The Black Prince and the Sea Devils

During the Italo-Ethiopian War, on November 27, 1935, Admiral Aimone D’Aosta proposed the use of explosive boats that could be transported some 10 miles from the target with the model Savoia Marchetti SM.55

Please report what is being done to emulate the exploits of the Italians in Alexandria Harbour. . . . Is there any reason why we should be incapable of the same kind of scientific aggressive action that the Italians have shown? One would have thought we should have been in the lead. Winston Churchill to General Lionel Hastings Ismay for the Chiefs

Yet, although the Italian Navy struggled to create new capital ships, it also possessed young officers such as Junio Valerio Borghese, who were less impressed by tonnage and firepower than by the concepts of innovation, small-unit actions, and bravery.

As with many interesting technical developments of World War I, Italy’s special assault craft had been left aside for years.

Only 12 were fitted to launch two torpedoes. The armament of the boats varied and would be changed from time to time from torpedo to antisubmarine use. It included machine guns, 47 mm, 57 mm, and 76 mm guns, one or two towed torpedoes, and ship-mounted torpedoes.5

The increasing rate of shipping lost to Austrian and German submarines caused the employment of some of the MAS armed with guns as submarine hunters.

In 1917, an additional 100 MAS were ordered, and these were also used for attacks against Austro-Hungarian bases. Of the 244 MAS employed during the war by the Italians, 38 were equipped with electrical engines that allowed them to be more silent and stealthy.

The early small torpedo boats were studied in several countries, including France and Britain, and Italy produced the first model around 1906.

They were later built during World War I by an American company, Elco, as submarine chasers for Italy and Great Britain. For the Italian Navy, their main duty was to operate in the northern Adriatic Sea, where the waters were shallow, and the Adriatic coast of Austria required small vessels to operate because it was rocky and had many islands.