| National Republican Navy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945 |
| Country |  Italian Social Republic |
| Allegiance | Benito Mussolini |
| Branch | Navy |
| Engagements | Second World War |
The National Republican Navy (Italian : Marina Nazionale Repubblicana) was the navy of the Italian Social Republic, a World War II German puppet state in Italy.
The Marina Nazionale Repubblicana was formally created in late September 1943, following the establishment of the Italian Social Republic. Most of the Regia Marina fleet, however, after the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Allies on 3 September 1943, had sailed to Allied-controlled ports (chiefly Malta), [1] and the few ships that remained in Italian ports, most of them undergoing maintenance or repair, were either scuttled or captured by the German forces and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine. The MNR was thus left without a real fleet; even ships abandoned during construction in Northern Italian shipyards (among them many Gabbiano-class corvettes and Ariete-class torpedo boats) were completed for the German Kriegsmarine, that refused to transfer any of them to the MNR. [2] [3]
The first Chief of Staff of the MNR was Admiral Antonio Legnani, who however died in a car crash less than a month after the creation of the MNR. He was succeeded by Captain Ferruccio Ferrini. [2] Junio Valerio Borghese's Decima Flottiglia MAS was formally part of the MNR, but it operated as a de facto independent unit under Borghese's undisputed leadership. Ferrini did not tolerate this independence; he accused Borghese of having contacts with the Allies and the anti-Communist partisans, and of conspiring to depose Mussolini and replace him at the head of the RSI. In January 1944 Borghese was summoned by Mussolini and placed under arrest, but this immediately brought the Decima MAS personnel on the verge of mutiny; the situation settled after Borghese was released, following German intervention. [4]
The fleet of the MNR never amounted to more than a small number of MAS, submarine chasers, midget submarines and assault craft, the latter operated by the Decima Flottiglia MAS. Part of the personnel recruited by the MNR served on Kriegsmarine ships in the Mediterranean, whereas others manned coastal batteries in Northern Italy. [3] Other personnel fought on land alongside the National Republican Army and the Wehrmacht
The Marina Nazionale Repubblicana only reached a twentieth the size of the Allied Italian fleet, [5] and consisted of nine motor torpedo boats (two large and seven small), dozens of MTSM small motor torpedo boats and MTM explosive motorboats. [6] The National Republican Navy also operated fifteen CB-class midget submarines (ten in the Adriatic and five in the Black Sea) and one larger submarine, CM 1, [7] as well as the auxiliary submarine chasers Equa and Antonio Landi, the trawlers Cefalo and Pegaso, and a flotilla of minesweepers based in Venice. [8]
An unknown number of MTSMs were active with the navy of the Italian Social Republic. Most of their operations took place in the Adriatic sea, sometimes with mixed Italian and German crews. [9]
Of their CB midget class submarines, five were initially given to the Italian Social Republic by Germany, [10] [11] [12] but later ten more boats were transferred by the Germans to the RSI Navy and served in the Adriatic. One was used for spare parts, seven were sunk and two were captured by the Allies. [13]
Due to its small size, activity by MNR mainly consisted in coastal patrolling and minelaying operations, as well as some limited offensive activity against Allied shipping with MAS and assault craft. [14]
The only success by a MNR vessel came on 16 April 1945, a few weeks before its dissolution, when one MTM hit and heavily damaged the French destroyer Trombe off Liguria, Italy. [15] In late April 1945, the MNR ceased to exist following the liberation of Northern Italy and the fall of the Italian Social Republic.
Many MNR and Decima MAS personnel stationed in Istria became victims of the Foibe massacres between April and May 1945. [16]
The rank insignia of commissioned officers.
| Rank group | General/flag officers | Field/senior officers | Junior officers | Officer cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Republican Navy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ammiraglio | Vice ammiraglio | Contrammiraglio | Capitano di vascello | Capitano di fregata | Capitano di corvetta | Tenente di vascello | Sottotenente di vascello | Guardiamarina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.
| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Republican Navy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | No insignia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capo di Prima Classe | Capo di Seconda Classe | Capo di Terza Classe | Secondo Capo | Sergente | Sottocapo | Comune di 1ª classe | Comune di 2ª classe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Italian Social Republic, popularly and historically known as the Republic of Salò, was a German puppet state with limited recognition that was created during the later part of World War II, that existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of German troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread resistance against them and the RSI, leading to the Italian Civil War.
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 hard-line Fascist politician in post-war Italy. In 1970 he took part in the planning of a neo-fascist coup 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.
Motoscafo armato silurante, 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 (armed motorboat SVAN, Società Veneziana Automobili Navali.
The CB class was a group of midget submarines built for the Italian Navy during World War II. However, they were also used by several other navies, seeing action in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.
The CA class were a group of midget submarines built for the Italian Navy during World War II.
Leonardo da Vinci was a Marconi-class submarine of the Italian navy during World War II. It operated in the Atlantic from September 1940 until its loss in May 1943, and became the top scoring non-German submarine of the entire war.
The Flutto class were a large class of submarines built for the Italian Royal Navy during the Second World War.
The explosive motorboat MT also known as barchino, was a series of small explosive motor boats developed by the Italian Royal Navy, which was based on its predecessors, the prototype boat MA and the MAT, an airborne prototype. Explosive motorboats were designed to make a silent approach to a moored warship, set a collision course and run into full gear until the last 200 or 100 yards to the target, when the pilot would eject after blocking the rudder. At impact, the hull would be broken amidships by a small explosive charge, sinking the boat and the warhead, which was fitted with a water-pressure fuse set to go off at a depth of one metre. By the end of September 1938 the Navy Department ordered six explosive boats. The one-pilot vessels were built by the companies Baglietto of Varazze and CABI of Milan, which was also to supply the engines. The small vessels were used by the Italian Navy in at least two major operations in the Mediterranean theatre during World War II.
The MTSM motor torpedo boat was a series of small motor torpedo boats developed by the Italian Royal Navy during World War II. The vessel was an improved version of its predecessor, the motor torpedo boat MTS. This was achieved through a larger sea-going hull with reinforced keel and a sharper stem. The MTSM were designed to be towed by larger motorboats into the target area. Once there, the MTSM could carry out a torpedo attack on moored or stationary ships. The boat could also been transported by land on trailers.
Luigi Biancheri was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Antonio Legnani was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Mario Falangola was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Mario Arillo was an Italian naval officer during World War II.
Licio Visintini was an Italian naval officer during World War II. Visintini was decorated for his operations against Allied shipping in Gibraltar during the Battle of the Mediterranean. His brother Mario Visintini was a famous flying ace; both were killed during the war.
Luigi Faggioni was an Italian naval officer during World War II, and an admiral in the postwar Marina Militare.
Italian submarine Gondar was an Adua-class submarine built for the Royal Italian Navy during the 1930s. It was named after a city of Gondar in northern Ethiopia.
Italian submarine Ambra was a Perla-class submarine built for the Royal Italian Navy during the 1930s. She was named after the gemstone amber.
During the Second World War, the Royal Romanian Navy operated a total of 9 submarines: three fleet submarines and six midget submarines. These vessels fought on the Axis side during the war. Only two of them survived the war and continued to serve in the Romanian Navy until the 1960s.
