Priamo Leonardi
Priamo Leonardi | |
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Priamo Leonardi (2 October 1888 – 16 March 1984) was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Early life and career
Priamo Leonardi was born in
After promotion to lieutenant, Leonardi participated in World War I, first serving on board the armoured cruiser Francesco Ferruccio, then on the battleship Duilio and later in the Albania Naval High Command.[1] In 1920 he obtained his first command, a torpedo boat.[1] Between 1926 and 1928, having been promoted to lieutenant commander, Leonardi commanded the destroyers Monfalcone and Francesco Crispi; in 1928 he was promoted to commander and assigned to the Intelligence Office of the Regia Marina Headquarters.[1] Between 1933 and 1934 he commanded the Leone-class destroyer Tigre in the Red Sea, and between 1934 and 1935 he was the commanding officer of the minelayer Lepanto, stationed in Shanghai.[1]
In 1936 Leonardi was promoted to captain and given command of the light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.[1] He remained in command of Colleoni till 1938, taking part in the Spanish Civil War; in 1938, he became commander of the colonial ship Eritrea, stationed in the Red Sea.[1]
World War II and aftermath
When
On 8 June 1943, Leonardi was appointed commander of the Augusta-Syracuse Naval Fortress Area.[1]
This was the most heavily armed fortress in Sicily, with six coastal batteries of large and medium caliber (381 mm, 254 mm, 152 mm), 17 anti-aircraft batteries (102 and 76 mm guns), two armed pontoons (armed with 149 and 190 mm guns) on the seaward side; like many fortresses and bases of the Regia Marina, however, whereas the seaward side was strongly fortified, the defences on the landward side were far weaker.[2] The landward defence perimeter, 50 km long, consisted of a chain of 30 coastal strongholds manned by two coastal battalions.[2]
When the Allied forces landed in Sicily, on 10 July 1943, no amphibious landing was carried out against Augusta; to avoid facing the formidable coastal defences of Augusta, a column of the Eighth Army landed between Avola and Pachino and then attacked Syracuse from the weakly defended landward side, across the Anapo river.[2][3] Airborne troops also took part in the attack against Augusta and Syracuse in Operation Ladbroke.[3]
Admiral Leonardi tried to stem the British advance with tumultuary troops, but to little avail, as he had no artillery (Augusta, as mentioned, was only armed with coastal and anti-aircraft batteries: the former could be useful to repel an amphibious landing, and the latter against aircraft, but both were useless against a ground attack) or organic troops.
The command of the
Having been promoted to