Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Bandino Bandini
Capitano di Corvetta
| Born | 25 Mar 1906 | Florence | |
| Died | 1990 | (83) | Milan |
| Ranks
Decorations
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Career information
MARCANTONIO BRAGADINO (C.C. C.O.): from 19.02.1940 to 18.08.1940.ENRICO TOTI (C.C. C.O.): from 21.08.40 to 15.11.40.
ATROPO (C.C. C.O.): from 23.11.1940 to 24.06.1941.
In 1942: Second in Command of Scuola A.S. (Antisubmarine School). Joined R.S.I.
Commands listed for Bandino Bandini
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | Minelaying | C.C. | 20 Feb 1940 | 18 Aug 1940 |
| Enrico Toti (TO) | Ocean going | C.C. | 21 Aug 1940 | 15 Nov 1940 |
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | Minelaying | C.C. | 23 Nov 1940 | 24 Jun 1941 |
Ships hit by Bandino Bandini
| Date | Submarine | Ship hit | Type | GRT | Nat. | Loss type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 15 Oct 1940 | Enrico Toti | HMS Triad | Submarine | 1,090 |  | Sunk |
War patrols listed for Bandino Bandini
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | 31 May 1940 | 1026 | Augusta | 31 May 1940 | 1630 | Augusta | 29 | Exercises. | ||
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | 21 Jun 1940 | 2325 | Augusta | 23 Jun 1940 | 0938 | Naples | 295 | Passage Augusta-Naples. | ||
| 1. | Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | 24 Jun 1940 | 1607 | Naples | 28 Jun 1940 | 1426 | Tobruk | 865 | Supply mission to Tobruk: brought 27 tons of material for the Italian Air Force. | |
| 25 Jun 1940 | 1530 | (0) 4 miles from Cape Dell'Armi (or near Melito Porto Salvo). | At 1530 hours, Bragadino was fired upon twice in error by the A/S auxiliary Marongiu (A.S.3) of Gruppo Cacciasommergibile Messina. Marongiu was not aware that only submerged submarines should be attacked near the Italian coast. | |||||||
| Marcantonio Bragadino (BG) | 29 Jun 1940 | 2105 | Tobruk | 4 Jul 1940 | 1930 | Taranto | 707 | Passage Tobruk-Taranto. | ||
| 30 Jun 1940 | 1343 1345 (e) | 33° 49'N, 23° 16'E | At 1343 hours, an aircraft was sighted at a distance of 4,000 metres and Bragadino crash-dived. She has reached a depth of 15 metres when she was shaken by the explosions of three bombs. She escaped by going down to 80 metres. This was a Swordfish of 824 Squadron from HMS Eagle. It actually dropped six 100-lb bombs. At the time the British Mediterranean fleet was 10 miles west of the submarine on an easterly course and turned southward to avoid the submarine. | |||||||
| 1 Jul 1940 | 1035 | 35° 14'N, 22° 14'E | At 0910 hours, an aircraft was sighted astern following a parallel course to the submarine. Bragadino crash-dived and went down to 80 metres. At 1035 hours, two bombs exploded near on the port side of the submarine but without causing damage. More explosions followed. About two hours later, propellers sound were picked up and about twenty depth charges were heard until 1835 hours. | |||||||
| 2 Jul 1940 | 1215 | 35° 14'N, 22° 14'E (0) Approximately. | At 1215 hours, the submarine was at a depth of 40-50 metres when several bombs or depth-charges were heard. Bragadino was taken down to 80 metres. At 1300 hours, another thirteen depth charges were heard but the submarine escaped damage. | |||||||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 3 Sep 1940 | 0800 | Brindisi | 3 Sep 1940 | 1231 | Brindisi | 30 | Exercises. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 5 Sep 1940 | 0914 | Brindisi | 5 Sep 1940 | 1400 | Brindisi | 22 | Exercises in 40°42'25'N, 17°54'45'E. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 10 Sep 1940 | 0810 | Brindisi | 10 Sep 1940 | 1330 | Brindisi | 21 | Exercises, escorted by the torpedo boat Pallade. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 12 Sep 1940 | 0812 | Brindisi | 12 Sep 1940 | 1222 | Brindisi | 21 | Exercises. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 22 Sep 1940 | 0800 | Brindisi | 22 Sep 1940 | 1243 | Brindisi | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 28 Sep 1940 | 0808 | Brindisi | 28 Sep 1940 | 1150 | Brindisi | 18 | Exercises. | ||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 4 Oct 1940 | 1405 | Brindisi | 4 Oct 1940 | 1805 | Brindisi | 20 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Enrico Toti (TO) | 11 Oct 1940 | 1530 | Brindisi | 15 Oct 1940 | 1630 | Brindisi | 705 | Sailed for patrol in Ionian Sea, through (a) 37°20'N, 18°20'E (b) 33°10'N, 23°20'E to an area 10 miles wide between 33°35'N, 26°50'E and 34°20'N, 28°15'E. Returned after damage following sinking of HMS Triad. | |
