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Costantino Borsini (April 7, 1906 in Milano – October 21, 1940 in Eritrean Red sea) was an Italian naval officer. He received the Gold Medal of Military Valor for his command of the ''Nullo'' destroyer in the Attack on Convoy BN 7 on October 1940.〔(Italian Navy Gold Medal (with photo of captain Costantino Borsini) )〕 ==Biography== He was born in Milano in 1906. Borsini was a top student at the Naval Academy of Livorno from March 15, 1922 to November 15, 1926. There he received the appointment as a midshipman, taken before embarking on the battleship Giulio Cesare. Later he went to the battleship Andrea Doria and other Italian navy ships, until in July 1932 he received a promotion to "Lieutenant". In 1933 he joined the Marine Detachment in Tianjin (China). At his return to Italy he attended the course in Taranto for "Observation of Airplanes" and in 1935 he received his patent: successively he worked for one year as member of the "153rd Squadron Seaplanes". Then he was moved on submarines and at the end of this experience, in 1937, Borsini assumed the role of "Officer 2nd" on the destroyer ''Nembo'' after which he was given command of the torpedo-boat ''Clio''. In January 1940 he embarked on the colonial ship Eritrea, which was located in the Eritrean Red Sea at Massawa, and in May of that year he achieved the promotion to "Lieutenant Commander" and was given command of the destroyer ''Francesco Nullo'', operating in the Red Sea. On October 21, in waters near the island Harmil, captain commander Borsini maintained a fierce battle with his ship against enemy cruisers and destroyers. In the battle the ''Nullo'' equipment was affected and lessened in its operational efficiency, but he arranged to drive his ship toward an Italian coastal battery so that their cannons could hit an enemy ship attacking him. When his ship was hit and started to sink, he put in secure place the crew and successively decided to sank with his ship while at the command post. The attacking British destroyer ''Kimberley'' was hit by the Italian batteries and remained in repair until spring 1941. Of the 120 members of the Nullo crew, only 106 survived and were rescued by sailors of the Harmil battery while 12 perished in combat and two (captain Borsini and his assistant Ciaravolo) voluntarily sank with the ship. The Italian Royal Navy emitted the next week an order discouraging this action, even because other two Italian navy commanders -CV Enrico Baroni of destroyer ''Espero'' and CC Lorenzo Bezzi of submarine ''Liuzzi''- had chosen to do this extreme sacrifice in the few months of war since Italy declared war to the Allies in June 1940.〔(Nullo sinking and actual remains photos (in Italian) )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Costantino Borsini」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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