CA-class submarine

The CA class were a group of midget submarines built for the Italian Navy during World War II.

Class overview
Builders	Caproni, Milan
Operators	Regia Marina
Succeeded by	CB class
Built	1938-41
In commission	1938–1943
Completed	4
General characteristics (series I, as completed in 1938)
Displacement	13.5 tonnes (13.3 long tons) (surfaced) 16.4 tonnes (16.1 long tons) (submerged)
Length	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Beam	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Draught	1.6 m (5 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	One shaft; 1 × 60 hp (45 kW) diesel engine 1 × 25 hp (19 kW) electric motor
Speed	6.25 kn (12 km/h; 7 mph) (surfaced) 5 knots (9 km/h; 6 mph) (submerged)
Complement	2
Armament	2 × 17.7 in (450 mm) torpedoes

Design

These submarines were designed by the Caproni Company and built in great secrecy. They were originally designed for coast defence but later modified as clandestine attack craft similar to the British X craft.

Boats

Name	Series	Builder	Commissioned	Fate
CA 1	I.	Caproni, Taliedo, Kingdom of Italy	15 April 1938	scuttled on 9 September 1943
CA 2			late April 1938	scuttled in 1944
CA 3	II.		January 1943	scuttled on 9 September 1943
CA 4			January 1943	scuttled on 9 September 1943

Service

In 1942, after the United States entered the war, Junio Valerio Borghese, commander of the Decima MAS (the Italian Navy's special operations unit), devised a plan to attack New York Harbor using a CA type midget submarine and commando frogmen. The midget submarine would be transported across the Atlantic by being carried on the deck of a larger submarine. The Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci was chosen for the task and modified at the Italian base in Bordeaux (BETASOM). CA 2 was transported by rail from Italy and trials, which were conducted near La Pallice, were supervised by Borghese himself during late 1942. Leonardo Da Vinci was sunk in May 1943 before the operation could be carried out. No new boat was available and the Italian Armistice stopped further planning.

See also

• Italian submarines of World War II

Bibliography

• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-46
• Kemp, Paul: Underwater Warriors (1996, Arms & Armour Press)

External links

• Classe CA Marina Militare website