The Motosilurante CRDA 60 t (also known as MS boat) was a type of
motor torpedo boat built for the
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was designed on the pattern of German
S-boats — some early examples of which were captured by the Italians from
Yugoslav Navy
The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...
— to complement the faster but less seaworthy
MAS
Mas, Más or MAS may refer to:
Film and TV
* Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series
* Más (Breaking Bad), "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad''
Songs
* Más ( ...
boats.
It was two ''Motosiluranti CRDA'' that scored the single biggest success by fast torpedo craft in the Second World War, the sinking of British light cruiser .
After the conflict surviving boats remained in service with the
Marina Militare
"Fatherland and Honour"
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, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
—the last ones being ultimately dismissed after almost 40 years of service, in the late 1970s.
History
Background
Italian motor torpedo boats, the
MAS
Mas, Más or MAS may refer to:
Film and TV
* Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series
* Más (Breaking Bad), "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad''
Songs
* Más ( ...
, were built like speedboats, sacrificing seaworthiness for speed and manoeuvrability; for example the MAS 500-class, the latest type at the outbreak of the war, had a double-stepped
planing hull
Planing may refer to:
* Planing (boat) or hydroplaning, a method by which a hull skims over the surface of the water
* Hydroplaning (tires), a loss of traction caused by a layer of water between the tires and the road surface
* Using a plane (too ...
and could top .
Wartime experience quickly showed MAS usage was heavily affected by sea conditions; the Regia Marina began searching for a more seaworthy alternative. The solution came with the acquisition of six captured Yugoslavian motor torpedo boats, built by
Lürssen of Germany in the 1930s after the early
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
''Schnellboote'' ''S-2'' design; the boats were re-designated ''MAS 3 D'' to ''MAS 8 D'' and pressed into Navy service.
Though these early examples were slower than their Italian counterparts, the S-Boote were able to operate in rough seas, thanks to their rounded hulls.
Design and war service
The
Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico
Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico ("United Shipbuilders of the Adriatic") was an Italian manufacturer in the sea and air industry which was active from 1930 to 1966. This shipyard is now owned by Fincantieri.
History
In 1930, Stabilimento Tecnic ...
firm of
Monfalcone was tasked with reproducing the boats domestically.
The quickly developed new torpedo boat type was designated ''CRDA 60 t'' after its builder and displacement, and classed ''Motosiluranti'' (singular ''motosilurante'', ''MS'' in short) by the Navy.
The ''motosiluranti'' were of wooden construction, with steel reinforcements. Unlike the diesel-engined German S-Boote, they were powered by triple
Isotta Fraschini Asso 1000 W18 petrol engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
s from the MAS 500, each producing .
They displaced from 62 to 66 tons and had a top speed of .
Armament consisted of two 533 mm
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, two
Breda 20/65 mod. 35 anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts or four in two double mounts, and
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
racks.
Thirty-six vessels were completed from late 1941 to the Autumn of 1943, in two series of 18 boats each. The first series included hull numbers from ''MS 11'' to ''MS 16'', ''11''–''16'', ''21''–''26'', and ''31''–''36''; the second ''MS 51'' to ''MS 56'', ''61''–''66'', and ''71''–''76''.
Some changes were made from series 1 to 2, most notably a raised bow, redesigned torpedo tubes closed by hatches, and the addition of a pair of MAS-type 450 mm torpedo launchers at the rear of the hull.
In August 1942, during
Operation Pedestal
Operation Pedestal ( it, Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was a base from which British ...
(referenced in Italian sources as ''Battaglia di Mezzo Agosto'') two MS boats—''MS 16'' and ''MS 22''—sank, in a night action, the British light cruiser
HMS Manchester off
Cap Bon.
This 11,000-ton cruiser was the largest warship sunk by fast torpedo craft of any nation in the Second World War.
