ITS Leonardo (A5301) is a multipurpose unit of the Coastal Research Vessel (CRV) type, deployed to support the NATO NRV Alliance activity within the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), concerning environmental and acoustic research. 

In December 2002, the vessel was delivered to the NURC (NATO Underwater Research Centre), now CMRE,   following an agreement signed with the NATO Allied Commander for Transformation (NATO ACT) and since then she has been manned by Italian Navy personnel.

Equipped with a state-of-the-art equipment designed for oceanic research, ITS Leonardo measures 28.6 meters in length, and features a 337 tons full load displacement. The ship is characterized by a silent propulsion at low speed, a diesel electric propulsion driving the automated tracking and location device (Dynamic Positioning) which includes twin stern azimuthing thrusters and one bow pump jet. The vessel is guided by a Kinematic GPS.

The ship also features a HiPap 500 acoustic tracking and location system connected to the DP device. A considerable inventory of laboratories, equipment and diving facilities, a bow A-frame to operate AUV/ROV, winches and deck handling cranes complete the vessel features. The vessel can also fit a 20 feet - long container to be used by scientific teams for their research work.
Being a low-noise and low-impact vessel, the Leonardo is particularly suitable for operations in sea sanctuaries and maritime protected areas.
Thanks to ITS Leonardo, the Italian Navy can carry out research and experiment activities in the acoustic and environmental fields for Service Organizations, national and foreign universities, as well as Research Centers.

The first vessel named after the great artist and inventor was the Conte di Cavour – class battleship Leonardo da Vinci built in the early 1910s by Odero Shipbuilding, Genoa, according to a design by Naval Engineer General Edoardo Masdea. Home-based in Taranto during WWI, the unit never participated in war actions. In 1916 was sunk by a magazine explosion with the subsequent loss of most of her crew. In 1923 she was sold for scrap.

The second unit named after Leonardo was a Marconi-class submarine successfully operating in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII. Under the command of Lt. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia, the boat was the most successful Italian submarine of the conflict. On May 23, 1943, while returning to Bordeaux from her last patrol, the submarine was sunk by Destroyer HMS Active and the Frigate HMS Ness, west of Cape Finisterre, and lost with all hands. Her Commander, Lieutenant Commander Gazzana Priaroggia, was posthumously awarded the Italian Gold Medal of Military Valor and the German Knight’s Iron Cross.

A third submarine, bearing the same name, was the ex USA Gato-class boat, commissioned in the Italian Navy on January 31, 1955 as Leonardo da Vinci (S-510).

The present ITS Leonardo was funded in 1998, designed by the English architects Burness Corlett and Partners, launched in December 2000 at the McTay Marine Ltd English shipyards and completed in 18 months. The Unit was built according to the American Bureau of Shipping classification and delivered in December 2002. On November 16, 2009, the unit was enrolled in the Italian Public Register of Shipping following an agreement signed with the Allied Commander for Transformation (ACT). Now the vessel flies the Italian flag and her crew is an all Italian one, to obviate the NATO budget cuts.

The Crest

In the lower part of the Crest is the silhouette of the Unit with the optical badge (A 5301). In the center is the emblem of NATO on a blue field, for the unit is part of the NURC. The crest is surrounded by a cable-laid rope; on top is the dubbing “NATO RESEARCH VESSEL” and in the lower part is the name of the Unit. The crest is surmounted by the towered crown with rostra to symbolize honor and valor.