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Regia Marina The Royal Italian Navy, Regia Marina, was created after the Italian unification. With the birth of the Italian Republic (1946), it changed its name to Marina Militare Italiana. =History= Pre-World War I July 20, 1866: Sea battle against Austrian fleet (Battle of Lissa), near the island of Vis in the Adriatic sea. It was the last major seabattle that involved ramming. About 4 Dreadnought battleships were built, but were not involved in major naval actions. For most of the war the Italian and Austrian navy kept a passive watch on their counter-parts. However, some actions were taken, by both parts. The Austrian successfully sabotaged and sank battleships Benedetto Brin (Brindisi, 27 September 1915) and Leonardo da Vinci (Taranto, 2 August 1916). Regia Marina attacked the harbour of Pola, sinking the battleship Viribus Unitis, 1 November 1918. After World War I The fascist government decided to enpower the Regia Marina, in the foreseeable struggle against British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet. It was decided to base the strategy on fast, long shooting ships, in order to minimize contact with better experienced British fleet. Therefore, new guns were developed, which had smaller caliber but longer range than British counterparts; furthermore, in order to allow higher speeds, Italian new ships were designed with thinner protections (see, for example, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere). The navy had, at this time, a mix of modernised and new battleships. It challenged the British Royal Navy for supremacy of the Mediterranean. Morally the Royal Navy gained the upper hand after several clashes. The British attack at the naval base of Taranto (Battle of Taranto) was a very successful attack by carrier-borne aircrafts carrying torpedoes against Italian battleships in harbor. This is considered to be one of the inspirations for the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. The most successful attack performed by the Italian navy was by divers planting mines on British battleships in harbor at Alexandria. Italian ships were generally regarded as well-designed and good-looking, but proved to be rather deficient in anti-aircraft armament and radar. =Ships= Pre-World War I World War I Duilio class: Re Umberto class: Saint Bon class: - in Venice: Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, Emanuele Filiberto
Regina Margherita class: - in Taranto: Regina Margherita, Benedetto Brin
Regina Elena class: - in Taranto: Regina Elena, Vittorio Emanuele, Napoli, Roma
Dante Alighieri class: Cavour class: Garibaldi class: - in Brindisi: Giuseppe Garibaldi, Varese, Francesco Ferruccio
Vettror Pisani class: Pisa class: San Giorigio class: Piemonte class: Lombardia class: - in Brindisi: Lombardia, Liguria, Elba, Puglia
Libia class: Lampo class: Nembo class: - in Brindisi: Nembo, Turbine, Espero, Borea, Aquilone
- in Venice: Zeffiro
Soldati Artigliere class: - in Taranto: Granatiere
- in Venice: Bersagliere, Garibaldino, Corazziere, Lanciere, Artigliere
Soldati Alpino class: - in Venice: Alpino, Fuciliere, Pontiere, Ascaro
Indomito class: Ardito class: Audace class: Pilo class: World War II Aquila (modification of the liner Roma, built but never used) and Sparviero (modification of the liner Augustus, never completed) Cavour class: Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare (extensively modernised WWI battleships) - guns 10 x 320 mm, 27 knots, 25000 t Duilio class: Andrea Doria, Caio Duilio (extensively modernised WWI battleships) - guns 10 x 320 mm, 27 knots, 25000 t Vittorio Veneto class: Littorio/Italia, Vittorio Veneto, Roma, Impero (not completed) - guns 9 x 381 mm, 30 knots, 45000 t Trento class: Trento, Trieste, Bolzano - guns 8 x 230 mm, 36 knots, 10000 t Zara class: Zara, Fiume, Goriza, Goriza - guns 8 x 230 mm, 36 knots, 10000 t Condottieri (or di Giussano) class: Alberto di Giussano, Alberico da Barbiano, Bartolomeo Colleoni, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere Cadorna class: Luigi Cadorna, Armando Diaz Duca d'Aosta class: Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, Eugenio di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi class: Luigi Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi Montecuccoli class: Raimondo Montecuccoli, Muzio Attendolo Capitani Romani class: Attilio Regolo, Giulio Germanico, Pompeo Magno, Scipione Africano Taranto, San Giorgio, Bari Leone class: 3 vessels - 2283 t Navigatori class: 12 vessels - 2010 t Oriani class: 4 vessels - 1950 t Soldati class: 12 vessels (divided into First Soldati or Camicia Nera and Second soldati class) - 1620 t Grecale class: 4 vessels - 1449 t Dardo class: 4 vessels - 1450 t Mirabello class: 2 vessels - 1383 t Folgore class: 4 vessels - 1220 t Borea class: 8 vessels - 1092 t Sauro class: 4 vessels - 1058 t Sella class: 2 vessels - 935 t =Major events= Battle of Lissa (1866) World War II - Battle of Punta Stilo (9 July 1940), also known as Battle of Calabria.
- Battle of Cape Spada (19 July 1940), Bartolomeo Colleoni is sunk by torpedoes.
- The Night of Taranto (11 November 1940), also known as Operation Judgement.
- Battle of Cape Teulada (27 November 1940), also known as Battle of Cape Spartivento.
- Attack to the British base of Suda bay, Crete: HMS York and two oil tanks sunken (26 March 1941).
- Battle of Cape Matapan, Pola, Zara, Fiume, Vittorio Alfieri and Giosu Carducci sunken (27 March 1941)
- First Battle of Sirte (1941)
- Sinking of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant in Alexandria Harbor, by Italian frogmen (19 December 1941)
- Second Battle of Sirte (22 March 1942)
- Battle of Mid-June (1942), also known as Operation Harpoon.
- Battle of Mid-August (1942), also known as Operation Pedestal.
=External links= Italy
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