Human torpedo

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CGI image of two frogmen with Siebe Gorman CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo.
CGI image of two frogmen with Siebe Gorman CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo.

Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes were secret naval weapons of World War II. The name is most commonly used to refer to the weapons that Italy and later Britain deployed in the Mediterranean and used to attack ships in enemy harbours. It is a type of Diver Propulsion Vehicle. See also frogman and wet sub.

These were electrically propelled torpedoes with two crewmen equipped with diving suits riding astride. They steered the torpedo at slow speed to the enemy ship. The detachable warhead was then used as a limpet mine. They then rode the torpedo away.

In operation the torpedo was carried by another vessel (usually a normal submarine), and launched near the target. Most manned torpedo operations were at night and during the new moon to cut down the risk of being seen. The idea was successfully applied by the Italian navy (Regia Marina) early in World War II and then copied by the British when they discovered the Italian operations. The official Italian name for their craft was Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC = "Slow-running torpedo"), but the Italian operators nicknamed it maiale (Italian for "pig"; plural maiali) because it was difficult to steer. The British copies were named Chariot.

A typical manned torpedo has a propeller and hydroplanes at the rear, side hydroplanes in front, and a control panel and controls for its front rider. It usually has two riders who sat facing forwards. It has navigation aids such as a compass, and nowadays modern aids such as sonar and GPS positioning and modulated ultrasound communications gear. It may have an air (or other breathing gas) supply so its riders do not have to drain their breathing sets while they are riding it. In some the riders' seats are enclosed; in some the seats are open at the sides like in sitting on a horse; seat design includes providing room for the riders' swimfins (if used). It has flotation tanks (typically 4: left fore, right fore, left hind, right hind) which can be flooded or blown empty to adjust buoyancy and attitude.

[edit] A timeline of manned torpedo events

Human torpedo pioneer Major Teseo Tesei, of the Regia Marina, was killed during an operation in 1941.
Human torpedo pioneer Major Teseo Tesei, of the Regia Marina, was killed during an operation in 1941.
  • 1918: November 1: two frogmen of the Regia Marina, Raffaele Paolucci and Raffaele Rossetti, rode a primitive manned torpedo (Mignatta) into the Austro-Hungarian Navy's base in Pola (Istria), where they sank the Austrian battleship Viribus Unitis and the freighter Wien. They had no breathing sets and they had to keep their heads above water, and thus they were discovered and taken prisoner.
  • 1938: In Italy the "1a Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto" (First Fleet Assault Vehicles) was formed as a result of the research and development efforts of two men - Major Teseo Tesei and Major Elios Toschi of the Italian Royal Navy. The pair resurrected the idea of Paolucci and Rossetti.
    The British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth was attacked by an Italian human torpedo in 1941. The vessel was refloated and taken to Norfolk VA, where she was repaired. The ship served in the Pacific theatre for the remainder of World War II.
    The British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth was attacked by an Italian human torpedo in 1941. The vessel was refloated and taken to Norfolk VA, where she was repaired. The ship served in the Pacific theatre for the remainder of World War II.
  • 1940: Commander Moccagatta of the the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) reorganised the 1st Fleet Assault Vehicles into the Decima Flottiglia MAS (Tenth Light Flotilla of assault vehicles) or "X-MAS", under the command of Ernesto Forza. It secretly manufactured manned torpedoes and trained war frogmen, called "nuotatori" (Italian for "swimmers").
  • 1941: An attack on Valletta Harbour was a disaster for the X MAS and Major Teseo Tesei lost his life. The Decima Flottiglia MAS attacked the port of Alexandria with three maiali. An 8,000 ton tanker, and the battleships Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were sunk in shallow water.
  • 1943 October 2: A bigger Italian frogman-carrier, 33 feet long and carrying four frogmen, called Siluro San Bartolomeo, or SSB, was going to attack Gibraltar, but Italy surrendered and the attack was called off.
  • 8 July 1944: A German Neger-type torpedo manned by Lt. Potthast heavily damaged the Polish light cruiser Dragon off the Normandy beaches.
  • 27-28 October 1944: The British submarine Trenchant carried two Mk 2 Chariots (nicknamed Tiny and Slasher) to an attack on Phuket harbor in Thailand. See British commando frogmen#1944 for more information about this attack. No manned torpedo operations in combat in any war are known with certainty of after this date.
  • Immediate post-war period: The British Chariots were used to clear mines and wrecks in harbours.
For other events, see Operations of X Flottiglia MAS and British commando frogmen.

