Bruto Brivonesi

Bruto Brivonesi (22 November 1888 – 1 June 1979) was an Italian admiral during World War II.

Biography

Early life and career

Brivonesi was born in Ancona in 1888, the son of Benedetto Brivonesi and Ida Costanzi, and entered the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno in 1905, graduating as an ensign on 1 March 1909. Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, and Brivonesi commanded the 5th Naval Division in several missions, including the Battle of Calabria; his division was also involved in the Battle of Taranto, where Duilio was torpedoed and heavily damaged.

On 7 September 1943 Brivonesi participated in a meeting held at the General Staff of the Navy in Rome, in the presence of the Chief of Staff Raffaele de Courten, where he was informed of the imminent proclamation of the armistice with the Allies. When the armistice of Cassibile was announced, on 8 September 1943, Brivonesi ensured that all units and commands under his jurisdiction would comply with the terms of the armistice; when Admiral Giovanni Galati refused to hand over his ships to the Allies, Brivonesi placed him under arrest. At the same time, however, Brivonesi allowed two German E-Boats and an MFP to retrieve a load of German mines, leave Taranto unopposed and sail north. The German vessels immediately laid their mines in the Taranto roads (causing the loss of minelayer HMS Abdiel, a British minesweeper and an Italian tug) and later sank the Italian destroyer Quintino Sella and the Italian gunboat Aurora on their way north, and captured six Italian merchants before reaching Venice.

During the co-belligerence and immediately after the war, Brivonesi held successively the positions of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, General Secretary of the Navy, He finally left active service in September 1951, and he was president of the Naval League from 25 July 1950 to 31 January 1960. He died in Rome on 1 June 1979.