Italian submarines in World War Two

Italian Commanders


Gabriele Andolfi

Born  20 May 1912Leghorn

Ranks

  T.V.Tenente di Vascello

Decorations

  Croce di guerra al valore militare
1 Apr 1949 Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare

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 goingT.V.1 Oct 194018 Oct 1940
Ondina (ON)Coastal / Sea goingT.V.28 Feb 194211 Jul 1942

Ships hit by Gabriele Andolfi

No ships hit by this Commander.

War patrols listed for Gabriele Andolfi

 SubmarineDateTimePortArr. dateArr. timeArr. portMilesDescription
Giovanni da Procida (DP)14 Oct 19401610Taranto14 Oct 19401700Taranto2Left dock?

Ondina (ON)17 Mar 19420850Brindisi17 Mar 19421528Brindisi44Exercises.

Ondina (ON)18 Mar 19421110Brindisi18 Mar 19421622Brindisi36,5Exercises.
  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 19421130Brindisi7 Apr 19421615Leros1059Passage Brindisi-Leros. Off Leros met the torpedo boat Lira who escorted her in.
  4 Apr 19420642At 0642 hours, a German aircraft was seen and exchanged recognition signals.
  4 Apr 19420930At 0930 hours, two German aircraft were seen and exchanged recognition signals.
  5 Apr 19421650At 1650 hours, several aircraft were seen flying northward at a distance of 12,000 metres. Five minutes later, Ondina dived
  6 Apr 19421130At 1130 hours, an object thought to be a periscope was seen at 1,000 metres and Ondina turned away.

1.Ondina (ON)17 Apr 19422030Leros4 May 19420635Leros1284,5Patrolled 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 19421440At 1440 hours, an aircraft was seen at 3,000 metres and the submarine dived.

Ondina (ON)21 May 19420900Leros21 May 19421237Leros16Exercises.

2.Ondina (ON)23 May 19421318Leros11 Jun 19420600Leros1469Sailed 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 19422200At 2200 hours, four aircraft were seen and the submarine dived.
  27 May 19420130At 0130 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived.
  4 Jun 19420325At 0325 hours, two aircraft were seen and the submarine dived.

Ondina (ON)30 Jun 19420910Leros30 Jun 19421250Leros19Exercises.

3.Ondina (ON)3 Jul 19420100Leros11 Jul 19421645Sunk450Sailed 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.

Italian Commanders

Italian Submarines