He219
06-17-2004, 04:54 AM
Unconventional marine warfare can be traced to back to the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. Improvised demolitions were employed during those times, albeit primitive to say the least.
Underwater attacks became an effective reality during the Middle Ages, starting around the the 13th Century in the Mediterranean. This technique became more effective with the advent of the Frogman and with the development of compressed air cylinders in the 19th Century. Even Leonardo da Vinci wrote in the Atlantic Codex about the military applications of 15th century systems were used to artificially breathe under water.
I am curious to know more on the advent of modern underwater special warfare using swimmers, divers and frogmen. Please add any pertinent information.
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascirephoto.jpg
October 1940: the Regio Smg SCIRE' sets sail to Gilbraltar, mission BG.2
COM.SUB.IN are the descendants of the famous X MAS (Decima MAS) unit of WWII, those who, under the command of Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, planned and executed the famous action in the harbor of Alexandria with the SLCs (Siluro Lenta Corsa = Slow moving torpedo) better known as "Maiali" (pigs). It can be said that they were the inventors of underwater special operations.
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimasubscire.jpg
A frogman of the Decima MAS goes out from the Smg SCIRE
Decima MAS Flotilla frogmen using Siluro a Lenta Corsa(s) sunk two British battleships [ HMS Valiant (30,600 tons), HMS Queen Elisabeth (30,600 tons), the destroyer HMS Jervis (1,690 tons.), the oil-tanker s/s Sagona (7,554 tons) and the steamboat RMS Durham (10,900 tons)] in Alexandria harbour, November 1941, delivered by the submarine Scirè (http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireenglish.htm) under the command of Lt. Commander Prince Junio Valerio Borghese.
Italian experience in underwater special warfare accounted for approximately 150.000 BRT of sunk or damaged shipping through 1943.
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo1.jpg
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo2.jpg
British Mk1 'Chariot' in typical surface approach attitude (http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedokern.htm)
The British followed suit, sending X-Craft (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/tirpitz.html) mini-subs designed by Robert Hobson to attack the German Battleship Tirpitz on September 1943 in the Norwegian Fjords. She was damaged and eventually sunk in April 1944 by air attack. Another was the Tripoli raid in North Africa, the aim of which was to attack enemy vessels that had the potential for blocking Tripoli Harbour (Libya) against the advancing Eighth Army.
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo5.jpg
The Siebe, Gorman & Company Ltd Diver Rebreather Amphibian. The British Admiralty having no specific clandestine use turned this down. Siebe offered the design to the Italian navy who used modified versions were used by swimmers of the 10th Light Flotilla on their attacks on the British fleet
http://www.gunplot.net/zforce/kraitcrew.jpg
The Men of Operation Jaywick
During Operation Jaywick (http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/2003/jaywick/) in September 1943, commandos from a multinational unit called Z-force (http://www.gunplot.net/zforce/zforce.html) attacked Japanese shipping at Singapore harbor using Canoes and sucessfully sunk 38,000 Tonnes in freighters with the attachment of limpet mines. The Operation was planned by Australian and British Commando and Intelligence Officers and was to take place at the same time when the Salamaua, Lae and Finschafen operations were taking place against the Japanese in New Guinea. One year later a similar raid was discovered by a Japanese patrol boat, the members of Z-force having to fight it out in the jungle. The Japanese dispatched survivors by sword.
http://www.deutsche-marinegeschichte.de/geschichte/KMDienststellen/Bilder/Miniu-boote.jpg
Mini subs were employed by many nations including Japan, most notably during the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941.
http://www.deutsche-marinegeschichte.de/geschichte/KMDienststellen/Bilder/JapanischesMiniUBoot.jpg
A Japanese 'midget sub' was responsible for inflicting heavy damage upon the British warship Ramilies on April 1942 in Madagascar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38223000/jpg/_38223262_pearl300ap.jpg
A Japanese "midget" submarine rests on the ocean floor off Pearl Harbor (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Aug/29/ln/ln03a.html)
However, I am interested more in the development of the frogman.
http://www7.mailordercentral.com/smallstores/images/freddystickera.jpghttp://www.managercoaching.org/frogs/vol3/images3/boat1.gif
US Navy Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDU's) were developed after the formation of Scout Platoons and Raider Batallions in the spring of 1942, charged with clearing hostile beaches. Training was at Fort Pierce, Florida.
