Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 [Paperback]

Vincent O'Hara (Author), Enrico Cernuschi (Author), Jean Hood (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1934840912 | ISBN-13: 978-1934840917 | Publication Date: November 19, 2009

In July 1943 Benito Mussolini, Italy's warlord and the father of fascism fell from power in a hastily arranged plot, the details of which even today remain controversial. A cabal of generals took the nation's reins and bungled their way toward an accommodation with the Allies. When General Eisenhower announced an armistice with Italy on the evening of 8 September he believed he had struck a deal that included Italian military cooperation against the Germans. In fact, the generals had promised more than they could deliver and Germany's terrible, swift reprisal shattered Italy's confused air force and army. The armistice likewise caught the navy by surprise, with its battleships raising steam to attack the Allied fleet landing at Salerno. Nonetheless, the Regia Marina obeyed its government's orders and honored the pact the generals had negotiated. Rather than evaporating like Italy's other services, however, it proceeded to fight a three-week campaign against Germany, without Allied support, and in the process retained complete control of its ships, regardless of the ports necessity forced them to seek refuge in.

This is the story of the Regia Marina and the Italian armistice of September 1943. It is a deeply-researched and highly readable exploration of this confusing and fascinating corner of history. It refutes the conventional notion that Italy's fleet abjectly surrendered to Allied power. It shows how the navy paved Italy's path from enemy to co-belligerent with the blood and unconquered spirit of its men. Despite German and Allied intentions to secure Italy's fleet for their own uses, it remained Italian to the end: a dark navy - not victorious, but undefeated.

Vincent P. O'Hara and Enrico Cernuschi have collaborated for publications including Warship, World War II Magazine, World War II Quarterly, and the new Seaforth Naval Review. Mr. O'Hara has written several books including Struggle for the Middle Sea: the Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean 1939-1945 (Annapolis, 2009). Mr. Cernuschi is a regular contributor to Rivista Marittima and Storia Militare. He has published a dozen books including Le navi da guerra italiane 1940-1945 (Parma, 2003) and Domenico Cavagnari: Storia di un Ammiraglio (Rome, 2001)

About DARK NAVY

The huge tragedy suffered by the Italian navy and nation has been reduced, until today, to a brief mention in the very few books available abroad about the Regia Marina's war between 1940 and 1945. It is thus quite important that a new essay directed toward English speaking readers is dedicated, at last, to these events, allowing them to sortie beyond the confines of Italian naval historiography--which has long debated these themes--and beyond the scanty circulation abroad of the Italian language.--Erminio Bagnasco, editor of STORIA Militare

DARK NAVY is a masterful account of the Regia Marina's role in the Armistice of September 1943. The authors are to be commended for overturning the propagandist mythology which has often marred English-language histories of this difficult period in Italian history. A riveting story.--John Jordan, editor of WARSHIP

DARK NAVY gives an excellent overview of the naval, air, and land impact on the Italian military at the time of the 8 September 1943 Armistice. It clearly shows the hesitancy of various leaders, on both sides, as they grappled with "what to do?" in this radically changed wartime environment and gives solid detail on the actions that resulted.--Jack Greene, author (with Alessandro Massigiani) of NAVAL WAR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 1940-1943.

Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Nimble Books (November 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934840912
• ISBN-13: 978-1934840917
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vincent P. O'Hara is a naval historian and the author of The German Fleet at War (2004), The U.S. Navy Against the Axis (2007), and The Struggle for the Middle Sea (2009) all published by the Naval Institute Press. His work has also appeared in periodicals and annuals including Warship, MHQ, World War II Magazine, World War II Quarterly, Seaforth Naval Review and Storia Militare. He holds a history degree from the University of California at Berkeley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two books for the price of one, January 8, 2010

By 

MMG (Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 (Paperback)

This nifty work by O'Hara and Cernuschi tells the story of the Royal Italian Navy during the armistice of September 1943, as the subtitle suggests; yet the development of the intricate facts that led to the armistice do not just reside in the background: the "second" book is in fact an accurate history of the armistice itself that is tightly intertwined with the naval narrative. Moreover, the whole account is not just a summary of the most modern studies on the topic, presented in a form palatable to English readers; on the contrary the book offers an innovative and somehow unconventional view of those still controversial events.

The narrative has been enlivened by the insertion of selected anecdotes, which highlight the psychology of the drama's protagonists and clarify the atmosphere of those months better then lengthy discourses could have done.

Invaluable are the appendices, which reveal many little-known facts and untold stories of the naval units.

Worth mentioning are not only the pictures (some rare), but the three maps as well. These latter masterly show both the situation and the deployment of naval and ground units along and on the Italian peninsula (on which are clearly shown the main railroads and the mountain passes, so as to let the reader understand the problems faced by Italians, Germans and Allies with communications and movement).

A book which is a perfect complement of O'Hara's "Struggle for the Middle Sea", in order to better comprehend the turning point of the war in the Mediterranean.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fills a Long-Standing Need, November 24, 2009

By 

Richard Worth (MO, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 (Paperback)

The situation in Italy's high command was chaotic during summer 1943, and with the September armistice, events spun out of control. Caught between the maneuverings of the Allies and the Germans, various Italian commands and individuals scrambled along divergent paths with spotty coordination or even outright rebellion. Few English-language sources have attempted to detail the actions of Italy's naval units in this confused period, and most content themselves with a generalized and inaccurate distinction between units that "surrendered" and units that continued in Axis service. Dark Navy corrects the "surrender" misconception and details the actions minutely enough to count individual fishing vessels. Not even Sadkovich or the Bragadin translation approach such in-depth coverage. For readers dissatisfied with the glossing-over typical in most English histories, this book provides an authoritative inside look.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A difficult topic handled with a brilliant historical approach., January 26, 2010

By 

Cristiano Dadamo "Cristiano D'Adamo" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 (Paperback)

I probably own one of the large reference libraries on the subject and this is the first book that looks at the theater of operations rather than the individual players. Intertwining the furious battles and skirmishes between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina with the German participation and France's important role was a brilliant idea that succeeds in giving a full prospective.
The reading is pleasant and, as in other works by the same author, fluid and captivating. Even if naval warfare is not your most favorite topic, this book will be enjoyable because it goes beyond the simple description of single events.
Often a forgotten theater of WW II, the Mediterranean was pivotal in prolonging the war and reshaping the continent. The `what if' are infinite and this book will give the tool to better understand not just the conflict, but how it evolved and its ultimate outcome with the reshaping of the balance of power.