Primo Longobardo (

La Maddalena La Maddalena (Gallurese: ''Madalena'' or ''La Madalena'', sc, Sa Madalena) is a town and ''comune'' located on the islands of the Maddalena archipelago in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia, Italy. The main town of the same name is locat ...

, 19 October 1901 –

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, 14 July 1942) was an Italian naval officer and

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

r during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

He was born in

on 19 October 1901, the son of Vincenzo Longobardo and Ersilia Culiolo, and enrolled at the Naval Academy of Livorno in 1915, graduating as

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

on 8 July 1920 after participating in training cruises aboard the

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

''Amerigo Vespucci''. He was promoted to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

in 1922 and to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 1925; in 1929 he was sent to

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, where he assumed the post of deputy commander of the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

detachment at the Italian Legation until 1932. After being repatriated, he attended the Command School aboard the

H 4 and was promoted to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1933. He then obtained his first command, submarine ''Fratelli Bandiera'', followed by ''Sirena'' in 1934, ''Galileo Galilei'' from July 1935 to January 1937, and ''Galileo Ferraris'' and ''Pietro Calvi'' during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, in which he carried out patrols against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

shipping and was awarded a

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

for the sinking of the Republican steamer ''Navarra''. On 1 January 1938 he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and assigned to the Submarine Office of the Navy Ministry; he was later transferred to the command of the 2nd Submarine Group of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and then of the 6 th Submarine Group of

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

from April to July 1939. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Longobardo held the command of the 3rd Submarine Group of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. In the early part of the war he commanded the submarine ''Enrico Toti'', carrying out patrols in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and in October 1940 (after participating in one of ''U 99'''s patrols alongside

Otto Kretschmer Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For ...

, as an observer) he assumed command of ''Luigi Torelli'', participating in the

battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

with base in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

(

BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines particip ...

). In command of Torelli, Longobardo carried out two Atlantic patrols; the first one, in December 1940, had to be aborted soon after departure due to mechanical breakdowns, but the second one, in January–February 1941, resulted in the sinking of four merchant vessels (''Urla'', ''Nemea'', ''Brask'', and ''Nicolaos Filinis'') for a gross tonnage of 17,498 GRT, the most successful patrol for a Betasom boat until then. Longobardo was therefore awarded another Silver Medal of Military Valor; however, due to his age, deemed to old for the hardships entailed by an active submarine command (40 years old), he was then replaced and given command of the Submarine School of

Pola Pola or POLA may refer to: People *House of Pola, an Italian noble family *Pola Alonso (1923–2004), Argentine actress *Pola Brändle (born 1980), German artist and photographer *Pola Gauguin (1883–1961), Danish painter *Pola Gojawiczyńska (18 ...

(12th Submarine Group). Nonetheless, Longobardo repeatedly asked to be allowed to return to the frontline on a submarine, and in June 1942 he was given command of ''Pietro Calvi'', whose commanding officer had fallen ill. On 2 July 1942 ''Calvi'' sailed from Bordeaux for a patrol in the Atlantic, and on 15 July it attacked convoy SL. 115 southwest of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, being however located and hunted by HMS ''Lulworth''. ''Calvi'' was heavily

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

d and seriously damaged, leading Longobardo to order to surface in an attempt to escape at full speed while fighting off the sloop with the submarine's

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

s. After surfacing, ''Calvi'' was immediately targeted by ''Lulworth'''s

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

ners, which cut down most of the Italian gunners; the submarine unsuccessfully fired two

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es at ''Lulworth'' and then evaded two ramming attempts by the British vessels, but the third attempt succeeded in destroying one of ''Calvi'''s propellers, leaving the submarine dead in the water. At this point Longobardo gave order to open the

seacock A seacock is a valve on the hull of a boat or a ship, permitting water to flow into the vessel, such as for cooling an engine or for a salt water faucet; or out of the boat, such as for a sink drain or a toilet. Seacocks are often a Kingston va ...

s to scuttle the boat, and to gather on deck to abandon ship; immediately thereafter, however, he was killed when ''Calvi'''s

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

was hit by one of ''Lulworths shells. Shortly thereafter, ''Calvi'' sank with the loss of 42 of her 77 crew, as well as one British officer who had led a

boarding party ''Boarding Party'' is a solitaire science fiction board game published by Task Force Games in 1982 that simulates a boarding party of humans trying to deactivate a killer spaceship. Description ''Boarding Party'' is a solitaire microgame in whic ...

in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the submarine after Longobardo's death. At age 40 and with his rank of commander, Longobardo was both the oldest and most senior Italian submarine commander killed in World War II, as most other submarine commanders were younger lieutenant commanders or lieutenants. He was posthumously awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

; the postwar

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

named two submarines after him, the former USS ''Pickerel'' (in service from 1972 to 1981) and a Sauro-class submarine commissioned in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longobardo, Primo 1901 births 1942 deaths Regia Marina personnel of World War II Italian military personnel of the Spanish Civil War Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Submarine commanders Italian military personnel of World War II Italian military personnel killed in World War II