THE TRANSATLANTIC - MISSING AN ERA

Under the pressure of the strong influx, in 900, the Italian shipyards are specialized in the production launching a series of transatlantic liners, which were soon appreciated in the international arena for the technique, the build quality and ride comfort. Reasons linked to factors of national image, enhanced by the regime of 'time, pushing a technology competition, then proved victorious, with British and German sites which until then had dominated the ocean navigation.
The liners were divided into "classes": the first was intended for tourists, travelers for pleasure, the second business travelers, while the third was intended for immigrants, sometimes forced to travel in severe discomfort, crammed below deck and allowed tooutdoor spaces narrow and strictly separated from the rest.
These ships were designed to face the sea and weather conditions typical of the ocean, had a high displacement (weight) and were equipped with a powerful engine apparatus in a short time to cover the crossing. Just to name a few old favorites: Big Earl, Duilio, Rome, Augustus Rex, Conte di Savoia, Saturnia, Vulcania, Oceania, Neptune ....
Apart from the miserable condition reserved for emigrants on board were offered conditions of extreme luxury for wealthy travelers: swimming pools, patios, tennis / volleyball, rifle shooting, dance halls, shops, full menu, a serviceunexceptionable, a long promenade deck teak.
After the war, the main Italian passenger shipping company, include:
- The Italy - Navigation Company, also known more simply as Italy Society, established in the world of international shipping as the Italian Line, was the national airline. He was born from Italy during the Fascist Fleet Gather founded in 1932, which brought together, under the same name owner, the three major shipping companies of the time: the Italian General Navigation of Genoa, Turin and Savoy Lloyd Cosulich of Trieste . The company's headquarters was located in the Piazza de Ferrari in Genoa, with branches also in the main destinations to 'abroad, was founded not only for political reasons, even for a matter of international prestige in order to have a single state company for transatlantic routes. The Company has been active, first person, until around 1980.
- Lloyd, who was born in 1836 in the Habsburg Empire and is one of the oldest shipping companies in the world. Its headquarters are located in Trieste. The Guglielmo Marconi and Galileo Galilei were the two beautiful units belonging to this Company. Since 1998, the company is part of the Evergreen Group.
- Coast Owners, founded in Genoa in 1854 by James Costa with the name Giacomo Costa fu Andrea snc, initially traded and transported olive oil and textiles. We recall some of its transatlantic Henry C. - Frederick C. - Anne C. - Franca C. - Eugene C. (This unit, established by an improved design of Marconi and Galileo, was the largest passenger built in Italy by a private owner). Today the company is active in the field with 15 cruise ships and is part of the Carnival brand.
- The Fleet Lauro, the then Senator Neapolitan Achille Lauro, which include The 'Angelina Lauro The Achille Lauro, the second passenger involved in an incident of terrorism in 1985.
- The MSC, which has picked up the baton, is currently the only major company, dedicated to the cruise market, Italian owned. It is based in Geneva and operates with 11 units.
- Home Line which was a company that has worked both in line and in the cruise industry. The company was founded in 1946, ceased in 1988 the group entered the Holland America Line.Although based in Genoa, was a company of international scope with ships registered under Panamanian flag. His best units were: - Oceanic - Doric - Atlantic - Homeric (which later became the Costa Europa).
The main national ports for transatlantic maritime stations with dedicated, were Genoa, Naples and Trieste.
The shipping lines, which is branched from 'Italy in relation to passenger traffic with the rest of the world were:
 The three lines with the Americas (North, Central and South - where the most prestigious was the Genoa-New York, an image of efficiency and speed, half an hour of undue delay in the crossing was a 'shame for a Commander);
 The routes to the West and East Africa;
 The line connecting the Far East, particularly India, China and Japan;
 The connection with Australia and New Zealand.
During the Second World War and many transatlantic requirements were designed to carry troops or transformed into hospital ships.
The activities of these large vessels, despite the incipient competition from the plane, taken after the war with fresh enthusiasm, reaching its apogee with the increasingly large ships, efficient and luxurious.
In fact, after the success of the REX, the national shipbuilding continued to school in the world, remember Julius Caesar, Augustus, Christopher Columbus, our hulls were considered the most elegant and fastest in the world, but some of these units were very unlucky: The 'Andrea Doria, in July 1956, collided and sank a few miles from New York, the Leonardo da Vinci, so appreciated by the Americans for cruises in the Caribbean, located in La Spezia in disarmament and then, in July 1980 dying before our eyes in a huge bonfire. On its way to extinction of the species with Michelangelo and Raphael, launched in the sixties and considered among the most elegant and luxurious ships on the seas of the world, both were placed in disarmament in La Spezia, Portovenere in the channel. The economic crisis, rising fuel costs, the lack of passengers, operating costs had led to unsustainable levels and were sold to foreign entities. They went to their ultimate destination sailing in a sea of ​​controversy and complaints.
In the scenario of the passenger plane had won, the flow of migrants had thinned, and the cruise market was not yet well established itself as a mass holiday like today.
The two ships were designed for military use in Persia. The Raphael was bombed and sunk during the Iran - Iraq, Michelangelo was dismantled in the early nineties in Pakistan.
The memory of our transatlantic pride in the quality production of the national shipbuilding, now far exceeded in size by modern cruise ships, but certainly not in elegance, luxury and speed, will always remain indelible in the memory of the navy in the world, a symbol of 'disappearance times, made up of technological progress, efficiency and primates, which has left a' footprint, also characterized by the screeching of want of steerage passengers in the face of the 'wealth of first class.
R. Adm. retired (CG) Franco Magazzu'

