Tuesday - The first two "SVAN da 12 ton" motorboats (built according to a project by the Venice-based Venetian Automobile Company), called MAS 1 and MAS 2, part of an initial batch of ten units, subjected to pre-series contract tests they gave unsatisfactory results, above all because of the limited speed, they will be transformed into gunboats.
The project is then revised and submitted to the appropriate modifications to meet the specifications established by the Navy.
[MAS: initially the abbreviation Motobarca armed SVAN to express the intimate relationship with the manufacturer, then Motobarca anti submarine (later better and mutually elevated to the rank of Motoscafo), in reference to the initial concept of a traffic protection vehicle , to then change into a torpedo-equipped powerboat with clear reference to the concept of offensive self-propelled vehicle equipped with torpedoes.]
The first armed train to defend the Adriatic coast goes into service against the attacks of Austro-Hungarian ships and planes; set up at the Arsenale di Spezia, it is destined for the Cervia-Pesaro section, based in Rimini. Composed of an operative convoy and a logistic convoy, it is commanded by the Lieutenant of vessel Giuseppe Castracane.
The new military vehicle, wanted by the Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Thaon of Revel, is ready to move along the stretch of coast assigned to him to counteract and repel enemy attacks. Armed with anti-aircraft and anti-ship naval artillery, conducted by crews of sailors who lived on the train, these "modified" trains were called "warships on rails".
