Italian Navy

Italian Navy
Marina Militare
CoA Marina Militare Italiana.svg

Coat of Arms of the Italian Navy
Active 1946 - Present
(as Regia Marina 17 March 1861 - 1946)
Country Italy
Branch Navy
Type Navy
Size 35,200 active personnel

85 commissioned ships, 123 aircraft
Motto Italian: Patria e Onore
"Country and Honour"
Anniversaries June 10 - Sinking of the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István by Luigi Rizzo
Commanders
Capo di Stato Maggiore della Marina Ammiraglio di Squadra
Paolo La Rosa
Sottocapo di Stato Maggiore della Marina Ammiraglio di Squadra
Luigi Binelli Mantelli

The Italian Navy (Marina Militare) is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). As of 2008, the Italian Navy has 35,200 active personnel with 85 commissioned ships and 123 aircraft.

Contents

Ensign

Jack of the Italian Navy.

The ensign of the Italian Navy is the Italian tricolour defaced with the coat of arms of the Marina Militare. The quarters refer to the four Medieval Italian Thalassocracies, or "Maritime Republics" (Italian: Repubbliche Marinare):

The shield has a golden crown, that distinguish military vessels from merchant: the crown, "Corona rostrata", was proposed in 1939 by Admiral Domenico Cavagnari to the Government, as an acknowledge of the Italian Navy's origin since the Roman times. In the proposal, Adm. Cavagnari wrote that "in order to recall the common origin [of the Navy] from the Roman sailorship, the Insignia will be surmounted by the towered Crown with rostrums, the emblem of honour and valour the Roman Senate awarded to the leaders of naval victories, conquerors of lands and cities across the seas".

A further difference is that St. Mark's lion, symbolising the Republic of Venice, is holding the gospel in its paw closed (on the civil ensign it is open at the words "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus", meaning "Peace to you Mark, my Evangelist") and is instead wielding a sword.

History

The Regia Marina was formed on 17 March 1861, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy; it assumed its present name after the Italian monarchy was abolished following a popular referendum held on 2 June 1946.

After World War II

The aircraft carrier Aquila, damaged by Allies bombing in 1943.

At the end of its five years involvement in World War II, Italy was a devastated nation. After the end of hostilities the Regia Marina, which at the beginning of the war was the fourth largest navy in the world with a mix of modernised and new battleships, started a long and complex rebuilding process. The important combat contributions of the Italian naval forces after the signing of the armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943 and the subsequent cooperation agreement on 23 September 1943 left the Regia Marina in a poor condition, with much of its infrastructure and bases unusable and its ports mined and blocked by sunken ships. However, a large number of its naval units had survived the war, albeit in a low efficiency state, which was due to the conflict and the age of many vessels. The vessels that remained were:

The peace Treaty

The Peace Treaty signed on February 10, 1947 in Paris was onerous for Regia Marina. Apart from territorial and material losses, also the following restrictions were imposed:

The treaty also ordered Italy to put the following ships at the disposals of the victorious nations United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, Greece, Yugoslavia and Albania as war compensation:

The total displacement, battleships excluded, of the future navy was not allowed to be greater than 67,500 tons, while the staff was capped at 25,000 men.

The entry into NATO

La Spezia, 1951: RM Aquila just before being scrapped.

Great changes in the international political situation which were developing into the Cold War convinced the United Kingdom and United States to discontinue the transfer of Italy's capital ships as war reparations. Some had already been dismantled in La Spezia between 1948 and 1955, including the flagship aircraft carrier "Aquila". The Soviet Union, however, demanded the surrender of the warship "Giulio Cesare" and other naval units designated for transfer. The cruisers "Attilio Regolo" and "Scipione Africano" became the French "Chateaurenault" and "Guichen", while the "Eugenio di Savoia" became the Greek "Helli". After break up and/or transfers, only a small part of the fleet remained to be recommissioned into the Marina.

As Western attention turned to the Soviets and the Mediterranean Sea, Italian seas became one of the main sites of confrontation between the two superpowers, contributing to the re-emergence of Italy’s naval importance thanks to her strategic geographical position.

