,
Crete, on 27 May 1941, was one of the few amphibious operations carried out by Italian forces. On 10 June 1940, after the German
invasion of France,
Italy declared war on
France and the
United Kingdom and entered World War II. Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini saw the control of the
Mediterranean Sea as an essential prerequisite for expanding his "New Roman Empire" into
Nice,
Corsica,
Tunis and the
Balkans. Italian naval building accelerated during his tenure. Mussolini described the Mediterranean as "
Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea). 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 prepared to secure the lines of communications between Italy,
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, 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 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. Entering the war, the 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 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 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 had superior forces but failed to commit them to take advantage of the opportunity. 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 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. 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. The first major action occurred on 11 November 1940 when the British aircraft carrier launched two waves of
Fairey Swordfish torpedo-bombers in a
surprise raid against the Italian Fleet moored at the naval base of
Taranto. The raid came in undetected, and three battleships were sunk. Another major defeat was inflicted on the at
Cape Matapan, where the Royal Navy and the
Royal Australian Navy intercepted and destroyed three heavy cruisers (, and ; all of the same class) and two s in a night ambush, with the loss of over 2,300 seamen. The Allies had
broken the Italian codes and the
Ultra intercepts uncovered the Italian movements and
radar, which enabled them to locate the ships and range their weapons at distance and at night. The better air reconnaissance skills of the Royal Navy's
Fleet Air Arm and their close collaboration with surface units were other major causes of the Italian debacle. On 19 December 1941, the battleships and were damaged by
limpet mines 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 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 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.
Atlantic From 10 June 1940, submarines of the took part in the
Battle of the Atlantic alongside the U-boats of
Nazi Germany's
Kriegsmarine. The Italian submarines were based in
Bordeaux, France at the
BETASOM base. While more suited for the Mediterranean Sea than the
Atlantic Ocean, the thirty-two Italian submarines that operated in the Atlantic sank 109 Allied ships for a total of 593,864 tons. The 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.
Red Sea Initially, Italian forces enjoyed considerable success in
East Africa. From 10 June 1940, the 's
Red Sea Flotilla, based at
Massawa, Eritrea, posed a potential threat to Allied shipping crossing the
Red Sea between the
Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This threat increased in August 1940 with the
Italian conquest of British Somaliland, which allowed the Italians the use of the port of
Berbera; in January 1941, however, British and
Commonwealth forces launched a successful
counterattack in East Africa and the threat posed by the Red Sea Flotilla disappeared. 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. 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.
Black Sea Italian World War II
MAS boat. In May 1942, at German request, the deployed four 24-ton torpedo motorboats (
Motoscafo Armato Silurante,
MAS), six s, five torpedo motorboats, and five explosive motorboats to the
Black Sea. The vessels were transported overland to the
Danube River at
Vienna, Austria, and then transported by water to
Constanța, Romania. The flotilla had an active and successful campaign, based at
Yalta and
Feodosia. After Italy quit the war (
Armistice of Cassibile, September 1943) 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. 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.
Lake Ladoga The operated
a squadron of four MAS boats on
Lake Ladoga during the
Continuation War (1941–1944). As part of
Naval Detachment K, German, Italian, and Finnish vessels operated against Soviet gunboats, escorts and supply vessels during the
Siege of Leningrad between 21 June and 21 October 1942. The Italian vessels were ultimately turned over to
Finland.
Far East The had a naval base in the
concession territory of
Tientsin in
China. The primary Italian vessels based in China were the mine-layer
Lepanto and the gunboat . During World War II, Italian supply ships, auxiliary cruisers and submarines operated throughout the waters of the Far East, often in disguise. The Italians also utilized Japanese-controlled port facilities such as
Shanghai, China, and
Kobe,
Japan. Seven Italian submarines operating from
occupied 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 running 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.
Armistice of 1943 In 1943, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was deposed and the new Italian government agreed to an
armistice with the Allies. Under the terms of this armistice, the had to sail its ships to an Allied port. Most sailed to Malta, but a flotilla from
La Spezia headed towards
Sardinia. This was intercepted and attacked by German aircraft and the battleship was sunk by two hits from
Fritz X guided glide-bombs. Among the 1600 sailors killed on board
Roma was the Italian Naval Commander-in-Chief, Admiral
Carlo Bergamini. 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 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. 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. == After World War II ==