CA class midget submarine
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The CA class were a group of
midget submarine A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...
s built for the Italian Navy 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 opposing ...
.


Design

These submarines were designed by the
Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovan ...
Company and built in great secrecy. They were originally designed for coast defence but later modified as clandestine attack craft similar to the British X craft.


Boats


Service

In 1942, after the United States entered the war,
Junio Valerio Borghese Junio Valerio Scipione Ghezzo Marcantonio Maria Borghese (6 June 1906 – 26 August 1974), 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 ...
, commander of the
Decima MAS The ''Decima Flottiglia MAS'' (''Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti'', also known as ''La Decima'' or Xª MAS) (Italian for "10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla") was an Italian flotilla, with commando frogman unit, of the ''Regia Marina'' ...
(the Italian Navy's special operations unit), devised a plan to attack New York Harbor using a CA type midget submarine and commando frogmen. The midget submarine would be transported across the Atlantic by being carried on the deck of a larger submarine. The Italian submarine was chosen for the task and modified at the Italian base in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
(
BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines participa ...
). ''CA 2'' was transported by rail from Italy and trials, which were conducted near
La Pallice La Pallice (also known as ''grand port maritime de La Rochelle'') is the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle, France. During the Fall of France, on 19 June 1940, approximately 6,000 Polish soldiers in exile under the command of Stanisła ...
, were supervised by Borghese himself during late 1942. ''Leonardo Da Vinci'' was sunk in May 1943 before the operation could be carried out. No new boat was available and the
Italian Armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...
stopped further planning.Operations
/ref>


See also

*
Italian submarines of World War II The Italian submarine fleet of World War II was the largest in the world at the time, with 116 submarines. It saw action during the Second World War, serving mainly in the Mediterranean. During the conflict 88 submarines, some two-thirds of its tot ...


References


Bibliography

* ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-46'' * Kemp, Paul: ''Underwater Warriors'' (1996, Arms & Armour Press)


External links


Classe CA
Marina Militare website {{WWII Italian ships Submarine classes Submarines of the Regia Marina Midget submarines CA class Caproni