The next month two MS boats were used to infiltrate a party of 14 Italian marines behind the Allied lines in Egypt on 3 September 1942. The marines blew up a railway and an
aqueduct before being captured.
During the
Sicilian campaign
The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a devas ...
there were a number of night actions involving Italian MS boats. An indecisive clash took place in the early hours of 13 July 1943 between the British destroyer
HMS ''Tetcott'' escorting an
LST in the process of landing
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
on Agnone Bagni, north of
Augusta, and ''MS 71'' and ''MS 63'', which were trying to insert
Italian Army
"The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law"
, colors =
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, march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...
commandos behind enemy lines. The following night, ''MTB 655'', ''MTB 656'' and ''MTB 633'' encountered and engaged ''MS 36'' and ''MS 64'' south of
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
. The Italian boats received no damage, while the British craft were slightly damaged by shore batteries.
In what became one of the last surface engagements between Italian and Allied naval forces, the American destroyer
USS ''Rhind'', assisted by the
USS ''Gherardi'', sank ''MS 66'' and disabled ''MS 63'', in the course of a naval sweep west of
Capo d'Orlando
Capo d'Orlando ( scn, Capu d'Orlannu) is a in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy, one of the main centers of the mountain and coastal Nebrodi area.
History
After the destruction of the Greek colony of Agathyrnum ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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on 3 August 1943. The damaged ''MS 63'' managed to limp away after firing a torpedo at ''Gherardi''.
Post war
Of the 36 boats built, 14 survived the conflict. Only nine of these entered service in the newly formed
Marina Militare
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
, as six were given up to Allied countries following the
1947 Paris peace treaty: four went to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and two to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Furthermore, since the treaty conditions forbade Italian ownership of motor torpedo boats, the nine remaining boats lost their torpedoes, were reclassified ''motovedette'' (patrol boats) and given new hull numbers—from ''MV 611'' to ''MV 619''.
Such prohibitions expired in 1952, after Italy's 1949
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
accession; the boats regained both torpedoes and ''MS'' classification. Finally in 1954 they were redesignated one last time, gaining hull numbers ''MS 471'' to ''475'' and ''MS 481'' to ''484''.
The vessels were at the orders of the COMOS (''Comando Siluranti'') together with the more numerous ex-American
PT boat
A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...
s.
At this time the two surviving series 1 CRDAs were upgraded to series 2 specifications, gaining the rear 450 mm torpedo launchers.
In 1956 a reconstruction plan was drawn up: seven of the remaining boats were to be transformed into flexible units able to serve as gunboat, torpedo boat or fast mine layer. As a result of budget constraints and plans for equivalent modern, all-metal boats, only four of the ''motosiluranti'' were converted by the
Baglietto
Baglietto are superyacht builders of La Spezia, Italy. They build yachts 100 ft and longer. It was founded in 1854.
Products
* Litoraneo class patrol boat for Guardia di Finanza c. 1950s; 3 transferred to Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forc ...
shipyards—''MS 472'', ''MS 473'', ''MS 474'' and ''MS 481'', the others being decommissioned.
Extensive changes were made to the superstructure and hull, including removal of the 533 mm torpedo installations; new radio equipment and a radar were installed. The armament included a
Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s
...
fore, a second Bofors aft, and twin 450 mm torpedo launchers or
naval mines aft.
The four converted boats re-entered service between 1959 and 1961, grouped into the 42nd motor torpedo boat flotilla.
Two were finally decommissioned in the mid 1970s, the other two at the beginning of the following decade.
Nowadays two of the boats are preserved: ''MS 472'' is a monument in
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
, while ''MS 473'' is on display in the Ship's Pavilion of the
Museo Storico Navale in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
.
References
External links
List and brief history of every CRDA 60 t MS boat built
{{WWII Italian ships
Motor torpedo boats of the Regia Marina
World War II naval ships of Italy
Cold War naval ships of Italy
Torpedo boats of the Cold War
Ships built in Italy