The U.S. Navy entered the underwater demolition arena with the formation of a 17-man detachment that spearheaded the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. In 1943, another group--Naval Demolition Unit One--opened channels through Sicilian beaches. As the Navy raised its sights for further attacks on both European and Pacific targets, the need for permanent clearance units became apparent. That summer formalized training of 6-man Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs) began in Fort Pierce, Florida.
http://www.udt-sealmuseum.org
One of my buddies in the Navy presented me with an interesting revelation. In Germany there existed MAREI and MARKO Kampfschwimmer units of the Abwehr-organization in Hamburg prior to 1941. They performed a variety of underwater operations including the demolition of bridges and shipping.
http://hometown.aol.de/edoering/images/bew-abz1.jpg
Admiral Canaris founded the 'Marine-Einsatz-Kommandos' (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/mek.htm) from the famous 'Leichte Pionierkompanie Brandenburg' (Kommandotruppen der Abwehr).
In 1943 these were folded in to the ‘Lehr Küstenjäger 700 Marine Kampfschwimmer’ and the Lehr Küstenjäger Abteilung z.b.V. 800 (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/kja.htm), later known as Kommandos der Kleinkampfmittel (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/kkv.htm) or 'K-Verbände' under Konteradmiral (Vice Admiral) Hellmuth Heye within the Kriegsmarine. They operated in parallel with Decima MAS; Kapitänleutnant Heinz Schomburg acting as liason with Six Germans at Valdagno; Leutnant Alfred von Wurzian and Ritchie Reimann, divers of the Kriegsmarine, training alongside MEK divers and Dezima MAS at Valdagno to form origins of the Kampfschwimmer and Kampftaucher units.
Entstehung der Kampfschwimmer- Gruppen
Die Entscheidung, in der deutschen Kriegsmarine Kampfschwimmer-Gruppen zu bilden, wie es sie in der italienischen Marine gab, fiel 1943. Die Idee stamme von Admiral Heye, der die Erfahrungen der verbündeten Italiener nutzen wollte. Sechs Deutsche wurden an die italienische Schule nach Valdagno geschickt, wo die italienische Kampfschwimmer-Basis in Norden Italiens unter der Leitung von Borghese und Eugenio Wolk stand. Diese deutschen Taucher wurden einerseits von der Abwehr des Reichs-Sicherheits-Hauptamtes und andererseits von der Kriegsmarine (von Wursian und Ritchie Reimann) entsandt. Nach dem ersten Kurs übernahm die Marine die Führung in der Beziehung zu den Italienern und führte auch die Männer des Geheimdienstes, die in das italienische Trainings-Zentrum von Valdagno und Venedig gingen. Die Geheimdienstmänner kamen von Spezialeinheiten der Division ‘Brandenburg’ und von SS Kommandos der von Otto Skorzeny geführten Spezialeinheit. Die ersten Kriegsmarine Männer bildeten die K-Einheit (Kommando für Kleinkampfmittel) als deutsche Marine-Kampfschwimmer-Einheit. Source (http://home.t-online.de/home/konrad.knirim/panerei.htm)
http://www.vdmedien.de/images/b551m.jpghttp://www.koehler-mittler.de/images/content/cover/3-8132-0818-4.gif
http://www.uboatwar.net/hund.jpg
XXVII B 5 Type 127 Seehund (Seal) considered the most successful of the miniature German submarines
A successful raid late in the war by German Kampfschwimmern was conducted against the Port of Antwerp during the night of September 15, 1944. Demolition charges rendered the principal harbor locks inoperable, effectively shutting this vital invasion supply port for over two months, a feat the V1 and V2 attacks were unable to match.
These, however, were all preceded by the historical actions of Lieutenant Raffaele Paolucci and Major Raffaele Rossetti with the demolition of the Austrian Dreadnought Viribus Unitis at the port of Pula on the night of October 31, 1918.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/origin.jpg
The Sinking of Viribus Unitis (http://www.geocities.com/tegetthoff66/viribus.html)
http://www.worldwar1.com/misc2/pula.jpg
Major Raffaele Rossetti built a manned torpedo using the shell of an unexploded German torpedo that had washed up on the Italian coast.
