Giuseppe Fioravanzo

Giuseppe Fioravanzo (14 August 1891 – 18 March 1975) was an Italian admiral.

Born in Monselice, a town about 20 Km southeast of the city of Padua in north-east Italy, Giuseppe Fioravanzo became one of the "intellectuals" of the Italian Navy; together with admirals Bernotti and Di Giamberardino he was one of the principal exponents of Italian naval thought between the two World Wars. After having served with distinction in the Corsican Italo-Turkish War and the First World War, beginning in the Twenties he extended his professional activities as a career officer to include those of a naval theorist and writer. During the Second World War, having been named an admiral, he held important positions relating both to operations and to general staff. After the war he directed the Historical Office of the Italian Navy for many years.

Career

After the war, in 1921, Fioravanzo was transferred for a while to the naval military command of the city of Pula.

Having become a superior officer in 1923, he took command of the torpedo boat "Calliope", an old torpedo boat of the Pegasus class, with which he was sent to the Dodecanese to protect Italian interests threatened by tensions between ethnic Greeks and Turks.

At the same time Fioravanzo began to publish his articles in the "Rivista Marittima" (Maritime Magazine) as well as his first books of naval theory, in so doing becoming one of the most promising officers of the Navy. He was among those officers inside the Navy who argued that the Italian Navy should also construct and use aircraft carriers. He then served as a junior officer on the cruiser "Trieste", which had just entered into service, and subsequently assumed command of the destroyer "Freccia" and its squadron of torpedo boats, number VII.

During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, which resulted in a serious political crisis between Italy and Great Britain, Fioravanzo was Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces Riunite, a body set up in September 1935 to give a framework of homogeneity for the criteria for employment and command of the two squadrons into which the Italian Navy was then divided — this at a time when a clash with Anglo-Saxon power seemed inevitable.

In 1936 he assumed command of the Naval Command School and the destroyer "Aquila", head of the group of torpedo boats, consisting of a set of three squadrons, which were affiliated with the school.

The School command, in addition to its institutional role of preparing promising ship captains for promotion to higher ranks, also had the secondary task of participating in controlling the channel of Sicily. In this function Commander Fioravanzo also played a role in blockading the channel of Sicily to prevent supplies sent from the USSR to Republican-controlled ports in Spain.

econd World War

At the entrance into the war, on June 10, 1940, Fioravanzo was able to contrammiraglio. During the conflict held positions of Staff until March 1942, as of that date however, was mainly operational assignments. In the meantime had become Admiral Division.

In the first period, moved to Rome to Staff, held Fioravanzo function Admiral coadjutor in the hall operating Supermarina. Along with other admirals helpers, who turns susseguivano over the 24 hours, had to follow the pattern of operations. Followed thus all the operations in which it was engaged Italian Navy during the first twenty months of war. In particular, together with admirals Ferreri and De Courten, Gaudo operation that led to the Battle of Cape Matapan.

Above all Fioravanzo was the holder of the Special Studies: The real "office studies" the then Director Marina. As such Fioravanzo studied most projects operations "special" of the Navy over the use of forces. It was his, even before the war, the first draft of the plan for the landing in Malta, future planned "Operation C3. The Office Special Studies was concerned not only of projects, including the renovation of regulation tactical, operational statistics, writing articles for magazines and newsletters, radio propaganda also.

Among the major tasks and initiatives Fioravanzo can remember: in May 1941 the task, along with general dell'Aeronautica hood and Mattei, to draw up a set of rules that facilitassero operational cooperation between the Navy and the Air Force, until what time very poor, and the creation and publication of the so-called "blue bulletin" that, every two weeks, informed operational commands on naval, Italian and English, the previous fifteen days at the most significant actions Admiral added his critical remarks.

On 25 March 1942 set sail to take command of the naval division IX consist of the class battleships Vittorio Veneto. The first combat Fioravanzo which participated, as commander of the division IX, was the contrast to the British "Vigorous" tending to bring a convoy of supplies to Malta from Alexandria, Egypt. This took place within the framework of naval clashes known as the battle of June and Means Fioravanzo you participated orders Iachino admiral who was the top commander at sea. The action IX division, together with that of the III and VIII, forced the British to give up completion of the mission without hard contact ballistic.

In January 1943 the Italian fleet was reorganized and Fioravanzo, January 6, 1943, left the command of the division to take IX, the following day, the command of the Fifth Division formed from old battleships refurbished class "Cavour and Duilio. It was a command totally platonic, battleships were refurbished reserve position and lack of fuel and had not provided their operational use. Jobs and the rest was ruled out, given the unfavorable trend now of the war, including the battleships IX of the division.

On March 14, 1943 he became commander of the naval division VIII replacing all'ammiraglio de Courten. Esercitava this command when, in August of that year, he had the task of bomb Palermo some days in the hands of allied troops. This brought a turning negative in Fioravanzo career. Due to the anticipated return of the division without having concluded its mission, Supermarina sbarcarlo and decided to replace it with Admiral Louis Biancheri. The landing and the loss of control involved impossible for Fioravanzo being promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral team remaining in active service. In practice, his career was over. Paradoxically for the action was given the Cross of War military valour.

The mission began on the evening of August 6, 1943 when the admiral, with the division formed by Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Duca d'Aosta, left Genoa to La Maddalena. The evening of the day after the division left La Maddalena goal with the Allied ships based in Palermo before. The Garibaldi had difficulty with the engines which could not develop more than 28 knots, also none of the two cruisers were available radar.

