Brigata marina “San Marco”

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Brigade coat of arms

The San Marco Brigade ( Brigata marina “San Marco” ) in Brindisi has been the new organizational framework for the Italian marine infantry since March 2013 . Under the name of San Marco , which refers to the evangelist Mark and the lion of St. Mark in Venice , a marine infantry association has existed since 1919, which was organized as a battalion , regiment or brigade , in a special case also as a division . The current brigade was created through a reorganization of the landing forces command (COMFORSBARC) of the Italian Navy , with its amphibious San Marco regiment within the new San Marco Brigade together with two other regiments and smaller units.

history

precursor

The Italian Navy is a direct successor to the Navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont . The forerunner of the San Marco Regiment is considered to be the Marine Infantry Regiment La Marina , which emerged from the Nice Regiment in 1713 , participated in the wars of European Succession in the 18th century and fought in Liguria in the First Coalition War until it was defeated by Napoleon's revolutionary troops in 1796 . After being re-established in 1814, it joined the army as the (7th) Cuneo Infantry Regiment and as such took part in the first Italian War of Independence with naval personnel . Shortly before the unification of Italy , the Marine Infantry Battalion Real Navi was created , which was enlarged to a regiment in 1861 and, together with a Bersaglieri regiment of the army, formed the marine infantry troop Fanteria Real Marina until 1878 . Even after their dissolution, there were naval fusiliers on warships and naval bases, but these were grouped into much smaller units. In this form, Italian marines took part, among other things, in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China , as well as in the landing in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War .

1915 to 1945

During the First World War , a “naval brigade” was unofficially set up with marines and other naval personnel, which consisted of an infantry and an artillery regiment. After the Italian defeat in the twelfth Battle of the Isonzo and the retreat to the Piave , the brigade was deployed in November 1917 with additional personnel withdrawn from warships and other departments on the lower reaches of the Piave and at the eastern end of the Venice lagoon . There the battalions Monfalcone , Grado , Caorle and Golametto stood out. In 1918 the battalion Monfalcone was renamed after the fallen battalion commander Andrea Bafile and a fifth battalion (Navi) was set up for the brigade's infantry regiment.

After the war, with a royal decree of March 17, 1919, the brigade became a marine infantry association, which shortly thereafter received the name of San Marco and the city's coat of arms with the Lion of St. Mark in recognition of the military achievements on the lagoon and the Piave from the mayor of Venice . In the further course the association was reduced to a battalion. From 1925, a large part of the San Marco battalion protected the Italian concession in Tianjin, China . In 1940 it was enlarged in Pola to a regiment with the Grado and Bafile battalions , after which the remaining three battalions of the First World War and two additional battalions were gradually set up. During the Second World War , parts of the regiment fought from November 1941 to May 1943 in North Africa, particularly in Tobruk . In May 1943, marines of the regiment defended the last positions of the Axis on African soil at Cap Bon . After the armistice of Cassibile and the German occupation of Italy, the regiment fought on the side of the Allies until 1945, leaving Italian marines to take Venice. The fascist Italian social republic , with German support, set up a division in 1944 that was named San Marco . In addition to former marines of the San Marco Regiment, it mainly consisted of army soldiers who wanted to continue the fight against the Allies on the German side.

After 1945

Immediately after the end of the war, the San Marco Regiment was deployed for a few months mainly to protect public order and then dissolved in August 1946. Tensions with Yugoslavia over the unresolved Trieste question led to the re-establishment of the San Marco battalion in Villa Vicentina in March 1948 . In 1951 it became part of an amphibious combat group (Settore Forze Lagunari) , which also consisted of the army battalions Piave and Marghera . Officially, the combat group secured the lagoon-rich southern flank of the field army in northeastern Italy in the Cold War , but in fact it was also directed against Yugoslavia. After the Trieste problem had been resolved at the end of 1954, the Navy withdrew from the combat group in 1956 and disbanded the San Marco battalion in Villa Vicentina. As a replacement, the army set up the Isonzo amphibious battalion , which, together with the two aforementioned army battalions, formed the amphibious army combat group from which today's Lagunari emerged .

The navy continued to send its marines, who were now a small security force, to Villa Vicentina for training until the San Marco battalion was rebuilt in La Spezia , Cesano and Siena in early 1965 . After being stationed on different ships for two years, it was brought to Taranto in 1967 and to Brindisi in 1971, where it moved into a new barracks in a suburb in 1991. It completed its first foreign mission in 1982 under General Franco Angioni in Lebanon , followed by missions in the Persian Gulf , Somalia , the former Yugoslavia, Albania , Eritrea , Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other places. In the 1990s, due to the increasing number of foreign deployments, it was strengthened into a regiment and supplemented by a support regiment with which it formed the amphibious force of the Navy (COMFORSBARC) . The cooperation with the Lagunari des Heeres was further strengthened in 2005 through the establishment of a joint command staff in Brindisi ( Forza di Proiezione dal Mare ). On March 1, 2013 COMFORSBARC became the San Marco Brigade with three regiments, into which the naval property protection units were also incorporated.

