Laughter, as you know, prolongs life, and when it comes to Regia Marina Italiana, life is doubled.
An explosive mixture of Italian love of life, negligence and slovenliness can turn any useful undertaking into a farce. There are legends about the Royal Italian Naval Forces: during the war, Italian sailors achieved a fantastic result - the losses of the fleet exceeded the list of naval forces of the Italian Navy! Almost every Italian ship perished / sank / was captured during its service twice, and sometimes three times.
There is no other ship in the world like the Italian battleship Conte di Cavour. The formidable battle ship was first sunk at its anchorage on November 12, 1940, during a British air raid on the Taranto naval base. "Cavour" was raised from the bottom and stood during the whole war under repair, until it was sunk by its own crew in September 1943 under the threat of capture by German troops. A year later, the Germans raised the battleship, but at the end of the war, "Cavour" was again destroyed by Allied aircraft.
The aforementioned attack on the naval base of Taranto became a textbook example of Italian punctuality, accuracy and diligence. The pogrom in Taranto, perpetrated by British pilots, is comparable in scale to Pearl Harbor, but the British required twenty times less effort than the Japanese hawks to attack the American base in Hawaii.
The superstructures of the battleship Conte di Cavour are plaintively looking at us from the water
Twenty plywood biplanes "Suordify" in one night smashed to pieces the main base of the Italian fleet, sinking three battleships right at the anchorages. For comparison - to "get" the German "Tirpitz", hiding in the polar Alten Fjord, the British aviation had to make about 700 sorties (not counting sabotage using mini-submarines).
The reason for the deafening defeat in Taranto is elementary - the hardworking and responsible Italian admirals, for unclear reasons, did not properly pull up the anti-torpedo net. For which they paid.
Other incredible adventures of Italian sailors pasta look no less nasty:
- the submarine "Ondina" fell in an unequal struggle with the South African trawlers Protea and Southern Maid (battle off the coast of Lebanon, July 11, 1942);
- The destroyer "Sebeniko" was taken on board by the crew of a German torpedo boat right in the port of Venice on September 11, 1943 - immediately after the surrender of fascist Italy. The former allies threw the Italians overboard, took the destroyer and, renaming the Sebeniko TA-43, used it to guard Mediterranean convoys until the spring of 1945.
- Italian submarine "Leonardo da Vinci" overwhelmed the high-speed 21000-ton liner "Empress of Canada" off the coast of Africa. There were 1800 people on board (400 killed) - half of whom, ironically, were Italian prisoners of war.
(however, Italians are not alone here - similar situations happened regularly during the Second World War)
etc.
Italian destroyer Dardo meets the end of the war
It is no coincidence that the British are of the opinion: "Italians are much better at building ships than they know how to fight on them."
And the Italians really knew how to build ships - the Italian school of shipbuilding has always been distinguished by noble swift lines, record speeds and the incomprehensible beauty and grace of surface ships.
Fantastic battleships of the Littorio class are some of the best pre-war battleships. Heavy cruisers of the "Zara" class are a brilliant calculation, where all the advantages of Italy's advantageous geographical position in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea are used (to hell with seaworthiness and autonomy - the native coast is always close). As a result, the Italians managed to implement in the Zar design the optimal combination of protection / fire / mobility with an emphasis on heavy armor. The best cruisers of the "Washington" period.
And how not to recall the Black Sea leader "Tashkent", also built at the shipyards of Livorno! Full speed 43.5 knots, and in general, the ship turned out to be excellent.
Battleships of the "Littorio" class are firing at the ships of the British squadron (battle at Cape Spartivento, 1940)
The Italians managed to hit the cruiser Berwick, seriously damaging the latter.
Alas, despite the advanced technical equipment, Regia Marina - once the most powerful of the fleets in the Mediterranean, lost all battles mediocre and turned into a laughing stock. But was it really so?
