Italian naval strategy in the inter-war period

[Turbulent98]

I am currently reading East of Malta, West of Suez by Lawrence R Pratt. In the book , published in the 1970s , he mentions that there is very little written about Italian naval strategy in the inter-war period written in English and the USMM histories barely mention it so can anyone suggest anything more modern which may explain it?

 

[ljadw]

O'Hara and Sadkovich are two good sources,although I find that Sadkovich is exaggerating .
There are also several Italian historians as Fabio de Ninno and Bragadin,....

 

[Turbulent98]

Sadkovich is excellent on data but some of his opinions are very suspect.

 

[ljadw]

He gives Malta and Ultra an importance they did not have and he is whining because the Germans did not give Italy sufficient help ,for which there was no obligation .
Italy used almost 8 million tons of shipping tonnage to supply Libya in 1941 and 1942 .
570000 tons ( some 7 % ) were lost,of which 35 % directly/indirectly by Ultra = 2.5 % of the total = 200000 tons.
65 % of these losses were not caused by Ultra .
And the Libya losses were only a minority of the total losses,as for Italy Libya had only a secondary importance .

 

[Turbulent98]

In the book “The Naval War in the Mediterranean” by Greene and Massigniani they mention a book in preparation by Ferdinando Minniti about pre-war planning. Did this book ever get published?

 

[jwsleser]

I haven't found any book written by Minniti. Given it has been ~25 years since The Naval War in the Mediterranean was published, it doesn't look like it will be.

 

[jwsleser]

While searching for something else, I did spot this book: The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism, 1935-1940 Robert Mallett. It only covers the latter half of the 30s and I don't know how much it addresses Italy's naval strategy (I assume it must have something). I don't have th4 ebook, so can't offer anything else.

Pista! Jeff

 

[Andreas]

I am currently reading East of Malta, West of Suez by Lawrence R Pratt. In the book , published in the 1970s , he mentions that there is very little written about Italian naval strategy in the inter-war period written in English and the USMM histories barely mention it so can anyone suggest anything more modern which may explain it?

The short explanation is that in the 1920s and early 1930s the Regia Marina was built for war with France. So countering the French light cruisers and super destroyers was a pre-occupation. So fast raids on supply traffic from France to North Africa were the name of the game. I am discussing this here: https://rommelsriposte.com/2021/09/12/new-article-italys-light-cruiser-force/

From about the time of the Ethiopian war, the Admirals realized that they would likely fight the Royal Navy, and amended their planning accordingly. This period saw some of the best stuff the Italians put forward being built, the Garibaldi CLs and the Littorios.

Bit of info here: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA296628.pdf

All the best

Andreas