La Spezia, 18 October 2011

Translate from italian with GOOGLE TRANSLATE

AFRICA'S OLDEST CANOE

We are very happy to introduce a new relationship with MARITIME NETWORKING - NG.
This the first article of them that you can find on MARITIME NETWORKING - NG web site, also.

"Africa's oldest canoe, dating backing to about 8,000 years ago, was found in north Nigeria's Yobe State in Dafuna, a village along the Komadugu Gana River. It is the oldest boat to be discovered in Africa, and the third oldest known worldwide.

Since the Dufuna canoe was discovered by a local Fulani herdsman in 1987 archaeologists have been in a frenzy about the discovery. The canoe which was excavated by a combined team of Nigeria and German archaeologists in 1994 at Dufuna amazed them for the simple reason that it has changed the course of history.

It was dug out from a depth of five meters beneath the earth's surface and measured 8.4 meters in length, 0.5 meters wide and about 5 cm thick varying at certain parts of the surface.

The canoe belongs to the Late Stone Age period (Neolithic Age), when humans ceased to roam the face of the earth hunting to become herdsmen and cultivators and in the process becoming modifier of their environment with complex social structures in response to new problems and ways of dealing with situations.

The discovery of this boat has been described as an important landmark in the history of Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. Besides proving that the Nigerian society was at par (if not earlier) than that of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoa and Phoenicia, the discovery also provides the first concrete evidence that Africans possessed the ability to reason and have been exploring technology to modify their environment to suit their needs.

But more importantly "the canoe has shown that people in the Niger area had a history of advanced technology and that they had mastered the three major items of Palaeolithic culture which were the fashioning, standardization and utilization of tools according to certain set traditions," explains Eluyemi.

But beyond that, the discovery has also revealed that, Nigerians were not static people. "It gives concrete evidence of transportation by seas as well as providing evidence of some form of long distance commercial activities indicative of existing political and economic structures."

One great benefit of the discovery is that it has helped archaeologists draw a relationship between what was happening in Nigeria and else where in the world during that period. Indications are that while Nigerians were making canoes in Dufuna village in 6000 BC, the people of Catol Huyuk in Turkey were making pottery, textiles etc, like the people of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) were forming urban communities and the Chinese were making painted pottery in the Yang Shao region. But particularly of interest to archaeologists is the prove that some form of advanced civilization existed in the Lake Chad Basin around 6000 BC."