Rossetti had built a sleek submersible craft that could be ridden through the water like a horse. Filled with compressed air that drove two small, silent propellers, Rossetti’s rebuilt torpedo was about twenty feet long, weighed one-and-a-half tons, and could carry a pair of riders through the water at a top speed of two miles an hour. At the front end of the apparatus were fitted two detachable watertight canisters, each of which had room for four hundred pounds of TNT. The craft could be raised or lowered in the water by adjusting a series of control valves Rossetti had designed.
http://www.worldwar1.com/sfvu.htm
The 10th Light Flotilla (http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/origin_us.htm)
Two officers, Elios Toschi and Teseo Tesei, decided to continue improving the original attack devices developed during WW1 at the Italian naval base of La Spezia. After Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 the Italian Naval High Command and Admiral Cavagnari decided to give the necessary resources to the two officers. Toschi and Tesei developed the "Maiale", Italian for pig, a modified electric torpedo.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/maiale.jpg
S.L.C. "mailale"
Tesei and Toschi were assigned to a new secret unit. The group was assembled in a private property belonging to the Duke of Salviati near the estuary of the river Serchio, not too far from the seaside town of Viareggio (Tuscany). This unit would often be referred to as the "Men of Serchio". In 1935, C.F. Paolo Aloisi was assigned to the command of the Ia Flottiglia MAS (‘Mezzi d’Assalto Subacqueo’) with C. G.N. Teseo Tesei and C.C. Carlo Teppati in charge of training and technical development.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/scuba_training.jpghttp://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/scuba_gear.jpg
Scuba training and Gear
http://www.decimamas.org/foto/cb2.jpg
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decima_cb10photo.jpg
Taranto, Ottobre 1943: il CB.10
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaambraphoto2.jpg
The crew of the SCIRE' schierato in front of the submersible AMBER and the U-boot U331
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaphotoscireeslc.jpg
Regio Smg SCIRE' with watertight SLC container at the bow
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaca2photo.jpg
september 1942, Bordeaux - Smg DA VINCI with the mini-sub CA.2 installed on the deck
A technique called gamma was developed whereas a scuba-equipped diver left a submerged vessel to attack an enemy target. Another technique was to attack enemy target with an explosive laden boat called barchino. The pilot would aim the vessel toward a target and abandon the craft. This technique ultimately resulted in the German Radio Controlled sprengboote (http://www.smc-noris.de/mtm01.jpg) and resulted in the tornado-flugzeugschwimmer that were powered by pulse-jet engines used on the V1.
http://www.smc-noris.de/tornado.gif
After the Ethiopian War, la Flottiglia MAS was disbanded and not to be reconstituted until February 24, 1940, under the command of C.F. Mario Giorgini.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/gondar.jpg
Submarine Gondar with SLC docks
C.G.N. Elios Toschi, C.G.N. Gustavo Stefanini, T.V Vesco, Del Pin, Costa, Gherardelli, Pampaloni e Mordelli were assigned to the unit. Later, Birindelli, De Giacomo, Della Canonica, Fraternale, Di Domenico, Catalano, Battisti, Lenzi, Dodaro, Raimondo, Franzini e Manca joined the group. The total equipment available to the Ia MAS was eleven SLCs and seven MTM (Motoscafi da Turismo or barchino).
http://www.btgsanmarco.it/storiadelsanmarco/allegati/image/foto_borghese.jpghttp://www.cattiviragazzi.org/biografie_storie/biografie/cattivi/borghese_junio_valerio/borghese.jpg
Junio Valerio Borghese who was to become the heart and soul of what the Ia Flottiglia MAS evolved into: the Xa Flottiglia MAS (http://www.decimamas.org/).
In September of 1943 Italy surrendered to the Allies. The gammafrogmen of the Italian Navy's 10th. Light Flotilla, Decima Mas, who had in the past carried out some highly successful raids against the British Mediterranean Fleet, were to conduct joint operations with British Chariot riders Len and Geoff Larkin, their last operational sortie against the German occupied harbor at La Spezia.
