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Weapons · Italy · 1940-1943

Maiale human torpedo

manned torpedo / naval special weapon

Ridden underwater by a two-man crew in diving suits astride a slow electric torpedo, the 'maiale' (pig) let the Decima Flottiglia MAS's frogmen clamp explosive charges to a ship's hull from beneath and swim away before detonation. On 19 December 1941 three of these craft crippled the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant at anchor in Alexandria harbour, one of the most audacious special-operations successes of the naval war.

Wikipedia

crew2
speed2.5-3 knots
warheadapprox. 300kg explosive charge
rangeapprox. 10 nautical miles

Mediterranean and North Africa

A Siluro a lenta corsa (Italian for Low speed torpedo), also known as maiale (“pig”), Italian manned torpedo. The pictured one is exposed at the was an Italian human torpedo — Museo Sacrario delle Bandiere delle Forze Ar
A Siluro a lenta corsa (Italian for Low speed torpedo), also known as maiale (“pig”), Italian manned torpedo. The pictured one is exposed at the was an Italian human torpedo — Museo Sacrario delle Bandiere delle Forze ArMyrabella · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Composizione di un SLC, siluro a lenta corsa
Composizione di un SLC, siluro a lenta corsaRiproduzione del disegno originale degli inventori T. Tesei ed E. Toschi · CC BY 3.0 · source