Gustavo Bellazzini, the last survivor of the battleship Roma, which sank in the Mediterranean after the armistice of 8 September 1943, passed away in La Spezia at the age of 103. There were approximately 1,400 victims and just over 600 survivors. Born in 1921, embarked as a select sailor with the role of stoker, Bellazzini survived an initial bombing in the port of Naples and then set sail on 8 September under the command of Admiral Bergamini for the Roma’s last mission. Having dived into the sea while the ship was sinking after being hit by a German air raid, he was hoisted aboard another Italian unit and taken to the island of Minorca together with hundreds of other survivors. Only a few months later did he manage to warn his family in La Spezia with a letter that they believed he was dead.
