The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the Regia Marina after World War II. As of August 2014, the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel, with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.
The Regia Marina (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the Regia Marina changed its name to Marina Militare.
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian flotilla, with marines and commando frogman unit, of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.
The Arabis class was the third, and largest, of the five sub-classes of minesweeping sloops completed under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I. They were part of the larger "Flower class" shipbuilding project, which were also referred to as the "Cabbage class", or "Herbaceous Borders". The ships were also used outside their minesweeping duties as patrol vessels, tugs, and personnel and cargo transports.
The Marcello class was a class of nine submarines built in 1937 and 1938 by CRDA in Trieste for the Royal Italian Navy. Two similar submarines built in 1939 at La Spezia by Oto Melara are sometimes considered part of the class. All eleven served in the Mediterranean Sea at the start of the Second World War. After Provana's 1940 sinking, the remaining boats were transferred to the BETASOM Atlantic submarine base at Bordeaux in August 1940. After four boats had been sunk in the Atlantic, Barbarigo and Comandante Cappellini were then selected for conversion to "transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from 20–25% to 3.5–6%; and armament was reduced to defensive machine guns. Only Dandolo was in operational condition at the end of the war.
SM U-42 was a submarine ordered for construction by the Imperial German Navy. The vessel was designed by the naval engineer Cesare Laurenti, and laid down on 18 August 1913 in Italy at Società FIAT-San Giorgio, Muggiano, La Spezia. It served as the basis for the design of the Pacinotti-class submarines. The vessel was confiscated by the Italian government after entering the World War I. The vessel was renamed Balilla and served with the Royal Italian Navy until sunk in a battle on 14 July 1916 with two torpedo boats.
Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by a fleet consisting of HMS Malaya, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Renown and HMS Sheffield, screened by ten fleet destroyers including HMS Fearless, HMS Foxhound, HMS Foresight, HMS Fury, HMS Firedrake and HMS Jersey.
The Calvi class was a class of three submarines built by Oderno-Terni-Orlando in Genoa for the Royal Italian Navy. The submarines were built in 1935, and all three served in the Mediterranean at the start of the Second World War. The boats were transferred to the BETASOM Atlantic submarine base at Bordeaux in August 1940. In December 1941 the boats were used for a rescue mission of 254 sailors from the sunken German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis. After Calvi had been sunk, Finzi and Tazzoli were selected for conversion to "transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from 20–25% to 3.5–6%; and armament was reduced to defensive machine guns.
The Liuzzi class was a class of four submarines built by Tosi in Taranto for the Royal Italian Navy. The submarines were built in 1939 and began their Second World War service in the Mediterranean Sea, where Liuzzi was sunk. The three surviving boats were transferred to the BETASOM Atlantic submarine base at Bordeaux in 1940. After Tarantini was sunk, Bagnolini and Giuliani were selected for conversion to "transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from between 20 and 25% to between 3.5 and 6%; and armament was reduced to defensive machine guns. The submarines saw action in the Second World War during which they collectively sunk 5 freighters and 1 light cruiser and were eventually either sunk or captured.
Pietro Calvi was the lead ship of its class of two submarines built for the Regia Marina during the 1930s. Completed in 1936, she played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists. The submarine made multiple patrols in the Atlantic Ocean during the Second World War, sinking seven Allied ships. Pietro Calvi was rammed and sunk by a British convoy escort in July 1942.
Operation Scylla was the transit of the Regia Marina Capitani Romani-class light cruiser Scipione Africano on the night of 17/18 July 1943, during the Second World War. The cruiser sailed from La Spezia in the Tyrrhenian Sea to Taranto in the Ionian Sea during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
Mario Marino was an Italian sailor of the Regia Marina during World War Two. As a diver and human-torpedo operator with the Decima Flottiglia MAS, he won the Gold Medal of Military Valour for the Raid on Alexandria on 19 December 1941. A 97-ton submarine-support speedboat of the Italian Navy launched in 1984 is named after him.
Giuseppe Di Bartolo was an Italian naval officer during World War II.
Guglielmotti was the name of at least two ships of the Italian Navy and may refer to:
Enrico Tazzoli was one of three Calvi-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the 1930s. Completed in 1936, she played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists. She operated in the Atlantic during the Second World War and was second only to the submarine Leonardo da Vinci as the highest scoring Italian submarine of the conflict. Enrico Tazzoli was converted in 1943 to be a submarine transport for blockade-running between Europe and the Far East. She was lost on her first voyage in this role.
Alfredo Oriani was the lead ship of her class of four destroyers built for the Regia Marina in the mid-1930s. Completed in 1937, she served in World War II. Alfredo Oriani took part of the battle of Matapan and the attack on Harpoon convoy.
Giotto Maraghini was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Odoardo Somigli was an Italian admiral during the interwar period and World War II. He was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Royal Italian Navy from August 1939 to December 1940.
Manlio Tarantini was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Regia Marina