The
Italian Navy
At the date of May 24, 1915, Italian
Navy included: 5 dreadnoughts, 8 pre-dreadnoughts, 8 armored cruisers,
6 scouts, 35 destroyers, 61 torpediniere, 18 submarines plus other
units. The main fleet bases were Taranto and Brindisi which blocked
access to Adriatic Sea. Venice was too dangerous to operate more
than light units and La Spezia (on Tyrrenean Sea) too distant.
Tasks of Italian navy included to front Austrian Navy and protect
Mediterrean routes by submarines. Substantially operations never
exited from Adriatic Sea where was fought a sort of continuos
naval guerrilia between respective light forces, including mine
warfare, submarine activity, etc.. Naval aviation played an important
role. Italians developed also a new kind of very little fast torpedo
boat called MAS, very useful in the close spaces of Adriatic.
It was a MAS (exactly MAS 15) which had the best Italian success
of war, sinking the Sankt Iztvan battleship the night of June
10, 1918.
To support land fronts, Italian Navy built a large number of armed
pontoons which were employed as heavy artillery (some mounted
381mm guns). After Caporetto retreat, it was formed a land unit
made of sailors to protect Venice; called Navy Brigade, it was
employed until the end of war, after that, it became the San Marco
Marine Regiment. Last, in WWI Navy experimented new methods to
attack enemy in harbors, methods which reached their best in WWII.
