Antonio Legnani

Antonio Legnani (28 January 1888 – 23 October 1943) was an Italian admiral during World War II.

Early life and career

Born in Piedmont in 1888, Antonio Legnani entered the Naval Academy in Leghorn in 1905. After graduating as an ensign in 1908, he served for a few years on battleships and cruisers, and in 1911-1912 he participated in the Italo-Turkish War as a sub-lieutenant aboard the hydrographic survey ship Staffetta, in Red Sea. The result was that Italian submarines were never equipped with snorkels until after the Second World War. In 1939 Legnani was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and given command of the 8th Naval Division (with flag on the light cruiser Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, which he still commanded when Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940). He directed Italian submarine operations in the Mediterranean until the 8 September 1943 armistice; in this period he was also decorated with the German Iron Cross second-class, as well as Officer's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy. Less than a month later, however, on 20 October 1943, Admiral Legnani lost his life in a car accident near Vicenza,

His son Emilio also served in the Italian Navy, receiving the Gold Medal of Military Valor for his actions in the Black Sea during World War II.