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Italian Navy / Marina Militare Italiana
- Offshore Patrol Vessel P 434 ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere |
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| 07/25 | ||
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Type,
class: Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel - OPV (Pattugliatore Polivalente d'Altura - PPA) Paolo Thaon di Revel class - PPA Full variant Builder: Fincantieri SpA, Muggiano (La Spezia) and Riva Trigoso (Genua), Italy STATUS: Laid down: August 28, 2019 Launched: February 12, 2022 Commissioned: October 2, 2024 IN SERVICE Homeport: La Spezia Namesake: Lodovico de Medici / aka Giovanni delle Bande Nere (1498-1526) Ships Motto: FOLGORE DI GUERRA (lightning of the war) Technical Data: see INFO > Paolo Thaon di Revel class Offshore Patrol Vessel |
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       firing an Aster 15 missile from the SYLVER A-70 vertical launching system (VLS)  commissioning - La Spezia - October 2, 2024  commissioning - La Spezia - October 2, 2024   |
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Lodovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere
(6 April 1498 - 30 November 1526) Early life: Giovanni was born in the Northern Italian town of Forlì to Giovanni de' Medici (also known as il Popolano) and Caterina Sforza, one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance. From an early age, he demonstrated great interest and ability in physical activity, especially the martial arts of the age: horse riding, sword-fighting, etc. He committed his first murder at the age of 12, and was twice banished from the city of Florence for his unruly behavior, including involvement in the rape of a sixteen-year-old boy, Giovanni being about thirteen at the time. He had a son, Cosimo (1519-1574), who went on to become the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Mercenary: Giovanni became a condottiero, or mercenary military captain, in the employ of Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici) and on March 5, 1516 led the war against Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. He thenceforth formed a company of his own, mounted on light horses and specializing in fast but devastating skirmishing tactics and ambushes. In 1520 he defeated several rebel barons in the Marche. The following year Leo X allied with Emperor Charles V against King Francis I of France to regain Milan, Parma and Piacenza; Giovanni was called in under the command of Prospero Colonna, defeating the French at Vaprio d'Adda in November. As a symbol of mourning for the death of Pope Leo X (1 December 1521), Giovanni added black stripes to his insignia, whence comes his nickname, Giovanni delle Bande Nere (or Giovanni of the Black Bands). In August 1523 he was hired by the Imperial army, and in January 1524 he defeated the French and the Swiss at Caprino Bergamasco. In the same year another Medici, Giulio di Giuliano, became Pope, and took the name of Clement VII. The new Pope paid all of Giovanni's debt, but in exchange ordered him to switch to the French side of the ongoing conflict. He did not take part in the battle of Pavia, but was soon severely wounded in a skirmish and later had to move to Venice to recuperate from his wounds. In 1526, the War of the League of Cognac broke out. The League's captain general, Francesco Maria I della Rovere, abandoned Milan in the face of the overwhelming superiority of the Imperial army led by Georg von Frundsberg. Giovanni was able to defeat the Landsknechts rearguard, at the confluence of the Mincio with the Po River. Death: On the evening of 25 November he was hit by a shot from a falconet in a battle near Governolo. According to a contemporary account by Luigi Guicciardini, the ball shattered his right leg above the knee and he had to be carried to San Nicolò Po, near Bagnolo San Vito, where no doctor could be found. He was taken to Aloisio Gonzaga's palace, marquis of Castel Goffredo, in Mantua, where the surgeon Abramo, who had cared for him two years earlier, amputated his leg. To perform the operation Abramo asked for 10 men to hold down the stricken condottiero. Pietro Aretino, eyewitness to the event, recalled in a letter to Francesco Albizi: 'Not even twenty' Giovanni said smiling 'could hold me', and he took a candle in his hand, so that he could make light onto himself, I ran away, and shutting my ears I heard only two voices, and then calling, and when I reached him he told me: 'I am healed', and turning all around he greatly rejoiced. Despite the surgery Giovanni de' Medici died five days later, supposedly of sepsis, on 30 November 1526. Giovanni's body was exhumed in 2012 along with that of his wife to preserve the remains, which were damaged in the 1966 flood of the Arno river, and to ascertain the cause of his death. Preliminary investigation revealed that his leg was amputated below the knee. No damage was found to the thigh, where the shot supposedly hit. The tibia and fibula, the bones of the lower leg, were found sawed off from the amputation. There was no damage to the femur. It is now thought that de' Medici may have died of gangrene. source: wikipedia
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ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere (P 434): Italian Navy press release - July 9, 2025: After intense out-of-area operational activity, ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere returned to La Spezia naval base. Since April 2025, the unit has been involved in two significant international training exercises: At Sea Demonstration/Formidable Shield 2025 (ASD/FS25) and POLARIS 25. Both exercises aimed to strengthen interoperability, deterrence, and the integrated response capabilities of the Italian Navy within a multinational context. From May 3rd to 23rd, the ship participated in ASD/FS25, the largest "live-fire" naval exercise in the Euro-Atlantic area dedicated to Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD). Planned by the United States Sixth Fleet and conducted by the NATO Naval Striking and Support Forces (STRIKFORNATO) command based in Lisbon, the exercise took place in the Scottish waters of the Hebrides range. This training exercise tested a wide range of multi-domain capabilities, from surface to cyberspace. It involved 16 naval units, over 25 air assets, and approximately 3,000 military personnel from 10 allied nations (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States), with observers from Australia, Greece, and Turkey. Among the training scenarios, an extremely topical one was the “swarm scenario", involving the simulation of multiple and simultaneous asymmetric threats - both air and surface - which were countered using the ship's integrated capabilities. Among the national objectives achieved were the tracking of subsonic and supersonic aerial targets, including sea-skimming ones, as well as short and medium-range ballistic targets, using the new-generation Dual Band radar. These data were then shared via the Link 16 network. Finally, an integrated launch of an Aster 15 telemetry missile, which successfully engaged and neutralized a sea-skimming subsonic target, which was tracked and shared in real-time with other participating allied units. From May 29th to June 11th, ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere, along with ITS San Giorgio as part of the Littoral Expeditionary Group, participated in POLARIS 25, one of the most complex naval and air exercises conducted in Europe. Organised by the French Marine Nationale in an area spanning the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel, the exercise involved over 3,000 military personnel, more than 20 naval units, 40 aircraft, and numerous joint and multinational assets. |
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 insignia contributed by Maurizio Chiaro |
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