Both the San Marco Brigade and the Lagunari have the Lion of St. Mark in their coat of arms and see themselves in the tradition of the Venetian marine infantry, which was first set up on the occasion of the Fourth Crusade and existed permanently from the mid-16th century to 1797. For the San Marco Brigade stationed in southern Italy , the marine infantry of the Kingdom of Naples set up by John Acton also played a historical role.

organization

Soldiers from the San Marco Brigade during an exercise
Parade, 2007

Staff and support staff

The San Marco Brigade consists of around 3,800 marines. The commander of the amphibious forces of the Navy ( Comando delle Forze Anfibie , COMFORANF; until 2013 COMFORSBARC) is also the commander of the brigade. He also heads the joint staff of the amphibious army and navy ( Forza di Proiezione dal Mare ). The headquarters are in the Stauferburg ( ⊙ ) at the inner harbor of Brindisi .

A command support unit, the Caorle training battalion and a unit with smaller landing craft report directly to the brigade staff . Assigned but not permanently subordinate to the brigade are three landing ships of the San Giorgio class and a helicopter squadron in Grottaglie . Since the end of 2012, the Garibaldi light aircraft carrier has primarily been used in a new role as a helicopter carrier for amphibious operations. This is expected to be replaced by the amphibious assault ship Trieste in 2022 . In addition, the carrier Cavour is designed to accommodate around 400 marines.

1st regiment

The 1st San Marco Regiment is housed in the Carlotto barracks around five kilometers west of Brindisi ( ⊙ ). The amphibious forces of the Navy are combined in this regiment. These are the two amphibious infantry battalions Grado and Venezia , the logistical support battalion Golametto and a command unit in battalion strength, which consists of a command company, a telecommunications company, a pioneer platoon, a HUMINT platoon and the paratrooper swimmer company. The latter company provides the regiment's reconnaissance component. If necessary, the 1st regiment can be supported by the Lagunari Regiment and other units of the Army Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli" , in particular by reconnaissance, artillery, engineer, telecommunications and logistics units.

2nd regiment

The 2nd regiment, which is also stationed in Brindisi, and its four operational companies are primarily tasked with maritime interdiction operations , for example with the implementation of embargo controls on merchant ships or with the fight against piracy by boarding or security forces at sea. Soldiers of the regiment take on security duties on board Italian warships.

3rd regiment

In the 3rd regiment with staff in Rome , the property protection service of the navy ( Servizio Difesa Installazioni , SDI) has risen. It takes over the protection of bases and other naval facilities on land. There are three small SDI battalions "North" in La Spezia , "Middle" in Rome and "South" in Taranto as area commands with subordinate SDI companies in La Spezia , La Maddalena , Rome, Taranto , Brindisi and Augusta , with deposed Trains are stationed at naval aviation bases, ammunition depots, telecommunications systems, staffs, schools, etc. In addition, the battalion maintains an honorary company in Rome and a company in Taranto to support security and civil protection forces.

Others

The combat swimmer command COMSUBIN does not belong to the brigade. However, it takes over the training of marines with special tasks. This involves, for example, the reconnaissance of landing zones and the removal of barriers, obstacles and ordnance by soldiers who are landed by helicopter or speedboat or set down by submarines. Boarding and security staff also receive special instructions from COMSUBIN if required.

The soldiers of the San Marco Brigade are not referred to as "marine infantry" in the Italian Navy, but rather as " naval fusiliers ". Another common name is marò , which roughly corresponds to the English term marines . Marò was originally a marine abbreviation (mar.o) for marinaio or seaman without special qualifications.

In the Stauferburg at the port of Brindisi, in addition to the staff of the brigade and other military services, there is also a small museum that presents the history of the Italian marine infantry. The museum is usually not accessible to civilians, but guided tours are available on request.

equipment

Light weapons

Armored vehicles

Both vehicles are to be replaced by the Italian-British Amphibious Combat Vehicle , which was also selected for the United States Marine Corps .

Lightly armored vehicles

References

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of the brigade on marina.difesa.it
  2. ^ Prehistory of the Italian marine infantry on associazionelagunari.it
  3. ↑ John Acton, ammiraglio di ventura, on storiain.net
  4. ^ Organization of the brigade on marina.difesa.it
  5. ↑ Compagnia SDI Sardegna on difesa.it
  6. ↑ Compagnia SDI Brindisi on difesa.it
  7. ^ Compagnia SDI Sicilia on difesa.it
  8. ↑ Brief description on ivecodefencevehicles.com
  9. ↑ US Marine Corps awards BAE contract for ACV family of vehicles . ukdefencejournal.org.uk, June 27, 2019