Before the 1939, the Navy festival was celebrated on December 4, the feast of Saint Barbara, patron of the Armed Forces.
Established the celebratory day and chosen the date 10 June, the festival was celebrated for the first time in the 1939 with solemn ceremonies in all the military maritime squares, on board the Naval Units and inside all work establishments.
Twenty-two thousand sailors flocked to Rome for the occasion, with 150 banners of surface units and 105 of submarines. They paid homage to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and paraded on Via dei Fori Imperiali.
In the 1940 and 1941 years the celebration was characterized by a decidedly minor tone, returning, despite the events of the current war, to solemn tones in the 1942. Temporarily suspended from the 1945 to the 1949, the celebration was reinstated in the 1950 combined with the feast of Santa Barbara on the December 4 date.
Finally, in November of the 1963, also on the particular insistence of the president of the National Association of Sailors of Italy, the then Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Ernesto Giuriati, asked the Minister of Defense to restore the celebratory day to the most significant date of 10 June.
Once the ministerial authorization was obtained, the tradition was definitively revived with the 10 June 1964 celebrations and since then it has not undergone any changes.
Source: Military Navy
