Sunday 11 June 2017 the European Multi Mission Frigate (FREMM) Carabiniere, moored in the port of Civitavecchia, commemorated the 60 Anniversary of the world tour performed by the light Cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli, which in the last years of its operational life was also a Navy training ship, which remained in service until 1964.
Il Montecuccoli, under the command of the then vessel captain Gino Birindelli, touched 34 ports on four continents, covering a total of 33.000 miles in 182 days of Campaign. The circumnavigation of the world, carried out from 1 September 1956 to 1 March 1957, with the Vikings Course of the Naval Academy on board, was not initially planned. In fact, the return from Australia, where he had played a representative role at the Melbourne Olympics, had been planned through South-East Asia and the Indian Ocean, but due to the Suez Canal crisis he continued heading east towards the Pacific and the Atlantic, passing through the Panama Canal to return to Italy.
The commemoration was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Navy, team admiral Valter Girardelli who highlighted how Nave Carabiniere share with the cruiser Montecuccoli not only the habit of working in distant waters but also the characteristic of representing, each for its own age, a moment of operational and technological excellence of which not only the Navy but the entire Country System must be proud. The Montecuccoli, in fact, it represented, in the 30 years of the last century, a qualitative leap in Italian shipbuilding.
Among the speakers, Rear Admiral Ramoino, author of a historical overview of the campaign of Montecuccoli, Admiral Angelo Mariani, embarked as midshipman during the world tour together with Commander Garello, narrator of the course who, through the flow of photos, told the salient events of those days, in the presence of many veterans of the campaign.
"Memories are the heritage of the Navy, therefore praise to those who keep them and make them alive, allowing them to commemorate and celebrate such events. The future is built on the present, relying on past events"commented Admiral La Rosa.
To conclude the ceremony, the words of the frigate captain Francesco Pagnotta, commander of the ship Carabiniere, just back from a similar campaign in South East Asia and Australia: "Commanding a ship is a great honor, embarking on such a campaign under the command of a FREMM is unforgettable. Like the Montecuccoli 60 years ago, I am convinced that Nave Carabiniere was the bearer of the excellence of the made in Italy, of the professionalism and of the seafaring tradition that sets us apart".
In a historical continuum that inextricably binds our country to the sea, today as then the Navy ships play a fundamental role in guaranteeing their safety, free trade and use, but they also carry a piece of Italy around the world and are ambassadors. of the culture, traditions and excellence of the country.
