Wednesday, March 26, 2014

This Day in WWII History: Mar 26, 1941: Naval warfare gets new weapon

File:Aa chariot mk2 00.jpg


On this day, Italy attacks the British fleet at Suda Bay, Crete, using detachable warheads to sink a British cruiser. This was the first time manned torpedoes had been employed in naval warfare, adding a new weapon to the world's navies' arsenals.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Aa_mk1chariot_2UBAs.jpg

 Second photo

 

The manned torpedo, also known as the "Chariot," was unique. Primarily used to attack enemy ships still in harbor, the Chariots needed "pilots" to "drive" them to their targets. Sitting astride the torpedo on a vehicle that would transport them both, the pilot would guide the missile as close to the target as possible, then ride the vehicle back, usually to a submarine. The Chariot was an enormous advantage; before its development, the closest weapon to the Chariot was the Japanese Kaiten--a human torpedo, or suicide bomb, which had obvious drawbacks.

 

File:SLC esposto Museo scienza e tecn Milano 19-12-'10.JPG

 

 

The first successful use of the Chariot was by the Italian navy, although they referred to their version as Maiali, or "Pigs." On March 26, six Italian motorboats, commanded by Italian naval commander Lt. Luigi Faggioni, entered Suda Bay in Crete and planted their Maiali along a British convoy in harbor there. The cruiser York was so severely damaged by the blast that it had to be beached.

File:0950 - Taormina - Sottomarino Maiale alla Villa Comunale - Foto G. DallOrto, 30 Sept-2006.jpg

 File:Maiale cockpit.jpg

 

The manned torpedo proved to be the most effective weapon in the Italian naval arsenal, used successfully against the British again in December 1941 at Alexandria, Egypt. Italian torpedoes sank the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, as well as one tanker. They were also used against merchant ships at Gibraltar and elsewhere.

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File:Maiale at gosport.jpg

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The British avenged themselves against the Italians, though, by sinking the new Italian cruiser Ulpio Traiano in the port of Palermo, Sicily, in early January 1943. An 8,500-ton ocean liner was also damaged in the same attack.

File:Maiale SLC.jpg

 File:Kaiten Type 1 launch test from starboard of Japanese cruiser Kitakami.jpg

 File:USS Mississinewa (AO-59) 20 November 1944.jpg

After the Italian surrender, Britain, and later Germany, continued to use the manned torpedo. In fact, Germany succeeded in sinking two British minesweepers off Normandy Beach in July 1944, using their Neger torpedoes.

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File:Kaiten in Hawaii 2.JPG

File:ArgentineMannedTorpedo.jpg

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqGN-NnydW8_kNzJcjOQA9ElV0t1JJROvjHq2tEFpRGuMFvG0nYq_WaGg8NJ8FULmB8bwdj9b_-Z2MOV2tlS3WEqoHUqY6VEIvjUgmRkhNrz9vFtdQWGdmUvpVU9fxKebYedFzmh3mRw/s640/Rus_Sirena_2.jpg

File:Kaiten Type 1 on display at the Yūshūkan in October 2008.JPG

Taken from:  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/naval-warfare-gets-new-weapon [26.03.2014]

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