«It was designed as a very innovative ship derived from the Lupo class, featuring optimal balance between weapon systems, dimensions and performances, combined with extraordinary manageability that allows her to maneuver with the precision of a motorboat.» Thus the ITN chief of staff, Rear Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi, described ITS Maestrale during the ceremony held at La Spezia to celebrate the last flag lowering of the Italian frigate, one of the most active in the recent history of our Navy, to be laid in ordinary after almost 35 years of service.
The decommissioning of ITS Maestrale, first of eight sister units of the same class (also known as "Classe Venti"), is part of an overall renovation program of our Armed Force's fleet.
Between last October and November, the unit has carried out her last campaign, calling the main ports in our Country to bid her last farewell and to make aware the general public, especially the young, on seafaring, its culture, and the protection of the marine environment, while promoting fund raising for Telethon, a leading Italian charity organization investing in the research of rare genetic diseases.
All the crew members and the commanding officer, Commander Giuseppe Rizzi, were deeply moved when the combat flag of the unit was delivered into the hands of our Chief of Staff, to be put at the Flags Memorial, the Vittoriano in Rome.
During his speech, Rear Admiral De Giorgi highlighted "How important it is to be aware of Italy's maritime vocation for security and prosperity," also reminding that ITS Maestrale must be replaced together with 50 other units that will be also laid in ordinary in the next 10 years.
«Our Nation's security and prosperity depend solely on the sea. Italy's merchant fleet is one of the largest in the world; the Mediterranean is the route used for over 85% of the fuels sent to Italy and a vast majority of goods manufactured in our country for export.» For this reason in Italy it is paramount a Navy able to interconnect with the other Mediterraenan navies from a position of leadership.
During her long life, ITS Maestrale has sailed nearly 600,000 miles in 42,395 hours, equal to circumnavigating the globe 15 times passing by the equator. Frigate Maestrale was launched on February 2, 1981 at the Riva Trigoso Cantieri Navali Riuniti, Genoa, and delivered to the Italian Navy on February 18, 1982. In March the same year, starts operating with the 1st Naval Division and receives her combat flag form the Florence based Associazione Marinai d'Italia.
Following a period of trials, the unit is "fit for missions" and, from 1984, engages in intense national and NATO training activities, while carrying out several summer campaigns to herald Italy's culture and shipbuilding industry abroad.
After the Gulf War, in April 1991, the unit takes part in her first international mission and is deployed for 5 months to support Italian minehunters engaged is clearing the waters mined by the Iraqi Armed Forces to block Kuwait ports to Western oil tankers. She then was in the Adriatic Sea on three different occasions to implement the UN embargo on former Yugoslavia. The late 90's are characterized by political instability in the Balkans, and increased migration flows in the Strait of Otranto, a region regularly patrolled by ITS Maestrale. The attacks to the Twin Towers mark the beginning for the Italian Navy too, of the fight to international terrorism. From January to June 2002, ITSs Maestrale and Durand De la Penne are deployed to the Arabian Sea, with the US led mission Enduring Freedom. In April the following year, the unit is assigned to STANAVFORMED (STAnding NAVal FORce MEDiterranean), a rapid reaction NATO naval force and, later, to SNMG2 (Standing NATO Maritime Group). In 2009, is the first ITN unit to participate in an anti-piracy mission: EU led Mission Atlanta to patrol and escort merchant cargoes in the Somali basin and the Gulf of Aden during which ITS Maestrale counters an attack carried out by a skiff against an Italian cargo seizing 9 pirates. From October 2013 March 2014, participated on 5 different occasions to Operazione Mare Nostrum south and east of Sicily, to protect human lives at sea and contrast illegal human trafficking, where she contributed in many SaR operations on boats full of migrants and saving thousands of lives.
Its Maestrale has been an extraordinary example of the Made in Italy efficiency and technological avant-garde, featuring exceptional propulsive capacity (ODOG COmbined Diesel Or Gas), can reach a 30 knots top speed, totaling 50,000 hp; advanced weapon systems and a very sophisticated integrated (conventional and satellite) communication apparatus. The unit can host up to 2 AB 212 helicopters.
For all this, and more, ITS Maestrale can be considered an excellence of the Italian shipbuilding industry, being decommissioned only to be replaced by new ships able to guarantee the defence of the country given the new emergencies and threats that are jeopardizing the global geopolitical stability.
At the end of his speech, the Italian Chief of Staff has addressed the men and women of the Italian Navy: «My wish to you all is to be able to sail onboard ships worthy of your skills, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, ships that live up to what the Maestrale has achieved and to whatever tasks the Nation will give.»
Thank you Maestrale. Thanks for all you have done for our country.
15 dicembre 2015 Emanuele Bianchi –
Upd 17 December 2016 -
COC