| 15 Oct 1940 | 0110+ | 38° 16'N, 17° 37'E (0) 197° - Cape Colonne (Calabria) - 50 miles. | In bad weather, a submarine of the PERSEUS class was observed at a distance of 2,000 metres. In fact, this was HMS Triad (Lt. Cdr. G.S. Salt, RN). Enrico Toti turned immediately to port, toward the enemy who had opened fire, hitting the Italian submarine on the conning tower. S.T.V. Giuseppe Simonetti and rating Marino Casellato were slightly wounded. HMS Triad fired a torpedo, which narrowly missed Enrico Toti astern. The Italian gunners rushed to the deck gun, but it was jammed; they frantically tried to arm it, as the enemy passed at full speed at only 30 metres from the port side. One 12-cm round was finally fired, but missed. In frustration, electrician Nicola Stagi threw his shoe at the enemy submarine! The Breda machine-guns and sub-machine guns swept the enemy's deck and shouts could distinctly be heard. At a distance of about 100-200 metres, the enemy submarine dived as Toti fired a second round from her 12-cm gun, which scored a direct hit, followed by a 533mm torpedo which apparently also hit the submerged submarine. About 30 metres of her bows broke surface vertically, before she disappeared. For good measure, one more 12-cm round was fired as well a second torpedo set at a depth of nine metres, although they appear to have missed. HMS Triad was the only British submarine to be sunk by an Italian counterpart, five officers and fifty ratings went down with her. | |||||||
| Enrico Toti (TO) | 21 Oct 1940 | 1008 | Brindisi | 22 Oct 1940 | 1400 | Pola | 385 | Passage Brindisi-Pola. | ||
| 3. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 23 Nov 1940 | 0645 | Taranto | 27 Nov 1940 | 1220 | Leros | 714 | Storing trip Taranto-Leros. Uneventful. | |
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 2 Dec 1940 | 1500 | Leros | 2 Dec 1940 | 1620 | Leros | 5 | Exercises. | ||
| 4. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 3 Dec 1940 | 0140 | Leros | 8 Dec 1940 | 1740 | Taranto | 821 | Return voyage from storing trip Leros-Taranto and brief patrol in 35°30'N, 26°30'E. | |
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 22 Dec 1940 | 0755 | Taranto | 22 Dec 1940 | 1545 | Taranto | 46 | Exercises. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 23 Dec 1940 | 0805 | Taranto | 23 Dec 1940 | 1500 | Taranto | 46 | Exercises. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 26 Dec 1940 | 0805 | Taranto | 26 Dec 1940 | 1610 | Taranto | 49 | Exercises. | ||
| 5. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 27 Dec 1940 | 0810 | Taranto | 27 Dec 1940 | 1240 | Taranto | 27,7 | Laid an experimental mine field. Then refit until March 1941. | |
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 14 Mar 1941 | 0840 | Taranto | 14 Mar 1941 | 1435 | Taranto | 34,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 31 Mar 1941 | 0838 | Taranto | 31 Mar 1941 | 1600 | Taranto | 28,5 | Exercises. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 11 Apr 1941 | 0836 | Taranto | 11 Apr 1941 | 1537 | Taranto | 45,2 | Exercises, escorted by the pilot vessel Limbara. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 3 May 1941 | 0525 | Taranto | 3 May 1941 | 1948 | Taranto | 156,53 | Exercises. | ||
| Atropo (AT, N.51) | 5 May 1941 | 0831 | Taranto | 5 May 1941 | 1507 | Taranto | 53,9 | Exercises, escorted by the pilot vessel Limbara. | ||
| 6. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 9 May 1941 | 2238 | Taranto | 12 May 1941 | 1909 | Derna | Storing trip Taranto to Derna with 78 tons of ammunition. Uneventful. | ||
| 7. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 13 May 1941 | 0700 | Derna | 15 May 1941 | 1515 | Taranto | 1131 | Return trip from supply mission to Derna. Uneventful (mileage total). | |
| 8. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 18 May 1941 | 0625 | Taranto | 20 May 1941 | 2100 | Derna | Storing trip Taranto to Derna with 79 tons of ammunition. Uneventful. | ||
| 9. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 21 May 1941 | 0648 | Derna | 24 May 1941 | 1320 | Taranto | 1155 | Return trip from supply mission to Derna (mileage total). | |
| 22 May 1941 | 0825 0930 (e) | 35° 16'N, 20° 52'E | At 0825 hours, four warships were sighted at a distance of 8-9,000 metres. Atropo crash-dived and was hunted from 0850 to 1920 hours but escaped damage. These were actually five destroyers of the 5th Flotilla: HMS Kelly (D.5), HMS Kashmir, HMS Kelvin, HMS Kipling and HMS Janus. They dropped 50 depth charges. | |||||||
| 10. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 5 Jun 1941 | 0533 | Taranto | 7 Jun 1941 | 2010 | Derna | Passage Taranto to Derna with 40 tons of ammunition. Uneventful. | ||
| 11. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 8 Jun 1941 | 0012 | Derna | 10 Jun 1941 | 1100 | Taranto | 1151,9 | Return trip from supply mission to Derna (mileage total). | |
| 10 Jun 1941 | 0300 | (0) 12 miles south Cape Santa Maria di Leuca. | At 0300 hours, an enemy submarine was sighted. There were none in the area. This was probably Adua on passage from Taranto to Pola and she was actually seen again at 0435 hours. | |||||||
| 12. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 13 Jun 1941 | 1002 | Taranto | 15 Jun 1941 | 2131 | Derna | Passage Taranto to Derna with 68 tons of ammunition. Uneventful. | ||
| 13. | Atropo (AT, N.51) | 16 Jun 1941 | 0320 | Derna | 19 Jun 1941 | 1110 | Taranto | 1166 | Return trip from supply mission to Derna. Uneventful (mileage total). | |
35 entries. 33 total patrol entries (13 marked as war patrols) and 7 events.