Italian submarines in World War Two
Italian Commanders
Leo Sposito
| Born | 13 Apr 1912 | Civitavecchia | |
| Died | 9 Nov 1942 | (30) | Killed in action |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Career information
BENEDETTO BRIN (T.V. First Officer): from 15.01.1939 to ?BENEDETTO BRIN (T.V. resp.): from 01.12.1941 to 03.12.1941 (refit at Taranto).
BENEDETTO BRIN (T.V. C.O.): From 14.12.1941 to 31.12.1941.
GRANITO (T.V. C.O.): from 20.05.1942 to 17.08.1942.
GRANITO (T.V. C.O.): from 23.08.1942 to 09.11.1942 (sunk, Sposito was killed).
Commands listed for Leo Sposito
| Submarine | Type | Rank | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | Ocean going | T.V. | 1 Dec 1941 | 3 Dec 1941 |
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | Ocean going | T.V. | 14 Dec 1941 | 31 Dec 1941 |
| Granito (GR) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 20 May 1942 | 17 Aug 1942 |
| Granito (GR) | Coastal / Sea going | T.V. | 23 Aug 1942 | 9 Nov 1942 |
Ships hit by Leo Sposito
No ships hit by this Commander.War patrols listed for Leo Sposito
| Submarine | Date | Time | Port | Arr. date | Arr. time | Arr. port | Miles | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | 1 Dec 1941 | Taranto | 3 Dec 1941 | Taranto | Refit in Taranto. | |||||
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | 17 Dec 1941 | 0846 | Taranto | 17 Dec 1941 | 1452 | Taranto | 25 | Trials. | ||
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | 24 Dec 1941 | 0835 | Taranto | 24 Dec 1941 | 1340 | Taranto | 20 | Trials. | ||
| Benedetto Brin (BR, I.23) | 31 Dec 1941 | 0914 | Taranto | 31 Dec 1941 | 1230 | Taranto | 30 | Trials. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 23 May 1942 | 0910 | Monfalcone | 23 May 1942 | 1430 | Monfalcone | 36 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 29 May 1942 | 0750 | Monfalcone | 29 May 1942 | 1315 | Venice | 73 | Passage Monfalcone-Venice. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 30 May 1942 | 0847 | Venice | 30 May 1942 | 1225 | Venice | 15 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 3 Jun 1942 | 0827 | Venice | 3 Jun 1942 | 1510 | Pola | 79,5 | Passage Venice-Pola. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 5 Jun 1942 | 1027 | Pola | 5 Jun 1942 | 1540 | Pola | 24 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 6 Jun 1942 | 1052 | Pola | 6 Jun 1942 | 1942 | Pola | 11 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 8 Jun 1942 | 1238 | Pola | 8 Jun 1942 | 1729 | Pola | 12 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 9 Jun 1942 | 0659 | Pola | 9 Jun 1942 | 1935 | Pola | 3 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 10 Jun 1942 | 0730 | Pola | 10 Jun 1942 | 1540 | Monfalcone | 80 | Passage Pola-Monfalcone. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 17 Jun 1942 | 1325 | Monfalcone | 17 Jun 1942 | 1926 | Pola | 75 | Passage Monfalcone-Pola. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 18 Jun 1942 | 0521 | Pola | 18 Jun 1942 | 2005 | Pola | 176 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 25 Jun 1942 | 0740 | Pola | 25 Jun 1942 | 2135 | Pola | 130 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 28 Jun 1942 | 1347 | Pola | 1 Jul 1942 | 1150 | Naples | 868 | Passage Pola-Naples, in company with the submarine Avorio. Uneventful. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 3 Jul 1942 | 0810 | Naples | 3 Jul 1942 | 1620 | Naples | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 4 Jul 1942 | 0810 | Naples | 4 Jul 1942 | 1609 | Naples | 40 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 5 Jul 1942 | 0815 | Naples | 5 Jul 1942 | 1410 | Naples | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 8 Jul 1942 | 0615 | Naples | 8 Jul 1942 | 1325 | Naples | 25 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 9 Jul 1942 | 0817 | Naples | 9 Jul 1942 | 1508 | Naples | 38 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 11 Jul 1942 | 1434 | Naples | 11 Jul 1942 | 1805 | Naples | 38 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 12 Jul 1942 | 0805 | Naples | 12 Jul 1942 | 1442 | Naples | 22 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 13 Jul 1942 | 0922 | Naples | 13 Jul 1942 | 1620 | Naples | 28 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 15 Jul 1942 | 0815 | Naples | 15 Jul 1942 | 1614 | Naples | 50 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 16 Jul 1942 | 0915 | Naples | 16 Jul 1942 | 1610 | Naples | 33 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 17 Jul 1942 | 0810 | Naples | 17 Jul 1942 | 1800 | Naples | 45 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 19 Jul 1942 | 0625 | Naples | 19 Jul 1942 | 2300 | Naples | 50 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 20 Jul 1942 | 0910 | Naples | 20 Jul 1942 | 2016 | Naples | 35 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 21 Jul 1942 | 0819 | Naples | 21 Jul 1942 | 1518 | Naples | 30 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 23 Jul 1942 | 0815 | Naples | 23 Jul 1942 | 1600 | Naples | 30 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 24 Jul 1942 | 0906 | Naples | 24 Jul 1942 | 1600 | Naples | 35 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 25 Jul 1942 | 0832 | Naples | 25 Jul 1942 | 1750 | Naples | 30 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 27 Jul 1942 | 1405 | Naples | 27 Jul 1942 | 2330 | Naples | 45 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 28 Jul 1942 | 0800 | Naples | 28 Jul 1942 | 1530 | Naples | 40 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 29 Jul 1942 | 1657 | Naples | 30 Jul 1942 | 1820 | Naples | 105 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 3 Aug 1942 | 0540 | Naples | 3 Aug 1942 | 1530 | Naples | 56 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 4 Aug 1942 | 0910 | Naples | 5 Aug 1942 | 1010 | Cagliari | 290 | Passage Naples-Cagliari. | ||