With the new elections in 1946, the Kingdom of Italy became a Republic, and the Regia Marina took the name of Marina Militare (Military Navy). As the Marshall Plan began to rebuild Italy and Europe was rapidly being divided into two geo-politically antagonistic blocs, Italy began talks with the United States to guarantee adequate security considerations. The government in Washington, wished to keep its own installations on the Italian Peninsula and relaxed the Treaty restrictions by including Italy in the Mutual Defense Assistance Programme (MDAP).

The Italian navy is often involved in combined NATO operations: here Marina Militare ships Maestrale and Durand de la Penne open and close this 5-nations fleet in the Oman sea.

On 4 April 1949, Italy joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and in order for the navy to contribute actively in the organization, the Treaty restrictions were definitively repealed by the end of 1951, with the consent of all of Western nations.

Within NATO, the Marina Militare was assigned the control of the Adriatic Sea and Strait of Otranto, as well as the defence of the naval routes through the Tyrrhenian Sea. To ensure these tasks a "Studio sul potenziamento della Marina italiana in relazione al Patto Atlantico" (Study about the Development of the Italian navy with reference to the Atlantic Pact) was undertaken, which researched the structures and the methods for the development of the Marina Militare.

This solution required a great economic effort to rebuild and transform the fleet; it also required aid from the United States to reach the necessary standards. Progress was slow due to economic pressures on Italy due to post-war rebuilding and some European governments who were concerned at seeing an Italian Navy capable of rivaling the Western naval forces imposed political obstacles to prevent Italian naval development.

Present Day Marina Militare

The new Cavour aircraft carrier.

Today's Marina Militare is a modern navy with ships of every type, such as:

The fleet is in continuous evolution; the Marina Militare is now equipping herself with a bigger aircraft carrier (the Cavour), new destroyers, submarines and multipurpose frigates. In modern times, the Marina Militare, being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations. The "Marina Militare" maintains the San Marco Regiment who serve as the marines of the Italian navy.

Structure and organization

Structure

Marina Militare is divided into six corps:

Organization

For the Italian Navy rank structure see: Italian Navy ranks.

Ships

Training ship Amerigo Vespucci

Fleet composition

Aircraft carriers (2)

Amphibious transport dock (3)

Destroyers (4)

Frigates (8)

Light Patrol Frigates (4)

Corvettes (8)

OPV & Patrol boats (14)

Mine Counter-Measure Vessels (12)

Submarines (6)

Launch ceremony of the new Salvatore Todaro submarine

Auxiliaries (22)

Other (2)

Decommissioned Ships

Submarine Evangelista Torricelli (S-512), former USS Lizardfish (SS-373).

Under Construction (10)

Planned (10)

Aircraft

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service[1]
Agusta-Bell 212  Italy ASW/ASuW helicopter AB-212ASW 25
Utility helicopter AB-212ASH 6
Agusta-Sikorsky ASH-3D Sea King  Italy ASW/ASuW helicopter ASH-3DASW 8
Amphibious support helicopter ASH-3DASH 8
AgustaWestland EH101  Italy ASW/ASuW helicopter 110-ASW 8
Amphibious support helicopter 410-ASH 4
Tactical transport helicopter 410-TTH 4
Airborne early warning 112-AEW 4
Boeing AV-8B Harrier II  United States Ground-attack aircraft AV-8B 15
Trainer aircraft TAV-8B 2

References

  1. ↑ "The Military Balance 2010", page 143. International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2010-02-03.

External links

Italian Armed Forces

CoA Esercito Italiano.svg Esercito Italiano (Army)      CoA Marina Militare Italiana.svg Marina Militare (Navy)      Coat of arms of the Italian Air Force.svg Aeronautica Militare (Air Force)      Coat of arms of the Carabinieri.svg Carabinieri (Gendarmerie)
Ship classes of the Marina Militare
Aircraft Carriers

Cavour · Giuseppe Garibaldi

 CoA Marina Militare Italiana.svg
Destroyers

Durand de la Penne · Orizzonte
Amphibious transport docks

San Giorgio
Frigates and Corvettes

Artigliere · Maestrale · Minerva · Rinascimento
Submarines

Sauro III · Sauro IV · Todaro
Auxiliary ships

various - please add