View source for MAS (motorboat)

{{Short description|Boat used by the Italian Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
[[Image:MAScamo.jpg|thumb|Camouflaged [[World War II]] MAS in the [[Mediterranean Sea]]]]
'''''Motoscafo armato silurante''''' (torpedo-armed motorboat), alternatively '''''Motoscafo antisommergibili''''' (anti-submarine motorboat) and commonly abbreviated as '''MAS''', was a class of fast [[Torpedo boat|torpedo-armed vessels]] used by the {{lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]}} (Italian Royal Navy) during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. Originally, "MAS" referred to {{lang|it|motobarca armata SVAN}} (armed motorboat SVAN), {{lang|it|Società Veneziana Automobili Navali}} (Naval Automobile Society of [[Venice]]).<ref>[http://www.historynet.com/naval-weaponry-italys-mas-torpedo-boats.htm Naval Weaponry: Italy's MAS Torpedo Boats]</ref>

The MAS were petrol-engined [[Planing (boat)|planing]] boats with displacements of 20–30 tonnes (depending on the class), a 10-man crew and armament composed of two [[torpedo]]es, heavy machine guns and occasionally a 37&nbsp;mm or 20&nbsp;mm [[cannon]].

In the context of the unit title {{lang|it|Flottiglia MAS}} (assault craft [[flotilla]]; the most famous of which was the [[Decima MAS]] of World War II), the term "MAS" is an acronym for {{lang|it|Mezzi d'Assalto}} (assault craft).

==World War I==
[[File:1917 063 Motoscafo.jpg|thumb|An early MAS, from a magazine article published in January 1917]]
[[File:1917 063 ArmaSuMotoscafo.jpg|thumb|An Italian sailor manning a [[quick-firing gun]], a 1-pounder (37 mm) [[Hotchkiss et Cie|Hotchkiss]], on a MAS, 1917]]
MAS were widely employed by ''Regia Marina'' during World War I in 1915–1918. Models used were directly derived from compact civilian motorboats, provided with petrol engines which were compact and reliable (characteristics which were not common at the time). They were used not only in the anti-submarine patrol role, but also for daring attacks against major units of the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]].

A significant success came in December 1917, when an MAS boat managed to sink the pre-dreadnought battleship {{SMS|Wien}} in Trieste harbor. The greatest success of Italian MAS was the sinking of the [[Austro-Hungarian]] battleship {{SMS|Szent István||6}} off [[Pula]] on 10 June 1918 by a boat commanded by [[Luigi Rizzo]]. MAS boats later engaged in the [[Battle of Durazzo (1918)|Second Battle of Durazzo]] in October 1918.

The main Austrian fleet remained securely at anchor in the harbour at Pola (now [[Pula]] in [[Croatia]]), protected by several layers of [[Boom (navigational barrier)|defensive booms]], impassable to conventional MAS boats. A special version, the [[Grillo-class tracked torpedo motorboat|''Grillo''-class tracked torpedo motorboat]] or {{lang|it|Barchino Saltatore}} (Jumping Boats), officially classified as ''tank marino'' (sea tank) or MAS ''speciale'', were designed by 1918.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bagnasco|first=Erminio|title=I MAS e le motosiluranti italiane|publisher=Marina Militare, Stato Maggiore – Ufficio Storico|year=1969}}</ref> The craft featured a pair of spiked [[continuous track]]s, intended to allow them to clamber over the booms which were supported by large timber baulks. The boats were powered by an electric motor for a silent approach and carried two torpedoes. Four were built; the first two were scuttled when their slow motors failed to get them to the harbour booms at Pola before daybreak and in a second operation, another boat made such a loud clattering noise climbing the booms that it was spotted and destroyed by gunfire.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sondhaus |first=Lawrence |year=1996 |title=The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918: Navalism, Industrial Development and the Politics of Dualism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8xHL01QG8cC&q=Grillo+MAS+1918&pg=PA334 |publisher=Purdue University Press |page=334 |isbn=978-1557530349}}</ref>