| 1. | Granito (GR) | 5 Aug 1942 | 2106 | Cagliari | 15 Aug 1942 | 0845 | Cagliari | 700,5 | Patrolled north coast of Tunisia, between 37°20'N and 37°50'N, and between 09°40'E and 10°00'E, with Velella in an adjacent area to intercept enemy convoy. | |
| 12 Aug 1942 | 1238 | 37° 22'N, 9° 55'E | At 1238 hours, Granito went down to 45 metres for a hydrophone watch, after listening to radio communications. Noises from two vessels were picked up and she was returning to periscope depth when at a depth of 20 metres she was suddenly depth charged. Because of the flat sea, T.V. Leo Sposito assumed he had been previously seen and brought his submarine down to 60 metres and shut the electric motors. At 1453 hours, the ASDIC pings were heard and again at 1620 hours. Granito went down to 96 metres before retuning to 60 metres. At 1838 hours, depth charges were heard and continued until 2130 hours with a total of 301 counted [note: these most certainly included bombs on the convoy which was under air attack]. | |||||||
| 14 Aug 1942 | 0451 0500 (e) | 37° 15'N, 9° 40'E | At 0434 hours, information was received of a naval force reported off Cape Bon at 0143 hours. At 0447 hours, three shapes were observed moving westward, the two closest were at a distance of about 4,000 metres. At 0451 hours, at a range of slightly less than 2,000 metres, T.V. Sposito ordered the firing of two bow torpedoes (533mm), but only one left the tube as the bow cap of the other other tube had not been opened in time. The torpedo was aimed at a target believed to be a battleship, but missed. Four destroyers could now be seen on the starboard flank. The target was the light cruiser HMS Kenya. At 0452 hours, a pair of torpedoes were fired at a second target, believed to be a cruiser of the LONDON class. One explosion was heard. The target was the destroyer HMS Ashanti and she was missed. At 0453 hours, the submarine had turned to fire a pair of stern torpedoes aimed at the first target and dived upon firing. After 60 seconds two explosions were heard, leading Sposito to believe that both torpedoes had hit. HMS Kenya was actually missed and attempted to ram the submarine but Granito was inside her turning circle and dived before any attempt could be completed. Despite the hits claimed, the Italian High Command concluded that the attacks missed as two cruisers had been located in this area by air reconnaissance, one FIJI and the other of the DIDO class and both appeared undamaged. Later, when they reached Gibraltar, it was reported that the FIJI class had been hit in the bow. | |||||||
| Granito (GR) | 3 Sep 1942 | 1325 | Cagliari | 3 Sep 1942 | 1630 | Cagliari | 20 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 13 Sep 1942 | 2000 | Cagliari | 15 Sep 1942 | 0708 | Augusta | 366 | Passage Cagliari-Trapani. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 29 Sep 1942 | 0835 | Augusta | 29 Sep 1942 | 1220 | Augusta | 20 | Exercises. | ||
| Granito (GR) | 5 Oct 1942 | 0850 | Augusta | 5 Oct 1942 | 1225 | Augusta | 20 | Exercises. | ||
| 2. | Granito (GR) | 3 Nov 1942 | 0530 | Augusta | 5 Nov 1942 | 1030 | Tobruk | Transport mission (benzine and German ammunition, 22.436 tons) to Tobruk. At 2100 hours on the 4th, she was due to pass through 34°02'N, 23°02'E. | ||
| 3. | Granito (GR) | 5 Nov 1942 | 1600 | Tobruk | 8 Nov 1942 | 0735 | Augusta | Return trip from supply mission. | ||
| 4. | Granito (GR) | 8 Nov 1942 | 1555 | Augusta | 9 Nov 1942 | 1545 (UK) | Sunk with all hands | Sailed through (1) Point M2 (2) 38°55'N, 15°12'E (3) 38°40'N, 13°10'E (4) 38°40'N, 12°00'E, for patrol off Bougie in Grid 5136. Passed Messina at 2125 hours on the 8th. Sunk in 38°34'N, 12°09'E (near Cape San Vito) by HMS P 247 (later named HMS Saracen). Five officers and forty-one ratings lost, no survivors. | ||
| 9 Nov 1942 | 1544.5 (e) | 38° 34'N, 12° 09'E | At 1539 hours, the submarine HMS P 247 (Lieutenant M.S.R. Lumby, RN) (later named HMS Saracen sighted an Italian submarine bearing 115° at 2,200 yards. steering 270° at 9 knots. At 1544.5 hours, four torpedoes were fired at intervals of 6 seconds at a range of 800 yards. Three loud explosions at 6 seconds intervals were heard. At 1546 hours, a periscope look found no submarine. This was Granito and there were no survivors. T.V. Leo Sposito, four officers and forty-one ratings perished. | |||||||
48 entries. 47 total patrol entries (4 marked as war patrols) and 3 events.