Italian naval memoirs in English? Italian?

[Felix C]

I did not know of any other than the Decima X book which has been translated into English. Are there others?

What are the best regarded ones in Italian?

Thanks in advance.

[Alien 61]

memoirs or monographs?

[Felix C]

Memoirs. Accounts by individuals who took part in the conflict. Officer level preferred.

[Valerio]

I did not know of any other than the Decima X book which has been translated into English. Are there others?

What are the best regarded ones in Italian?

Thanks in advance.

In English, I can reccomend to you the naval memoirs book "From the Ashes of Disgrace" (New York, 1948) writted by Admiral Franco Maugeri: since 1937 to 1941, he was in command of the battle cruisers "Giovanni dalle Bande Nere" and "Bolzano"; since 1941 to 1943, he was staff officer and chief of the SIS (the Navy Informations and Security Service); since 1943 to 1944, during the Nazi occupation, he was chief of the Italian pro-Allied underground informations service in Rome.

[Felix C]

Fleet officer memoirs in Italian? Any from the Admirals involved in strategy planning or in fleet/squadron command who faced the British in battle?

[Urmel]

Aldo Cocchia - Convogli

He commanded da Recco when she was sunk and was seriously injured. After the war he rose to Admiral and was in charge of writing the official histories of the Italian Navy I believe.

http://www.marina.difesa.it/storiacultu ... fredo.aspx

Admiral Iachino wrote two books:

A. Iachino Tramonto di una grande marina Mondadori Milano, 1959
A. Iachino Guado e Matapan Mondadori Milano, 1953

There are a few more out there.

[DrG]

In English language there is almost nothing that can satisfy Felix C's requests. Adm. Maugeri's memoirs, which have already been recalled, were indeed written by an American journalist after some interviews with him, and are not trustworthy at all.
Commander Marc'Antonio Bragadin was an officer of Supermarina (the High Command of the Regia Marina) during WW2, so his "The Italian Navy in World War II", Naval Institute Press, 1957 (it was reprinted by Arno Press in 1980), is the only book written by an Italian Navy officer published in English language, but it's not a book of personal memoirs.

In Italian language I suggest Adm. Raffaele De Courten's memoirs "Le memorie dell'ammiraglio De Courten (1943-1946)", USMM, 1993. Aldo Cocchia, already mentioned, is excellent too. I would suggest also adm. Alberto Da Zara's (the winner of the Action off Pantelleria during the Battle of Mid June 1942) "Pelle d'ammiraglio", Mondadori, 1949.
Then, of course, there are adm. Giuseppe Fioravanzo's and adm. Oscar di Giambernardino's books, but they are purely history books, without any autobiographical aspect.