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The , ) ( RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic ( Repubblica Italiana), the Regia Marina changed its name to Marina Militare ("Military Navy").
Firstly, it suffered from a lack of uniformity and cohesion; the Regia Marina was a heterogeneous mix of equipment, standards and practice, and even saw hostility between the officers from the various former navies. These problems were compounded by the continuation of separate officer schools at Genoa and Naples, and were not fully addressed until the opening of a unified Naval Academy at Livorno in 1881.
Secondly, unification occurred during a period of rapid advances in naval technology and tactics, as typified by the launch of by France in 1858, and later by the appearance of, and battle between, and in 1862. These innovations quickly made older warships obsolete. Italy did not possess the shipyards or infrastructure to build the modern ships required, but the then Minister for the Navy, Admiral Carlo di Persano, launched a substantial programme to purchase warships from foreign yards.
The Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, mustered 12 ironclad and 17 wooden-hulled ships, though only one, , was of the most modern turret ship design. Despite a marked disadvantage in numbers and equipment, superior handling by the Austrians under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff resulted in a severe defeat for Italy, which lost two armoured ships and 640 men.
During the war, the Regia Marina spent its minor efforts in the Adriatic Sea, opposing the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The resulting Adriatic Campaign of World War I consisted mainly of Austro-Hungarian coastal bombardments of Italy's Adriatic coast, and wider-ranging German/Austro-Hungarian submarine warfare into the Mediterranean. Allied forces mainly limited themselves to blockading the Austro-Hungarian navy inside the Adriatic, which was successful with regards to surface units, but failed for the submarines, which found safe harbours and easy passage into and out of the area for the whole of the war. Considered a relatively minor part of the naval warfare of World War I, it nonetheless tied down significant forces.
In December 1915, and January 1916, when the Serbian army was driven by the German forces under General von Mackensen toward the Albanian coast, 138,000 Serbian infantry and 11,000 refugees were ferried across the Adriatic and landed in Italy in 87 trips by the and other shps of the Italian Navy under the command of Admiral Conz. These ships also carried 13,000 cavalrymen and 10,000 horses of the Serbian army to Corfu in 13 crossings from the Albanian port of Vallons.
For most of the war the Italian navy avoided wherever possible the Austro-Hungarian navy. The Italian fleet lost the destroyer Turbine in 1915 to an Austro-Hungarian fleet sortie; the armoured cruiser Amalfi was sunk by Austrian submarine U-26 on 7 July 1915; the armoured cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi, sunk by Austrian submarine U-4 on 18 July 1915, the pre-dreadnought battleship at Brindisi (27 September 1915) and the dreadnought at Taranto (2 August 1916) due to a magazine explosion (although there were rumours of Austrian sabotage). The Austrians also sank the Italian armed merchant cruiser SS Principe Umberto on 8 June 1916. While transporting troops in the Adriatic, the ship was sunk by Austro-Hungarian U-boat U-5 with the loss of 1,926 men. It was the worst naval disaster of World War I in terms of human lives lost.
In the last part of the war, the Regia Marina developed the MAS boats, that, by chance, managed to sink the Austro-Hungarian battleship in the Adriatic Sea on 10 June 1918; and an early type of human torpedo (codenamed Mignatta, or "leech") carrying two men, which entered the harbour of Pola and planted two magnetic mines during the early hours of the morning which exploded sinking the Austro-Hungary flagship , with considerable loss of life, on 1 November 1918, shortly after the entire navy had been turned over to the newly founded neutral State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The battleship (sister of the former two) was handed over to Italy as a war prize in 1919.
The Regia Marina chose to build fast ships armed with longer ranged guns to give the Italian vessels the ability to minimize close contact with vessels of the Royal Navy, whose crews were more experienced. In theory this would allow them to engage or break off at their own choosing, and would allow them to hit the enemy when he could not yet hit back. New guns were developed with longer ranges than their British counterparts of similar caliber. Speed was emphasized in their new construction. Italian cruisers built in the 1920s, such as were built with a newly designed and relatively thin armour. This would have a decisive role in a number of naval battles, including the Battle of Cape Spada. Later classes, such as the and classes, were built to a more balanced design with thicker armor.
The modernization work on the four Great War era battleships turned into a significant reconstruction project, with only 40% of the original structures being left. The ship's guns were upgraded in main armament, going from 13 guns of 305 mm diameter, to 10 guns of 320 mm diameter. The middle turret and the vessel's central tower were eliminated. To increase speed the coal-fired boilers were replaced with modern oil-fired boilers and ten meters were added to the ship's length to improve the Fineness ratio. Though the ships were improved, they still were not an equal match for the s and the s, both of which carried larger guns and heavier armour.
