From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Decima Flottiglia MAS
(Decima Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto, also known as La Decima or Xª MAS) (Italian for "10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla") was an Italian commando frogman unit created during the Fascist government.
The acronym MAS referred to a special class of light torpedo boats used by the Italian Royal navy (Regia Marina) since World War I.
In 1943, after ousting Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Italy switched alliances to the Allies. Many of those Xª MAS men who were in the German-occupied north of Italy enlisted to fight for Mussolini's newly formed Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI). But the Xª MAS men were primarily used as an anti-partisan force operating on land. Some Xª MAS men were in the south of Italy or other Allied-occupied areas and they enlisted to fight for the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy as part of the Mariassalto (Naval Assault) unit.
See Italian commando frogmen for the COMSUBIN frogman corp currently serving for the Italian Republic, and for their postwar actions.

Historical background

In World War I, on November 1, 1918, Raffaele Paolucci and Raffaele Rossetti rode a torpedo-like craft (nicknamed Mignatta, which means, "leech") into Pula's harbour, where they sank the Austrian battleship SMS Viribus Unitis and the freighter Wien using limpet mines. They had no breathing sets, and had to keep their heads above water to breathe, and thus they were discovered and taken prisoners. See http://www.worldwar1.com/sfvu.htm .
In the twenties, sport spearfishing without breathing apparatus developed on the Mediterranean coast of France and Italy. This spurred the development of modern swimfins, diving masks and snorkels.
In the 1930s, an unknown Italian swam underwater with an industrial or submarine-escape oxygen rebreather, probably to make his sport of spearfishing easier. Other Italian sport spearfishers imitated him, and that was the start of scuba diving in Italy.

Origins

Later this new type of diving came to the attention of the Italian Navy, which founded the first special forces underwater frogman units (which were later copied by British, and American (Navy Seals), frogman units). Junio Valerio Borghese ("Italy's Dark Prince") is credited with masterminding and shaping the 1ª Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto ("First Flotilla of Assault Vehicles"), which was formed in 1938 as a result of the research and development efforts of two men, Major Teseo Tesei and Major Elios Toschi of the Regia Marina. The two resurrected Paolucci and Rossetti's idea.
In 1940, Commander Moccagatta of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) reorganised the First Flotilla into the Decima Flottiglia MAS, under the command of Ernesto Forza. It secretly made manned torpedoes or SLC (siluri a lenta corsa or "slow-running torpedoes") and trained military frogmen (called nuotatori, Italian for "swimmers"). In the process, he created the frogman training school at the small San Leopoldo port of the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno.All personnel in Italy's Armed Forces of the time that were to operate oxygen rebreathers and similar equipment were dispatched to the school, but only a selected few were chosen as operators of the newly-designed manned torpedoes. The nascent Xª MAS contained two units, one specialised in operations where the frogman swam to their attack site, one in the use of manned torpedoes. Teseo Tesei developed specialist vehicles for them.

Continued participation in the Axis

Some Xª MAS men who were in German-occupied land remained part of the Axis forces, joining the Italian Social Republic under the command of prince Junio Valerio Borghese, also known as the "Black Prince". The Xª MAS enjoyed an enormous prestige and was able to negotiate with the German Armed Forces a deal that gave them ample autonomy, allowed them to fight under an Italian flag, under the command of the German Armed Forces, and not to be employed against other Italians. Borghese was recognized as the leader of the corp.

Ideology

The main themes in the Xª MAS's ideology became "honour" in defending Italy from the "betrayal" of the armistice with the Allies, strong anti-semitism in the wake of stronger Nazi influence, and a call to defend the territorial integrity of Italy against the Allies. This was quite ironic, as the Third Reich was already stripping some Italian northeastern territories and integrating them directly in the Reich under the names of the Alpine Foothills and Adriatic Littoral.

The corp had its own weekly magazine, L'orizzonte ("The Horizon"), in which authors like Giovanni Preziosi wrote vehemently anti-semitic articles about Jewish conspiracies. The magazine had problems in its distribution, as it was thought that Borghese's popularity among the fascist hardliners might damage Mussolini's. [3]

Relation to the RSI

Relationships with the Italian Social Republic were not easy. On January 14, 1944 Mussolini tried to arrest Borghese while receiving him in Garniano, to gain direct control of the Xª MAS. Word of the arrest by chance reached the command of the Decima, whose local command evaluated the idea of marching on Salò. The German command had likely a role in resolving the situation, since they needed the equipment and expertise of the Xª MAS in the Adriatic sea, where the Germans had no marine equipment of their own. Ref. [4] (in Italian).

The Germans used them mostly in anti-partisan actions on land, rather than against the Allies at sea. After losing its relative independence from RSI - German command, the Xª MAS became infamous for the numerous war crimes both on partisans and civilian population alike. They are generally considered to have been similar in ferocity to the SS, and it is with this part of their history that most Italians connect the Xª MAS today.

Their war crimes usually took place in small villages, where the partisans were stronger; for example:

• Forno: 68 persons, mostly civilians and some partisans, are killed by a combination of German and Xª MAS forces. Ref. [5] (in Italian).
• Guadine: Random violence with purpose of terrorism among a population believed to be supporting the rebels, almost complete destruction of the village by fire. Ref. [6] (in Italian).
• Borgo Ticino: Together with the SS, murder of 12 civilians, pillage and destruction of the village by fire on the grounds that three German soldiers had been wounded. Ref. [7] (in Italian).
• Castelletto Ticino: In order to give "a demonstration of firmness" against "crime", a Xª MAS officer has five petty criminals publicly gunned down, having taken care to gather a large crowd in order to terrorise them. Ref. [8] (in Italian).
• Crocetta del Montello: Episodes of torture with whips and gasoline and summary executions of partisans. Ref. [9] (in Italian).

Apart from anti-partisan warfare, Xª MAS units earned a good combat reputation fighting on the frontline against the Allied bridgehead at Anzio and on the Gothic Line. In the last months of the war Xª MAS units were dispatched to the eastern Italian border against Tito's partisans. On April 26, 1945 in what is now the Piazza della Repubblica in Milan, Borghese finally ordered the Xª MAS to be disbanded. At the end of the war Borghese was arrested by partisans, but rescued by OSS officer James Angleton, who dressed him up in an American uniform and drove him to Rome for interrogation by the Allies. This left many of Borghese's previous companions in the hands of the partisan resistance ^{[citation needed]}. Borghese was tried and convicted of war crimes, sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, but released from jail by the Italian Supreme Court in 1949. The Americans were keenly interested in gaining knowledge about infiltrating the Russian Communist groups, something which Borghese had done. They enlisted Borghese to help setup counter intelligence units for the Americans.