Documentation has showed that based on the minimal available

Maritime Network-NG staff by locally built wooden canoes on Admiralty Way, Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
technology during this period, the making of the Dufuna canoe must have been a ponderous task which called for mastery, specialization and ingenuity. A lot of work, man hours and skill must also have been put into the production since no iron tools were in existence at the time. The tools used were probably Post Pleistocene ungrounded core axe - like and pick - axe bifacial tools of microlithic appearance. It can be assumed that the canoe must have been made near a river to eliminate the difficulty of transporting it over long distances."

THANKS TO Kenneth Chiazor

[Source: This Day / Wikipedia]

HELP US to preserve the history and traditions of seafaring and diving

The Historical maritime society is an international Association borned in 2008 to preserve the History and traditions of seafaring and diving and to protect the watery environment!
We are looking for friends loves to help us in this great project!
Send your articles, news, pics, video and much more so we can enrich the content of our website and our blog.
All materials regarding the history and traditions of seafaring and diving and the protection of the watery environment are useful to rich our goals.
Send all to info@historicalmaritimesociety.org.

Join our web site and register: it's easy and free!!

HMS looking for people, communities, organizations and associations, around the world, to increase our network: this is necessary to preserve every thing regards the history and traditions of seafaring and diving and the protection of the watery enviroment, too!!

Write to the President, directly: gianfranco.vecchio@hmsweb.org

During the years, too much testimonials are lost!!! HELP US to preserve those is possible, HELP US to permit us to transmit them to the next generations!!

THANKS!!!!

Gianfranco VECCHIO
HMS Ceo

Battleship Roma: a tragic and ironic fate

On 13 January, in the council hall of the headquarters of the Province of La Spezia, after a brief introductory speech by lawyer Umberto BUFFA, before a thick audience attentive and moved to the author, Andrea AMICI, presented his recent work.
There were many relatives of those who were aboard the great ship, eager to know how their loved ones had lived through those tragic rush, disturbing moments that ended with the sacrifice of life for many and, for survivors, with the memory indelible mark of their youth spent on the stage of history.
As explained by the same author, the book examines more than one aspect: on the technical features of the unit, cutting edge and unique, the unfolding of the story, together with that of life on board of that great and complicated construction ship, where the throbbing hearts of some 2000 people, including officers, petty officers, sailors and civilian personnel.
There were in fact signed also cooks, waiters, a professional photographer and several equipment technicians of various construction companies, on-board.
But the most important aspect of the book, as evidenced by Mr. AMICI, is without doubt the split intersection of lives and friendships born in the unfolding of events, decline inexorably towards moments of great confusion, if the information is scarce and fragmentary, everything collapses and the decisions are hard to take, but must always be taken under the weight of responsibility for the lives on board the many units in the game, while watching the History and waits impassively.
The idea for the book stems from the desire to materialize on paper, in future memory, memories of his grandfather (Italo PIZZO), and survived the sinking, in order to bear witness to the many who sacrificed their young lives, leaving the discouraged many families.
There were moments of poignant emotion, when were heard the testimony of survivors in the audience, three of which of La Spezia that, with unexpected freshness, have revived the memory of their past, reviving heavy fragments of life lived with great dignity and absolutely without encroaching into the pathetic.
The La Spezia survivors present were: Gustavo BELLAZINI, Dante BARTOLI and Giovanni PUPPO. They could feel the closeness and warmth of those present, manifested by the many words and applause. All this, in memory of the many missing comrades, whose memory will always live in the significant presence felt in the public.
The National Association of Italian Sailolrs of La Spezia, always involved, witnessed its presence with some members, together with its President & CEO Cosimo CHIONNA and the regional delegate Adm. Nicola SARTO.
For young people mentioned below, briefly, the history of this unfortunate unit of our Navy.
The battleship "ROMA", the third building of the Littorio class, was designed by the Inspector General Umberto PUGLIESE, and was one of the first units to 35,000 tons over the world, made disregarding the Treaty of Washington, with a view to implementing a project with superior characteristics and unique.
It was set on the slips of the San Marco shipyard in Trieste in September 1938 and launched in June 1940, assigning the command to Captain Adone DEL CIMA that followed the construction. The ship was delivered in June 1942 and despite the important features, and for various vicissitudes, was never deployed in combat.
This battleship, with a standard displacement of 46,215 tons, was 240 meters long, 33 wide and had a depth of 10 Mt
The machinery consisted of 8 boilers and 4 propellers with a maximum power of 140,000 hp. Capable of pushing such a mass to the outstanding speed of 31 knots.
A serious shortcoming of the project was that the autonomy and suffers from the weight and the great power of the engine was about 4,000 miles at a cruising speed of 20 knots, none the less, with about 120 officers and 1800 people crew, a dual armor by 35 mm thick and its powerful weapons, culminating in three turrets to 381mm. capable of firing a bullet from 880 kg to about 40 km away, was the most powerful and fearsome ship deployed in the Mediterranean Sea.
On 15 June 1943, following the bombing of the base of La Spezia, the unit was damaged along with her sister Vittorio Veneto. The Vittorio Veneto could be repaired directly to the arsenal, but for the Roma ship, bombed again on the night of June 24, it was necessary to dry-docking and transfer to Genoa, with the return to the team on 13 August.
According to experts, the ships of this class, in 1940, when they went into service, were the most powerful battleships in the world, only lost that position in 1942 with the entry into service of the Japanese Yamato class and the American Iowa class. These units, the Littorio class, had the technical solutions are unique in the world, had a super-resistant underwater protection, consisting of several layers of inclined plates, unlike all other buildings in the world, in which the belt was made up of simple vertical plates . The subdivision and the internal equilibrium ensured stability and buoyancy even if the ships had been hit by torpedoes. To make the hull more resistant to divers attacks, a system was adopted, simply brilliant, created by the designer on General PUGLIESE. The system, called the "cylinders Pugliese" containers consisted of 3.80 m in diameter and 120m in length, placed inside a cavity between the hull inside and outside the walled and filled with water or oil. In case of explosion of torpedo or mine, the explosive power of the explosion was distributed in all directions, reducing their harmful effects.
The four turbines were connected to four axes with three-bladed propellers, two central and two lateral. The government system consisted of a main rudder aft, positioned in the flow of the propellers aft central and two lateral auxiliary rudders, propellers located in the flow of the two sides.

