Giacomo Medici was an Italian . Commissioned into service in the Italian ("Royal Navy") in 1918, she served in the final weeks of World War I. During the interwar period, she took part in operations during the Corfu incident in 1923 and was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929. During World War II, she took part in convoy escort operations in support of the Greco–Italian War as well as in the Mediterranean campaign until she was sunk in 1943.
Construction and commissioning Giacomo Medici was laid down at the () in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 2 October 1916. She was launched on 6 September 1918 and completed and commissioned on 13 September 1918.
Service history World War I Giacomo Medici entered service in time to take part in the final weeks of World War I. She did not participate in any significant operations before the war ended in November 1918.
Interwar period During the Corfu incident between Italy and the Kingdom of Greece, a force composed of Giacomo Medici, the battleships and , the armored cruisers and , the destroyers , , and the torpedo boat , the coastal torpedo boats and the motor torpedo boats MAS 401, MAS 404, MAS 406, and MAS 408, and the submarines and departed Taranto, Italy, on the evening of 30 August 1923 bound for Corfu with orders to occupy the island. The Italian ships arrived off Corfu on 31 August and communicated to the Greek governor of the island the conditions of surrender, which required lowering of the Greek flag and raising the Italian flag over the island, disarming all Greek soldiers and gendarmes, ceasing all communications, and ceding control of all activities on the island to Italian authorities. Not receiving a satisfactory answer to these damands, the Italian ships opened fire at 16:00, bombarding the Old Fortress and the New Fortress for 15 minutes. Refugees had taken shelter there, and the Italian bombardment killed 10 of them and injured several others. The Greek governor then surrendered and the Italian expeditionary force — made up of sailors from the Italian ships, the Italian Royal Army's 48th Infantry Regiment "Ferrara" (equipped with a battery of eight 75 mm guns), and an infantry brigade of 5,000 men — landed on Corfu. Most of the ships then returned to Taranto, but Giacomo Medici and the other four destroyers as well as one of the armored cruisers, the submarines, and the MAS boats remained at Corfu. Once Italy and Greece resolved their disagreement, the rest of the Italian ships and the expeditionary force on the island left Corfu between 24 and 29 September 1923.Il Periodo tra le Due Guerre Mondiali (in Italian).
Giacomo Medici was reclassified as a torpedo boat on 1 October 1929.Marina Militare - Giacinto Carini Cacciatoperdiniere
World War II 1940 June–October World War II broke out in September 1939 with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Fascist Italy joined the war on the side of the Axis powers with its invasion of France on 10 June 1940. At the time, Giacomo Medici was based at Brindisi, Italy, as part of the 7th Torpedo Boat Squadron, which also included the torpedo boats , and She operated on escort duty along the shipping routes in the southern Adriatic Sea and between Italy and Greece until September 1942.Trentoincina Trentoincina (in Italian)
On 20 August 1940 the Regia Marina established the Comando Superiore Traffico Albania (Maritrafalba, the Albanian Higher Traffic Command), responsible for convoy escort services between Italy and Albania. Maritrafalba became active on 5 September 1940. Based at Brindisi, Giacomo Medici was assigned to Maritrafalba along with two elderly destroyers, nine other torpedo boats, three auxiliary cruisers, and the motor torpedo boats of the 13th MAS Squadron.Pier Filippo Lupinacci, Vittorio E. Tognelli, La difesa del traffico con l'Albania, la Grecia e l'Egeo, pp. 18, 23, 27, 43, 172–173, 177, 179, 181–182, 184, 187–190, 192–194, 197, 199, 205, 226–235, 237, 239–242, 244–249, 257–267, 269–271, 277–278, 280–281, 284–288, 290, 293, 301, 303–304, 307–308, 310, 312, 315–316, 320–325, 328–331, 333, 337, 339–340, 344–347, 349, 355–357, 359, 362–363, 366–372, 374, 419, 422–423, 427–431, 433, 435, 441–443, 445, 449, 454, 461–462, 465 (in Italian). On 5 September, Giacomo Medici got underway to join the auxiliary cruiser and the torpedo boat Palestro in escorting the motor ship and the steamer , carrying a combined 1,090 men of the Italian Royal Army's 49th Infantry Division "Parma" and of supplies, from Bari, Italy, to Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo), Albania. On 6 September, Giacomo Medici and Palestro escorted Italia and Rossini as they made their return voyage to Italy .
On 21 September 1940 Giacomo Medici escorted the steamer — carrying 140 cattle and of artillery, commissary goods, clothing, and motor vehicles — from Brindisi to Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona), Albania. On 26 September, Giacomo Medici, the torpedo boat and the auxiliary cruiser , escorted Italia and Rossini, with a combined 1,950 soldiers and of supplies, from Bari to Durrës. On 28 September Giacomo Medici got underway from Bari for Durrës, escorting the steamers , , and and the small tanker , all carrying civilian goods. At 18:39 or 18:40 that day, an underwater explosion took place that sank Carmen from Durrës at .Rolando Notarangelo, Gian Paolo Pagano, Navi mercantili perdute, p. 107 (in Italian). Giacomo Medici and other ships immediately set out from Durrës and rescued Carmen′s entire crew. Some of Carmen′s survivors claimed their ship had been torpedoed — probably, if they were correct, by the British submarine — but the Regia Marina considered it most likely that Carmen had struck a mine.
On 1 October 1940 Giacomo Medici escorted the steamers , , and as they traveled in ballast from Durrës to Bari. On 4 October she joined the torpedo boat and the auxiliary cruiser in escorting the motor ships and and the steamer from Bari to Durrës, where they disembarked 2,400 soldiers and unloaded of supplies. On 5 October Giacomo Medici and Pallade escorted Puccini, Quirinale, and Verdi as they made their return voyage in ballast from Durrës to Bari.
