Intended for clandestine attacks on vessels at anchor, and copied from the Italian Pigs - which successfully attacked Alexandria in 1941 - the Chariot was not a torpedo but an electric vehicle manned by a crew of two equipped with breathing tanks, who sat externally, and attempted to attach their bow warhead on to the hull of an enemy vessel. The freezing Norwegian waters incapacitated the operators because they were so exposed, and the most decisive results were achieved in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean.
The most notable successes of the Chariots were the sinking of three Italian cruisers: Ulpio Traiano at Palermo on 3rd January, 1943; Bolzano at La Spezia on 21st June, 1944; and Gorizia at
