VISITS OF ITALIAN WARSHIPS TO TÜRKIYE
During the last couple months three different Italian warships made visits to Turkish ports. The Italian destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli made a port visit to Istanbul between 3-6 August 2023. ITS San Marco made a port visit in Izmir between 6 and 8 September 2023 as well as the sail training ship ITS Palinuro made a port call in Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris between 4 and 5 September 2023. Defence Turkey magazine was able to visit two of these ships and conduct interviews with their commanding officers. In this article you can find comprehensive information about the ships. Enjoy it.
MIMBELLI
The Italian destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli made a port visit to Istanbul between 3-6 August 2023.
The destroyer is on a cruise through the Central and Eastern Mediterranean for the training of the 2nd Year cadets of the Italian Naval Academy.
According to the Italian Navy, from 24 July to 22 September the 2nd year cadets will have their first experience of boarding a "grey ship". They will support the crew of the destroyer in all training and operational activities, during which the cadets will acquire and deepen the professional skills necessary for future employment as Officers of the Navy.
The Italian Navy has allocated ITS Americo Vespucci the full rigged three masted steel hull training ship and ITS Palinuro a three masted iron hulled barquentine, as training ships, but according to Captain Massimiliano Carrino the cadets need to be on board a regular warship in order to learn the finer details of their craft after they have learned seaman ship sailing on board training ships of the Italian Navy.
And the destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli is a perfect vehicle for this. The ship was laid down in Riva Trigoso on 15 September 1989, launched on 13 April 1991 and subsequently transferred to La Spezia where, on 19 October 1993, it was administratively handed over to the Navy. The official handover ceremony took place in Genoa on 11 December 1993.
The 30-year-old destroyer has the graceful lines of warships from a bygone era. ITS Francesco Mimbelli and her sister ITS Durand De La Penne were intended to provide protection for high value units such as carrier ITS Giusseppe Garribaldi. The ships are heavily armed and can combat against air, surface and submarine threats.
ITS Francesco Mimbelli has one 127mm 54 caliber Oto-Melara, as the main gun for action against surface targets and shore bombardment. There are three 76mm 62 caliber Oto-Melara Super Rapido guns against air targets and for close in protection against incoming missiles.
To combat against airborne threats, the ship has one Mk-13 missile launcher with 40 SM-1 Standard surface to air missiles and one Albatros octuple launcher for Aspide Surface to air missiles. There is place for 16 reloads on board.
For attacking surface targets, the ship was initially fitted with 4 Otomat Mk-2 anti-ship missiles. These missiles have a 210kg warhead and an 180km operational range. For anti-submarine warfare the ship was initially fitted with Milas missiles. These missiles are a variant of the Otomat, carrying a Mu-90 torpedo warhead to a maximum distance of 35 kilometers. None of the Otomat Mk-2or Milas missiles were on board, however.
There are two triple-tube torpedo launchers for Mk-49 or Mu-90 torpedoes. For protection the ship has two manually crewed M2 12,7mm machine guns and two 7,62mm machine guns and two Sclar H decoy launchers.
The ship has two hangars large enough to house two helicopters of the AB-212 or SH-3D type, while the flight deck can accommodate the latest generation EH-101 and NH-90 helicopters.
The ship has 132 cadets on board during this training cruise. The ship originally has accommodation for 380. However, the removal of certain weapon systems such as Otomat Mk2 and Milas missiles and the structural changes made during the recent refit created ample space to house both the crew and the cadets.
Captain Massimiliano Carrino commander of ITS Mimbelli, and Lieutenant Commander Mariano Tortoriello, commander of the 2nd class cadets on board took time to answer our questions.
They explained that in a few weeks’ time the second-year cadets will receive their first rank as officers (Ensign). Therefore, it is important for them to carry-out the complete experience on board a real warship, on a grey ship to get first-hand experience on a warship. This training gives the cadets an opportunity to work on a real warship and to check the reasons why they want to serve in the navy in the first place.
This is why the destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli is embarked on a training cruise with the cadets on board. The cadets are divided into squadrons and each squadron receives lessons regarding the specific duty they must perform.