Though scientific research on tracking devices such as radar and sonar was being conducted in Italian universities and military laboratories by men such as Ugo Tiberio and Guglielmo Marconi, the conservative Italian leadership had little interest in these new technologies, and did not use them to improve the effectiveness of the Italian vessels. This was mainly due to the influence of Admiral Domenico Cavagnari, whom Mussolini appointed as Chief of Staff of the Navy in 1933, and whom he later promoted to Secretary of the Navy. Likewise technological advancement in radio range finders and gunnery control devices for night combat were not incorporated. Regarding such devices, Cavagnari emphasized "not wanting traps in your way". Writing to Admiral Iachino, he wrote " procedere con estrema cautela nell'accettare brillanti novità tecniche che non siano ancora collaudate da una esperienza pratica sufficientemente lunga", which can be translated to "proceed with extreme caution regarding brilliant technical innovations that have not yet been tested or with which there is no practical experience". Thus, the Italian navy entered the Second World War with a marked technical inferiority to the Royal Navy. Albert Kesselring, overall commander of Axis forces in the Mediterranean, observed that the Italian navy was "a good weather" force, unable to operate effectively at night or in heavy seas.
Two training ships were built during this period, in addition to the effort to modernize and re-equip the combat vessels of the navy. These were square rigged school ships the Regia Marina ordered in 1925. The sailing ships followed a design by Lieutenant Colonel Francesco Rotundi of the Italian Navy Engineering Corps, reminiscent of ships of the line from the Napoleonic era. The first of these two ships, , was put into service in 1928 and was used by the Italian Navy for training until 1943. After World War II, this ship was handed over to the Soviet Union as part of and was shortly afterwards decommissioned. The second ship of the design was . The ship was built in 1930 at the (formerly Royal) Naval Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia (Naples). She was launched on 22 February 1931, and was put into service in July of that year. She is still being used to this day.
In 1928, the unified command of the " Armata Navale" was abolished, and the fleet was divided in two squadrons ( Squadre navali), one based at La Spezia and the other based at Taranto.
Before the declaration of war, Italian ground and air forces had prepared to strike at the beaten French forces across the border in the Italian invasion of France. By contrast, the Regia Marina prepared to secure the lines of communications between Italy, Italian Libya and the East African colonies. The Italian High Command ( Comando Supremo) did not approve of the plan devised by the Italian Naval Headquarters ( Supermarina) to occupy a weakly defended Malta,Piekalkiewicz, p. 82 which proved a crucial mistake. British High Command, thinking that Malta could not be defended because of the proximity of Regia Aeronautica air bases in Italy, Sicily, and Italian Libya, had put little effort into bolstering the islands' defences. Thus, at the outset of the war there were only 42 anti-aircraft guns on the island and twelve Gloster Sea Gladiators, half sitting in crates at the wharf.Taylor 1974, p. 181.
Entering the war, the Regia Marina was operating under a number of limitations. Though significant assets were available to challenge the Royal Navy for control of the Mediterranean, there had been a lack of emphasis on the incorporation of technological advances such as radar and sonar. This meant that in night engagements or foul weather, the Italian ships were unable to detect the approach of their British adversaries. When engaged, they could only range their guns if they were able to visually locate their targets.
The Regia Marina had six battleships with which to contend for control of the Mediterranean, the four most modern of which were being re-fitted at the outbreak of the war. In addition to the six capital ships, the Italians had 19 cruisers, 59 destroyers, 67 torpedo boats, and 116 submarines. Though the Regia Marina had a number of fast new cruisers with good range in their gunnery, the older classes were lightly built and had inadequate defensive armor. Numerically the Italian fleet was formidable, but there were a large number of older vessels, and the service suffered in general from insufficient time at sea for crew training.
Italy's lack of raw materials meant that it would have great difficulty building new ships over the course of the war. Thus, the assets that it had were handled with caution by Supermarina. Allied commanders at sea had a fair degree of autonomy and discretion to fight their vessels as circumstance allowed, but Italian commanders were required to confer with their headquarters before committing their forces in an engagement that might result in their loss. That led to delays in arriving at decisions and actions being avoided even when the Italians had a clear advantage. An example occurred during "Operation Hats" in which the Regia Marina had superior forces but failed to commit them to take advantage of the opportunity.Tobagi pp. 30–31
A further key disadvantage in the convoy support and interception battles that dominated the Battle of the Mediterranean was the intelligence advantage granted to the British in intercepting German Ultra and, through this, the key information on Italian convoy routes, times of departure, time of arrival, and make up of the convoy.
