Enrico Cernuschi – författare

An illustrated history of the motor torpedo boats of Italy’s fast coastal forces, from their raids on enemy battleships in World War I to the dashing campaigns of World War II.The confined seas around Italy made fast torpedo boats particularly suitable for the Regia Marina. The first were derived from the glamorous prewar hotel motorboats of Venice; although too slow, they scored remarkable successes against Austro-Hungary, sinking, among other successes, two battleships, as well as conducting valuable and little-known anti-submarine work.Researched from unpublished primary sources, this is the first authoritative book in English to study the MAS boats, their larger MS successors, and their wars in the Adriatic, Mediterranean and beyond. Renowned Italian naval historian Enrico Cernuschi explores their evolving technology, roles, and how the boats fought in two world wars.Illustrated with unpublished photos and superb original artwork, it traces their history from the famous actions of World War I to the troubled search for a real ‘velocissimo’ (very fast) MAS boat and their multifaceted roles in World War II, from the Malta convoy battles to the Black Sea naval war. It also explores little-known episodes such as their dangerous, clandestine roles post-1943, landing intelligence agents and commandos, and their secret 1945–48 battles against Yugoslavian communist infiltrators.

A comprehensive. illustrated account of the wartime Italian battle fleet, from its ships and technology to command structure, logistics, codebreaking and more.In the 1920s, the Italian Navy faced great challenges. Mussolini’s ambitious Italy turned away from its alliance with Britain and France, and the Regia Marina faced the prospect of confronting both the French Navy and the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy. In the years leading up to World War II, the Regia Marina built and deployed a powerful battleship-led fleet – known in Italy as ‘La Squadra’ – intended to make the Mediterranean an Italian sea once more. In this book, Italian naval historian Enrico Cernuschi offers a fresh assessment of the wartime Italian battle fleet, based on his lifetime of primary-source research from both Italian and Allied sources. It offers a comprehensive portrait of this proud armada, how it was devised and built, and how it operated and fought. It covers a multitude of factors often overlooked, such as Italy's naval codebreakers, the fleet's logistics, and the qualities and limitations of Italian industry that supported it. The book also provides a concise account and analysis of the battle fleet’s activities through the war, from major clashes such as the Battle of Calabria to lesser-known expeditions. The author's research into Italian wartime primary sources overturns some myths still commonplace in Anglo-American accounts. Illustrated with superb new artwork, maps and 3D diagrams, and featuring rare photos, this book is a fascinating account of Italy's great fleet of World War II.

Fiercely fought with all the latest weaponry of World War I, Italy’s Adriatic campaign is the forgotten war of the dreadnought era. Fully illustrated, this is its first history in English.Fought across the narrowest naval frontline of World War I, with almost daily combat, the Adriatic Sea was perhaps the war’s most active coastal naval campaign, yet it is barely known in the English-speaking world. Although the two battle fleets never met, the Adriatic was ferociously fought over by Italy and Austro-Hungary’s cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines. It was a war of hit-and-run attacks, port raids, blockades and evasions, convoy warfare, shore bombardments and amphibious operations.Renowned naval historian Enrico Cernuschi draws upon his decades of research to present the first complete history in English of Italy’s Adriatic naval war, and the fleets and flotillas that fought it. The theatre saw successful use of new technology and tactics, including the first battleship to be sunk by torpedo, as well as extensive use of aircraft and flying boats.Packed with rare and unpublished photos, superb original artwork, 3D maps and diagrams, this book explores the Regia Marina’s warships, command structures, intelligence, relations with other Allied navies, as well as a thorough history of Adriatic naval actions, most of which have never been written about in English.

Drawing on a lifetime’s scholarship, and featuring hundreds of rare photos, this is a revelatory history of the wartime Regia Marina, the least-known of the major World War II navies.In 1940, Italy’s Regia Marina had risen to become the world’s fourth-largest navy. Despite financial, strategic, and political challenges in the 1920s and 30s, and despite losing the struggle for its own air power, it had a powerful battle fleet, one of the world’s biggest submarine forces, and an ambitious strategic role.Yet until now, few books have attempted a comprehensive study of the Italian Navy of World War II, and many of those relied on limited or biased sources. In this book, Dr Enrico Cernuschi, one of Italy’s pre-eminent naval historians, presents a definitive, superbly illustrated and myth-busting history of Italian seapower from Mussolini’s ascent until 1945, drawing upon Italian, British, German, French, and US primary sources, and on high-level papers unique to Dr Cernuschi’s collection, including the recently unearthed 1947 Italian Navy Staff’s technical history of the war. Ranging widely from grand strategy to steel production, it is packed with historical revelations, definitive new information, and little-known episodes of naval history.Illustrated with hundreds of rare and unpublished photos, this is the essential guide to Italy’s great fleet of World War II, and its actions from the Mediterranean to the Pacific.