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. Two frogmen with CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo or underwater chariot. Made by User:Anthony Appleyard. ... Two frogmen with CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo or underwater chariot. Made by User:Anthony Appleyard. ... Computer-generated imagery (commonly abbreviated as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics (or more specifically, 3D computer graphics) to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ... For the Wizard of Oz series character, see Frogman (Oz character). ... The Siebe Gorman CDBA from three angles The Clearance Divers Breathing Apparatus (CDBA) is a type of rebreather made by Siebe Gorman in England. ... A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A Diver Propulsion Vehicle or a DPV is an item of diving equipment used by scuba divers to increase their range while underwater where their endurance is restricted due to limited availability of breathing gas and need to avoid decompression sickness. ... // This page describes a type of scuba diver. ... CGI image of two frogmen with Siebe Gorman CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo. ...

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. The torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... For other uses, see Dive. ... A B61 nuclear bomb in various stages of assembly; the nuclear warhead is the bullet-shaped silver cannister in the middle-left of the photograph. ... Polish wz. ...

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. Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... The lunar phase depends on the Moons position in orbit around Earth. ... The Italian Regia Marina (literally: Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

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 aft, right aft) which can be flooded or blown empty to adjust buoyancy and attitude. Compass in a wooden box A compass (or mariners compass) is a navigational instrument for finding directions on the Earth. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ... Ultrasound can be modulated to carry an audio signal (like radio signals are modulated). ... In physics, buoyancy is the upward force on an object produced by the surrounding fluid (i. ... Aircraft attitude is used to mean two closely related aspects of the situation of an aircraft in flight. ...

A timeline of manned torpedo events

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 "1^a 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.
• 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: "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 HMS Valiant and Queen Elizabeth were sunk in shallow water putting them out of action for months.
• 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.

Image File history File links Teseo_Tesei. ... Image File history File links Teseo_Tesei. ... Major Teseo Tesei (? - 1941) was an Italian naval officer. ... For the Wizard of Oz series character, see Frogman (Oz character). ... The Italian Regia Marina (literally: Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. ... CGI image of two frogmen with Siebe Gorman CDBA rebreathers riding a human torpedo. ... The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ... Pula (Latin Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola; Italian Pola (the city has an official Croatian-Italian bilingualism [1]); Istriot Pula, German Polei) is the largest city in Istria, situated at the southern tip of the peninsula, with a population of 62,080 (2006). ... Istria (Croatian and Slovenian: Istra, Venetian and Italian: Istria), formerly Histria (Latin), is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. ... SMS Viribus Unitis was an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Viribus Unitis class. ... Major Teseo Tesei (? - 1941) was an Italian naval officer. ... The Italian Regia Marina (literally: Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. ... The Decima Flottiglia MAS (Decima Flottiglia Mezzi dAssalto, 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. ... Valletta, population 6,315 (official estimate for 2005), is the capital city of Malta. ... Alexandria (Greek: , Coptic: , Arabic: , Egyptian Arabic: Iskindireyya), (population of 3. ... The Queen Elizabeth class battleships were five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Neger was a German torpedo-carrying miniature submarine, a so called human torpedo. ... A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. ... HMS Dragon, also known in Polish service as ORP Dragon, was a D or Danae class cruiser built for the Royal Navy. ... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... For other ships with the same name, see HMS Trenchant. ... Phuket (Thai ภูเก็ต) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. ... Britains commando frogman force is now the SBS, which is part of the Royal Marines. ... The Decima Flottiglia MAS (Decima Flottiglia Mezzi dAssalto, 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. ... Britains commando frogman force is now the SBS, which is part of the Royal Marines. ...

Manned torpedoes after 1945

Some nations including Italy have continued to make and keep manned torpedoes after 1945. Year 1945and died 2007 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

• 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

Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... Image File history File links Located in public domain, Photographed 1998, Submarine Museum, Gosport File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Located in public domain, Photographed 1998, Submarine Museum, Gosport File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Makes of manned torpedoes

Italian

• Siluro a Lenta Corsa (Italian, Low Speed Torpedo – SLC), also known as maiale (Italian for "pig"). Image at this link. Pages 6-11, issue 39, Historical Diving Times has several large photographs of one recovered after an attack on Malta on 26 July 1941.
• 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. The Historical Diving Society was formed in the United Kingdom in 1990 to preserve the history of diving and its equipment. ... The Decima Flottiglia MAS (Decima Flottiglia Mezzi dAssalto, 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. ... COMSUBIN (in full Comando Raggruppamento Subacquei ed Incursori Teseo Tesei) is modern Italys combat frogman force. ...

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 m. 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. Britains commando frogman force is now the SBS, which is part of the Royal Marines. ...

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. Neger was a German torpedo-carrying miniature submarine, a so called human torpedo. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, see Here. ... This article is about Germanys commando frogmen. ...

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.

The Kaiten (Japanese:回天, translated Change the World or Reverse the Destiny) was a torpedo modified as a suicide weapon, and used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of the Second World War. ... A suicide weapon is a weapon that is specially designed for a suicide attack. ...