It was an ironic situation for the men of the 10th Light Flotilla who were about to destroy some of their own fleet. The operation was to utilise two Italian Navy Torpedo Boats to deliver two chariot teams to within reach of the harbour wall and to drop off a team of Italian gamma frogmen to swim in and place limpet charges. The targets were two cruisers, the Bolzano and the Goritza. Of the two Chariot teams, Len and his number two Ken Lawrence were once again to be confronted with an aborted mission owing to faults with their machine. The second team along with the gamma boys did get through with the result that the Bolzano was sunk and the Goritza was put out of service for the rest of the war. Len and his colleague Ken Lawrence were left with a very long walk home but, unknown to Len the route back was to become an adventure on his part fighting alongside the local partisans for a brief period. For his part in the attack on La Spezia Len received the Distinguished Service Medal for gallantry.
http://www.repubblicasociale.it/images/lupo_sanb_sp.jpg
http://www.targheitaliane.it/gallery/xmas_moto1.jpg
After the Italian capitulation in 1943, Borghese determinedly fought on as a Fascist commando leader. After the war, he became a man of mystery, variously said to be involved with several right-wing conspiracies, abortive coups, and clandestine activity. The Prince's death in 1974 was every bit as mysterious as his life. Source (http://www.internetbookshop.it/ame/ser/serdsp.asp?e=0306813114)
http://digilander.libero.it/ladecimamas/FerruccioNazionale.jpg
June 1944. Captured fascisti Decima Mas, killed in reprisal
"Aveva tentato con le armi di colpire la Decima": questo il macabro cartello imposto al collo del partigiano biellese Ferruccio Nazionale, impiccato dagli uomini di Borghese sulla piazza del municipio di Ivrea il 9 luglio 1944. Il corpo di Nazionale fu lasciato sulla piazza a lungo, a scopo terroristico
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascirerelitto.jpg
SCIRE'" wreckage artwork as she resides on the sand of Haifa harbor, North 32° 54', 5 East 34° 58 '
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireau2s.jpghttp://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireau1s.jpg
The SCIRE' monument in Augusta Naval Base (Italy)
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslc.jpg
Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC) "maiale"
Slow Running Torpedo (SLC), dubbed "maiale (pig)" (http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslc.htm)
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslcvenezia.jpg
Museo Storico Navale di Venezia
http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale1_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale1.jpg)http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale2_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale2.jpg)http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_timone_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_timone.jpg)
Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica di Milano (clicca per ingrandire)
<click on thumbnail for larger image>
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslcdis.jpg
http://www.decimamas.org/pub/Bokasil.jpg
Underwater attacks became an effective reality during the Middle Ages, starting around the the 13th Century in the Mediterranean. This technique became more effective with the advent of the Frogman and with the development of compressed air cylinders in the 19th Century. Even Leonardo da Vinci wrote in the Atlantic Codex about the military applications of 15th century systems were used to artificially breathe under water.
I am curious to know more on the advent of modern underwater special warfare using swimmers, divers and frogmen. Please add any pertinent information.
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascirephoto.jpg
October 1940: the Regio Smg SCIRE' sets sail to Gilbraltar, mission BG.2
COM.SUB.IN are the descendants of the famous X MAS (Decima MAS) unit of WWII, those who, under the command of Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, planned and executed the famous action in the harbor of Alexandria with the SLCs (Siluro Lenta Corsa = Slow moving torpedo) better known as "Maiali" (pigs). It can be said that they were the inventors of underwater special operations.
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimasubscire.jpg
A frogman of the Decima MAS goes out from the Smg SCIRE
Decima MAS Flotilla frogmen using Siluro a Lenta Corsa(s) sunk two British battleships [ HMS Valiant (30,600 tons), HMS Queen Elisabeth (30,600 tons), the destroyer HMS Jervis (1,690 tons.), the oil-tanker s/s Sagona (7,554 tons) and the steamboat RMS Durham (10,900 tons)] in Alexandria harbour, November 1941, delivered by the submarine Scirè (http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireenglish.htm) under the command of Lt. Commander Prince Junio Valerio Borghese.
Italian experience in underwater special warfare accounted for approximately 150.000 BRT of sunk or damaged shipping through 1943.
