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.

With the entry of the Kingdom of Italy in the Second World War, he took part in numerous escort missions, being awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor.

Off the Bocche di Bonifacio, the fleet was attacked by the Luftwaffe, which sank the flagship Roma, killing Admiral Carlo Bergamini, the commander-in-chief.

[1][2][3][4] 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.