History Channel - The Human Torpedoes of World War II

See the history of the mysterious “Human Torpedoes” of WWII – and how they originated and developed upon the standard torpedo in top secret. During the Second World War British warships in Gibraltar and Alexandria were attacked by a secret weapon invented by the Italian Navy, the 'human torpedo'. Tracing the history, it was first used in World War I when it sank an Austrian battleship, then re-invented 20 years later. Its a story of courage and adversity told, in part, by the Italian who rode the device into the enemy harbour in 1940 and went on to become Naval Commander of NATO Forces in the Mediterranean. The film reveals for the first time the truth concerning the death of one of the inventors of the Italian machine, Teseo Tesei, whose name is now on the badge of Italy's special forces. From the first disastrous missions to ultimate success in sinking British battleships; and to the secret of an interned merchant ship, whose concealed underwater compartment was used to attack ships, the film follows the extraordinary stories of the men who rode the 'human torpedoes'. The film also follows the strange story of the discovery of top secret naval papers that led to the unearthing of the only surviving British Mk 1 “chariot” and an interview with two Englishmen who attacked the Axis harbours on British copies of the Italian machine. Filmed in Italy, England and Malta.

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