Soviet

• Siren. It is or was made after 1945. It is longer than a British or Italian Chariot because it has 2 warheads. It has 2 riders. It was designed to exit through a submarine's torpedo tube. See Russian commando frogmen#Equipment.

Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... Torpedo tubes of the French SNLE Redoutable A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes in a horizontal direction. ... Боевой Пловец (Boyevoy Plovets, combat swimmer) is a Russian term for members of a special purpose unit of Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces). ...

USA

There are pictures and descriptions of modern USA Chariot-like underwater frogman-carriers used by SEAL's, here:- To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• http://www.specialoperations.com/Navy/SDV/ (SDV = Swimmer Delivery Vehicle)
• http://www.stidd.com/wasp/wasp1.htm (STD = Swimmer Transport Device))

Museums

• There are three chariots on public view in Eden Camp Museum near Malton, North Yorkshire in England.
  • One is a captured Italian maiale.
  • One is an original British Mark II which was found derelict in a scrapyard in Portsmouth and restored. In that make its two riders sat back to back.
  • One is a working chariot that was made in 1992 in Milton Keynes with the outside appearance of a British wartime Mark I, but its internal working parts are different. It has been filmed in action for the television. It has a dummy warhead. Image at this link.
• Original SLC's are displayed at the Venice Naval History Museum.
• There is an Italian SSB maiale in the Naval Museum at Groton in Connecticut in the USA.

Eden Camp Museum is a large WWII-related museum near Malton in North Yorkshire in England. ... Malton is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Milton Keynes is a large town in northern Buckinghamshire, in South East England, about 45 miles/75 km north-west of London, and roughly halfway between London and Birmingham. ... Look up Dummy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A B61 nuclear bomb in various stages of assembly; the nuclear warhead is the bullet-shaped silver cannister in the middle-left of the photograph. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia, Latin: Venetia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,251 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Waterfront of Groton, Connecticut looking upriver Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ...

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.

Above Us the Waves is a 1955 war film starring John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice, Michael Medwin, William Franklyn, Anthony Newley, John Horsley and James Kenney. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... German battleship Tirpitz underway for her trials, 1941 Tirpitz was a battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, a sister ship to the German battleship Bismarck, and named for Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. ... For the Wizard of Oz series character, see Frogman (Oz character). ... The film The Silent Enemy was released in 1958. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ... Theatrical properties, or props, are items used in stage plays and similar entertainments to further the action. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... An American Paratrooper using a T-10C series parachute Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and formed into an airborne force. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite CBE (born March 14, 1933), known professionally as Michael Caine, is a two-time Academy Award-winning English film actor. ... This article is about the British dependencies. ... Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was a British author, journalist and Second World War Naval Officer. ... Flemings image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... Flemings image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... On Her Majestys Secret Service is the sixth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the only one to star George Lazenby as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond, and the first and only film in which Bond settles on a single woman and marries her. ... The Swiss Alps are the central portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. ... Thunderball is the fourth film in the EON Productions James Bond series, and also the fourth film to star Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond 007. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... See comedian Stand up comedian List of Comedians List of British comedians comics comic book comic strip underground comics alternative comics web comic sprite comics manga graphic novel List of comic characters This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the...

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. A trade name, also known as a trading name or a business name, is the legal name of a business, or the name which a business trades under for commercial purposes. ... The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ...

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

Prince Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese (6 June 1906 - 26 August 1974) was an Italian naval commander and controversial political figure. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x518, 120 KB) Opis BÅ‚otniak w Muzeum Marynarki Wojennej w Gdyni. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x518, 120 KB) Opis BÅ‚otniak w Muzeum Marynarki Wojennej w Gdyni. ... BÅ‚otniak BÅ‚otniak (Polish for Harrier) is a one-man wet-cabin underwater craft designed in Poland in 1978. ...

Compare to

• Midget submarine
• X class submarine
• Manned torpedo(Turtle (submarine)) of 1776 invented by David Bushnell.
• Błotniak (a Polish one-man wet-cabin underwater craft designed in Poland in 1978.)

A midget submarine is a small submarine, typically with one or two crew and no on-board living accommodation. ... The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44. ... A cross-section sketch of Bushnells Turtle. ... A cross-section sketch of Bushnells Turtle. ... Błotniak Błotniak (Polish for Harrier) is a one-man wet-cabin underwater craft designed in Poland in 1978. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• The British Chariots, diving gear and personal experiences
• Chariots in armed forces service after 1945
• Vostok: a French 2-man diver-rider that may be a chariot (article in French)
• Underwater Heritage Trust
• Eden Camp Museum
• More images of the restored British Mark II chariot
• Comando Supremo: Italy at War
• British submarines of World War 2
• Chariots, acounts of operations, pictures
• Roll of honour, awards and images for chariots and midget submarines.
• Underwater Warriors
• Japanese suicide weapon：Human torpedo Kaiten(Japanese)