The delivery ceremony of the fourth PPA (Multipurpose Combat Ship) , “Giovanni delle Bande Nere”, took place October 2 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia) .
The ceremony was attended, among others, by Admiral Andrea Gueglio, Director General of Navy Personnel, the Director of the Naval Armaments Directorate (Navarm), Admiral Chief Inspector Giuseppe Abbamonte, the Director of the Joint Organization for Cooperation on Armaments (OCCAR), Joachim Sucker, welcomed by Attilio Dapelo, Director of Operations of the Naval Ships Division of Fincantieri and by Antonio Quintano, Director of the Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso-Muggiano.
This unit, which is the first of the class in the “complete” version, is part of the plan to renew the operational lines of the naval units of the Navy decided by the Government and Parliament and launched under the aegis of OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Cooperation in Armaments).
Technical characteristics of the unit: PPA – Multipurpose Combat Ship
The PPA represents a highly flexible vessel type with the ability to perform multiple tasks ranging from patrol with sea rescue capabilities, to Civil Protection operations, as well as a front-line fighting vessel. Different combat system configurations are foreseen: starting from a “light” one, related to the patrol task, integrated with self-defense capabilities, up to a “complete” one, equipped with maximum defense capacity. Furthermore, the unit is able to use fast boats such as RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) up to a length of over 11 meters through lateral cranes or a launching ramp located at the stern.
- 143 meters overall length
- Speed over 31 knots
- 171 crew members
- Equipped with a combined diesel and gas turbine propulsion system (CODAG) and an electric propulsion system
- Ability to supply drinking water and electricity to the ground
The PPAs are built at the Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano with deliveries scheduled until 2026.
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Giovanni delle Bande Nere – Ludovico di Giovanni de’ Medici, known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere, born in Forlì on 6 April 1498 and died in Mantua on 30 November 1526, was an Italian leader of the Renaissance and a member of a branch of the Medici family.
The light cruiser that bore his name during the Second World War was launched in 1930. During the conflict, equipped with seaplanes, it took part in the Battle of Punta Stilo and later, sent to the Aegean to attack enemy traffic, it clashed with an Australian cruiser and five British destroyers in the Battle of Cape Spada. Among the numerous activities carried out successfully, the laying of the “T” barrier to protect Tripoli, on which in addition to a submarine, an enemy cruiser and destroyer were sunk, in addition to serious damage suffered by two other cruisers. This was the greatest success achieved, in the world, by mines during that war. During the Second Battle of Sirte, it hit another British cruiser with its own fire. Lost by torpedo, near Stromboli, in 1942 at the end of its umpteenth mission.
In 2019, during some technical verification and seabed surveillance activities in the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Stromboli, the Navy minesweeper Vieste finally found the cruiser that sank 77 years earlier with most of its brave crew.