Slandered heroes
The British can joke as much as they want, but the fact remains: in the battles in the Mediterranean, Her Majesty's fleet lost 137 ships of the main classes and 41 submarines. Another 111 surface combat units were lost to the allies of Great Britain. Of course, half of them were sunk by German aircraft and Kriegsmarine submariners - but even the rest is enough to permanently enroll the Italian "sea wolves" in the pantheon of great naval warriors.
Among the trophies of the Italians -
- battleships of Her Majesty "Valiant" and "Queen Elizabeth" (blown up by Italian combat swimmers on the roadstead of Alexandria). The British themselves classify these losses as constructive total loss. Speaking in Russian, the ship has been turned into a battered pile of metal with negative buoyancy.
The damaged battleships, one after the other, fell to the bottom of the Alexandria Bay and knocked out of action for a year and a half.
- heavy cruiser "York": sunk by Italian saboteurs using high-speed boats loaded with explosives.
- light cruisers Calypso, Cairo, Manchester, Neptune, Bonaventure.
- dozens of submarines and destroyers flying the flags of Great Britain, Holland, Greece, Yugoslavia, Free France, USA and Canada.
For comparison - the Soviet Navy during the war years did not sink a single enemy ship larger than a destroyer (in no way to reproach the Russian sailors - a different geography, conditions and nature of the theater of operations). But the fact remains - the Italian sailors have dozens of outstanding naval victories to their credit. So do we have the right to laugh at the achievements, feats and inevitable mistakes of the "macaroni"?
The battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth on the raid of Alexandria
Submariners such as Gianfranco Gazzana Prioroja (sank 11 transports with a total weight of 90,000 tons) or Carlo Fezia di Cossato (16 trophies) brought Regia Marina no less glory. In total, a galaxy of ten best Italian aces of submarine warfare sank over a hundred ships and vessels of the Allies with a total displacement of 400,000 tons!
Submariner ace Carlo Fezia di Cossato (1908 - 1944)
During the Second World War, Italian ships of the main classes made 43,207 exits to the sea, leaving 11 million fiery miles astern. The sailors of the Italian Navy provided the escort of countless convoys in the Mediterranean theater of operations - according to official figures, the Italian sailors organized the delivery of 1, 1 million troops and more than 4 million tons of various cargoes to North Africa, the Balkans and islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The return route was carrying precious oil. Frequently, cargo and personnel were placed directly on the decks of warships.
According to statistics, transport vessels under the cover of Regia Marina delivered 28,266 Italian and 32,299 German trucks and tanks to the African continent. In addition, in the spring of 1941, 15,951 pieces of equipment and 87,000 pack animals were transported along the Italy-Balkans route.
In total, during the period of hostilities, the warships of the Italian Navy put up 54,457 mines on communications in the Mediterranean Sea. Regia Marina naval patrol aircraft flew 31,107 sorties, spending 125 thousand hours in the air.
The Italian cruisers Duca d'Aosta and Eugenio di Savoia plant a minefield off the coast of Libya. In a few months, a British strike force will be blown up by the mines exposed. The cruiser "Neptune" and the destroyer "Kandahar" will go to the bottom
How do all these numbers fit in with the ridiculous image of crooked loafers, who only do what they chew on their spaghetti?
The Italians have long been great sailors (Marco Polo), and it would be too naive to believe that during the Second World War they just threw out the "white flag". The Italian Navy took part in battles around the world - from the Black Sea to the Indian Ocean. And high-speed Italian boats were noted even in the Baltic and on Lake Ladoga. In addition, Regia Marina ships operated in the Red Sea, off the coast of China, and, of course, in the cold expanses of the Atlantic.
The Italians did a great job of Her Majesty's fleet - just one mention of the "black prince" Valerio Borghese threw the entire British Admiralty into confusion.
Bandito-saboteur
"… Italians, in a sense, are much smaller soldiers, but much larger bandits" / M. Weller /
True to the traditions of the legendary "Sicilian mafia", the Italian sailors were unsuitable for fair sea battles in an open format. Massacre at Cape Matapan, shame in Taranto - the line and cruising forces of Regia Marina have shown their complete inability to resist Her Majesty's well-trained fleet.
