Vol. 62, No. 3 (May-June 2011) 23 DECIMA FLOTTIGLIA MAS
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stop was at the Military Museum to view the medals and the Portuguese Phaleristics Society outdid itself. The orders, cannons, swords and suits of armor on display. afternoon was free for fellow collectors to scour the flea The fagade of this one time palace is breathtaking in market and visit shops, which of course, everyone did. its masonry and woodworking artistry (Figure 12). The At 8:30pm a bus once again arrived at the hotel to take Portuguese Society members toured the museum with the members and spouses of all the societies to the formal each group to translate and explain the exhibits (Figure banquet which was held at the Navy Officers’ Club in the 13) as well as to help all society members with their needs town of Cascais (Figure 15). The Navy Officers’ Club is and questions. housed in a former palace on the waterfront. This setting on the Atlantic Ocean and Tagus River under a full moon was quite memorable, as was the formal steak dinner and all accompanying courses. Dr. Humberto de Oliveira opened the festivities by welcoming all of the gathered societies, and between the main course and dessert, each nation’s society’s representative was asked to say a few words. There was an exchange of tokens of appreciation from the gathered societies to the Portuguese society, some of which were quite humorous. Dr. de Oliveira presented each chapter with the Portuguese Academy’s journal that contained many excellent articles and illustrations in Portuguese with summaries in French and English at the end of the journal. Figure 13: An exhibit in the Military Museutn. Lunch was an elegant affair at the Army Officers’ Club overlooking the Lisbon flea market and Tagus River (Figure 14). The meal was a sumptuous affair that required a walk in the flea market. Once again, Figure 15: The formal banquet at the Navy Officers’ Club in the town of Cascais. Sunday, October 24, the last day of the conference, began with a meeting of all the European societies. It was agreed that the next European Societies’ meeting would be held in Copenhagen in May, 2011. It was also agreed that all societies would work together to create a common European Web Ring. The meeting was adjourned and members then visited the National Coaches’ Museum to view the opulent coaches and decorations of the kings. An unplanned quick stop was made at the National Palace da Ajuda to view yet more orders and decorations. After lunch, society members returned to the hotel for the Figure 14: The Lisbon flea market as seen front the Army farewell speech and social. Officers’ Club. Vol. 62, No. 3 (May-June 2011) 23 DECIMA FLOTTIGLIA MAS Edward J. Emering Introduction by the crews). This manned torpedo was equipped with diving planes, ballast tanks, and compressed air for the It is impossible to write an article on the Decima Flottiglia release of ballast, allowing for full underwater navigation, Mas (Motoscafo Anti-Sommergibile) and not include just like a miniature submarine. Commander Moccagatta the story of the infamous Black Prince, Junio Valerio incorporated Gamma Assault Swilnmers (Nuotatori) Scipione Borghese (1906 - 1974). The Decima FlottigIia trained in attaching limpet mines to the hulls of enemy Mas~ (10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla) or Xa MAS was the ships. He also created a frogman training school at the San Italian Navy’s Special Forces unit prior to the September Leopoldo Base at the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno. 8, 1943 Armistice.They were world famous commando "fi’ogmen" who swam undelvcater in order to attach mines Prince Borghese to the hulls of enemy ships. Following the Armistice, the Xa MAS was greatly expanded by the Italian Social Prince Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese was born in Republic (RSI) and their mission was significantly altered Rome into the wealthy Borghese family4 and educated to focus on anti-partisan activities. first in London and Lisbon, then from 1923 at the Royal Italian Navy Academy (Accademia Navale) in Livorno. Unit Origins He began his naval career in 1929. By 1933, he was appointed a submarine commander. He took part in the During World War I, on November 1, 1918, Lieutenant Second Italo-Abyssinian War (1935-1936) and during Raffaele Paolucci, a naval surgeon of the Regia Marina2, the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was in conamand of and Army Major Raffaele Rossetti rode a two-man the Italian submarine h’ide.