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo1.jpg
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo2.jpg
British Mk1 'Chariot' in typical surface approach attitude (http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedokern.htm)
The British followed suit, sending X-Craft (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/tirpitz.html) mini-subs designed by Robert Hobson to attack the German Battleship Tirpitz on September 1943 in the Norwegian Fjords. She was damaged and eventually sunk in April 1944 by air attack. Another was the Tripoli raid in North Africa, the aim of which was to attack enemy vessels that had the potential for blocking Tripoli Harbour (Libya) against the advancing Eighth Army.
http://www.divingheritage.com/torpedo5.jpg
The Siebe, Gorman & Company Ltd Diver Rebreather Amphibian. The British Admiralty having no specific clandestine use turned this down. Siebe offered the design to the Italian navy who used modified versions were used by swimmers of the 10th Light Flotilla on their attacks on the British fleet
http://www.gunplot.net/zforce/kraitcrew.jpg
The Men of Operation Jaywick
During Operation Jaywick (http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/2003/jaywick/) in September 1943, commandos from a multinational unit called Z-force (http://www.gunplot.net/zforce/zforce.html) attacked Japanese shipping at Singapore harbor using Canoes and sucessfully sunk 38,000 Tonnes in freighters with the attachment of limpet mines. The Operation was planned by Australian and British Commando and Intelligence Officers and was to take place at the same time when the Salamaua, Lae and Finschafen operations were taking place against the Japanese in New Guinea. One year later a similar raid was discovered by a Japanese patrol boat, the members of Z-force having to fight it out in the jungle. The Japanese dispatched survivors by sword.
http://www.deutsche-marinegeschichte.de/geschichte/KMDienststellen/Bilder/Miniu-boote.jpg
Mini subs were employed by many nations including Japan, most notably during the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941.
http://www.deutsche-marinegeschichte.de/geschichte/KMDienststellen/Bilder/JapanischesMiniUBoot.jpg
A Japanese 'midget sub' was responsible for inflicting heavy damage upon the British warship Ramilies on April 1942 in Madagascar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38223000/jpg/_38223262_pearl300ap.jpg
A Japanese "midget" submarine rests on the ocean floor off Pearl Harbor (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Aug/29/ln/ln03a.html)
However, I am interested more in the development of the frogman.
http://www7.mailordercentral.com/smallstores/images/freddystickera.jpghttp://www.managercoaching.org/frogs/vol3/images3/boat1.gif
US Navy Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDU's) were developed after the formation of Scout Platoons and Raider Batallions in the spring of 1942, charged with clearing hostile beaches. Training was at Fort Pierce, Florida.
The U.S. Navy entered the underwater demolition arena with the formation of a 17-man detachment that spearheaded the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. In 1943, another group--Naval Demolition Unit One--opened channels through Sicilian beaches. As the Navy raised its sights for further attacks on both European and Pacific targets, the need for permanent clearance units became apparent. That summer formalized training of 6-man Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs) began in Fort Pierce, Florida.
http://www.udt-sealmuseum.org
One of my buddies in the Navy presented me with an interesting revelation. In Germany there existed MAREI and MARKO Kampfschwimmer units of the Abwehr-organization in Hamburg prior to 1941. They performed a variety of underwater operations including the demolition of bridges and shipping.
http://hometown.aol.de/edoering/images/bew-abz1.jpg
Admiral Canaris founded the 'Marine-Einsatz-Kommandos' (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/mek.htm) from the famous 'Leichte Pionierkompanie Brandenburg' (Kommandotruppen der Abwehr).
In 1943 these were folded in to the ‘Lehr Küstenjäger 700 Marine Kampfschwimmer’ and the Lehr Küstenjäger Abteilung z.b.V. 800 (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/kja.htm), later known as Kommandos der Kleinkampfmittel (http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/kk-verband/kkv.htm) or 'K-Verbände' under Konteradmiral (Vice Admiral) Hellmuth Heye within the Kriegsmarine. They operated in parallel with Decima MAS; Kapitänleutnant Heinz Schomburg acting as liason with Six Germans at Valdagno; Leutnant Alfred von Wurzian and Ritchie Reimann, divers of the Kriegsmarine, training alongside MEK divers and Dezima MAS at Valdagno to form origins of the Kampfschwimmer and Kampftaucher units.
