MAS Boat Book Review

History of the Regia Marina's MAS Boats
1915-1945
by T. Garth Connelly

Reviewed by Martin J Quinn
December 2020

From Connelly Publishing comes a new title, by T Garth Connelly. This book covers the history of Regia Marina's MAS Boats, from 1915 to 1945. Mr Connelly is an author and naval historian, specializing in PT Boats and other similar small craft.

This book - which I believe is a revised edition - covers 153 pages. It's packed with photos and drawings covering the genesis of these boats through both World Wars and into the post-war era.

There are five chapters:

World War One
Operational Usage from 1914 to 1918
The Interwar Years
World War II
The Post-War Years

There is a lot of information in here, but there are some editing errors. For example, the text on page 13 is repeated, verbatim, on page 29. Also, while there is a Chapter 5 (Post-War Years) in the book, the table of contents doesn't reference this chapter. I found that the way the configuration of the boats were laid out was a little confusing, as I kept having to flip back, thinking I had read this information already. I hadn't, but including headers each time the configuration of a new series of boats was listed might have been helpful.

click to
enlarge images

Conclusions:

Editing issues aside, if you are a fan of the Regia Marina's MAS Boats, or building a model of one, you may find this book a useful reference.

This is Connelly Books A History of Regia Marina's MAS Boats, from 1915 to 1945. You can find it online for around $30.00. Thanks to T. Garth Connelly for the review sample.