There are no purpose-built classrooms on board of the destroyer. However, some areas of the ship such as the chart room was modified so the cadets can stay together with the crew and learn from them. Sometimes the hangars or the wardroom, big enough to accommodate large number of cadets, are used as classrooms. The cadets emulate what the crew is regularly doing on a warship.
The decommissioning plans for ITS Mimbelli and her sister ship ITS De Penna and Mimbelli has been cancelled and both ships will continue to serve.
This is the 3rd time Captain Massimiliano CARRINO is serving on board on ITS Francesco Mimbelli. The first time was in 1999 when he was a Lieutenant junior grade. Now he is serving as the commander of the ship. This is his second tour as the commander. For him the ship is like his house and the crew is like a family. He has a special bond and a very deep affection for the ship.
Lieutenant Commander Mariano TORTORIELLO finds it not particularly difficult to work with the young generation as the naval academy has a teaching method that helps the cadets to grow up and to instil in them the values, they need to be a good officer. Therefore, the generations do not matter as much, as the values of the navy remains constant.
Captain Massimiliano Carrino also stated that this port visit to Istanbul, is another occasion to renew the friendship between Italy and Türkiye. “To be able to come and visit Istanbul with my ship is a really big opportunity for us. Italy and Türkiye are big nations, they have also taken into account that for the future it is really important to consolidate their friendship”.
On August 5th the Italian Consulate in Istanbul and Italian Navy organized a reception on board the ship. This year’s cruise started on 24th of July when the ship left Taranto. The first port of call was Istanbul. During the cruise the ship will visit Beirut, Valletta, Alexandria, Haifa, and Rhodes. The cruise was ended on the 22nd of September in Livorno.
SAN MARCO
The second Italian warship to visit Türkiye was the Italian amphibious warship ITS San Marco. The ship made a port visit to Izmir between 6th and 8th September 2023.
ITS San Marco, the third ship to bear this name in the Italian armed forces, was delivered to the Italian Navy on March 18, 1988. Since then, it has been involved in a multitude of operations, showcasing its versatility and reliability. Notable missions include Operation "Albania" (1991-92), Operation "Somalia" (1994-95-96), "Leonte" (2006), "Emergency Libya" (2011), Operation "Ocean Shield" (2013), and Operation "Mare Nostrum" (2013-14). In 2016, the ship played a vital role in transporting resources for Operation "Ippocrate" to Misrata.
The ship is 133,30 meters long and 27 meters wide and has a 5.6-meter draft. The displacement is 8,490 tons fully loaded. The flight deck is 133 meters long and 20.5 meters wide.
The ship has two Fincantieri GMT A 420.12 diesel engines each with 16,800 hp power. The ship has a maximum speed of 21 knots. According to Italian Navy ITS San Marco can sail 11,070 nautical miles at 15 knots.
The ship can carry a battalion of 350 soldiers, between 30 and 36 armoured personnel carriers or 30 medium tanks. There are 2 LCMs in the docking well and 2 LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) on sponsors.
ITS San Marco, along with its counterpart ITS San Giorgio, underwent extensive transformations in the early 2000s. These modifications included the removal of the 76mm gun, relocation of LCVPs from davits to a new sponson, and the lengthening and enlargement of the flight deck. These changes allowed the vessel to accommodate two EH101 and two AB 212 helicopters simultaneously on deck. The work was completed in early 2003 for ITS San Giorgio and in March 2004 for ITS San Marco.
With modernization efforts completed, both ships now feature four landing spots, a stern docking well, two LCVPs on a port side sponson, a 30-ton lift, and two 40-ton traveling cranes for LCMs (Landing Craft, Mechanized). Although the bow doors and beaching capability were removed, these ships have become a critical asset in disaster-stricken regions.
Since ITS San Marco was constructed with funding provided by the Ministry of Interior, she has been specially equipped and modified for disaster relief operations. These enhancements include larger medical facilities, an increased capability to produce potable water, and pollution response equipment.
