The first major success of the assault vehicles, after four unsuccessful attempts against Alexandria and Gibraltar, was achieved on the night of 26 March. On the morning of the day before the commander of Crispi, captain of the frigate Ferrata and the lieutenant of vessel Faggioni, commander of the expedition of the assault vehicles, received the green light for the attack on British units moored in the bay of Suda.

The aerial survey had, in fact, signaled the arrival in Crete of a convoy of 12 steamers escorted by three destroyers. On the same night the two destroyers Sella and Crispi, embarked on the 8 explosive small boats directed for Suda where at 23 and 30 six miles from the Acrotiri promontory they put six assault vehicles at sea.

Silently with the engines idling, the assault vehicles at Faggioni's orders made their way to the entrance of the bay where they had passed three orders of dams and managed to penetrate. At the 05.00, in the middle of the bay, Faggioni succeeded around him the six assault vehicles for the last instructions and for the assignment of the targets, before the attack. In the foreground the cruiser YORK had been moored, from 8000 tons, while the steamers had been placed further inside.

To the second lieutenant of the vessel Cabrini and to the chief engineer Tedeschi was assigned as target the cruiser and to the sergeant gunman Barbieri the oil tanker moored in front of the town of Suda. The top scorer De Vito and the 2 ° chief engineer Beccali was ordered to remain near the Faggioni vehicle.

After the two explosive boats hit York in full and the third the tanker, Faggioni ordered Beccali to attack another tanker. Beccali left at full speed and arrived at 300 meters from the target dropped into the water. There was a loud explosion and immediately afterwards the tanker hit in full was ablaze. Meanwhile, in the most complete confusion of the whole naval base, with projectors that slashed in the sky and the anti-aircraft artillery that fired madly at an imaginary enemy from the sky, Faggioni and de Vito also launched an attack.

At sunrise the British realized that it was not an air strike but a surface attack. The Suda base protected by 3 orders of obstructions, guarded by lookouts always at sea, had been violated by men of the Italian Navy who in a few minutes had destroyed twenty thousand tons of British ships including a cruiser.

All six of them were saved but were taken prisoner by the British. Upon their return home, the grateful Navy awarded the gold medal for military valor to the six volunteers of the attack on the highly equipped British naval base. Six men different in rank but equal in daring, in skill, in tenacity combative inspired by the purest traditions of the Navy.

Source: Military Navy