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Battle Of Grand Harbour
The Battle of Grand Harbour also known as Operazione MALTA-1 was a battle that took place during the siege of Malta on the night of 25-26 July 1941 in World War II. Malta's Grand Harbour, which was defended by the British was attacked by the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS (part of the Italian Regia Marina) using MAS motorboats, MT explosive motorboats and SLC ''Maiale'' ( it, pig) human torpedoes. The Italians were detected early on by British radar, and soon after coastal artillery from Fort Saint Elmo opened fire when the Italians approached at close range. The Italians managed to destroy the bridge covering the entrance to the harbour which blocked their passage, and the Italian force was subsequently wiped out with the aid of the RAF. Background During the siege of Malta and subsequent Mediterranean campaign, Valletta, with its considerable Royal Navy presence, had long been a thorn in the Axis' side. In 1941 a Royal Navy convoy codenamed Operation Substance had managed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Mediterranean
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945. For the most part, the campaign was fought between the Kingdom of Italy, Italian Regia Marina, Royal Navy (''Regia Marina''), supported by other Axis Powers, Axis naval and air forces, and the United Kingdom, British Royal Navy, supported by other Allies of World War II, Allied naval forces, such as Australia, the Netherlands, Poland and Kingdom of Greece, Greece. American naval and air units joined the Allied side in 1942. Each side had three overall objectives in this battle. The first was to attack the supply lines of the other side. The second was to keep open the supply lines to their own armies in North Africa. The third was to destroy the ability of the opposing navy to wage war at sea. Outside of the Pacific War, Pacific theatre, the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean saw the largest conventional naval warfare acti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Saint Elmo
Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort Tigné and Fort Ricasoli. It is best known for its role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. History Background and construction By 1417, the local militia had already established a permanent watch post on the tip of the Sciberras Peninsula. In 1488, the Aragonese built a watchtower on Saint Elmo Point, and it was dedicated to Erasmus of Formia, better known as Saint Elmo. In 1533, the Order of Saint John reinforced the tower due to its strategic location. In 1551, an Ottoman raid occurred in which the Turkish fleet sailed into Marsamxett Harbour unopposed. Due to this, it was decided that a major expansion was necessary, and in 1552 the tower was demolished and a new star fort began to be built. It was designed by a Spanish Enginee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manoel Island
Manoel Island ( mt, Il-Gżira Manoel), formerly known as Bishop's Island ( mt, Il-Gżira tal-Isqof, it, Isola del Vescovo) or the ''Isolotto'', is a small island which forms part of the municipality of Gżira in Marsamxett Harbour, Malta. It is named after the Portuguese Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, who built a fort on the island in the 1720s. Geography Manoel Island is a low, rather flat hill, shaped roughly like a leaf. It is located in the middle of Marsamxett Harbour, with Lazzaretto Creek to its south and Sliema Creek to its north. The island is connected to mainland Malta by a bridge. The whole island can be viewed from the bastions of the capital Valletta. History In 1570, the island was acquired by the Cathedral Chapter of Mdina and it became the property of the Bishop of Malta. It was therefore called ''l'Isola del Vescovo'' or il-''Gżira tal-Isqof'' in Maltese (the Bishop's Island). In 1592, a quarantine hospital known as the Lazzaretto was built duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsamxett Harbour
Marsamxett Harbour (), historically also referred to as Marsamuscetto, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It is located to the north of the larger Grand Harbour. The harbour is generally more dedicated to leisure use than the Grand Harbour. Description The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by Dragut Point and Tigné Point. Its northwest shore is made up of the towns of Sliema, Gżira and Ta' Xbiex. The harbour then extends inland to Pietà and Msida. Off Gżira lies Manoel Island, now connected to the mainland by a bridge. The south eastern shore of the harbour is formed by the Sciberras peninsula, which is largely covered by the town of Floriana and the city of Valletta. At its tip lies the 16th century Fort Saint Elmo. The Sciberras peninsula divides Marsamxett from the larger parallel natural harbour, Grand Harbour. Along its partner the Grand Harbour, Marsamxett lies at the centre of gently rising ground. Development has grown up all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpet Mines