ITS San Marco is based at Brindisi and assigned to COMGRUPNAV 3 like all the amphibious ships in the Italian navy.
ITS San Marco or her sister ITS San Giorgio often embark on annual summer cruises, providing valuable training and experience to officer and petty officer cadets as like this year’s visit to Izmir.
The following is the text of the interview with the Commanding Officer of the Italian Navy Ship SAN MARCO, Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI
Defence Turkey: What is the reason for your visit to Izmir?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI: These 3 days in Izmir represent the last port visit of the 2023 training campaign for the 140 NCPOs (Non- Commissioned Petty Officers) students on board ITS San Marco last 24th of July in Brindisi. The goal of this past two months across the Mediterranean basin is to prepare the young trainees for their upcoming career in our Navy, increasing both military and human skills, stressing also the pivotal role of naval diplomacy in support of the international relations at regional and trans-regional level, starting from the maritime community.
Defence Turkey: ITS San Marco visited Türkiye earlier this year after the earthquake in February to provide humanitarian aid. What can you tell us about that particular deployment? How long was it? What kind of humanitarian aid were you able to provide?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI: On the 10th of February, ITS San Marco left Brindisi Naval Base steering to Alexandretta with a field hospital made available by the Italian Civil Protection and other equipment. All of them were collected in a few hours, also through donations from Italian associations, to be allocated to the populations hard hit by the earthquake that devasted Türkiye and Syria.
About that particular deployment, on board there were also components from the Italian Army and the mentioned Civil Protection realizing an effective synergy among the personnel belonging to different services and administrations with a view on a joint and inter-agency humanitarian commitment.
The Italian Navy follows multidisciplinary and multilateral approaches to face common challenges and to meet common needs, such as security, stability, prosperity, and also in case of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, inspired by the historical and pivotal commitment of the Navies: to project capabilities at sea and from the sea. Indeed, taking into account the modern and complex scenario, you cannot do it alone and therefore we pursue an interagency, multinational and cooperative approach.
Especially, at this moment, we are close to the Moroccan and Lybian population violently affected by such natural disasters.
Defence Turkey: Can you provide an overview of the training objectives and mission goals for the NCO students aboard the ship during this cruise?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI:The Naval Campaign is a fundamental step for the training of the NCPOs students and takes place in the summer, at the end of the period of study in the Navy NCPOs institutes.
This period represents the first significant experience on board, allowing students to train as sea persons. The training program combines themes that recall the traditions of the Navies and themes oriented towards technological innovation that strengthens the link between Sailor-Sea-Values-Future.
Defence Turkey: What are the key capabilities and features of this specific amphibious ship that make it suitable for training purposes and potential future deployments?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI:This Amphibious Assault Unit is used both for military and civilian operations such as the earthquakes occurred this year. The key word for this vessel is flexibility, in fact ITS San Marco thanks to the logistic capabilities and the high level of readiness is a multi-purpose Unit capable to operate in a real word context but also for training reasons.
Defence Turkey: How does this ship support Italy's national security strategy and international commitments, such as NATO missions or humanitarian operations?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI: ITS San Marco is an amphibious assault ship that belongs to the 3rd Naval Division located in Brindisi that includes 4 amphibious assault vessels and a wide range of second-line ships. Brindisi is also where the Italian Navy Amphibious Brigade, Brigata Marina San Marco, is based. We constantly operate together under a very intense and dynamic scheme of manoeuvre of the Italian Navy, running exercises and real-world operations, as we just did over the last 6 months, with an intense activity in the Mediterranean Sea and a significant deployment in the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea, as part of the enduring commitment of the Italian Navy Fleet in the Wider Mediterranean region.
Defence Turkey: Could you share some insights into the collaboration and interoperability with other branches of the Italian military and international partners during this training cruise? Are you going to conduct joint training with the Turkish Naval Forces?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI:It is crucial to strengthen cooperation and increase the interoperability with our partners through multinational training as well as bilateral exercises. The training cruise allows us to pursue this goal also with the Turkish Naval Forces.
