Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Gabriele Andolfi
| Born | 20 May 1912 | Leghorn |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
GIOVANNI DA PROCIDA (T.V. First Officer): from 01.04.1939 to 30.09.1940.GIOVANNI DA PROCIDA (T.V. resp.): from 01.10.1940 to 18.10.1940.
ONDINA (T.V. C.O.): from 28.02.1942 to 11.07.1942 (sunk, Andolfi survived as PoW).
Commands listed for Gabriele Andolfi
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni da Procida (DP) | Ocean going | T.V. | 1 Oct 1940 | 18 Oct 1940 |
| Ondina (ON) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 28 Feb 1942 | 11 Jul 1942 |
Ships hit by Gabriele Andolfi
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Gabriele Andolfi
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni da Procida (DP) | 14 Oct 1940 | 1610 | Taranto | 14 Oct 1940 | 1700 | Taranto | 2 | Left dock? | ||
| Ondina (ON) | 17 Mar 1942 | 0850 | Brindisi | 17 Mar 1942 | 1528 | Brindisi | 44 | Exercises. | ||
| Ondina (ON) | 18 Mar 1942 | 1110 | Brindisi | 18 Mar 1942 | 1622 | Brindisi | 36,5 | Exercises. | ||
| 18 Mar 1942 | 1536 (e) | At 1535 hours, Ondina was returning from exercises when she was sighted by HMS Upholder (Lieutenant Commander M.D. Wanklyn, VC, RN). The famous British submarine could not close to less than 5,000 yards and gave up her attack. Two hours later, Tricheco would not be so fortunate. In less than a month, HMS Upholder would disappear with all hands. | ||||||||
| Ondina (ON) | 3 Apr 1942 | 1130 | Brindisi | 7 Apr 1942 | 1615 | Leros | 1059 | Passage Brindisi-Leros. Off Leros met the torpedo boat Lira who escorted her in. | ||
| 4 Apr 1942 | 0642 | At 0642 hours, a German aircraft was seen and exchanged recognition signals. | ||||||||
| 4 Apr 1942 | 0930 | At 0930 hours, two German aircraft were seen and exchanged recognition signals. | ||||||||
| 5 Apr 1942 | 1650 | At 1650 hours, several aircraft were seen flying northward at a distance of 12,000 metres. Five minutes later, Ondina dived | ||||||||
| 6 Apr 1942 | 1130 | At 1130 hours, an object thought to be a periscope was seen at 1,000 metres and Ondina turned away. | ||||||||
| 1. | Ondina (ON) | 17 Apr 1942 | 2030 | Leros | 4 May 1942 | 0635 | Leros | 1284,5 | Patrolled between 33°40'N and 34°00'N, and between 22°20'E and 23°20'E, in Grids 7224, 7248, 7232, off Cyrenaica then in 6581, 6523, 6571. Dived several times because of aircraft, but was not attacked. | |
| 24 Apr 1942 | 1440 | At 1440 hours, an aircraft was seen at 3,000 metres and the submarine dived. | ||||||||
| Ondina (ON) | 21 May 1942 | 0900 | Leros | 21 May 1942 | 1237 | Leros | 16 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Ondina (ON) | 23 May 1942 | 1318 | Leros | 11 Jun 1942 | 0600 | Leros | 1469 | Sailed with the submarine Beilul and outward escort by the destroyer Sella and patrolled off Mersa Matruh and Ras Kenayis between 32°00'N and the Egyptian coast, and between 26°40'E and 27°20'E. | |
| 26 May 1942 | 2200 | At 2200 hours, four aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | ||||||||
| 27 May 1942 | 0130 | At 0130 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | ||||||||
| 4 Jun 1942 | 0325 | At 0325 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived. | ||||||||
| Ondina (ON) | 30 Jun 1942 | 0910 | Leros | 30 Jun 1942 | 1250 | Leros | 19 | Exercises. | ||
| 3. | Ondina (ON) | 3 Jul 1942 | 0100 | Leros | 11 Jul 1942 | 1645 | Sunk | 450 | Sailed with the submarine Nereide (parted company at 1200 hours on the 4th) for patrol off Cyprus, between 33°40'N and 36°00'N, and between 32°00'E and the Syrian coast. On 7th July 1942, was ordered with other submarines to intercept the Norwegian Invapaten (sic) of about 6,000 GRT with a cargo of 4,500 tons of nickel, who had sailed on the night of 6/7th July from Mersina probably heading for Limassol and Port Said. This was actually the Norwegian Inviken (4,171 GRT, built 1925) who had sailed from Mersin on 6th July for Iskanderun and Port Said. Sunk by South African armed trawlers HMSAS Protea and HMSAS Southern Maid and a Walrus RAF aircraft (five killed, forty-one survivors). | |
| 11 Jul 1942 | 1400-1600 (e) | (e) 34° 30'N, 34° 48'E | At 1400 hours, two warships were seen steering westward. Ondina submerged immediately. These were the armed whalers HMSAS Protea ((Lt. Gordon Burn Wood, RSAN) and HMSAS Southern Maid (Lt. J. Bangley, RSAN). They were proceeding from Beirut to Famagusta when, at 1500C hours, they sighted a submarine at a distance of 2-3 miles. At 1610C hours, Southern Maid obtained a contact but, on the first run, the submarine passed very quickly under her, before depth charges could be dropped. Protea was then directed to the attack and she released a pattern of six depth charges but without result. At 1635C hours, Protea was directed by Southern Maid for a second attack, again without result. A Walrus (W.2709) of 700 Squadron arrived on the scene. It was piloted by Sub-Lieutenant P.A. Jordan, under Lieutenant Cook who acted as an observer. At 1650 hours, Protea dropped a third pattern and, two minutes later, the submarine surfaced about 1,200 yards from Southern Maid. The Walrus immediately dived and attacked with two 250" bombs. At the same time, the two vessels opened fire on Ondina. Southern Maid fired eleven 4" rounds and scored two direct hits, which put her gun out of action. At 1700C hours, the submarine sank. Five officers and thirty-six ratings were picked up by Southern Maid and Protea. Five ratings were killed. | |||||||
14 entries. 9 total patrol entries (3 marked as war patrols) and 10 events.