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver may attach the mine, which is usually designed with hollow compartments to give the mine just slight negative buoyancy, making it easier to handle underwater. Types of fuses Usually limpet mines are set off by a time fuse. They may also have an anti-handling device, making the mine explode if removed from the hull by enemy divers or by explosions. Sometimes limpet mines have been fitted with a small turbine which would detonate the mine after the ship had sailed a certain distance, so that it was likely to sink in navigable channels (to make access difficult for other ships) or deep water (out of reach of easy salvage) and making determination of the cause of the sinking more difficult. Development In December 1938, a new unit was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 1943, and " Duce" of Italian Fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919 until his execution in 1945 by Italian partisans. As dictator of Italy and principal founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired and supported the international spread of fascist movements during the inter-war period. Mussolini was originally a socialist politician and a journalist at the ''Avanti!'' newspaper. In 1912, he became a member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), but he was expelled from the PSI for advocating military intervention in World War I, in opposition to the party's stance on neutrality. In 1914, Mussolini founded a new journal, ''Il Popolo d'Italia'', and served in the Royal Italian Arm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogmen
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. The term ''frogman'' is occasionally used to refer to a civilian scuba diver. Some sport diving clubs include the word ''Frogmen'' in their names. The preferred term by scuba users is ''diver'', but the ''frogman'' epithet persists in informal usage by non-divers, especially in the media and often referring to professional scuba divers, such as in a police diving role. In the U.S. military and intelligence communi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete rests about south of the Greek mainland, and about southwest of Anatolia. Crete has an area of and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds the southern border of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete (or North Cretan Sea) to the north and the Libyan Sea (or South Cretan Sea) to the south. Crete and a number of islands and islets that surround it constitute the Region of Crete ( el, Περιφέρεια Κρήτης, links=no), which is the southernmost of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece, and the fifth most populous of Greece's regions. Its capital and largest city is Heraklion, on the north shore of the island. , the region had a population of 636,504. The Dodecanese are located to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raid On Souda Bay
The Raid on Souda Bay was an assault by Italian Royal Navy explosive boats on Souda Bay, Crete, during the first hours of 26 March 1941. The motor boats were launched by the destroyers and on the approaches to the bay. After negotiating the boom defences, the small craft attacked the Royal Navy heavy cruiser and the Norwegian tanker ''Pericles''. The Allied vessels were both sunk in shallow waters by the explosive charges and eventually lost. Background Souda is a naturally protected harbour on the northwest coast of the island. It had been chosen as a target by the months before because of the almost continuous Allied naval activity there., page 77 Air reconnaissance had spotted a number of naval and auxiliary steamers at anchor in Souda Bay, Crete. On 25 March 1941, the Italian destroyers ''Francesco Crispi'' and ''Quintino Sella'' departed from Leros island in the Aegean at night, each one carrying three motor assault boats of the Decima known as ' (MT). Each MT (nic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Royal Navy
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origins The ''Regia Marina'' was established on 17 March 1861 following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. Just as the Kingdom was a unification of various states in the Italian peninsula, so the ''Regia Marina'' was formed from the navies of those states, though the main constituents were the navies of the former kingdoms of Sardinia and Naples. The new Navy inherited a substantial number of ships, both sail- and steam-powered, and the long naval traditions of its constituents, especially those of Sardinia and Naples, but also suffered from some major handicaps. Firstly, it suffered from a lack of uniformity and cohesion; the ''Regia Marina'' was a heterogeneous mix of equipment, standards and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolished and the Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic, whereupon the name of the air force changed to Aeronautica Militare. History Beginnings At the beginning of the twentieth century, Italy was at the forefront of aerial warfare: during the colonization of Libya in 1911, it made the first reconnaissance flight in history on 23 October, and the first ever bombing raid on 1 November. During World War I, the Italian ''Corpo Aeronautico Militare'', then still part of the '' Regio Esercito'' (Royal Army), operated a mix of French fighters and locally built bombers, notably the gigantic Caproni aircraft. The ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) had its own air arm, operating locally built flying boats. Founding of the ''Regia Aeronautica' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Substance
Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy defended by Force H was attacked by Italian submarines, aircraft, and ''Motoscafo armato silurante'' (MAS boats). The convoy The convoy of six cargo ships carried one light and one heavy anti-aircraft regiment with 30 field guns to strengthen the island against possible airborne assault.Greene & Massignani, pp.178–179 Medical personnel expected to be needed in the forthcoming siege were also embarked. Force H included the battleship , the battlecruiser , the fast minelayer , cruisers , and with eight destroyers and the aircraft carrier operating 21 Fairey Fulmars and carrying seven Fairey Swordfish to be flown off as reinforcements to Malta. Prelude The Royal Navy observed decreasing intensity of ''Regia Aeronautica'' attacks as the torpedo inventory at Sardinian airfields was nearly exhausted. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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