The sinking

Sept. the 8, Armistice Day, the Rome was ready to move from La Spezia.
On the same day Admiral. BERGAMINI, commander of the battle fleet, was informed by telephone of the armistice imminent, and of clauses providing for the immediate transfer of the Italian ships in the area that were designated by the Allies, and that during the transfer should increase as a sign yield, brushes blacks on blacks yards and draw two circles on the deck.
Bergamini reluctantly accepted the orders, after he had insurance that was not included delivery of the vessels and lowering the flag and after being informed that the Allies had agreed that the fleet could move to La Maddalena island, where they were supposed to find the King Vittorio Emanuele and the government.
At 3 am on Sept. the 9, after frantic meetings between officers, Bergamini ordered to leave and the battleship Roma with the sign of the flagship of the fleet weighed anchor and headed to La Maddalena island, along with the battleships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio (renamed Italy), that the Roma were the IX Division.
The fleet, composed of all twenty-three units, was sailing without brushes blacks hoisted on flagpoles and blacks have drawn circles on the deck as required by the terms of the armistice, the Roma ship had raised the banner of Admiral Bergamini and the bunting.
At about 14:30, when the fleet arrived at the Straits of Bonifacio, Admiral BERGAMINI received a message from SUPERMARINA with which he announced that La Maddalena island was occupied by the Germans and he was ordered to sail for Bona in Algeria.
Off the Asinara island, the fleet was flown over, at high altitude, from twenty-eight twin-engine Dornier Do217 of Luftwaffe. The planes dropped, from 6,500 meters of altitude, the rocket bombs guided Ruhrstahl SD 1400, whose strength was attributed to the high penetration velocity acquired during the fall. It was only when the aircraft suddenly dropped the first bomb, which they realized the situation and was given the order to anti-aircraft artillery to open fire. However, given the high proportion who were flying German planes, the guns fired at maximum elevation, penalizing the accuracy and effectiveness of the shots, only useful as a fire barrier. Because of the surprise attack and rapid action of the German planes, there was no time to launch the fighters, which were equipped with Littorio class battleships are the only weapons that can counter the action of the German bombers at high altitude.
At 15.30 the first bomb fell about 50 feet from the cruiser Eugenio di Savoia, without causing damage, a second bomb fell close to the stern of Italy (ex Littorio) temporarily restraining the rudder. At 15.45 the first time Roma was hit by a shot that apparently did not produce devastating effects. 15.50 the second blow to the ship center forward, doing the filing dust explode, the tower No 2 blew up, then falling into the sea, with all its mass to 1500 tonnes. The battleship's command tower, hit by a blaze, it is deformed and bent under the action of heat, breaking up and disappearing into, thrown up into pieces, between two huge columns of smoke Admiral BERGAMINI and his Staff, the commander of the ship Adone DEL CIMA, and much of the crew were killed almost instantly.
The ship, at 16.11, turning on its side, capsized and sank broken in two parts, while, on deck, the sailors survived panting, many badly injured and burned.
The castaways of Roma, recovered by the naval vessels, were six hundred twenty-two, while the number of deaths is estimated at about 1,400 because in that historical period, characterized by dark vicissitudes, none was able to add up exactly to the number of crew members and the number of civilians on board.
This is the tragic history of this great naval unit, the pride of our navy and of naval engineering Italian, who, with his crew, went to meet her tragic and ironic fate: the first Italian ship sunk by those who had the day before allies.