Defence Turkey: Finally, can you highlight any future plans or developments for this amphibious ship and its role within the Italian Navy, particularly in light of changing security dynamics in the Mediterranean and beyond?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI: In an even more uncertain and complex international context, it is necessary to have an efficient and effective, highly technological and well-balanced Maritime Force, readily projectable wherever and whenever needed. The Italian Navy fleet is constantly involved in an intense activity of protection of maritime communication routes and contrast to illegal activities at sea in order to guarantee a free and secure use of the sea. To achieve this goal is crucial to know what’s going on in the maritime environment, included the bottom side of the sea, building up the so called Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA), with a wide and synergic combination of qualified presence at sea and surveillance which benefits from the coordination and cooperation with other Allied Navies. For this reason, several naval units, including submarines, as well as various aircraft are engaged in training and operational activities every day in cooperation with our Navies partners, in accordance with the interoperability and cooperative security concepts.
In this challenging context, ITS San Marco has been the main framework of the 2023 Italian Littoral Expeditionary Group (LEG): a new concept of the amphibious force of the Navy employment that allow to constitute and employ an Amphibious task group with high readiness and for a prolonged period, even in uncertain environments characterized by various risks and possible threats. In order to develop and consolidate this capability, LEG 23 – focused on ITS San Marco and with the support of other ships – participated in different activities, such as Mare Aperto 23-1 and the BALTOPS 23 exercises. Therefore, the LEG guarantees the availability of a projection capacity in very high readiness, suitable to be federated with other Marine Forces also to a multilateral level.
Defence Turkey: Would you like to add anything further?
Captain (Navy) Eugenio SPINACI: We are very pleased to be here in Türkiye. We received a warm welcome by the local Authorities and we really enjoyed Izmir. Friendship and cooperation between Italy and Türkiye could be resumed in our motto ‘TI CON NU, NU CON TI’ which points out the importance of a common union of intentions.
PALINURO
The third Italian Naval Ship to visit Türkiye was the sail training ship ITS Palinuro. The ship made a port call in Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris between 4 and 5 September 2023.
The sailing ship is on a training cruise with the future non-commissioned officers of the Italian Navy. With the ITS Amerigo Vespucci she is the one of the two sail training ships of the Italian Navy.
The ship is 59 meters long and 10 meters wide. She as a 1,000 square meter sail area and at the end of the Second World War, the Italian Naval Forces lost one of its two tall ships as she was given to the Soviet Union as compensation for war damages. The Italian Navy sought a new way to continue training its crews on large sailing ships.
In 1950, the decision was made to acquire the barquentine Commandant Louis Richard one of the last two French Grand Bank Cod-fishing vessels. The ship was launched in the Dubigeon Shipyards in Nantes, France and was owned by a private French company.
Before entering into service of the Italian Navy, the vessel underwent significant modifications to meet its new mission. On July 16, 1955, it officially entered service. From that day onward, ITS Palinuro became an integral part of the Navy's training apparatus, serving as a school for boatmen, engineers, and later, naval non-commissioned officer cadets.
Since 1955, ITS Palinuro has embarked on remarkable voyages, gracing ports across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Its logbook bears witness to nearly 300,000 nautical miles sailed. Along the way, it has participated in prestigious vintage boat rallies and "Tall Ships" regattas, including the illustrious "Cutty Sark," the "Amsterdam Sail," "The Meeting of Vintage Sails" in Imperia, and the "Festa della Marineria" in La Spezia.
ITS Palinuro serves two primary objectives. First and foremost, it supports the training of non-commissioned officer students during annual educational campaigns. These students, hailing from the Non-Commissioned Officers School of Taranto, undergo weeks of intensive training in seamanship, safety, navigation protocols, and the ethics of the military. For many, this is their maiden voyage into the world of naval service.
Secondly, the ship plays a pivotal role in promoting the prestige of the Italian Navy during its visits to national and foreign ports. Here, it embodies the rich traditions and heritage of the Italian Navy, forging connections with local populations and authorities.
ITS Palinuro's homeport is La Maddalena, a place where its legacy continues to thrive, as it sails into its ninth decade