~ torpedo3 into the harbor at Pula, Croatia. Launched from the fast torpedo boat, MAS 95, they were able to sink At the start of the Second World War, Borghese took the Austro-Hungarian/Croatian battleship SMS Viribus command of submarine VettorPisani, and inAugust 1940 Unitis using Mignatta (Leech) limpet mines. They had command of the 620-ton, Serie-Adua class submarine no underwater breathing apparatus and were forced to Scire, which was part of the 1st Flotilla MAS. The Scire keep their heads above water in order to breathe. They had been modified to CaxTy the new secret Italian weapon, were discovered and taken prisoner by the crew of the the human torpedo (SLC). These were actually slnall SMS Viribus Unitis as they attempted to escape from the underwater assault vehicles with a crew of two. harbor. They were subsequently freed by the Italian Army on November 5, 1918 and were awarded Gold Medals of On March 15, 1941, the flotilla was split to form the Valor for their action. Decima Flottiglia Mas or Xa MAS (The 10th Flotilla MAS). In September 1941, Borghese managed to enter The development of early Scuba diving apparatus led Gibraltar Harbor and launch the human torpedoes during directly to the establishment of the Regia Marina’s a raid which damaged three ships. On December 18, Special Forces Underwater Frogman Unit, later copied by 1941, he reached Alexandria and launched three SLCs the British Royal Navy and United States Navy. Capitano that damaged the Royal Navy battleships HMS Valiant di Fregata Paolo Aloisi was the first commander of the and HMS Queen Elizabeth and the tanker Sagona. The la Flottiglia Mezzi d’AssaIto (First Assault Vehicle Scire is one of only three Italian submarines to be awarded Flotilla), formed in 1939, as a result of the research and the Gold Medal of Military Valor. Captain Borghese was development efforts by Majors Teseo Tesei and Elios also awarded the Victor Emmanuel III version of the Gold Toschi of the Italian Naval Combat Engineers. Medal of Military Valor by Royal Decree, dated January 2, 1941, following the successful action at the Egyptian In 1941, Commander Vittorio Moccagatta reorganized Port of Alexandria. Borghese ultimately relinquished the First Flotilla into the Decima Flottiglia MAS, and command of the Scire to Lieutenant Commader Bruno further divided the unit into two parts: (1) a surface Zelich (also listed as Zelick). The submarine was later group operating explosive-equipped speed boats and (2) a lost outside the Port of Haifa on August 10, 1942. subsurface weapons group using manned torpedoes called SLC (Siluri a Lenta Corsa or slow-running torpedoes, In 1942, Borghese took command of the elite Decima codenamed Maiale, but known as a "Pig" or "Chariot" Flottiglia Mas, which included surface assault craft, 24 JOMSA human torpedoes, midget submarines and Scuba assault swimmers. The unit saw active service in the Mediterranean and pioneered new techniques of naval commando assault warfare. It also planned, but never executed, an attack on New York harbor. Under Borghese’s command the unit enjoyed numerous successes in Alexandria, Gibraltar, and Algiers to name a few. As their successes mounted, so did their fame and they became the most popular Italian military unit during the war. During the three-year period 1940 to 1943, the unit destroyed 72,190 tons of Allied warships and 130,572 Figure 2: Reverse of the Golden Medal of tons of Allied merchant ships. In addition to the Royal Military Valog Navy battleships previously mentioned, the unit sank the heavy cruiser HMS York, the destroyers HMS Jervis and the action (Figure 2). The medal is suspended from a HMS Eridge and 20 merchant ships. The latter included solid blue ribbon. various supply ships and tankers. Decima Flottiglia Mas winners of the Gold Medal (in The Xa MAS Medals of Valor addition to Prince Borghese) include: Emilio Bianchi Gino Birindelli Angelo Cabrini Nicola Conte Luigi Durand de la Penne Bruno Falcomatit Roberto Frassetto Emilio Legnani Gerolamo Manisco Evelino Marcolini Vincenzo Martellotta Alcide Pedretti Tullio Tedeschi Guido Vincon Lino Beccati Fernando Berardini Ettore Bisagno Carlo Bosio Aristide Carabelli Alessio De Vito Luigi Faggioni Luigi Ferraro Giorgio Giobbe Giovanni Magro Antonio Marceglia Mario Marino Vittorio Moccagatta Spartaco Schergat Figure 1: Obverse of the Golden Medal of Teseo Tesei Licio Visintini Military Valor. During the course of the war, the Decima Flottiglia Mas The Armistice of 1943 unit, itself, was awarded the Golden Medal of Military Following the Armistice between the Italian and Allied Valor6 and individual members were awarded a total of Forces on September 8, 1943, the bulk of the Italian Navy 31 Golden Medals of Military Valor, 104 Silver Medals appears to have attempted to go south. The sinking of the of Military of Valor and 33 Bronze Medals of Military Italian battleship Roma by German bombers using new Valor. The rare Gold Medal of Valor awarded during guided rocket bombs and the death of Admiral Carlo World War II by Victor Emmanuel II was created in 1918 Bergamini7 along with 1,253 crew members have clouded and features the House of Savoy coat-of-arms surmounted this issue historically. Borghese meanwhile elected to by a Savoy crown and framed by laurel branches knotted remain with the German puppet government of the Italian at the bottom by a ribbon (Figure 1).