Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox military unit

The Italian Navy (Template:Langx; 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. Template:As of, 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Coffey>Template:Cite book</ref>

HistoryEdit

Before and during World War IIEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Regia Marina was formed on 17 March 1861, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 IIEdit

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:

  • 5 battleships
  • 10 cruisers
  • 10 destroyers
  • 20 frigates
  • 20 corvettes
  • 50 fast coastal patrol units
  • 50 minesweepers
  • 19 amphibious operations vessels
  • 5 school ships
  • 1 support ship and plane transport

The peace treatyEdit

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.
  • A ban on operating military installations on the islands of Pantelleria, Pianosa and on the archipelago of the Pelagie Islands.
File:CV Aquila LaSpezia Jun51 NAN5-63.jpg
Aircraft carrier Template:Ship 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:

  • 3 battleships: Giulio Cesare, Italia, Vittorio Veneto;
  • 5 cruisers: Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, Attilio Regolo, Scipione Africano, Eugenio di Savoia and Eritrea;
  • 7 destroyers, 5 of the Template:Sclass2 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 NATOEdit

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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 Template:Ship. However, the Soviet Union demanded the surrender of the battleship Giulio Cesare and other naval units designated for transfer. The cruisers Attilio Regolo and Scipione Africano became the French Chateaurenault and Guichen, while Template:Ship 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 (Template:Literally). 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (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 ensignEdit

File:Naval Ensign of Italy.svg
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, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 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 "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", 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 organisationEdit

OrganizationEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

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.<ref name="NavyOrg">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Position Italian title Rank Incumbent
Chief of Staff of the Navy lang}} Vice Admiral Enrico Credendino
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy lang}} Vice Admiral citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Commander in Chief Naval Fleet lang}} (CINCNAV) Vice Admiral Aurelio De Carolis
Commander Schools Command lang}} (MARICOMSCUOLE) Vice Admiral Antonio Natale<ref>Ammiraglio di Squadra Antonio Natale Retrieved 8 March 2023</ref>
Commander Logistics Command lang}} (MARICOMLOG) Vice Admiral citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Commander Maritime Command North
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (MARINANORD) Rear Admiral Giorgio Lazio<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Commander Maritime Command South
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (MARINASUD) Rear Admiral Eduardo Serra<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

CitationClass=web

}}Template:Dead link</ref>

Commander Maritime Command Sicily
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (MARISICILIA) Rear Admiral Nicola De Felice<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Commander Maritime Command Rome
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (MARICAPITALE) Rear Admiral
Raiders and Divers Grouping lang}} (COMSUBIN) Rear Admiral Paolo Pezzuti

Coast GuardEdit

The Corps of the Port Captaincies – Coast Guard ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) is the coast guard of Italy and is part of the Italian Navy under the control of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, as well as the Ministry of Defence. In Italy, it is commonly known as simply the Guardia costiera or Capitaneria di Porto. The Coast Guard has approximately 11,000 staff. <ref name="CG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CorpsEdit

The Italian Navy is divided into six corps (by precedence):

FleetEdit

Command of the Italian Fleet (ships, submarines and amphibious forces) and Naval aviation<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> falls under the Commander in Chief Naval Fleet.

EquipmentEdit

Ships and submarinesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Today's Italian Navy is a modern navy with ships of every type. The fleet is in continuous evolution, and as of today oceangoing fleet units include:

Patrol and littoral warfare units include:

and a varied fleet of auxiliary ships are also in service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The flagship of the fleet is the carrier Cavour.

AircraftEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also The Italian Navy operates a diverse fleet of aircraft including fixed-wing, rotary and UAVs.

FutureEdit

  • Bergamini-class GP-enhanced (GP-e, General Purpose with Anti-Submarine Warfare 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.<ref name="navalnews1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Bergamini-class EVO (ASW) frigates; delivery is anticipated in the 2029–30 period.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The 2014 Naval Act allocated €5.4 billion for the following vessels:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The 2017 budget allocated €12.8 billion (2017–2032 years) for the following ships:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> to replace the submarine rescue ship Template:Ship

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> to replace the hydrographic survey vessel Template:Ship

  • 12× minehunters to replace the Lerici and Gaeta-class minehunters:<ref name="LDIS"/>
    • 8× Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri (CNG-C, New Generation Minehunter – Coastal) for homeland security roles (about 800 t and 57 m)
    • 4× Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Altura (CNG-A, New Generation Minehunter – Ocean-going) for expeditionary roles (about 1,300 t and 75–80 m)
  • European Patrol Corvettes in a joint program with France (about 3,200 t)<ref name="LDIS"/>

The 2018 budget allocated about €1 billion for:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The "Documento Programmatico Pluriennale 2021–2023" funds the following ships:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • 1× UBOS, diving support vessel
  • 10× MTC, coastal transport vessels to replace the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclass
  • 4× training vessels
  • MLU Mid-Life Update of the Horizon-class destroyers
  • 3 OPV (FCX-20 variant of Fincantieri's FCX; about 2300 tons) ordered August 2023 + 3 ships in option <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Planned:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

For the Naval Aviation the Navy plans to expand or replace the following assets:<ref name="LDIS"/>

For the San Marco Marine Brigade, the Navy plans to acquire following assets:<ref name="LDIS"/>

  • 72× Iveco SuperAV amphibious 8x8 combat vehicles (36 vehicles ordered December 2022)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • 90× VTMM Orso armored 4x4 vehicles
  • Italy could be interested in the Bayraktar TB3 drone for its aircraft carriers Cavour and Trieste.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rank structureEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Commissioned officer ranksEdit

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Template:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Armed Forces/OF/BlankTemplate:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Navies/OF/Italy

Other ranksEdit

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Template:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Armies/OR/BlankTemplate:Ranks and Insignia of NATO Navies/OR/Italy

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

Template:Notelist

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Italy topics Template:Italian Military Template:Italian Navy Template:Ship classes of the Marina Militare Template:Navies in Europe Template:Allied Maritime Command Template:Authority control