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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 of the ''Regia Marina'' (Italian Royal Navy) created during the Fascist regime. The acronym ''MAS'' also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II.〔()〕 Decima MAS was active during the Battle of the Mediterranean and took part in a number of daring raids on Allied shipping. These operations involved surface speedboats (such as the Sinking of HMS ''York''), manned torpedoes (the Raid on Alexandria) and ''Gamma'' Frogmen (against Gibraltar). During the campaign Decima MAS took part in more than a dozen operations which sank or damaged five warships (totalling 72,000 Gross Register Tonnage) and 20 merchant ships (totalling 130,000 GRT). In 1943, after the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was ousted, Italy left the Tripartite Pact and joined the Allies. Some of the Xª MAS men who were stationed in German-occupied northern Italy enlisted to fight for Mussolini's newly formed Italian Social Republic (''Repubblica Sociale Italiana'' or RSI) and retained the unit title, but were primarily employed as an anti-partisan force operating on land. Other Xª MAS men in southern Italy or other Allied-occupied areas joined the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy as part of the ''Mariassalto'' (Naval Assault) unit. ==Historical background== In World War I, on November 1, 1918, Raffaele Paolucci and Raffaele Rossetti of the Regia Marina rode a manned torpedo (nicknamed ''Mignatta'' or "leech") into the harbour of Pula, where they sank the ''Jugoslavija'', of the navy of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, formerly the Austro-Hungarian battleship and the freighter ''Wien'' using limpet mines. They had no underwater breathing sets, and thus had to keep their heads above water to breathe. They were discovered and taken prisoner as they attempted to leave the harbour. In the 1920s, sport spearfishing without breathing apparatus became popular on the Mediterranean coast of France and Italy. This spurred the development of modern swimfins, diving masks and snorkels. In the 1930s Italian sport spearfishermen began using industrial or submarine-escape oxygen rebreathers, starting scuba diving in Italy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Decima Flottiglia MAS」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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