Franco Garofalo

Franco Garofalo (Rome, 9 June 1898 – 10 April 1970) was an Italian admiral during World War II.

Biography

He was born in Rome on 9 June 1898 and entered the Naval Academy of Livorno in 1912, participating in the Italo-Turkish War as a cadet officer. He graduated with the rank of ensign in 1916, and during the First World War he served on the battleship Giulio Cesare and on the armored cruiser San Marco.

After promotion to lieutenant commander in 1928, between 1929 and 1932 he was in command of destroyers; in 1933 he was promoted to commander and served at the Ministry of the Navy, initially in the office of the Chief of Staff and later in the Directorate General for Personnel. In 1936 he became deputy chief of staff of the 1st Naval Division and later he was given command of a squadron of destroyers.

In January 1944 Garofalo returned to Italy and was promoted to rear admiral, assuming the position of head of the press office at the Cabinet of the Minister of the Navy and the direction of the magazine Buona Guardia, widespread among the crews of the fleet.