The submarine Alabaster, a boat of the 600 type class, Platino series, was built by the CRDA shipyard of Monfalcone and launched on December 18th, 1941. It did not enter service until May 9th, 1942. After completion, final fitting and crew training took place at a rapid pace to make the submarine operational as quickly as possible.
The Alabaster
(Photo Erminio Bagnasco & Achille Rastelli)
On 13 September 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Giuseppe Bonadies, the Alabaster left Cagliari for his first offensive mission, to be carried out between Algiers and Mallorca. It was the first and last operational patrol.
After the end of the conflict, it was learned that at 4.20 PM on 14 September 1942 north of Bougie, a British Short Sunderland seaplane belonging to the 202nd Wing of the Royal Air Force9Australian crews) had attacked a submarine sailing on the surface towards the west, sinking it. It is most likely that it was Alabaster.
Commander Giuseppe Bonadies, 4 other officers and 39 non-commissioned officers and sailors were lost with the submarine. As common practice at the time, the crew was not officially considered missing until a month after their disappearance, on 13 October 1942.
The Alabaster had carried out a single offensive patrol and 4 exploratory ones, for a total of 1554 miles of navigation, all on the surface.
Operational Records
| Patrols (Med.) | Patrols (Other) | NM Surface | NM Sub. | Days at Sea | NM/Day | Average Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1,554 | – | 6 | 259 | 10.79 |
Actions
| Date | Time | Captain | Area | Coordinates | Convoy | Weapon | Result | Ship | Type | Tonns | Flag |
Crew Members Lost
| Last Name | First Name | Rank | Italian Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambrosini | Dino | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Antoci | Achille | Chief 2nd Class | Capo di 2a Classe |
| Avanzini | Nicola | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Ballerini | Aldo | Chief 2nd Class | Capo di 2a Classe |
| Barbera | Giovanni | Ensign | Guardiamarina |
| Bianco | Pietro | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Bonadies | Giuseppe | Lieutenant | Tenente di Vascello |
| Bonucelli | Alberto | Chief 2nd Class | Capo di 2a Classe |
| Capriotti | Antonio | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Cardona | Luigi | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Epifani | Giuseppe | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Esposito | Nunzio | Sublieutenant | Sottotenente di Vascello |
| Fabbri | Italo | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Frangi | Aldo | Sergeant | Sergente |
| Gambino | Santo | Sergeant | Sergente |
| Gavazzi | Stefano | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Guerrini | Guerriero | Chief 2nd Class | Capo di 2a Classe |
| Jaforte | Giuseppe | Ensign | Guardiamarina |
| Longo | Pasquale | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Luccioli | Elvio | Chief 3rd Class | Capo di 3a Classe |
| Maggi | Emilio | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Maione | Gennaro | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Marson | Gagliano | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Martinelli | Renato | Lieutenant Other Branches | Capitano G.N. |
| Merati | Stefano | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Millo | Sergio | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Monaco | Cosimo | Sergeant | Sergente |
| Picchireddu | Pasquale | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Piccolini | Antonio | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Pisano | Donato | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Pizzutelli | Clemente | Sergeant | Sergente |
| Quintavalle | Giuseppe | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Rizzini | Roberto | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Rosa | Giuseppe | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Rutilo | Michele | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Saglietto | Pietro | Sergeant | Sergente |
| Savo | Andrea | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Schimera | Vito | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Sosna | Bruno | Junior Chief | Sottocapo |
| Trevisan | Luigi | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Turco | Giovanni | Chief 3rd Class | Capo di 3a Classe |
| Ventura | Bruno | Chief 2nd Class | Capo di 2a Classe |
| Vinciano | Alfredo | Naval Rating | Comune |
| Zoccoli | Luigi | Sergeant | Sergente |