La Spezia, 18 January 2011

Coast Guard Rear Adm. (retired) Franco MAGAZZU '

MEDITERRANEAN FREE TRADE ZONE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN - WHERE DO WE ARE?

The Free Trade Area (FTA) is trans-national geographic area in which they are culled from all the countries participating in the trade barriers that prevent or restrict the free movement of goods.
Worldwide there are already free trade areas, such as Mercosur in South America and NAFTA in North America. But there is also the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) in Europe.

The creation of an FTA in the Mediterranean basin was established during the Ministerial Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Barcelona in November 1995 providing for the implementation in stages by 2010, through agreements to trade, tariff and customs between the EU and Mediterranean countries (PTM) and PTM between them, to remove obstacles to free movement of goods, take measures to liberalize trade in services and allow the free establishment of foreign companies, facilitate technology transfer and increase the efficiency of production .
A study conducted by the Institut de la Méditerranée stated that the FTA would lead to a growth of maritime traffic by over 16% compared to the evolution trend.
Already, the European Union is the main maritime partner for a large number of MNCs, particularly those of the Maghreb (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya).
Italy, in particular, it ranks third after Germany and France in trade between the Mediterranean and EU countries.
The Mediterranean third countries represent a market of over 250 million consumers, a fast-growing market and its proximity to Italy.
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership created by the Barcelona Declaration, adopted in 1995 by the then fifteen EU member states and twelve countries of the south and east shores of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority) provides extensive collaboration, extending beyond the strictly economic sphere to include areas such as security policy and human rights.
Under the FTA, will be eliminated duties and taxes for almost all industrial products, whether from the European countries than Mediterranean partners. But does not arise from free trade in agricultural products, while the gap between North and South of the Mediterranean to Europe's advantage.
the European Union with the establishment of the FTA would take a leading role in global geopolitical balance, with an 'increased influence from the free movement of goods, services and capital. The FTA would put Europe in a position of equality, as areas of influence, with the U.S. that already dominate the American Free Trade Area (FTAA).
To say free trade will be phased-out tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in manufactured products, while trade in agricultural products will be progressively liberalized through reciprocal preferential access among the parties.
For issues related to the maritime sector, we note that:
- Member countries are committed to the principles of international maritime law and, in particular, the freedom to provide services in international transport and free access to international cargoes
- They will tend the harmonization of customs rules and procedures in the field;
- Elimination of unwarranted technical barriers to trade in agricultural and related measures relating to phytosanitary and veterinary standards and other legislation on foodstuffs;
- To create interoperable, efficient transport routes between the EU and its Mediterranean partners, as well as between them, and free market access for services in international maritime transport;
- To preserve fish stocks and Mediterranean environmental, you endorsed a policy of joint action to promote fish farming and the efficient control of marine pollution;
However, the proposed Free Trade Area is perceived, especially in the MNCs, as an option is not completely "free", given the 'exclusion of the free movement of people and agricultural products from the PTM.
There are concerns due to imbalances in socio-economic and commercial relations between the two realities that will be published in future FTAs, which will have to live in EU countries, that is the largest shopping complex on the planet, with a global exchange of approximately 40% of world trade and 10 PTM with trade amounting to about 2% of world trade.
