Regia Marina

From Freepedia

Image:Regia Marina Ensign.png

The Italian Regia Marina (literally: "Royal Navy") dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. With the birth of the Italian Republic (1946) it changed its name to become the Marina Militare.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Before World War I 1.2 World War I 1.3 After World War I 1.4 World War II 2 Ships 2.1 Pre-World War I 2.1.1 Battleships 2.2 World War I 2.2.1 Battleships 2.2.2 Cruisers 2.2.3 Destroyers 2.3 World War II 2.3.1 Aircraft carriers 2.3.2 Battleships 2.3.3 Heavy cruisers 2.3.4 Light cruisers 2.3.4.1 Condottieri classes 2.3.4.2 Others 2.3.5 Destroyers 2.3.6 Submarines 3 Major events 3.1 World War II 4 External links

History

Before World War I

July 20, 1866: Sea battle against the Austrian fleet in the Battle of Lissa, near the island of Vis in the Adriatic sea - the last major sea battle that involved ramming.

World War I

Italy built and maintained about four Dreadnought battleships, but they did not participate in major naval actions in World War I. For most of the war the Italian and Austrian navies each kept a relatively passive watch over their counterparts. However, both sides did initiate some action. The Austrians successfully sabotaged and sank the battleships Benedetto Brin at Brindisi (27 September 1915) and Leonardo da Vinci at Taranto (2 August 1916). The Regia Marina attacked with insidious weapons: MAS 21 and MAS 15 sank the Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István in the Adriatic sea on 10 June 1918; an early type of human torpedo (Mignatta) entered the harbour of Pola and sank the Austro-Hungarian flagship Viribus Unitis on 1 November 1918.

After World War I

The Italian government decided to enhance the Regia Marina with a view to challenging the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet. In order to minimize contact with the more experienced British vessels, the Regia Marina based its strategy on fast ships with long-range artillery. Accordingly it had new guns developed which had smaller calibers but longer ranges than their British counterparts; furthermore, in order to allow higher speeds, new Italian ships had designs with thinner armour (see, for example, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere).

World War II

When Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940 Regia Marina was fourth largest navy in the world and had a mix of modernised and new battleships. It challenged the British Royal Navy for supremacy of the Mediterranean. Morally the Royal Navy gained the upper hand after several clashes. The British attack at the naval base of Taranto (Battle of Taranto, November 1940) proved a very successful attack by carrier-borne aircraft carrying torpedoes against Italian battleships in harbor. This provided one of the inspirations for the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The most successful attack performed by the Italian navy involved divers planting mines on British battleships in harbor at Alexandria (19 December 1941). Italian ships had a general reputation as well-designed and good-looking, but proved rather deficient in anti-aircraft armament and in radar.

Ships

Pre-World War I

Battleships

• List of Italian sail battleships
• List of Italian steam battleships

World War I

• List of Italian dreadnought battleships

Battleships

Duilio class:

• in Durazzo: Dandolo

Re Umberto class:

• in Venice: Sardegna

Saint Bon class:

• in Venice: Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, Emanuele Filiberto

Regina Margherita class:

• in Taranto: Regina Margherita, Benedetto Brin

Regina Elena class:

• in Taranto: Regina Elena, Vittorio Emanuele, Napoli, Roma

Dante Alighieri class:

• in Taranto: Dante Alighieri

Cavour class:

• in Taranto: Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare, Leonardo Da Vinci

Cruisers

Garibaldi class:

• in Brindisi: Giuseppe Garibaldi, Varese, Francesco Ferruccio

Vettor Pisani class:

• in Brindisi: Vettor Pisani

Pisa class:

• in Taranto: Pisa, Amalfi

San Giorgio class:

• in Taranto: San Giorgio, San Marco

Piemonte class:

• in Taranto: Piemonte

Lombardia class:

• in Brindisi: Lombardia, Liguria, Elba, Puglia

Libia class:

• in Brindisi: Libia

Destroyers

Lampo class:

• in Tripoli: Ostro, Lampo
• in Tobruk: Euro, Strale
• in Valona: Dardo

Nembo class:

• in Brindisi: Nembo, Turbine, Espero, Borea, Aquilone
• in Venice: Zeffiro

Soldati Artigliere class:

• in Taranto: Granatiere
• in Venice: Bersagliere, Garibaldino, Corazziere, Lanciere, Artigliere

Soldati Alpino class:

• in Venice: Alpino, Fuciliere, Pontiere, Ascaro

Indomito class:

• in La Spezia: Impetuoso
• in Taranto: Impavido, Insidioso, Irrequieto

Ardito class:

• in Brindisi: Ardito, Ardente

Audace class:

• in Brindisi: Audace, Animoso

Pilo class:

• in Brindisi: Francesco Nullo

World War II

Aircraft carriers

Aquila (modification of the liner Roma, built but never used) and Sparviero (modification of the liner Augustus, never completed)

Battleships

Cavour class: Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare (extensively modernised WWI battleships) - guns 10 x 320 mm, 27 knots, 25000 t