==Interwar Period and Spanish Civil War==

In 1926, four MAS boats were built for and purchased by the [[Royal Albanian Army#Navy|Royal Albanian Navy]]. They were named ''Tirana'', ''Saranda'', ''Durres'', and ''Vlorë''. During the [[Italian invasion of Albania]] they were seized and put into service by Italian forces. All survived World War II and in 1945 were returned to Albania. Four units were transferred to the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist Navy]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]] in 1938: ''Sicilia'' (LT-18), ex ''MAS 100''; ''Nápoles'' (LT-19), ex ''MAS 223''; ''Cándido Pérez'' (LT-16), ex ''MAS 435''; and ''Javier Quiroga'' (LT-17), ex ''MAS 436''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez Gónzalez |first=Agustín Ramón |title=La situación de la Armada Española al final de la guerra civil |url=https://repositorioinstitucional.ceu.es/bitstream/10637/1222/1/Situacion_Rodriguez_2002.pdf |journal=Biblioteca digital de la Universidad CEU-San Pablo |pages=317–30}}</ref>

==World War II==
Italian MAS continued to be improved after the end of World War I, thanks to the availability of [[Isotta Fraschini]] engines. The MAS of World War II had a maximum speed of {{cvt|45|kn|mph+km/h}} and mounted two {{cvt|450|mm}} torpedoes and one [[Breda Model 1931 machine gun|Breda 13.2 mm]] machine-gun. Isotta-Fraschini produced its ASM 180 series of marine engines for the MAS from 1933 to 1955. The standard engine in World War II was the ASM 184, a 18-cylinder machine capable of producing {{cvt|1500|hp}} with 2,000 rpm.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearce |first=William |date=2019-04-05 |title=Isotta Fraschini W-18 Aircraft and Marine Engines |url=https://oldmachinepress.com/2019/04/05/isotta-fraschini-w-18-aircraft-and-marine-engines/ |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=Old Machine Press |language=en}}</ref>

In 1940 there were 48 MAS 500-class units available. Older units were used in secondary theatres, such as the [[Italian East Africa]]. Notable war actions performed by MAS include the torpedoing of the Royal Navy [[C-class cruiser]] {{HMS|Capetown|D88|6}} by ''MAS 213'' of the 21st MAS Squadron working within the [[Red Sea Flotilla]] off [[Massawa]], [[Eritrea]]; and the failed [[Raid on Grand Harbour]] of Malta in July 1941, which caused the loss of two motorboats'', MAS 451'' and ''MAS 452'', the latter recovered by the British, put in service as a [[Ship's tender|tender]] and renamed ''XMAS''.<ref>{{Cite book|title =Very Special Ships: Abdiel Class Fast Minelayers of World War Two |last=Nicholson |first=Arthur |publisher=Seaforth |year=2015 |isbn=978-1848322356 |page=68}}</ref> Five MAS were scuttled in Massawa in the first week of April 1941 as a part of the Italian plan for [[Scuttling#Blockade of Massawa (1941)|the wrecking of Massawa]] harbor in the face of the British advance. ''MAS 204'', ''206'', ''210'', ''213'', and ''216'' were sunk in the harbor; four of the boats were in need of mechanical repairs and could not be evacuated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veleca |first=Vincenzo |date=1 August 2011 |title=La Scapa Flow del Mar Rosso |url=https://www.ilcornodafrica.it/st-melecascapaflow.pdf |website=cornodafrica.it |language=it}}</ref>

On 24 July 1941, amid heavy fire from the escorts, ''MAS 532'' torpedoed and crippled the transport ''Sydney Star'', escorted by the destroyer {{HMS|Cossack|F03|2}} and part of the [[Operation Substance]] (Convoy GM 1). The steamer managed to limp to Malta assisted by the destroyer [[HMAS Nestor|HMAS ''Nestor'']].<ref>Brown, David (2002). ''The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean: November 1940–December 1941, Volume II''. Routledge, pp. 147–148. {{ISBN|0-7146-5205-9}}</ref>

