A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, combatant diver, or combat swimmer. The word frogman first arose in the stage name the "Fearless Frogman" of Paul Boyton in the 1870s and later was claimed by John Spence, an enlisted member of the U.S. Navy and member of the OSS Maritime Unit, to have been applied to him while he was training in a green waterproof suit.
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use.
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian flotilla, with marines and commando frogman unit, of the Regia Marina. The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II.
The Italian Special Forces include special forces units from several branches of the Italian Armed Forces: the Esercito Italiano (Army), the Marina Militare (Navy), the Aeronautica Militare and the Arma dei Carabinieri (Gendarmerie).
Marquis Luigi Durand de la Penne was an Italian Navy admiral who served as naval diver in the Decima MAS during World War II. He was born in Genoa, where he also died.
Teseo Tesei was an Italian naval officer, who invented the human torpedo used by the Regia Marina during World War II.
The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy divers of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, who attacked and sank two Royal Navy battleships at their moorings and damaged an oil tanker and a destroyer in the harbour of Alexandria, Egypt, using manned torpedoes.
The Raid on Souda Bay was an attack by the Decima MAS (X-MAS), a specialist unit of the Regia Marina that used unconventional weapons. X-MAS used explosive boats (MTM) against British ships lying in Souda Bay, Crete, during the early hours of 26 March 1941. The MTM explosive boats had been ferried from Astypalaia by the destroyers Francesco Crispi and Quintino Sella and launched at the approaches to the bay. After crossing the three boom defences, the MTM attacked the British heavy cruiser HMS York and the Norwegian tanker Pericles (8,324 GRT).
The auxiliary ship Olterra was a 5,000 ton Italian tanker scuttled by her own crew at Algeciras in the Bay of Gibraltar on 10 June 1940, after the entry of Italy in World War II. She was recovered in 1942 by a special unit of the Decima Flottiglia MAS to be used as an undercover base for manned torpedoes in order to attack Allied shipping at Gibraltar.
Mario Elbano Masciulli Manelli, Baron Miglianico was a prominent military engineer of the Italian Regia Marina, Major of Genio Navale and belonging to the recognized Decima Flottiglia MAS as director of the Office of Submarine Secret Weapons during Second World War. He was awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor.
The Royal Navy's Submarine Parachute Assistance Group (SPAG) is a team who provide a rescue support capability to submarine sinking incidents worldwide, available at short notice.
Gino Birindelli was an Italian admiral and chief of the fleet of the Italian Navy. After his retirement from the Navy he was elected as a member of the lower house of Parliament for the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement.
The Italian Naval Aviation is the naval air component of the Italian Navy composed of around 2000 men and women and 69 aircraft and helicopters.
Anteo is a submarine rescue ship of the Italian Navy, assigned to Raggruppamento Subacquei ed Incursori "Teseo Tesei" (COMSUBIN). Anteo is the third ship to bear this name in the Italian Navy. The ship's design was developed by the "Ufficio Navi Speciali del Reparto Progetti Navi", according to the guidelines provided by the Navy General Staff. The ship was built at Cantiere Navale Breda di Porto Marghera and commissioned to the Italian Navy on 31 July 1980.
The Marino class of diving support vessels consists of two units operated by the Italian Marina Militare. The vessels are used by Comando Subacquei Incursori (COMSUBIN) for training and operational duties and are named MAS Motoscafo Appoggio Subacquei.
USSP is a planned Submarine rescue ship of the Marina Militare, financed with 2017's balance law.
It is expected to replace Italian ship Anteo.
The following is the structure of the Italian Navy as of June 2020. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.
Vittorio Moccagatta was an Italian naval officer during World War II. He commanded the Decima Flottiglia MAS, the special operations unit of the Royal Italian Navy, from September 1940 until his death in action on 26 July 1941.
Mario Giorgini was an Italian naval officer during World War II. He commanded the I Flottiglia MAS, the special operations unit of the Royal Italian Navy, from February 1940 until his capture during an attempt to carry out a manned torpedo raid on Alexandria in September of the same year. After the war he became an admiral in the Marina Militare.
Italy 
Italian Navy 