And if so, then we must force the enemy to play by Italian rules! Submarines, human torpedoes, combat swimmers and explosive boats. The British navy was in big trouble.
The scheme of the attack of the naval base Alexandria
… On the night of December 18-19, 1941, a British patrol caught two eccentrics in "frog" clothes from the Bay of Alexandria. Realizing that the matter was unclean, the British closed down all the hatches and doors in the battleships' watertight bulkheads, gathered on the upper deck and prepared for the worst.
After a short interrogation, the captured Italians were locked up in the lower rooms of the doomed battleship, in the hope that the "macaroni" would finally "split" and still explain what was happening. Alas, despite the danger threatening them, the Italian combat swimmers remained steadfastly silent. Until 6:05 am, when powerful explosive charges went off under the bottoms of the battleships Valiant and Queen Elizabeth. Another bomb detonated a naval tanker.
Despite the biting "slap in the face" from the Italian Navy, the British paid tribute to the crews of the "man-torpedoes".
"One can only admire the cold-blooded courage and enterprise of the Italians. Everything was carefully thought out and planned."
- Admiral E. Cunningham, Commander of the Mediterranean Forces of Her Majesty's Fleet
After the incident, the British frantically swallowed air and looked for ways to protect their naval bases from Italian saboteurs. The entrances to all the major Mediterranean naval bases - Alexandria, Gibraltar, La Valletta - were tightly blocked by nets, and dozens of patrol boats were on duty on the surface. Every 3 minutes another depth charge flew into the water. However, over the next two years of the war, 23 more Allied ships and tankers became victims of the frog people.
In April 1942, the Italians transferred an assault squad from speed boats and mini-submarines to the Black Sea. At first, the "sea devils" were based in Constanta (Romania), then in the Crimea and even in Anapa. The result of the actions of the Italian saboteurs was the death of two Soviet submarines and three cargo ships, not counting the many sorties and sabotage on the coast.
Italy's surrender in 1943 caught the "special operations" department by surprise - the "black prince" Valerio Borghese had just begun preparations for another grandiose operation - he was going to "fool around" a little in New York.
Italian mini-submarines in Constanta
Valerio Borghese is one of the main ideologists and inspirers of Italian combat swimmers
The colossal experience of Valerio Borghese's team was appreciated in the post-war years. All available techniques, technologies and developments have become the basis for the creation and training of special units of "fur seals" around the world. It is no coincidence that the Borghese combat swimmers are the main suspects in the sinking of the battleship Novorossiysk (captured Italian Giulio Cesare) in 1955. According to one version, the Italians could not survive their shame and destroyed the ship, so long as it did not go under the enemy flag. However, all this is just speculation.
Epilogue
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Italian naval force is a compact European fleet, armed with the most modern ships and naval weapons systems.
The modern Italian navy is not in the least like the crooked Leaning Tower of Pisa: the training and equipment of Italian sailors meets the most stringent NATO standards and requirements. All ships and aircraft are integrated into a single information space; when choosing weapons, the landmark is shifted towards purely defensive means - anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-submarine weapons, and means of short-range self-defense.
The Italian Navy has two aircraft carriers. There is a high-quality underwater component and basic naval aviation. The Italian Navy regularly takes part in peacekeeping and special missions around the globe. The technical means are constantly being updated: when choosing weapons, electronic means of navigation, detection and communication, priority is given to the leading European developers - British BAE Systems, French Thales, as well as its own corporation "Marconi". Judging by the results, the Italians are doing great.
Nevertheless, do not forget the words of the commander Alexander Suvorov: There is no land in the world that would be as dotted with fortresses as Italy. And there is no land that has been conquered so often.
The newest Italian aircraft carrier "Cavour"
"Andrea Doria" - one of two Italian frigates of the "Horizon" (Orizzonte)
Statistical data -
"The Italian Navy in World War II", by Captain 2nd Rank Mark Antonio Bragadin
Illustrations -
