Bruno Brivonesi

Bruno Brivonesi (16 July 1886 – 1970) was an Italian admiral during World War II. His brother, Bruto, was also an admiral.

Early life and career

Brivonesi was born in Ancona in 1886, and he entered the Italian Naval Academy after high school, in 1906. After graduating as an ensign, he joined the crew of the battleship Regina Margherita. In 1908, he participated in the rescue efforts after the 1908 Messina earthquake, following which he received a Bronze Civil Medal.

When the Royal Italian Navy decided to use airships for its Air Service, Brivonesi attended the first pilot training programme, which took place in 1910 in Rome and nearby in Bracciano. For his action over Pola, Brivonesi was awarded a second Silver Medal of Military Valor; in 1933 he would write a book about this experience, Verso Mauthausen (Towards Mauthausen).

After returning to Italy, Brivonesi started flying again, now with the new Macchi L.3 floatplanes, in Venice. Back in Italy, he became a liaison officer between the navy and the air force in Rome. Monte Gargano was there to act as a replenishment ship for the other two vessels. British aircraft flying nearby, however, noticed the unusual presence of three ships in the usually deserted Gulf of Bomba, and Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers were sent to attack them on 22 August: both Iride and Monte Gargano were sunk, thus sanctioning the failure of the operation before it could start.

Between 26 and 29 September 1941, Brivonesi and the 3rd Division (Trento, Trieste, and Gorizia, in addition to the destroyers Ascari, Lanciere, Corazziere and Carabiniere) sailed from Messina as part of the force tasked with countering Operation Halberd. The Italian force, however, did not meet the British force, and there was no battle.

As the commander of the 3rd Division, Brivonesi was the protagonist of the Italian defeat in the Battle of the Duisburg Convoy. On 8 November 1941, Brivonesi sailed from Messina with Trieste, Trento and the 13th Destroyer Flotilla (Granatiere, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Alpino) as distant escort of the "Beta" convoy (later known as the "Duisburg" convoy), which consisted of 7 merchant ships (the Italian cargo ships Maria, Sagitta and Rina Corrado, the Italian tankers Conte di Misurata and Minatitlan and the German cargo ships Duisburg and San Marco, laden with 389 vehicles, 34,473 long tons of munitions and matériel and 17,281 long tons of fuel) with a close escort of six destroyers (under the command of Captain Ugo Bisciani on Maestrale). The convoy was spotted by a British reconnaissance plane, and Force K (light cruisers Aurora and Penelope and destroyers Lance and Lively) sailed from Malta to intercept. Mussolini despised Brivonesi since the Duisburg convoy disaster, and relations between them remained cold. He went back to La Maddalena on 8 September, and there he learned from the radio of the armistice of Cassibile. On 12 September, Brivonesi was put under arrest by the German commander. ), attacked the Germans and captured 250 prisoners. Brivonesi was released by the Germans to order his men to release the German prisoners and return their weapons to them; initially, his men refused to comply, but the prisoners were freed on the following day. The Germans completed their evacuation and left La Maddalena on 14 September. Brivonesi remained in command of the Italian naval forces in Sardinia till 1944.

Brivonesi left the Navy in April 1946. In 1952, a book by Antonino Trizzino, Navi e poltrone, heavily criticised Brivonesi's behaviour on 9 November 1941, practically accusing him of cowardice; Brivonesi sued Trizzino for defamation, and he won at first instance, but lost on appeal. He spent his later life between Rome and Marche, and he died in Rome in 1970.