The MS boats' sinking of HMS Manchester was one achievement within a wider design history. Italian planners recognized that MAS boats could reach spectacular speeds only when sea conditions allowed, and became vulnerable when they could not. Captured Yugoslav boats derived from early Schnellboot designs offered a rounded-hull model better suited to rough water, leading to a more seaworthy Italian type. The wartime timetable exposed the weakness especially in winter, when wind, currents, and rougher Mediterranean water robbed MAS boats of their escape speed. Of 36 MS boats completed, 22 were lost, so the cruiser sinking sat alongside heavy attrition.
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Italian MS boats: trading some speed for seaworthiness
Italy’s CRDA 60-ton MS boats reflected the realization that the very fast MAS design sacrificed too much ability to operate when Mediterranean conditions worsened.