Vespucci Ship: interview with Commander Roberto Recchia

(To Anita Fiaschetti)
01/11/17

Despite her eighty-six years, Nave Vespucci continues to trace the national and international waters with that elegance and majesty that have always distinguished it. It will be for that motto "Not who begins but what persists"It will be for that combination of tradition and innovation, it will be the first time any sailor will be for these and for many other reasons to talk to who has just been able to see her or even more to live it and command her emotionally and make proud of being Italian.

The captain of the vessel Roberto Recchia is the new commander of Nave Vespucci. The passage of deliveries with the captain of vessel Angelo Patruno, his predecessor to the command, took place last October 4 in Civitavecchia. And we Online Defense wanted to know it better.

From formal first class student to Naval Academy to Navy Commander Vespucci: what is your career career in the Navy?

My career started just aboard this student ship, like all Navy officers. After graduating I got several specializations, including the diver's patent to the COMSUBIN (Dive Command and Incursori) and the one in Counter Measures. These have directed my career and my naval commands on this type of ships, such as the Vieste hunting and Nave Anteo, the submarine support and incursors of the COMSUBIN. Among these commands are many other activities including several overseas assignments in NATO and European Union.

What do you try to be at the command of "The Most Beautiful Ship in the World"?

Twenty-one years ago I was on board Vespucci as a student of the first class of the Livorno Academy. After that I did not have the opportunity to climb, neither as a sailor nor as a simple visitor.

Returning to the bridges of this commanding unit has been a very strong emotion, I feel I am privileged to have the honor of commanding a ship so important to the Navy and so much loved by the people. What I would not have imagined was that these strong emotions here are daily and the result of the ship's activities.

An outreach campaign beyond what students and students have experienced Vespucci from April to September last year in North America. What track has left this experience on the crew?

When I arrived on board I found a crew trained, motivated, strong, cohesive. I was embarrassed that such a long and challenging campaign made the crew fatigued.

Instead, I have demonstrated from now that the crew loves madness this ship, has a strong sense of belonging and lives with great honor the privilege of being part of the crew of the most beautiful ship in the world. In fact, we are completing the Post Campaign, the periple of Italy, without any hesitation, despite the high level institutional commitments that have seen us in Venice.

Just to give the idea I quote the first informal meeting between the G7 of the Marine, USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, equivalent to the G7 of the heads of government. 
In addition to this in Venice we have hosted many other institutional events and welcomed aboard over 15.000 visitors, as well as the approximately 12.000 for registered port in just two days respectively in Trieste and Taranto respectively. All due to the immense work the crew did.

One of the things that most amazes about this 'Lady of the Seas' is the love that arouses in people both in Italy and abroad. In Canada and the United States, many Italian communities abroad have been able to touch a piece of Italy that did not cross the ocean to the American coast from 16 years!

The next stop of Nave Vespucci will be in La Maddalena. What are the goals of this all Italian navigation?

After Livorno, Vespucci stopped in Civitavecchia, Castellammare di Stabia, Chioggia, Venice, Trieste and Taranto and the next will be at La Maddalena before returning to La Spezia in the first decade of November. This year's post campaign, as well as the pre-campaign of 2016, has the job of giving the Italians the opportunity to see and experience this Italian excellence with their hands. The education of students of the first class of the Livorno Academy takes place mainly abroad, because it is part of the basic training of a Marina officer in contact with the institutions and the navies of foreign countries. Italian stops are always characterized by a continuous influx of people who do not miss the chance to visit this beautiful sailing ship. Equally important are the institutional and representative activities carried out on board the ship, such as the press conference held by Defense Services and the Demanio Agency in Civitavecchia, in the presence of Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti.

The November 6 is scheduled to return to La Spezia. How will the 2018 be for Ship Vespucci and for Commander Recchia?

Meanwhile, the return to La Spezia scheduled for the first week of November marks the well-deserved rest for the crew, which will, however, have to contribute to the maintenance work already planned for the ship during the coming winter. The 2018 will feature a new education campaign for Nave Amerigo Vespucci, whose ports are still unknown, but I have no doubt that it will be a major campaign for both ship and student and crew. And it will also be for me that, as a commander, I will have the privilege and honor to lead the 'Lady of the Maries' around the world with the extraordinary human capital that brings with it.