MAS 96

The MAS 96 arrived at the Vittoriale in 1923 and was first anchored in Torre San Marco, then placed in the gardens of the Vittoriale, where it can still be admired today. The acronym MAS stands for anti-submarine motorboat, but d’Annunzio added Memento Audere Semper, meaning “always remember to dare”. In fact, with the MAS 96 the poet-soldier had “dared the unthinkable” being the protagonist, together with Costanzo Ciano and Rizzo, of the exploit remembered as the “Bukar mockery”, a military raid carried out during the night between the 10th and the 11th February 1918.