The warships of the Regia Marina had a general reputation as being well-designed. Italian small attack craft lived up to expectations and were responsible for many successful actions in the Mediterranean. Though Italian warships lacked radar, that was partly offset in fair weather by good optical rangefinder and fire-control systems.Luciano Garibaldi, Century of War (2001)
The Italian Navy lacked a fleet air arm. The High Command had reasoned that since the Italian navy would be operating solely in the Mediterranean, their vessels would never be far from an airfield and so the time and the resources needed to develop a naval air arm could be directed elsewhere. This proved problematic on a number of occasions. The Italians had the aircraft carriers and under construction at the start of the war, but neither was ever completed. Lastly, the lack of natural oil reserves and subsequent shortage of oil precluded extensive fleet operations.
On 19 December 1941, the battleships and were damaged by planted by Italian frogmen, knocking both out of the conflict for almost two years. This action, coming on the heels of the loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse in the South China Sea, significantly weakened the surface strength of the Royal Navy, making it difficult for them to challenge Italian control of the eastern Mediterranean.
On the night of 19 December, Force K, comprising three cruisers and four destroyers based at Malta, ran into an Italian minefield off Tripoli. Three cruisers struck mines, with the cruiser lost, along with the destroyer . In addition, another destroyer was seriously damaged. All told 800 seamen were lost, and Force K, which had been effectively interdicting Axis convoys, was put out of action. This series of successes allowed the Regia Marina to achieve naval supremacy in the central Mediterranean. Coupled with an intensive bombing campaign against Malta, the Axis supply routes from southern Europe to North Africa were almost untouched by the Royal Navy or its allies for the next several months.
The Italian fleet went on the offensive, blocking or mauling three large Allied convoys bound for Malta. This led to a number of naval engagements, including the Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942, Operation Harpoon and Operation Vigorous, (known as the "Battle of Mid-June") and Operation Pedestal (the "Battle of Mid-August"). All of these engagements ended favourably for the Axis. Despite this activity, the only real success of the Italian fleet was the surface attack on the Harpoon convoy, supported by Axis aerial forces. These attacks sank several Allied warships and damaged others. Only two transports of the original six in the convoy reached Malta. This was the only undisputed squadron-sized victory for Italian surface forces in World War II.
Despite the heavy losses suffered by the merchantmen and escorting forces of convoy Pedestal, the oil and supplies brought through allowed the near starving island of Malta to continue to hold out. With Allied landings in North Africa, Operation Torch, in November 1942, the fortunes of war turned against the Italians. Their sea convoys were harassed day after day by the aerial and naval supremacy of the Allies. The maritime lane between Sicily and Tunisia became known as the "route of death". After years of back and forth, the Axis forces were forced to surrender in Tunisia, bringing the campaign for North Africa to a close.
The Regia Marina performed well and bravely in its North African convoy duties, but remained at a technical disadvantage. The Italian ships relied on speed but could easily be damaged by shell or torpedo, due to their relatively thin armour, as happened in the Battle of Cape Spada. The fatal and final blow to the Italian Navy was a shortage of fuel, which forced its main units to remain at anchor for most of the last year of the Italian alliance with Germany.Garibaldi, Century of War (2001) p. 151
The Regia Marina even planned an attack on New York Harbor with midget submarines for December 1942, but this plan was delayed for many reasons and was never carried out.Borghese, p. 262
Much of the Red Sea Flotilla was destroyed by hostile action during the first months of war or when the port of Massawa fell in April 1941. However, there were a few survivors. In February 1941, prior to the fall of Massawa, the colonial ship and the auxiliary cruisers and broke out and sailed to Kobe, Japan. While Ramb I was sunk by the Royal New Zealand Navy cruiser off the Maldives, Eritrea and Ramb II made it to Kobe. As the port of Massawa was falling, four submarines—, , , and —sailed south from Massawa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and ultimately sailed to German occupied Bordeaux, France. One or two Italian merchant ships from the Red Sea Flotilla made it to Vichy French-controlled Madagascar.
On 10 June 1941, the British launched Operation Chronometer, landing a battalion of troops from the British Indian Army at Assab, the last Italian-held harbour on the Red Sea.Rohwer & Hümmelchen (1992), p. 78 By 11 June, Assab had fallen. Two days later, on 13 June, the Indian trawler Parvati became the last naval casualty of the East African Campaign when it struck a moored mine near Assab.Shah, Mian Zahir (2001). Anecdotes of the Pakistan Navy. PN Book Club Publication, pp. 3–6.
