The operational life of Nave Antonio Marceglia begins

(To Marina Militare)
17/04/19

On April 16, 2019, the handover ceremony of the ship to the Navy took place at the Fincantieri del Muggiano shipyard. Antonio Marceglia, eighth unit of the European Multi Mission Frigate program (FREMM).

Among the civil and military authorities present, the representatives of Fincantieri and Orizzonte Sistemi navali (OSN), the engineer Angelo Fusco and the doctor Giacomo Sardina took part; the FREMM program manager of the Joint Armament Cooperation Organization (OCCAR) Mr. Giovanni Sorrentino; the president of the Commission of Testing and Acceptance and Logistics Commander of the Navy, the team admiral Eduardo Serra and the director of naval armaments, admiral chief inspector Matteo Bisceglia. Topical moment of the ceremony, which sanctioned for Nave Marceglia the end of the preparations and the beginning of operational life, was the flag change, phase in which the flag of the Merchant Navy was lowered and that of the Navy was raised to shore under the orders of the frigate captain Francesco Fagnani, first commander of the ship .

The unit is named after the lieutenant colonel of the naval genius Antonio Marceglia, decorated during his lifetime with the Gold Medal for Military Valor for the company in Alexandria in Egypt, the silver one and the War Cross for the missions carried out in Gibraltar.

The frigate, launched on 3 February 2018 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso (GE), is characterized by high flexibility of use in various operational contexts, with 144 meters in length and 6900 tons of displacement at full load, it is the fourth FREMM in General Purpose (GP) configuration.

In this version, the most important peculiarities concern the presence of the 127/64 caliber bow gun and the presence of an aft sled necessary for launching fast dinghies.

The FREMMs are and will be the backbone of the Navy for the coming decades and are designed to carry out a variety of tasks in a totally integrated and efficient way, which is why, all the authorities intervened underlined, "they represent the best type of ship that plies the seas of the world, avant-garde shipbuilding and a strong ability to fulfill any type of mission "from the defense and control of national borders to the support of the community. In this context, the work of the New Naval Construction Equipment Center continues.

The daily supervision work during the preparation phases and the constant training of the staff manages to provide, as happened today for Nave Antonio Marceglia, a prepared and ready crew, in full synergy with the Navy Logistics Command which, through its precious support, ensures the Navy and the naval team the entry in line of the new Units ready to be used immediately in the performance of their duties.

Photo: OCCAR