17 Facts About Regia Marina

1.

Regia Marina was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,743
2.

Regia Marina was established on 17 March 1861 following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,744
3.

Just as the Kingdom was a unification of various states in the Italian peninsula, so the Regia Marina was formed from the navies of those states, though the main constituents were the navies of the former kingdoms of Sardinia and Naples.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,745
4.

The following year the Regia Marina conducted experiments with Guglielmo Marconi in the use of radio communications.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,746
5.

In 1911 and 1912, the Regia Marina was involved in the Italo-Turkish War against forces of the Ottoman Empire.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,747
6.

Regia Marina chose to build fast ships armed with longer ranged guns to give the Italian vessels the ability to minimize close contact with vessels of the Royal Navy, whose crews were more experienced.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,748
7.

Regia Marina's was launched on 22 February 1931, and was put into service in July of that year.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,749
8.

At the time of the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, the Regia Marina sent naval units in support of the Italian Corps of Volunteer Troops .

FactSnippet No. 1,357,750
9.

Regia Marina had six battleships with which to contend for control of the Mediterranean, the four most modern of which were being re-fitted at the outbreak of the war.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,751
10.

An example occurred during "Operation Hats", in which the Regia Marina had superior forces but failed to commit them to take advantage of the opportunity.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,752
11.

Regia Marina performed well and bravely in its North African convoy duties, but remained at a technical disadvantage.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,753
12.

From 10 June 1940, submarines of the Regia Marina took part in the Battle of the Atlantic alongside the U-Boats of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,754
13.

Regia Marina even planned an attack on New York Harbor with midget submarines for December 1942, but this plan was delayed for many reasons and was never carried out.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,755
14.

In May 1942, at German request, the Regia Marina deployed four 24-ton torpedo motorboats, six CB-class midget submarines, five torpedo motorboats, and five explosive motorboats to the Black Sea.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,756
15.

Regia Marina operated a squadron of four MAS boats on Lake Ladoga during the Continuation War .

FactSnippet No. 1,357,757
16.

Regia Marina had a naval base in the concession territory of Tientsin in China.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,758
17.

At the beginning of the war, the Regia Marina was the fourth largest navy in the world with a mix of modernised and new battleships.

FactSnippet No. 1,357,759