Maritrafalba was disbanded on 12 October 1940 but reconstituted on 21 October, and Giacomo Medici again was placed under its control along with the two elderly destroyers, nine other torpedo boats, four auxiliary cruisers, and the 13th MAS Squadron for convoy escort and antisubmarine patrol duty. At 04:15 on 21 October, Giacomo Medici left Brindisi and escorted the postal ships and to Durrës. The ships departed Durrës the same day and returned to Brindisi, which they reached at 17:15. Giacomo Medici, Filippo Grimani, and Piero Foscari repeated the voyage on 22 October, steaming from Brindisi to Durrës and returning to Brindisi at 17:20.
Greco-Italian War Giacomo Medici then was assigned temporarily to the Forza Navale Speciale (Special Naval Force). Tasked with occupying Corfu, the force, commanded by Ammiraglio di squadra (Squadron Admiral) Vittorio Tur, also included the light cruiser (Tur's flagship), the light cruiser , the destroyers and the torpedo boats , , Angelo Bassini, , , and Nicola Fabrizi, and the tankers Garigliano, Sesia, and Tirso. Plans called for merchant ships to land the Royal Army's 47th Infantry Division "Bari" and a battalion of the Regia Marina′s Regiment "San Marco" on Corfu on 28 October 1940 — the day the Greco–Italian War broke out with Italy's invasion of Greece — but the amphibious landing was postponed due to rough seas, first to 30 October, then to 31 October, and then again to 2 November before it was cancelled because of the disappointing performance of Italian forces on the Greek front. The 47th Infantry Division "Bari" was reassigned to operations on the front in Epirus, and the merchant ships proceeded to Vlorë to disembark the division there.
Meanwhile, Giacomo Medici left Brindisi at 00:50 on 2 November 1940, with the torpedo boat to escort a convoy composed of the steamers , Italia, and Tirso, the motor ships and and the landing ship Sesia as they transported 4,670 troops, 240 draft animals, 100 motor vehicles, 48 motorcycles, four trucks, three tanks, 16 light tanks, 11 carts, four ovens, nine artillery pieces, and two boats of the 47th Infantry Division "Bari" — initially assigned to the cancelled landing on Corfu — to Vlorë to reinforce Italian forces on the Greek front. The convoy reached Vlorë at 09:00 on 2 November, and Giacomo Medici subsequently returned to Brindisi.
Giacomo Medici got back underway from Brindisi at 03:49 on 4 November 1940, escorting the steamer — carrying 80 soldiers, 142 motor vehicles, of fuel and of other supplies — to Durrës, which the two ships reached at 17:00 that day. At 03:00 on 6 November, Giacomo Medici and the torpedo boat departed Vlorë, escorting the motor ship and the steamers Italia, , and Quirinale, which were returning to Italy in ballast. The ships arrived at Bari at 19:30 that day.
At 23:30 on 8 November 1940, Giacomo Medici, , Curtatone, and Generale Antonio Cantore left Bari escorting the steamers , , and Italia and the motor ship , carrying a combined 3,219 soldiers and of supplies. The convoy reached Durrës at 16:00 on 9 November. At 16:00 on 10 November Giacomo Medici and Generale Antonio Cantore left Durrës escorting the same four ships as they returned to Italy in ballast. They arrived at Bari at 08:10 on 11 November.
At 19:00 on 13 November 1940 Giacomo Medici left Durrës with the torpedo boat escorting the motor ships Barbarigo, Puccini, and Verdi, which were returning in ballast to Bari, where they arrived at 13:30 on 14 November. On 15 November at 00:20, Giacomo Medici and the torpedo boat left Bari escorting the steamers Nautilus and Poseidone, carrying civilian goods, on a voyage to Vlorë, which they reached at 19:00.
Giacomo Medici and Curtatone left Vlorë at 07:00 on 17 November 1940 to escort the motor ship and the steamers and , proceeding to Italy in ballast. The ships arrived in port at 18:30, after which Giacomo Medici and Sardegna continued to Bari. At 01:00 on 19 November Giacomo Medici, Andromeda, and departed Bari to escort the steamers Argentina and Sardegna — carrying 3,084 men and of materials — to Vlorë, where they arrived 12 hours later.
At 04:50 on 23 November 1940, Giacomo Medici got underway from Vlorë escorting Argentina, Piemonte, and Sardegna, which were returning to Italy in ballast. The ships arrived at Bari at 24:00. On 28 November, Giacomo Medici and the auxiliary cruiser left Brindisi to escort Argentina, Città di Trapani, and Tagliamento — carrying 1,809 men, seven motor vehicles, 488 draft animals, and of supplies — to Vlorë, where the ships arrived at 15:00.
1941 Greco-Italian War On 24 January 1941 Giacomo Medici began her first operation of the year for Maritrafalba, leaving Bari at 20:00 and escorting the motor ship and the steamers and — carrying 183 soldiers, 1,286 draft animals, 192 motor vehicles, and of supplies — to Durrës, where the ships arrived at 10:30 on 25 January. At 03:45 on 26 January, she set off from Durrës escorting the steamship Italia, the motor ship Puccini, and the military tanker , returning in ballast to Bari, where they arrived at 23:00. On 27 January Giacomo Medici and the auxiliary cruiser left Bari at 19:00 to escort the motor ships , Città di Savona, Puccini, and Rossini — transporting 3,161 men and of materials — to Durrës. The convoy arrived at Durrës at 09:10 on 28 January. Giacomo Medici returned to Bari the same day, escorting the steamers , , and , all of which were returning to Italy in ballast.