Entstehung der Kampfschwimmer- Gruppen
Die Entscheidung, in der deutschen Kriegsmarine Kampfschwimmer-Gruppen zu bilden, wie es sie in der italienischen Marine gab, fiel 1943. Die Idee stamme von Admiral Heye, der die Erfahrungen der verbündeten Italiener nutzen wollte. Sechs Deutsche wurden an die italienische Schule nach Valdagno geschickt, wo die italienische Kampfschwimmer-Basis in Norden Italiens unter der Leitung von Borghese und Eugenio Wolk stand. Diese deutschen Taucher wurden einerseits von der Abwehr des Reichs-Sicherheits-Hauptamtes und andererseits von der Kriegsmarine (von Wursian und Ritchie Reimann) entsandt. Nach dem ersten Kurs übernahm die Marine die Führung in der Beziehung zu den Italienern und führte auch die Männer des Geheimdienstes, die in das italienische Trainings-Zentrum von Valdagno und Venedig gingen. Die Geheimdienstmänner kamen von Spezialeinheiten der Division ‘Brandenburg’ und von SS Kommandos der von Otto Skorzeny geführten Spezialeinheit. Die ersten Kriegsmarine Männer bildeten die K-Einheit (Kommando für Kleinkampfmittel) als deutsche Marine-Kampfschwimmer-Einheit. Source (http://home.t-online.de/home/konrad.knirim/panerei.htm)
http://www.vdmedien.de/images/b551m.jpghttp://www.koehler-mittler.de/images/content/cover/3-8132-0818-4.gif
http://www.uboatwar.net/hund.jpg
XXVII B 5 Type 127 Seehund (Seal) considered the most successful of the miniature German submarines
A successful raid late in the war by German Kampfschwimmern was conducted against the Port of Antwerp during the night of September 15, 1944. Demolition charges rendered the principal harbor locks inoperable, effectively shutting this vital invasion supply port for over two months, a feat the V1 and V2 attacks were unable to match.
These, however, were all preceded by the historical actions of Lieutenant Raffaele Paolucci and Major Raffaele Rossetti with the demolition of the Austrian Dreadnought Viribus Unitis at the port of Pula on the night of October 31, 1918.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/origin.jpg
The Sinking of Viribus Unitis (http://www.geocities.com/tegetthoff66/viribus.html)
http://www.worldwar1.com/misc2/pula.jpg
Major Raffaele Rossetti built a manned torpedo using the shell of an unexploded German torpedo that had washed up on the Italian coast.
Rossetti had built a sleek submersible craft that could be ridden through the water like a horse. Filled with compressed air that drove two small, silent propellers, Rossetti’s rebuilt torpedo was about twenty feet long, weighed one-and-a-half tons, and could carry a pair of riders through the water at a top speed of two miles an hour. At the front end of the apparatus were fitted two detachable watertight canisters, each of which had room for four hundred pounds of TNT. The craft could be raised or lowered in the water by adjusting a series of control valves Rossetti had designed.
http://www.worldwar1.com/sfvu.htm
The 10th Light Flotilla (http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/origin_us.htm)
Two officers, Elios Toschi and Teseo Tesei, decided to continue improving the original attack devices developed during WW1 at the Italian naval base of La Spezia. After Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 the Italian Naval High Command and Admiral Cavagnari decided to give the necessary resources to the two officers. Toschi and Tesei developed the "Maiale", Italian for pig, a modified electric torpedo.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/maiale.jpg
S.L.C. "mailale"
Tesei and Toschi were assigned to a new secret unit. The group was assembled in a private property belonging to the Duke of Salviati near the estuary of the river Serchio, not too far from the seaside town of Viareggio (Tuscany). This unit would often be referred to as the "Men of Serchio". In 1935, C.F. Paolo Aloisi was assigned to the command of the Ia Flottiglia MAS (‘Mezzi d’Assalto Subacqueo’) with C. G.N. Teseo Tesei and C.C. Carlo Teppati in charge of training and technical development.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/scuba_training.jpghttp://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/scuba_gear.jpg
Scuba training and Gear
http://www.decimamas.org/foto/cb2.jpg
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decima_cb10photo.jpg
Taranto, Ottobre 1943: il CB.10
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaambraphoto2.jpg
The crew of the SCIRE' schierato in front of the submersible AMBER and the U-boot U331
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaphotoscireeslc.jpg
Regio Smg SCIRE' with watertight SLC container at the bow
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaca2photo.jpg
september 1942, Bordeaux - Smg DA VINCI with the mini-sub CA.2 installed on the deck
A technique called gamma was developed whereas a scuba-equipped diver left a submerged vessel to attack an enemy target. Another technique was to attack enemy target with an explosive laden boat called barchino. The pilot would aim the vessel toward a target and abandon the craft. This technique ultimately resulted in the German Radio Controlled sprengboote (http://www.smc-noris.de/mtm01.jpg) and resulted in the tornado-flugzeugschwimmer that were powered by pulse-jet engines used on the V1.
