From 28 May to 15 June Ship Andrea Doria has integrated into the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) English to participate in the escort of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. The activity started at the end of the exercise 2021 Steadfast Defender in the Atlantic Ocean to end after 19 days in the Mediterranean.
During the ship aggregation period Doria it was and will remain the only external asset to CSG to participate in the escort of the aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean period of the British deployment. The Italian unit carried out training activities and operations with the British group. During the interactions, the landing on the Queen Elizabeth of an Italian helicopter and the exercise between the national F-35Bs with the British ones, the latter, moreover, for the first time, tactically controlled by the Doria. Of the various transits made with the group, the one of the Strait of Messina was particularly exciting with the Italian unit that opened the line by sailing at the head of the line-up.
Aggregation with the aircraft carrier group Queen Elizabeth allowed Nave Doria to fully integrate with the British naval forces, increasing interoperability in terms of systems and procedures.
The experience lived by the destroyer of the Navy allowed to share also the strategic value of the British initiative. In fact, the British deployment follows the idea developed by US President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 with the "Great White Fleet". After the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1906 at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese blamed America, the mediator of the treaty, for not having granted them the claimed territories. Roosevelt worried about a possible conflict and having only a few ships in the Pacific, determined to prove to the whole world, including the Japanese, that their navy was capable of moving large contingents of ships from one part of the globe to another, ordered to a group of 16 ships, white in color, to embark on a voyage around the world.
The action still represents one of the greatest examples of naval diplomacy of history. The result was fully achieved both in terms of deterrence and for the development of diplomatic relations obtained. When the fleet arrived, the Japanese themselves welcomed it in the best possible way by organizing meetings with the top officials of the country and guaranteeing a warm welcome to the crews.
During its presence in the Mediterranean, the naval group expressed British diplomatic action both in the choice of transit routes and in the definition of the ports in which hospitality was requested for the aircraft carrier and for the escort units. Italy played a key role in the first phase of the British deployment in the Mediterranean, welcoming the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the port of Augusta, where important diplomatic meetings were held. This confirms the central role of our country and the Italian Navy in the geopolitical scenario of the Mediterranean, "Mare Nostrum".