Duilio class: Andrea Doria, Caio Duilio (extensively modernised WWI battleships) - guns 10 x 320 mm, 27 knots, 25000 t

Vittorio Veneto class: Littorio/Italia, Vittorio Veneto, Roma, Impero (not completed) - guns 9 x 381 mm, 30 knots, 45000 t

Heavy cruisers

Trento class: Trento, Trieste, Bolzano - guns 8 x 230 mm, 36 knots, 10000 t

Zara class: Zara, Fiume, Pola, Gorizia - guns 8 x 230 mm, 36 knots, 10000 t

Light cruisers

Condottieri classes

Di Giussano class: Alberto di Giussano, Alberico da Barbiano, Bartolomeo Colleoni, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere

Cadorna class: Luigi Cadorna, Armando Diaz

Duca d'Aosta class: Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, Eugenio di Savoia

Duca degli Abruzzi class: Luigi Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi

Montecuccoli class: Raimondo Montecuccoli, Muzio Attendolo

Others

Capitani Romani class: Attilio Regolo, Giulio Germanico, Pompeo Magno, Scipione Africano, Ulpio Traiano

Taranto, San Giorgio, Bari

Destroyers

Leone class: 3 vessels - 2283 t

Navigatori class: 12 vessels - 2010 t, among which Leone Pancaldo

Oriani or Poeti class: 4 vessels - 1950 t, among which Vittorio Alfieri and Giosué Carducci

Soldati class: 12 vessels (divided into First Soldati or Camicia Nera and Second soldati class) - 1620 t, among which Artigliere and Lanciere

Grecale class: 4 vessels - 1449 t, among which Grecale and Scirocco

Dardo class: 4 vessels - 1450 t, among which Strale

Mirabello class: 2 vessels - 1383 t

Folgore class: 4 vessels - 1220 t

Borea class: 8 vessels - 1092 t

Sauro class: 4 vessels - 1058 t

Sella class: 2 vessels - 935 t

Submarines

600-Serie Acciaio class: 13 vessels - 715 t, among which Bronzo and Cobalto

600-Serie Adua class: 17 vessels - 698 t, coastal submarines, among which Alagi, Ascianghi, Axum, Dagabur, Dessiè, and Sciré

600-Serie Argonauta class: 7 vessels - 665 t, among which Salpa

600-Serie Perla class: 10 vessels - 700 t, among which Iride and Ambra

600-Serie Sirena class: 12 vessels - 701 t

Archimede class: 2 vessels - 985 t

Argo class: 2 vessels - 794 t

Balilla class: 4 vessels - 1450 t, among which Enrico Toti

Bandiera class: 4 vessels - 941 t

Bragadin class: 2 vessels - 981 t

Brin class: 5 vessels - 1016 t

Cagni class: 4 vessels - 1708 t

Calvi class: 5 vessels - 1550 t

Classe R class: 2 vessels - 2210 t

Fieramosca class: 1 vessel - 1556 t

Flutto - 1st series class: 8 vessels - 958 t

Flutto - 2nd series class: 8 vessels - 958 t

Foca class: 3 vessels - 1333 t

Glauco class: 2 vessels - 1055 t

Liuzzi class: 4 vessels - 1187 t, among which Bagnolini

Mameli class: 3 vessels - 830 t

Marcello class: 11 vessels - 1063 t

Marconi class: 6 vessels - 1195 t, among which Gugliemo Marconi

Micca class: 1 vessel - 1570 t

Pisani class: 4 vessels - 880 t, among which Vettor Pisani

Settembrini class: 2 vessels - 953 t

Squalo class: 4 vessels - 933 t

Major events

Battle of Lissa (1866)

World War II

• Battle of Punta Stilo (9 July 1940), also known as the Battle of Calabria.
• Battle of Cape Spada (19 July 1940) - Bartolomeo Colleoni sunk by torpedoes.
• The Night of Taranto (11 November 1940), also known as Operation Judgement.
• Battle of Cape Teulada (27 November 1940), also known as Battle of Cape Spartivento.
• Attack on the British base of Suda bay, Crete: HMS York and two oil tanks sunk (26 March 1941).
• Battle of Cape Matapan, Pola, Zara, Fiume, Vittorio Alfieri and Giosué Carducci sunk (27 March 1941)
• First Battle of Sirte (1941)
• Sinking of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant in Alexandria Harbor, by Italian frogmen (19 December 1941)
• Second Battle of Sirte (22 March 1942)
• Battle of Mid-June (1942), also known as Operation Harpoon.
• Battle of Mid-August (1942), also known as Operation Pedestal.

External links

• Regia Marina Italiana from www.regiamarina.net - the Regia Marina in World War II.
• Image:Symbole-it.png Almanacco Storico Navale official site of the Italian Navy on the Regia Marina ships
• Trento in Cina - Database of Italian warships in World War II
• Italian Navy from www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk - 10 pages of photos;