Salvatore Toscano ( Imola, 5 July 1897 – Aegean Sea, 28 March 1941) was an Italian naval officer during World War II.

Biography

Toscano was born in Imola, province of Bologna, in 1897. After graduating as ensign from the Naval Academy of Livorno in 1915, he served on various ships during World War I, being promoted to lieutenant in 1918. In 1926 he was promoted to lieutenant commander and in 1932, after commanding the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

for two years, 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 appointed vice deputy commander of the Naval Academy of Livorno. In 1935 he was transferred to the Royal Hydrographic Institute of Genoa and in 1937 he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, holding in succession the command of the light cruiser , the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

and the light cruiser . In November 1938 he was appointed president of the Commission for the Experimentation of War Material (Mariperman) in

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, and from 12 April 1940 to 10 March 1941 he served as Chief of Staff of the Naval Command 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 ...

. He was then given command of the 9th Destroyer Squadron, with as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

. A few weeks later, he participated in the battle of Cape Matapan, in which the 1st Naval Division, of which the 9th Destroyer Squadron was part, was annihilated by the battleships of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

in a nocturnal engagement. ''Alfieri'', under the command of Toscano, was the only Italian ship that was able to put up a reaction, firing her guns and some torpedoes at the attackers before being hit and disabled by British gunfire. Toscano then ordered the survivors to set off the scuttling charges and abandon ship; declining his subordinates' request to join them on the rafts, he withdrew to the bridge and went down with the ship. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.Toscano Salvatore – MOVM
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toscano, Salvatore 1897 births 1941 deaths Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Regia Marina personnel of World War II People lost at sea Italian military personnel killed in World War II Captains who went down with the ship