Italian submarines in World War Two

Italian Commanders


Antonio Biondo

Born  23 Dec 1906Maglie (Lecce)

Ranks

  C.C.Capitano di Corvetta

Decorations

18 Mar 1943 Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare
29 Mar 1943 Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare
18 Aug 1945 Croce di guerra al valore militare
10 Jan 1951 Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare

Career information

SALPA (C.C. C.O.): from 15.12.1939 to 25.11.1940.

Commands listed for Antonio Biondo


Submarine Type Rank From To
Salpa (SP)Coastal / Sea goingC.C.15 Dec 193925 Nov 1940

Ships hit by Antonio Biondo

No ships hit by this Commander.

War patrols listed for Antonio Biondo

 SubmarineDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
1.Salpa (SP)6 Jun 19400713Taranto16 Jun 19400440Gallipoli1381Patrolled 10 or 15 miles South of Gavdo with the submarines Giuliani, Bagnolini and Tarantini, on a line 20 miles apart. Heard only H.E.

Salpa (SP)16 Jun 19400940Gallipoli16 Jun 19401550TarantoPassage Gallipoli-Taranto in company of the submarines Tarantini and Settimo, escorted by the destroyer Zeffiro.

2.Salpa (SP)27 Jun 19401201Taranto3 Jul 19401400Benghazi1398Sailed for 33°46'N, 23°10'E on a patrol line with submarines Anfitrite, Ondina and Uebi Scebeli, from a point 15 miles southwest of Gaudio to a point 40 miles northeast of Derna. On her way to the patrol line, she was damaged by bombs and forced to go to Benghazi. HMS Dainty claimed to have sunk her in 35°24'N, 24°10'E ca. 29th June 40. Biondo was severely reprimanded for lack of aggressiveness when encountering a target on 29th June 1940.
  29 Jun 19400720-0820
0615 (e)
At 0640 hours, Salpa was proceeding in company with Uebi Scebeli to their respective patrol areas when a destroyer was sighted. Salpa immediately dived.

At 0722 hours, Salpa heard three explosions probably at a distance of about 100 meters and another six at about 30 meters at 0726 hours, more followed until 0820 hours but they were distant. The submarine escaped without damage.
  1 Jul 19401035-1500
1050 (e)
33° 46'N, 23° 10'E
(0) Approximately.
At 0930 hours, hydrophone effects were heard. At 1035 hours, a vessel passed above and dropped three depth charges, causing some damages to Salpa.

She had been detected by HMS Hostile and HMAS Stuart in the area where a line of four Italian submarines had been deployed (following information from captured documents on the Uebi Scebeli). HMS Hostile located the submarine attacking at 1030 hours, but only using the thrower depth charges as the trap had jammed. HMAS Stuart attacked with a full pattern at 1050 hours.

At 1050 hours, the vessel passed again and dropped about six depth charges, causing more damage, The submarine went down to 60 meters. Six more depth-charges were heard at 1500 hours and the submarine was forced to abort her patrol and go to Benghazi. British Naval intelligence believed the submarine was probably Uarsciek and that she was sunk

Salpa (SP)16 Jul 19401230Benghazi19 Jul 19401325TarantoPassage Benghazi-Taranto. Return trip for repairs following damage by bombs on 29th June. Then repairs until 20th October 1940.

Salpa (SP)22 Jul 19401350Taranto24 Jul 19401610Pola494Passage Taranto-Pola.

Salpa (SP)21 Sep 19400840Pola21 Sep 19401818Pola56,2Exercises.

Salpa (SP)25 Sep 19400806Pola25 Sep 19401609Pola29,7Exercises.

Salpa (SP)29 Sep 19400725Pola29 Sep 19401258Pola36,2Exercises.

Salpa (SP)8 Oct 19401015Pola10 Oct 19401607Taranto520Passage Pola-Taranto.

Salpa (SP)12 Oct 19400931Taranto12 Oct 19401420Taranto21,8Exercises.

Salpa (SP)18 Oct 19400835Taranto18 Oct 19401511Taranto30Exercises.

Salpa (SP)20 Oct 19400900Taranto20 Oct 19401320Taranto20Exercises.

Salpa (SP)22 Oct 19400812Taranto22 Oct 19401750Taranto20,7Exercises.

3.Salpa (SP)24 Oct 19401736Taranto26 Oct 19402155Brindisi275Sailed for patrol off Cyrenaica, between 34°20'N and 34°55'N, 23°30'N and 24°40'E but turned back because weather damage and battery problems. Repairs until December 1940.
  26 Oct 19401200
(0) Off Santa Maria di Leuca.
At 1200 hours, a battleship of the ANDREA DORIA class was sighted at 7,000 metres and fired two rounds at Salpa, as the submarine had been slow to respond to her signals. This was indeed Andrea Doria on transfer from Pola to Taranto, who checked her fire when the submarine made the proper recognition signal. The bad weather had forced her destroyer escort to turn back as they could not maintain a speed of 15 knots.

15 entries. 14 total patrol entries (3 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.

Italian Commanders

Italian Submarines