Type,
class:
Guided Missile Frigate; Bergamini/FREMM class
(General Purpose variant)
Builder: Fincantieri SpA, Muggiano (La Spezia) and
Riva Trigoso (Genua), Italy
STATUS:
Laid
down: March 5, 2013
Launched: December 19, 2015
Commissioned:
April 20, 2017
IN
SERVICE
Homeport: La Spezia
Namesake:
Admiral Luigi Rizzo (1887-1951)
Ships
Motto: IN HOC NOMINE
VICTORIA (this name is victory)
Technical Data:
see
INFO > Bergamini/FREMM class Frigate
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Luigi Rizzo:
Luigi Rizzo, Conte di Grado e di Premuda (October 8, 1887 in
Milazzo - June 27, 1951 in Rome) was an Italian naval
officer. He is famous for sinking the Austro-Hungarian
battleship SMS Szent István in June 1918.
After receiving his training at the Naval Academy in
Livorno, he was appointed ship-of-the-line sub-lieutenant
within the Italian Navy in 1912. He saw action in the First
World War (1915-1918), when he conducted several spectacular
raids as commander of torpedo boats (PT boat MAS) against
ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
In December 1917 he sank the Austro-Hungarian
Pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Wien, that was at anchor
inside the defences of Trieste harbour.
On February 10, 1918 three MAS boats (with the MAS 96
commanded by Rizzo), attack Austrian shipping inside the
harbour of Buccari (now Bakar, in Croatia) a port in an
enclosed bay near Fiume, at the head of the Kvarner Gulf. As
it lay 80 km into a sheltered waterway, it was thought to be
beyond attack, so the raid was intended as a psychological,
as well as a physical, assault. The operation become famous
as Bakar Mockery (In Italian: Beffa di Buccari).
On June 10, 1918 Rizzo sank the large battleship SMS Szent
István (in Italian: "Santo Stefano" - Saint Stephen) off
Premuda. The sinking of the 21.700 tons SMS Szent István was
the greatest success of any MAS torpedo boat and is still
celebrated in the Italian Navy on June 10 every year. It
forms an important anniversary in the Italian naval history.
In 1919 he took part in the seizure of the city of Fiume
(now Rijeka in Croatia) led by Gabriele d'Annunzio, and
retired from active service in 1920 with the rank of
commander.
He finally rose to the rank of Admiral and was ennobled by
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, taking the victory title
of Conte di Grado e di Premuda. He also received the Gold
Medal of Military Valor (twice), the Silver Medal (four
times), the Cross of War and was a knight of the Order of
the Crown of Italy.
France awarded him the Croix de guerre and made Rizzo a
knight of the Légion d'honneur, and the United Kingdom
honoured him with the Distinguished Service Order.
The President of the United States awarded him the Navy
Distinguished Service Medal.
In later life Rizzo worked in shipping businesses as well as
in shipyards. He also volunteered during the Second
Italo-Abyssinian War.
In September 1943 he was charged with sabotage by the Nazis
and deported to Germany. He was later reached there by his
daughter. They returned to Italy when the war ended; Rizzo
died in 1951 after a long illness.
Admiral Count Rizzo was second cousin to Captain Victor P.
Rizzo of Lawrenceville, New Jersey (USA), a World War II
reconnaissance pilot and author. Another second cousin was
Rose Rizzo-Goff, and both were the children of Leonardo
Rizzo (first cousin to Adm. Luigi Rizzo) and Camilina
Dell'Utri-Rizzo of Brooklyn, New York (USA).
source: wikipedia |
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