After Italy quit the war, most of the Italian vessels on the Black Sea were transferred to Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. In early 1944, six MAS boats were transferred to the Royal Romanian Navy.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 81 By August 1944, they were ultimately captured by Soviet forces when Constanța was captured.
The five surviving midget submarines were transferred to the Royal Romanian Navy.Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Naval Institute Press, 1980, pp. 311 & 361W.M. Thornton, Submarine Insignia and Submarine Services of the World, Pen and Sword Publishing, 1996, p. 100Paul Kemp, Midget Submarines of the Second World War, Chatham, 1999, p. 65Bryan Perrett, Ian V. Hogg, Encyclopedia of the Second World War, Longman, 1989, p. 279 Maurizio Brescia, Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930–1945, Seaforth Publishing, 2012
Seven Italian submarines operating from France were converted by the Italians into "transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. The submarines , , , , , , and were converted for service with the Monsun Gruppe ("Monsoon Group"). The name of Comandante Cappellini was changed to .
Twelve additional R-class blockade runner transport submarines were specifically designed for trade with the Far East, but only two of these vessels were completed before Italy quit the war. Both of these submarines were destroyed by Allied action almost as soon as they were launched.
As vessels became available to the new Italian government, the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy was formed to fight on the side of the Allies. Other ships were captured in port by the Germans or scuttled by their crews. Few Regia Marina crews chose to fight for Mussolini's new fascist regime in northern Italy, the Italian Social Republic ( Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI). Mussolini's pro-German National Republican Navy ( Marina Nazionale Repubblicana) hardly reached a twentieth the size attained by the co-belligerent Italian fleet.Mollo, p. 100 In the Far East, the Japanese occupied the Italian concession territory of Tiensin.
There was little use for the surrendered Italian battleships and there was doubt about the loyalties of the crews, so these ships were interned in Egypt. In June 1944, the less powerful battleships ( Andrea Doria, Duilio and Giulio Cesare) were allowed to return to Augusta harbour in Sicily for training. The others, and Italia (ex-), remained at Ismaïlia in the Suez Canal until 1947. After the war, Giulio Cesare was passed to the Soviet Union.
In the Co-belligerency period, until "VE" (Victory in Europe) Day, Italian light cruisers participated in the naval war in the Atlantic Ocean with patrols against German raiders. Smaller naval units (mainly submarines and torpedo boats) served in the Mediterranean Sea. In the last days of war, the issue of whether Italian battleships and cruisers should participate in the Pacific War was debated by the Allied leaders.
There were also Italian naval units in the Far East in 1943 when the new Italian government agreed to an armistice with the Allies. The reactions of their crews varied greatly. In general, surface units, mainly supply ships and auxiliary cruisers, either surrendered at Allied ports ( Eritrea at Colombo, Ceylon) or, if in Japanese controlled ports, they were scuttled by their own crew ( Conte Verde, Lepanto, and Carlotto at Shanghai). Ramb II was taken over by the Japanese in Kobe and renamed Calitea II. Four Italian submarines were in the Far East at the time of the armistice, transporting rare goods to Japan and Singapore: , (), , and . The crew of Ammiraglio Cagni heard of the armistice and surrendered to the Royal Navy off Durban, South Africa. Comandante Cappellini, Reginaldo Giuliani, and Luigi Torelli and their crews were temporarily interned by the Japanese. The boats passed to German U-boat command and, with mixed German and Italian crews, they continued to fight against the Allies. The German navy assigned new officers to the three submarines. The three were renamed , and and took part in German war operations in the Pacific. Reginaldo Giuliani was sunk by the British submarine in February 1944. In May 1945, the other two vessels were taken over by the Japanese Imperial Navy when Germany surrendered. About twenty Italian sailors continued to fight with the Japanese. Luigi Torelli remained active until 30 August 1945, when, in Japanese waters, this last Fascist Italian submarine shot down a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Forces.Willmott, H P (2009). The Last Century of Sea Power: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922. Indiana University Press, p. 276.
The vessels that remained were:
On 2 June 1946, the Italian monarchy was abolished by a popular referendum. The Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia) ended and was replaced by the Italian Republic ( Repubblica Italiana). The Regia Marina became the Navy of the Italian Republic ( Marina Militare).
The treaty also ordered Italy to put the following ships at the disposals of the victorious nations United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Albania as war compensation:
The convoy escort ultimately became the Yugoslav Navy yacht . Galeb was used by the late President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Marshal Josip Broz Tito on his numerous foreign trips and to entertain heads of state.
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