Supermarina was the headquarters of the Italian Royal Navy (''

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

'') established on 1 June 1940, just before Italy entered the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Army and Air Force equivalents were '' Superesercito'' and '' Superaereo'', which were subordinate to ''

Comando Supremo ''Comando Supremo'' (Supreme Command) was the highest command echelon of the Italian Armed Forces between June 1941 and May 1945. Its predecessor, the ''Stato Maggiore Generale'' (General Staff), was a purely advisory body with no direct control ...

'' the Supreme Command of the Italian armed forces.

History

The plan to centralise control of naval operations began in November 1934. The ''Supermarina''

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

at ''

Lungotevere Lungotevere (Italian for ''Tiber Waterfront'') is an alley or boulevard running along the river Tiber within the city of Rome. The building of the Lungoteveres required the demolition of the former edifices along the river banks and the constru ...

'' Flaminio in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, was completed in 1938 and was inaugurated by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

on 14 October. When the capital was declared an

open city In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will ...

, in 1943, ''Supermarina'' moved to Santa Rosa on the

Via Cassia The Via Cassia () was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii, traversed Etruria. The ''Via Cassia'' passed through Baccanae, Sutrium ...

, about from Rome. The Santa Rosa headquarters remains the seat of Commander in Chief Naval Fleet (CINCNAV). From 10 June 1940 to 8 September 1943, ''Supermarina'' supervised all Italian naval operations in the

Battle of the Mediterranean The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945. For the most part, the campaign was fought between the Kingdom of Italy, Italian Reg ...

, the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and the oceans. The head of ''Supermarina'' should have been the chief of staff of the Navy, the de facto commander was the deputy chief of staff. At the start of the war, the Chief of Staff of the Navy State was Admiral Domenico Cavagnari and the head of ''Supermarina'' was Admiral Odoardo Somigli. On 10 December 1940, Cavagnari was replaced by Admiral Arturo Riccardi and Admiral

Inigo Campioni Inigo Campioni (14 November 1878 – 24 May 1944) was an Italians, Italian naval officer during most of the first half of the 20th century. He served in four wars, and is best known as an admiral in the Italian Royal Navy (''Regia Marina'') d ...

became Deputy Chief of Staff. In July 1941, Admiral Luigi Sansonetti became Deputy Chief of Staff. ''Supermarina'' was divided into several sections responsible for functions like decryption, strategic moves and communications. Orders issued by ''Supermarina'' to the units and commands were taken in accordance with ''Comando Supremo''. The commander of an Italian battle squadron had little discretion to depart from orders received from ''Supermarina'' and when circumstances changed he had to wait for new instructions from ''Supermarina''. This centralisation caused serious problems, when to situations evolved quicker than ''Supermarina'' could react. Later in 1940, ''Supermarina'' granted commanders more discretion over tactics but maintained strict orders not to engage superior enemy forces, which restrained the initiative of the commanders, to avoid losses that could not be replaced. After 8 September 1943, ''Supermarina'' issued orders for the execution of the clauses of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

, the transfer of all seaworthy ships into Allied-controlled ports and the

scuttling Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

of ships unable to sail, to avoid their capture by the Germans and then ceased operations on 12 September 1943, following the German capture of Rome.

History

Notes

Further reading