On 1 December 1941, two Italian MAS boats engaged with torpedoes and machine gun fire the [[Soviet]] icebreaker ''Anastas Mykoyan'', en route from the [[Dardanelles]] to [[Suez]], forcing it to run aground on the [[Turkey|Turkish]] coast off [[Kastelorizo]].<ref name=":0" /> The lifeboat of the icebreaker was hit and exploded after being dropped overboard, while the ship itself was holed by some 150 machine gun rounds. The four torpedoes launched at the Soviet vessel missed their target.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Icebreaker a Mikoyan. The combat history of the icebreaker Anastas Mikoyan |url=https://ik-ptz.ru/en/testy-ege---2014-po-fizike/ledokol-a-mikoyan-boevaya-istoriya-ledokola-anastas.html |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=ik-ptz.ru}}</ref> Even though the Soviet vessel was refloated and reached [[Haifa]] for repairs the next day, the action compelled the Turkish government to intern eight Soviet ships set to repeat the same journey.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jordan|first=John|date=2009|title=Italian Fast Coastal Forces: Development, Doctrine and Campaigns 1914–1986|journal=Warship|pages=71}}</ref>  Also in the Aegean Sea, on 27 April 1942, near Kastelorizo, a flotilla of MAS rescued a motor sailing boat with Jewish refugees from [[Romania]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-01 |title=DIARIO STORICO DEL COMANDO SUPREMO VOL VI TOMO1 - PARTE QUARTA by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/rivista.militare1/docs/diario-vol.vi-diario-4parte-testo |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=issuu.com |page=1105 |language=en}}</ref> On 15 March 1943, MAS ''545'' and ''559'' seized the Greek motor sailing ship ''Aghios Dimitros,'' which had been taken over by a British Army boarding party from the Greek submarine ''[[Greek submarine Papanikolis (Y-2)|Papanicolos]]'' and was being rerouted to Turkish waters. The small vessel was carrying German ammunition. The British crew and a Greek naval officer were taken prisoner.<ref>[https://www.marina.difesa.it/media-cultura/editoria/marivista/Documents/supplementi/Supplemento_Novembre_Tomo_II_2022.pdf Cernuschi (2022)], p. 76</ref>

''MAS 554'', ''554'' and ''557'' sank three allied freighters on the night of 13 August 1942 off [[Cape Bon]], in the course of [[Operation Pedestal]], for a total tonnage of 48,500 tons.<ref>Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943'', Chatham Publishing, pp. 253–255. {{ISBN|1-86176-057-4}}</ref> On 29 August 1942, a smaller type of MAS boat, the [[MTSM motor torpedo boat|MTSM]], torpedoed the British destroyer [[HMS Eridge (L68)|''Eridge'']] off El Daba, [[Egypt]], disabling it for the remainder of the war.<ref>[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4648.html HMS ''Eridge'' (L68)]</ref>

[[File:MAS 526(528).jpg|thumb|The Italian torpedo boat MAS ''528'' on [[Lake Ladoga]] in June 1942, during the [[Siege of Leningrad]]]]
A flotilla of MAS served at German request as reinforcements in the [[Black Sea]] for the planned attack on [[Sevastopol]] in June 1942. The MAS squadron came under intense air attack from Soviet [[fighter-bomber]]s and torpedo boats but performed well. They sank the 5,000-ton steamer ''Abkhazia'' and disabled the 10,000-ton transport ''Fabritius'', which was subsequently destroyed by German [[Junkers Ju 87|''Stuka'']] dive-bombers. MAS boats destroyed troop barges and damaged Soviet warships. A MAS boat commander, Sub-Lieutenant Ettore Bisagno, was killed in battle. One MAS was destroyed and three damaged by fighter-bombers in September 1942 during a heavy attack on [[Yalta]]. In the early hours of 3 August 1942, three MAS boats torpedoed and disabled the [[Soviet cruiser Molotov|Soviet cruiser ''Molotov'']] south-west of [[Kerch]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comandosupremo.com/black-sea/|title=MAS and Midget Submarines in the Black Sea|last=Rosselli|first=Alberto|date=2010-06-09|website=Comando Supremo: Italy in WW2|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-16}}</ref>

In May 1943, the seven MAS boats in the Black Sea were transferred to the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]''. In August that year, they were transferred to the [[Romanian Navy]]. These seven boats were wooden-hulled, each displacing 25 tons. Top speed amounted to 42 knots, generated by petrol engines powering two shafts. They were armed with one 13&nbsp;mm heavy machine gun or one 20&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft gun, 6 depth charges and two 450&nbsp;mm torpedoes.<ref>''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press, 1980, pp. 313–314</ref>

