Carlo Fecia di Cossato

Carlo Fecia di Cossato (1908–1944) was a naval ace in the Regia Marina (Italian Navy). He commanded submarines and ships during World War II. He was credited with the confirmed sinking of 16 enemy ships. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Life before World War II
Fecia di Cossato was born in Rome, Italy, on 25 September 1908. He graduated from the Naval Academy of Livorno in 1928 and assumed his duties as officer at the Italian naval delegation in China. In the early 1930s, he was an officer on two submarines and his service included their participation in the Spanish Civil War.

World War II
At the beginning of the war Fecia di Cossato was the commander of submarine Ciro Menotti based in Messina, Italy. Whilst serving on the Ciro Menotti, it took part in attacks against Royal Navy ships.

In December, he was named as the commander of the submarine Tazzoli. This submarine operated in the Atlantic Ocean, sinking 18 ships with a total tonnage of 96,553 tons and damaged another ship of 5,000 tons. In February 1943, at the end of the mission near Brazil he was transferred to Italy, where he was named the commander of a squadron of torpedo boats.

After the Allies' Armistice with Italy, he fought with bravery against German shipping near Bastia. Fecia di Cossato was displeased with the events of late 1943 and early 1944 with the result that he committed suicide in Naples on 27 August 1944. In his last letter to his mother he wrote referring to the armistice with the allied forces and the surrender of Regia Marina:

We have been unworthly betrayed and we discovered to have committed an ignominius act without any result

Fecia di Cossato received the highest decoration of the Italian Armed Forces a Gold Medal of Military Valor and two silver medals for military bravery.