The Italian Navy (Italian: Marina Militare, lit. 'Military Navy'; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) after World War II. As of August 2014[update], the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel, with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.[2][3][4]
History
Before and during World War II
The Regia Marina was formed on 17 March 1861, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.[5] The Italian Navy assumed its present name after the Italian monarchy was abolished following a popular referendum held on 2 June 1946.
After World War II
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 signed on 10 February 1947 in Paris was onerous for Regia Marina. Apart from territorial and material losses, also the following restrictions were imposed:
A ban on owning, building or experimenting with atomic weapons, self-propulsion projectiles or relative launchers, etc.
A ban on owning battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines and amphibious assault units.
Aircraft carrier Aquila just before being scrapped in La Spezia, 1951
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:
5 cruisers: Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, Attilio Regolo, Scipione Africano, Eugenio di Savoia and Eritrea;
7 destroyers, 5 of the Soldati class and Augusto Riboty and Alfredo Oriani;
6 minesweepers: like Aliseo and Fortunale;
8 submarines: 3 of the Acciaio class;
1 sailing school ship: Cristoforo Colombo.
The entry into NATO
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 aircraft carrier Aquila. However, the Soviet Union demanded the surrender of the battleship Giulio Cesare and other naval units designated for transfer. The cruisersAttilio Regolo and Scipione Africano became the French Chateaurenault and Guichen, while Eugenio di Savoia became the Greek Elli. After break up and 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 (lit.'Military Navy'). As the Marshall Plan began to rebuild Italy and Europe was rapidly being divided into two geopolitically antagonistic blocs, Italy began talks with the United States to guarantee adequate security considerations. The US 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). On 4 April 1949, Italy joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (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 Italian Navy was assigned combat 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 on 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 navy.
Naval ensign
Naval ensign of Italy
The ensign of the Italian Navy is the flag of Italy bearing the coat of arms of the Italian Navy. The shield's quarters refer to the four Medieval Italian Maritime Republics:
The coat of arms is surmounted by a golden crown, which distinguishes military vessels from those of the merchant navy.
The crown, corona rostrata, was proposed in 1939 as a conjectural link to the Roman navy by Admiral Domenico Cavagnari, then a member of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations in the Fascist government. In the proposal, Adm. Cavagnari wrote that "in order to recall the common origin [of the Navy] from the Roman mariners, the Insignia will be surmounted by the towered Crown with rostra, 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, does not hold the gospel in its paw (as it does on the civil ensign, where the book is open at the words "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus", meaning "peace to you, Mark, my evangelist") and is wielding a sword instead: such an image is consistent with the pictorial tradition from Venetian history, in which the book is shown open during peacetime and closed during wartime.
Structure and organisation
Organization
In 2012 the Navy began a restructuring process that will see a 21% decrease in personnel by 2025. A new structure was implemented in January 2014.[6]
2 x Bergamini-class general purpose (Enhanced, with ASW capabilities) frigates, being built to replace two vessels from the Italian FREMM-class build program that were transferred to Egypt in 2020 and 2021; delivery is anticipated in the 2025–26 period.[17]
The 2014 Naval Act allocated €5.4 billion for the following vessels:[18]
1 x Triestelanding helicopter dock (L9890), for commissioning in 2024 (with four landing craft Vittoria LC23[19] and two combat boat Baglietto MNI15)[20] to replace the light carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi
The 2018 budget allocated about €1 billion for:[24]
2 x U212NFSattack submarines, for commissioning in 2027–2029.[25] In December 2022, an amended contract was signed for production of a third NFS Submarine based on the design of the previous two submarines. The third Submarine (NFS 3) is planned to be delivered at the end of 2030, while a contract for the fourth boat was signed in 2024.[26][27]
The "Documento Programmatico Pluriennale 2021–2023" funds the following ships:[28]
^"Rapporto Marina Militare 2023" (PDF). www.marina.difesa.it (in Italian).
^Todd, Daniel; Lindberg, Michael (May 14, 1996). Navies and Shipbuilding Industries: The Strained Symbiosis. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275953102. Retrieved May 14, 2018 – via Google Books.
^Till, Geoffrey (August 2, 2004). Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century. London: Routledge. pp. 113–120. ISBN 9781135756789. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
^Coffey, Joseph I. (1989). The Atlantic Alliance and the Middle East. United States: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780822911548. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
^"151° anniversario della Marina Militare all'insegna della solidarietà e della sobrietà" (in Italian). Ministero della Difesa Marina Militare. June 6, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
^"Organizzazione". Italian Navy. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
^"Marina, Squadra Navale: De Carolis nuovo Comandante in capo". December 17, 2021.
^Ammiraglio di Squadra Antonio Natale Retrieved 8 March 2023
^"Comandante del Comando Logistico della Marina Militare - Marina Militare". www.marina.difesa.it.
^"Il Comandante – Marina Militare". marina.difesa.it. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Comandante del Comando Marittimo Sud – Marina Militare". marina.difesa.it. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Marina Militare, cambio al vertice Le foto". tarantobuonasera.it. Retrieved May 14, 2018.[permanent dead link]
^"Augusta, Cambia Il Vertice del Comando Marittimo Sicilia: De Felice Prende Il Posto di Camerini | Siracusa News". Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
^"Coast Guard – Port Authorities". Italian Navy. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
^"The Fleet – Marina Militare". marina.difesa.it. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^ a b"New ships, submarines and weapon systems for Italian Navy". Naval News. November 23, 2020.
^"Naval Program 2014". Marina Militare. Ministero Della Difensa. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Ecco i nuovi LC23" [Here are the new LC23s]. Portale Difesa (in Italian). Archived from the original on June 27, 2020.
^"Baglietto Navy si aggiudica la commessa di 2 pattugliatori FFC per la Marina Militare Italiana" [Baglietto Navy wins the order for 2 FFC patrol boats for the Italian Navy] (in Italian). Baglietto Navy. May 21, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
^ a b c d e f g h i j"Linee di indirizzo strategico 2019–2034" (PDF). Marina Militare. Stato Maggiore della Marina. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
^"Fincantieri – Logistic Support Ships". fincantieri.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Fincantieri – Hydrographic Survey Vessel". fincantieri.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Pinotti: "L'Italia avrà altri due sommergibili"" [Pinotti: «Italy will have two more submarines»]. The Medi Telegraph (in Italian). Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
^"Italy's U212NFS Near Future Submarine Contract Signed". Naval News. February 26, 2021.
^Kington, Tom (June 28, 2024). "Italy signs deal for final submarine in four-strong U-212 NFS series". Defense News.
^"Difesa: Approvato il Documento Programmatico Pluriennale 2021–2023" [Defense: The 2021-2023 Multi-Year Programme Document has been approved]. Forze Armate.org (in Italian). August 5, 2021.
^Peruzzi, Luca (November 20, 2023). "Italian MoD's Defence Planning Document 2023-2025: New Naval And Joint Programs". Naval News. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
^Tringham, Kate (August 3, 2023). "Orizzonte Sistemi Navali receives contract for new Italian Navy OPVs". Janes.
^Peruzzi, Luca (November 20, 2023). "Italian MoD's Defence Planning Document 2023–2025: New Naval And Joint Programs". Naval News. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
^"Italian Navy orders 36 Amphibious Armoured Vehicles". Naval News. January 11, 2023.
^"Ufficiali Ammiragli". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^"Ufficiali Superiori". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^"Ufficiali Inferiori". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^"Sottufficiali". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^"LEGGE 5 agosto 2022, n. 119" [Law 5 August 2022, n. 119] (in Italian). Archived from the original on May 24, 2024.
External links
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