9 September, the Navy remembers the fallen at sea

Saturday 9 September will be celebrated at the National Monument to the "Sailor of Italy la "Memorial Day of Sailors Running in the Sea"  a perennial memory of the sacrifice of military and civilian sailors who disappeared at sea.

The anniversary is considered a civil solemnity and is annually commemorated in Brindisi on September 9 at the Monument to the Navy of Italy, built in 1933 on the initiative of the Italian Naval League on the occasion of the granting of the Cross of War to the Apulian city. The monument, reminiscent of all the sailors in Italy who fell during the First World War, was built in Brindisi for the important role that the city has played as Naval Basin of the Adriatic Basin of the Marina Director.

The date choice is, in turn, rich in historical meanings as the recurrence of the burial of the Rome battalion and the destroyers Da Noli and Vivaldi. That tragic 9 September 1943, the sea swallowed about 1700 sailors including the commander of the battleship Rome, captain of vessel Aidone Del Cima, and the Commander of the Naval Battle Forces of the Navy, Admiral Carlo Bergamini.

Further Reading:

After the Italian armistice in the armored Rome was ordered to reach Maddalena Island along with other military units. The day after the armistice the Italian naval team was attacked by German bombers. The story of the battleship of Rome was the most dramatic, hit, shortly after 15:00, she had to face a leak created by the aerial bomb that crossed the hull exploding underwater. Immediately after a second shot it hit the unit towards the bow, causing damage and the deflagration of the ammunition depots, tower n. 2 (heavy 1500 tons) blew up into the water as the armored command tower was destroyed. The situation was now tragic, the surviving sailors, including seriously injured and burned, tried to save themselves, while those of them who were in the stern, about to throw themselves into the water, were disintegrated. Shortly after 16:00 the unit was now lost, broken in two sections, sank in a few minutes. The direct ship Roma, one of the most important memorials of the Navy, was identified on June 17, 2012. Part of the wreck lies over a thousand meters deep and about 16 miles from the Sardinian coast of the Gulf of Asinara.

9 September, the Navy remembers the fallen at sea