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.
Junio Valerio Scipione Ghezzo Marcantonio Maria Borghese, nicknamed The Black Prince, was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and a prominent hardline neo-fascist politician in post-war Italy. In 1970, he took part in the planning of a neo-fascist coup, dubbed the Golpe Borghese, that was called off after the press discovered it; he subsequently fled to Spain and spent the last years of his life there.
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 commando frogman unit, of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.
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.
Motoscafo armato silurante, alternatively Motoscafo antisommergibili and commonly abbreviated as MAS, was a class of fast torpedo-armed vessels used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. Originally, "MAS" referred to motobarca armata SVAN, Società Veneziana Automobili Navali.
Teseo Tesei was an Italian naval officer, who invented the human torpedo used by the Regia Marina during World War II.
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.
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.
The Battle of Grand Harbour, also known as Operazione MALTA-2, was an unsuccessful Italian raid against Allied shipping in the harbour of Valletta, Malta on the night of 25–26 July 1941 during World War II. Italian Regia Marina (RM) commando frogmen from the Decima Flottiglia MAS ("X-MAS") attempted to penetrate the harbour to attack British shipping. The attackers destroyed the St Elmo Bridge trying to enter the harbour before being driven off by fire from coastal defences. The Italians suffered heavy casualties; the entire X-MAS group was killed or captured.
Italy 
Italian Navy 
