Info on Linee Aeree Transcontinentali or L.A.T.I

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Andy H
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Info on Linee Aeree Transcontinentali or L.A.T.I

#1

Post by Andy H » 01 Jan 2004, 15:10

One of the major sources for smuggled materials into Germany was the Italian airline Linee Aeree Transcontinentali or LATI, which operated between South America-North Africa & Italy.

Between Dec 1st 1940 amd Dec 4th 1941 the War Trade Department estimated the freight carried by LATI was as follows

Westbound (all weights in Kilo's)
1,932 Films
5,904 Books & Maps
21 Medals
337 Gold & Jewellery
1,294 Electrical items
6,935 Chemical & Pharmaceutical products
68 Photo materials
606 Aviation equipment
1,783 Misc
Total of 18,881

Eastbound
10,666 Mica
4.4 Industrial Diamonds
1,745 Other stones
1,860 Chemical & Pharmaceutical products
282 Platinum
327 Misc
Total of 14,884

After the closing down of LATI by the Allies, Germany had to resort to smuggling via ships

Anyone know of any sites in English that have any useful info on LATI, all my searches turned up Italian sites.

Andy H

daniele
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Location: brazil

LATI

#2

Post by daniele » 02 Jan 2004, 14:25

I don´t know any site, but I can add some more infos.

In June 1939, brazilian government give to LATI a license to operate in its territory, with a commercial line Roma-Natal-Recife-Rio de Janeiro. This service started only in December 1939.
For the 6,000.00 miles flight, LATI used a tri-engines SAVOIA-MARCHETTI SM-83, avoiding to fly on territories controlled by U.K. and France forces; stops were in Sevilla (Spain), Spanish Morocco, Cabo Verde Isles, Natal, Recife and Rio de Janeiro. In spite of an accident during inaugural flight and another accident in 1941, the company kept on operating with a weekly flight transporting few passengers, mostly Axis agents. Primarily, it was planned as a express and Mail services, but actually was used as communication way between axis forces and South America, spying the movements of the allied ships in South Atlantic, since it wasn´t controlled by Allied censorship.
Its crews and workers were accused of spying.
In December 1941, LATI was included in the black list of USA and the Standard Oil do Brasil, stopped supplying their planes. It ended their operations on 24 December 1941 with all their palnes passed to Brazilian Government.

Regards

Daniele


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Andy H
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#3

Post by Andy H » 03 Jan 2004, 01:40

daniele

Thanks for your post.

Do you have any idea what Brazil used the SM-83's for?

Andy H

daniele
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SM 83

#4

Post by daniele » 06 Jan 2004, 18:24

Probably were used for Postal Service

Daniele

gabriel pagliarani
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Re: LATI

#5

Post by gabriel pagliarani » 09 Jan 2004, 16:54

daniele wrote:I don´t know any site, but I can add some more infos.

In June 1939, brazilian government give to LATI a license to operate in its territory, with a commercial line Roma-Natal-Recife-Rio de Janeiro. This service started only in December 1939.
For the 6,000.00 miles flight, LATI used a tri-engines SAVOIA-MARCHETTI SM-83, avoiding to fly on territories controlled by U.K. and France forces; stops were in Sevilla (Spain), Spanish Morocco, Cabo Verde Isles, Natal, Recife and Rio de Janeiro. In spite of an accident during inaugural flight and another accident in 1941, the company kept on operating with a weekly flight transporting few passengers, mostly Axis agents. Primarily, it was planned as a express and Mail services, but actually was used as communication way between axis forces and South America, spying the movements of the allied ships in South Atlantic, since it wasn´t controlled by Allied censorship.
Its crews and workers were accused of spying.
In December 1941, LATI was included in the black list of USA and the Standard Oil do Brasil, stopped supplying their planes. It ended their operations on 24 December 1941 with all their palnes passed to Brazilian Government.

Regards

Daniele
"Isola del sale" was the main stop amid Atlantic. The main airport was built by italians before WW2. Funny to know that after the war, Allieds aked to the new Alitalia to re-open those strategical commercial routes to South America and Alitalia did it: not only postal and diplomatic payload, but medicinals and rare elements had to be transported thru Atlantic at any cost. My own Dad was among those long-range pilots obliged to stay there at least 2 months per year withstanding enormous logistic troubles: they became all experienced fishermen and mechanics to survive. The best of those pilots was the "Cymber" Comandante Schreiber: he saved his lifted off Salt Island DC-4 after having lost one engine, the whole electrical circuit and radio over Atlantic by cause of bad weather. He reached the airport of Rio de Janeiro outing his sheduled route only 3 kms after having flight always in a tempest without any possibility to use sextant or LORAN to arrange the route! A real record and an outstanding performance. He wrote a best seller memory book titled "E' il Capitano che vi parla" (Captain is speaking). My own dad is mentioned 4 times in his book: he was the left-side pilot (Primo Ufficiale) during that flight. Capitano Pilota Konrad Schreiber died in June 2002, killed by Alzheimer's disease.

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Andy H
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#6

Post by Andy H » 10 Jan 2004, 02:51

Thanks Gabriel Pagliarani for that post. The personnel insights are always the most ineteresting, again thank you.

Andy H

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