MT explosive motorboat

MT (Motoscafo da Turismo)
MT explosive motorboat
Type	Explosive motorboat
Place of origin	Italy
Service history
In service	1940–1949
Used by	Regia Marina  National Republican Navy  Israeli Navy
Wars	World War II 1948 Arab-Israeli War
Production history
No. built	approx. 20
Variants	MT MTM MTR
Specifications
Guidance system	Manually piloted with gyroscopic stabilisation and automatic running
Launch platform	Surface ship, submarine

The explosive motorboat MT (Motoscafo da Turismo) also known as barchino (Italian for "little boat"), was a series of small explosive motor boats developed by the Italian Royal Navy, which was based on its predecessors, the prototype boat MA (Motoscafo d'Assalto) and the MAT (Motoscafo Avio Trasportato), an airborne prototype. Explosive motorboats were designed to make a silent approach to a moored warship, set a collision course and run into full gear until the last 200 or 100 yards to the target, when the pilot would eject after blocking the rudder. At impact, the hull would be broken amidships by a small explosive charge, sinking the boat and the warhead, which was fitted with a water-pressure fuse set to go off at a depth of one metre.^[1]

By the end of September 1938 the Navy Department ordered six explosive boats. The one-pilot vessels were built by the companies Baglietto of Varazze and CABI of Milan, which was also to supply the engines.^[2] The small vessels were used by the Italian Navy in at least two major operations in the Mediterranean theatre during World War II, and sank a number of ships, including the British heavy cruiser HMS York.