Italian Navy

Italian Navy
Marina Militare
Coat of arms of the Italian Navy, displaying the coats of arms of former Italian maritime republics (clockwise from top left: Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi)
Founded1861 as Regia Marina (official)
1946 as Marina Militare
Country Italy
TypeNavy
RoleNaval warfare
Size29,300 personnel
184 vessels (incl. minor auxiliaries)
70 aircraft[1]
Part ofItalian Armed Forces
Motto(s)Italian: Patria e Onore
"Motherland and Honour"
MarchLa Ritirata (ritirata is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a leave) by Tommaso Mario
Anniversaries10 June – Sinking of the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István by Luigi Rizzo
Decorations1 Cavalier Cross of the Military Order of Savoy
3 Cavalier's Crosses of the Military Order of Italy
2 Gold Medals of Military Valor
1 Silver Medal of Military Valor
1 Gold Medal for Merited Public Honor
Commanders
Chief of Staff of the Italian NavyAmmiraglio di squadra
Enrico Credendino
Deputy Chief of Naval StaffAmmiraglio di squadra
Claudio Gaudiosi
Insignia
Roundels
Ensign
Jack

The Italian Navy (Italian: Marina Militare, lit.'Military Navy'; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) after World War II. As of August 2014, the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel, with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ "Rapporto Marina Militare 2023" (PDF). www.marina.difesa.it (in Italian).
  2. ^ Todd, Daniel; Lindberg, Michael (May 14, 1996). Navies and Shipbuilding Industries: The Strained Symbiosis. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275953102. Retrieved May 14, 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Till, Geoffrey (August 2, 2004). Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century. London: Routledge. pp. 113–120. ISBN 9781135756789. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  4. ^ Coffey, Joseph I. (1989). The Atlantic Alliance and the Middle East. United States: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780822911548. Retrieved November 30, 2015.