http://www.smc-noris.de/tornado.gif
After the Ethiopian War, la Flottiglia MAS was disbanded and not to be reconstituted until February 24, 1940, under the command of C.F. Mario Giorgini.
http://64.224.13.60/xa_mas/history/images/gondar.jpg
Submarine Gondar with SLC docks
C.G.N. Elios Toschi, C.G.N. Gustavo Stefanini, T.V Vesco, Del Pin, Costa, Gherardelli, Pampaloni e Mordelli were assigned to the unit. Later, Birindelli, De Giacomo, Della Canonica, Fraternale, Di Domenico, Catalano, Battisti, Lenzi, Dodaro, Raimondo, Franzini e Manca joined the group. The total equipment available to the Ia MAS was eleven SLCs and seven MTM (Motoscafi da Turismo or barchino).
http://www.btgsanmarco.it/storiadelsanmarco/allegati/image/foto_borghese.jpghttp://www.cattiviragazzi.org/biografie_storie/biografie/cattivi/borghese_junio_valerio/borghese.jpg
Junio Valerio Borghese who was to become the heart and soul of what the Ia Flottiglia MAS evolved into: the Xa Flottiglia MAS (http://www.decimamas.org/).
In September of 1943 Italy surrendered to the Allies. The gammafrogmen of the Italian Navy's 10th. Light Flotilla, Decima Mas, who had in the past carried out some highly successful raids against the British Mediterranean Fleet, were to conduct joint operations with British Chariot riders Len and Geoff Larkin, their last operational sortie against the German occupied harbor at La Spezia.
It was an ironic situation for the men of the 10th Light Flotilla who were about to destroy some of their own fleet. The operation was to utilise two Italian Navy Torpedo Boats to deliver two chariot teams to within reach of the harbour wall and to drop off a team of Italian gamma frogmen to swim in and place limpet charges. The targets were two cruisers, the Bolzano and the Goritza. Of the two Chariot teams, Len and his number two Ken Lawrence were once again to be confronted with an aborted mission owing to faults with their machine. The second team along with the gamma boys did get through with the result that the Bolzano was sunk and the Goritza was put out of service for the rest of the war. Len and his colleague Ken Lawrence were left with a very long walk home but, unknown to Len the route back was to become an adventure on his part fighting alongside the local partisans for a brief period. For his part in the attack on La Spezia Len received the Distinguished Service Medal for gallantry.
http://www.repubblicasociale.it/images/lupo_sanb_sp.jpg
http://www.targheitaliane.it/gallery/xmas_moto1.jpg
After the Italian capitulation in 1943, Borghese determinedly fought on as a Fascist commando leader. After the war, he became a man of mystery, variously said to be involved with several right-wing conspiracies, abortive coups, and clandestine activity. The Prince's death in 1974 was every bit as mysterious as his life. Source (http://www.internetbookshop.it/ame/ser/serdsp.asp?e=0306813114)
http://digilander.libero.it/ladecimamas/FerruccioNazionale.jpg
June 1944. Captured fascisti Decima Mas, killed in reprisal
"Aveva tentato con le armi di colpire la Decima": questo il macabro cartello imposto al collo del partigiano biellese Ferruccio Nazionale, impiccato dagli uomini di Borghese sulla piazza del municipio di Ivrea il 9 luglio 1944. Il corpo di Nazionale fu lasciato sulla piazza a lungo, a scopo terroristico
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascirerelitto.jpg
SCIRE'" wreckage artwork as she resides on the sand of Haifa harbor, North 32° 54', 5 East 34° 58 '
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireau2s.jpghttp://www.subnetitalia.it/decimascireau1s.jpg
The SCIRE' monument in Augusta Naval Base (Italy)
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslc.jpg
Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC) "maiale"
Slow Running Torpedo (SLC), dubbed "maiale (pig)" (http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslc.htm)
http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslcvenezia.jpg
Museo Storico Navale di Venezia
http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale1_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale1.jpg)http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale2_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_maiale2.jpg)http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_timone_S.jpg (http://www.subnetitalia.it/slc_timone.jpg)
Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica di Milano (clicca per ingrandire)
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http://www.subnetitalia.it/decimaslcdis.jpg
http://www.decimamas.org/pub/Bokasil.jpg