi, who died in 1977. The last name of his torpedo boat Sagittario was a Lupo-class frigate .

Web links

• Entry on marina.difesa.it