[edit] Manned torpedoes after 1945

Some nations including Italy have continued to make and keep manned torpedoes after 1945.

  • This photograph was taken at a military parade in Cairo in 1963. It shows two chariots, each two-seat, and their riders' legs are enclosed.
  • CE2F/X100 is a make of chariot made after 1945. There is an image of it on this link. They are made in Italy. Range 50 miles. 2 riders. The Pakistan Navy has several of them.
Italian manned torpedo, a maiale, at Gosport Submarine Museum
Italian manned torpedo, a maiale, at Gosport Submarine Museum

[edit] Makes of manned torpedoes

[edit] Italian

  • Siluro a Lenta Corsa (Italian, Low Speed Torpedo – SLC), also known as maiale (Italian for "pig"). Image at this link.
  • Siluro San Bartolomeo (Italian, St. Bartholomew Torpedo, also called SSB). It was never used in action. Image at this link.

For information on Italian manned torpedo operations, see Italian commando frogmen.

[edit] British

  • Chariot Mark 1. 6.8 m long, 0.9 m wide, 1.2 m high, speed 2.5 knots , weight: 1.6 tonnes , maximum diving depth: 27 mm. Endurance 5 hours (distance would depend on water current)
  • Chariot Mark II, had two riders, who sat back to back.

For information on British manned torpedo operations, see British commando frogmen.

[edit] German

  • Neger. Used in World War II. An extreme form of a genuine manned torpedo that carried the weapon, a second torpedo, underneath which was launched at the target. Speed: 4 knots. One seat. The name is German for "negro".
  • Marder and Biber. Very small submarines which carried two torpedoes and one or two men.

There were other types which never ran into production.
For information on German manned torpedo operations, see German commando frogmen.

[edit] Japanese

  • Kaiten. It was a steered fast torpedo and in practice was a suicide weapon. As such their operations differed substantially from those of the Italian, British and German.

[edit] Russian

[edit] USA

There are pictures and descriptions of modern USA Chariot-like underwater frogman-carriers used by SEAL's, here:-

[edit] Museums

[edit] Movies and fiction

  • The film Above Us the Waves (released in 1955) concentrates on the midget submarine attack on Tirpitz battleship. The film has a scene of a fight between British and German frogmen at an anti-submarine net; this never happened in the real attack on the Tirpitz.
  • The film The Silent Enemy (released in 1958) does not represent real events accurately. In particular, in the real world there was no attack on the Olterra, and no underwater hand-to-hand battle between Italian and British frogmen. The breathing sets used by the film actors representing the Italian frogmen seem to be British naval type rebreathers and not authentic Italian rebreathers. The three chariots seen in the movie, representing Italian maiali, were crudely-made film props.
  • A film The Eagle Has Landed briefly features a German paratroop Officer, a Colonel played by Michael Caine and his men who have been sent to man chariots on the Channel Islands.
  • Ian Fleming who wrote the James Bond stories was in Naval Intelligence stationed at Gibraltar in the war, and was likely aware of the Italian operations.
  • The chariot seen in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a realistic-looking but non-functioning film prop. When seen it is in a kit store. It does not take part in any action; the action happens up a mountain in the Swiss Alps.
  • Underwater vehicles (not chariot-shaped) featured in the James Bond film Thunderball.
  • Fictional chariot operations, set during and after World War II, have appeared in stories in many comics.

[edit] Chariots for sport diving

At least two makes of chariot-like diver-riders for sport divers were in the diving gear trade for a while since 1960.
One of those makes was tradenamed "Dolphin" and was made on the Isle of Wight in the 1960s or 1970s: both its ends tapered to a point.
Another make was USA-made and looked like a wartime chariot but its hull was thinner.

[edit] References

  • C. Warren and J. Benson - Above Us The Waves (Harrap 1953)
  • Junio Valerio Borghese - Sea Devils (1954)
  • Robert W. Hobson - "Chariots of War" (Ulric Publishing 2004) ISBN 0-9541997-1-5
  • Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani - The Black Prince and the Sea Devils: The Story of Prince Valerio Borghese and the Elite Units of the Decima Mas (2004) ISBN 0-306-81311-4
Błotniak
Błotniak

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[edit] External links

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