Another flotilla of four MAS, the [[XII Squadriglia MAS]], was deployed to [[Lake Ladoga]] in April 1942 to support the [[siege of Leningrad]]. They claim the sinking of a Soviet gunboat of the Bira class, a 1,300-ton cargo ship and several barges.<ref>[http://digilander.libero.it/avantisavoiait/MAS%20sul%20Lago%20Ladoga.htm MAS operations on Lake Ladoga] {{in lang|it}}</ref> Soviet sources say that the gunboat, the ''Selemdzha'', was only lightly damaged when the torpedo exploded in the lake's bottom, with two wounded on board.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wio.ru/fleet/ww2kanon.htm|title=Gunboats of USSR in WW2|website=wio.ru|language=en|access-date=2018-07-29}}</ref>

After the signing of the [[Armistice of Cassibile|Cassibile agreement]], MAS boats sank the German torpedo boat ''TA11'' (ex French ''L'Iphigénie'') at [[Piombino]], on 11 September 1943.<ref>{{Cite web|title = FR L'Iphigénie of the French Navy – French Torpedo boat of the La Melpoméne class – Allied Warships of WWII |url = http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6064.html|website = uboat.net|access-date = 2015-12-28}}</ref>

The [[obsolescence]] of small MAS became apparent during the conflict, and they were increasingly replaced by larger Yugoslavian [[E-boats]] built in Germany and by new improved versions, classified [[CRDA 60 t motor torpedo boat|"MS" (''Moto Siluranti'')]] by the ''Regia Marina''.

A type of anti-submarine craft based on the MAS design was developed by the Italian Navy in World War II. This was the ''vedetta anti sommergibile'', or "VAS", equipped with a good amount of [[anti-submarine warfare]] equipment given her small size.<ref>[http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=77&lid=1 MAS, VAS, and MS]</ref>

==Cultural legacy==
The Italian poet [[Gabriele d'Annunzio]], who employed MAS in some of his [[World War I]] adventures, used the MAS acronym for his [[Latin]] motto: ''Memento audere semper'' ("remember always to dare").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes-Hallett |first=Lucy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SXbBsGvgLcC&dq=%22Memento+audere+semper%22+MAS+D%27Annunzio&pg=PT526 |title=Gabriele d'Annunzio: Poet, Seducer, and Preacher of War |date=2013-08-20 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-385-34970-3 |language=en}}</ref>

==Surviving examples==
[[File:MAS15.jpg|thumb|MAS 15 Preserved at the Vittoriano in Rome]]
Only two complete examples survive to this day
* '''MAS 15''' is preserved at the Sacrario delle Bandiere naval museum located at the [[Vittoriano]] in [[Rome]]. In June 1918, it was the boat which sank the [[SMS Szent István|SMS ''Szent István'']].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Yeoman|title=Your most complete source for Museum Ships Worldwide!|url=https://www.museumships.us/italy/mas-15|access-date=2021-07-13|website=museumships.us|language=en-GB}}</ref>
* '''MAS 96''' is preserved at the [[Vittoriale degli italiani]] at [[Gardone Riviera]] by [[Lake Garda]]. In February 1918, it was the boat on which Gabriele d'Annunzio participated in the "[[Bakar mockery]]" raid.<ref>{{Cite web|title=MAS 96 – Gruppo di Cultura Navale|url=http://www.culturanavale.it/documentazione.php?id=258|access-date=2021-07-13|website=culturanavale.it}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Decima Flottiglia MAS]]''
* [[Motor torpedo boats]]
* [[E-boat]]
* [[MTSM motor torpedo boat]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/galleria/premuda.asp Italian Navy site Pictures of MAS boats amongst other historical Italian ships]
* [http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=77&lid=1&cid=1 "MAS, VAS and MS", by Pierluigi Malvezzi in the "Regia Marina Italiana" website]
* [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/mas.aspx M.A.S.] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}
{{WWI Italian ships}}
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

[[Category:Motor torpedo boats of the Regia Marina]]
[[Category:World War II naval ships of Italy]]
[[Category:Boat types]]
[[Category:Ships built in Italy]]
[[Category:MAS fleet]]