With the exception of Syria and Algeria, benefited from exports of 'hydrocarbons, trade balances of PTM are all in deficit.
Libya is the only country to which Italy is the main provider, but the land of Gaddafi is the only coastal state to be excluded from the agreements in Barcelona because of an embargo which hit Italian exports to this country.
In the Euro-Mediterranean FTA, will gather the 10 PTM with a population of 250 million inhabitants and a 27-EU 's with 495 million inhabitants, the two demographic realities have strong differences of GDP per capita, ranging from € 2,850 / year of a Moroccan to 59,700 of Luxembourg.
GDP per capita so low is synonymous with a very weak purchasing power that makes non attractive those markets and encourage young people to emigrate to Europe.
In addition, the strong population increase in 2025, according to UN projections, will bring the population to 328 million of the 10 MNCs. result in the formation of a vast area of social exclusion, made up of millions of young people not having work locally attempted to emigrate to Europe. A huge problem that only an 'effective action for cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean can be avoided.
The European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2009 on the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean, has reiterated the necessity of renewing and deepening of relations between the EU and Mediterranean partner countries, but also highlighted the limitations and shortcomings of policies implemented to date and, in particular the disappointing of the Barcelona Process.
It noted that the closer relations between the EU and Mediterranean countries have seen an important increase in trade between those countries without, however, these increases were not accompanied by the necessary upgrading and modernization of the infrastructure.
He shared the choice to improve a multilateral framework by identifying a number of major projects to be implemented using the new tools of the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean (Euromed hours), noting, however, the lack of integration strategies economic and territorial cohesion within the Mediterranean basin to support those projects.
In short, something has been done, but the targets set for 2010 have not been fully achieved.

Rear Adm. (CG) r. Franco MAGAZZU '

La Spezia, January the 15th 2011

For all fans of seafaring, The Historical maritime society joins Ship simulator extreme game. A new real discoverer world about ship navigation with a great reality of gaming.
HMS creates its own dedicated server for multiplaying, associated to a Team speak 2 server for online dialogue like a VHF Channel.
All fans of seafaring are invite to play an to share this great adventure kind of game.
For more info:

SHIP SIMULATOR EXTREME
HMS SSE News
HMS SSE Info

In the event "Sulla rotta d'Imperia", a biannual gathering of vintage boats, will be held to Le Grazie, in the Province of La Spezia, The HARD HAT DIVERS Festival, an important occasion for meeting and discussion between all those interested in diving history. From 3rd to 8th September next, at the Boatyard Valdettaro curing the whole organization of the event, The Historical Maritime Society, in collaboration with "Le Grazie, City of divers", manage exhibition area - demo which will be held alongside the exhibition of objects and instruments relating to underwater historical and demonstrations by Italian Police dep. divers (CNES) and the Italian Navy divers and seal (COMSUBIN) .

For the duration of the event will be staged a special pool where all children can experience the thrill of immersion in water accompanied by State Police divers, from the Comsubin Divers and Instructors by the Lega Sub UISP that, for occasion, also use a helmet open type "Shallow water".

During the Hard Hat divers Festival, great emphasis will be given to underwater historical fact with a display of historic pieces of the Italian Navy, Italian police and the Lega sub UISP.

Huge interest will then be around Giancarlo Bartoli, heir to the great family Galeazzi diving equipment manufacturers, that build throughout the period of the event, a helmet according to ancient traditional Galeazzi construction procedures.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE (IN ITALIAN ONLY, SORRY!)