The warning by the aerial reconnaissance of ships unknown route to the division made to appreciate that it would Fioravanzo confronting with an allied naval force under conditions of inferiority net. Considering the run the risk of losing two cruisers, but especially the lives of 1,500 men of the crew, without being able to cause significant damage to your opponent, Admiral, aware of this troncarsi career, he decided to give up the completion of the mission and to return to La Spezia.

After the war, archives from the United States, appurò that night were en route to the Division VIII cruisers U.S. Savannah and Philadelphia with its escort of destroyers. The scores of Fioravanzo, in retrospect, turned out to be correct then.

The warning by the aerial reconnaissance of ships unknown route to the division made to appreciate that it would Fioravanzo confronting with an allied naval force under conditions of inferiority net. Considering the run the risk of losing two cruisers, but especially the lives of 1,500 men of the crew, without being able to cause significant damage to your opponent, Admiral, aware of this troncarsi career, he decided to give up the completion of the mission and to return to La Spezia. After the war, archives from the United States, appurò that night were en route to the Division VIII cruisers U.S. Savannah and Philadelphia with its escort of destroyers. The scores of Fioravanzo, in retrospect, turned out to be correct then.

To date had Fioravanzo service of the post of commander Admiral Square military Taranto and offered to replace Admiral From Zadar in command of the Italian ships that basis that Malta had to go if my colleague had not heard of do so. Later, during cobelligeranza with allies, Fioravanzo was part of the commission which had the task of epurare staff of the Navy compromise with fascism.

After the War

Starting in 1950, he directed the Office of Navy history. He of the controversy that time with the court that, as head of the Office, had with journalist Antonino Trizzino, author of the pamphlet "Ships and armchairs. Trizzino, in his book, he accused the summit of the Navy during the Second World War, adombrando the hypothesis that the admirals had betrayed the Italians Italy promoting the British victory. Born Trizzino the work of the "legend" of the Navy wire English. Legend that was later denied, in the early seventies Corsican from revelations concerning the role from ULTRA was decisive in the war in the Mediterranean. In addition to the Town also directed the "Maritime Journal" magazine for which kinds twenties, had written almost fifty articles on a wide variety of topics character patterns.

Fioravanzo left in the direction of the historic 1959 when succeeded Admiral Aldo Cocchia one of the protagonists of the battle of convoys. His work as a writer naval but not ended. During the sixties and early seventies, the Town Office, which had directed for nearly ten years, published in the series on the history of Italian Navy in the Second World War, its volumes dedicated to naval actions in the Mediterranean and 'organisation of the Navy - some of these aftermaths, obligatory reference point for all those who want to deepen naval history Italian referred to that tragic period. Admiral Fioravanzo died in Rome on March 18, 1975. For his will the entire personal archive was donated to the historical town of Monselice.

On the doctrinal Fioravanzo was from the outset a naval aviation advocates. But it was mainly the work with the war on the sea and the war integral arrived in advocating a genuine strategy headquarters. The time was not ripe because the Italian armed forces will adopt a vision of this kind. His strategic vision consisted of a kind of defensive-active. A sea bottom as the Italian should try to avoid confrontation resolution but instead seek to keep open their lines of communication. Unlike his colleague Giamberardino, Fioravanzo had never thought of the great naval battle as the objective of the strategy, however the battle or naval battles are arising only from contrasts to their targets consisted not only in trafficking operations.

Giuseppe Fioravanzo died in Rome on 18 March 1975. His entire personal archive was donated to the historical archives of the commune of Monselice, the town where he had been born.

Promotions

*Ensign (1912)
*Sub-Lieutenant (1914)
*I Lieutenant (1916)
*Lieutenant (1918)
*Lieutenant Commander (1923)
*Commander (1928)
*Captain (1934)
*Rear Admiral (1939)
*Vice Admiral (1940)
*Admiral (1953) approx.

References

* Franco Bargoni. "“L'intervento navale italiano nella guerra civile spagnola. Parte III”". Rivista Italiana Difesa N° 3, marzo 1987, pp. 84-92;
* Franco Bargoni, Franco Gay. "Corazzate classe Vittorio Veneto. Parte II". Edizioni Bizzarri, Roma 1973;
* Franco Bargoni, Franco Gay. "Corazzate classe Caio Duilio". Edizioni Bizzarri, Roma 1973;
* Enrico Cernuschi. "“Obiettivo Palermo”". Storia Militare N° 119, August 2003, pp. 14-21;
* Giuseppe Fioravanzo. "L'organizzazione della Marina durante il conflitto. Tomo II. Evoluzione organica dal 10-6-1940 al 8-9-1943". Roma, U.S.M.M., 1975;
* Aldo Fraccaroli. "“L'ammiraglio Giuseppe Fioravanzo”". Aviazione e Marina N° 125, September 1975, p. 17;
* Giorgio Giorgerini. "La guerra italiana sul mare. La Marina tra vittoria e sconfitta, 1940-1943". Milano, Mondadori, 2001 - ISBN 8804501502;
* Walter Polastro. "Giuseppe Fioravanzo" in "Dizionario biografico degli italiani", XLVIII, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma, 1997, pp. 114-116;
* Gianni Rocca. "Fucilate gli ammiragli. La tragedia della marina italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale". Milano, Mondadori, 1987 - ISBN 8804433922.