GIUSES GIUSES GARIBALDI (Italy)
Since the Andrea Doria helicopter cruiser could only serve a single purpose of anti-submarine patrol, and Italy, one of NATO's 12 constituent states, also had to coordinate the monitoring of Soviet ships in the Mediterranean region, the Italian Navy decided in 1974 to include the construction of a large cruiser that could carry carrier-based aircraft into its naval development plan for the next decade, enabling it to achieve comprehensive functions such as carrier-based attack, anti-submarine vigilance and command coordination.
According to the design of the 1092 ship jointly completed by the Italian shipbuilding group and Breda Machinery Company, the new ship will adopt a design with direct access to the deck and island, and use vertical/short take-off and landing fighters. In November 1977, the Italian Navy signed a contract with the Italian Shipbuilding Group for the 1092 ship, allowing the latter to begin specific design work. Since Italy, as a defeated country in World War II, could not own an aircraft carrier, the contract initially used the term "helicopter carrier", and then changed its name to "through deck cruiser", "helicopter cruiser" and "air escort cruiser". Even so, since all of Italy's fixed-wing fighters at the time were managed by the Italian Air Force, the Air Force granted a legal right to prevent the purchase of vertical/STOL aircraft. Forced to do so, the Italian Navy decided to equip the new ship with helicopters first, and in February 1978 formally signed a construction contract with the Italian Shipbuilding Group, which was completed by its subsidiary, the Italian Fincantini Shipbuilding Company, in the dock in Monfalco.
At the end of April 1980, the shipyard began to unload the sheet, while the formal construction work began only in March 1981. The superstructure of the new ship adopts the internationally accepted continuous deck aircraft carrier type, and the 5-storey island building is located on the starboard side of the deck, accounting for about one-third of the entire length. The flight deck was the first to use a straight-through design after World War II, with a total area of more than 4100 square meters, which can accommodate six AV-8B Harrier vertical/short-range fighters or SH-3D Neptune anti-submarine helicopters. The design is appropriately borrowed from the style of the British "Invincible" class, with a slide deck of about 174 meters long, 30 meters wide and with a 6.5° upward angle. Special heat-resistant coatings are applied on the deck to ensure the take-off and landing of vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The interior of the ship is divided into 13 cabins, of which the effective use area of the hangar is about 1400 square meters, which can park 12 Harrier fighters or "Neptune" helicopters. Power is powered by four gas turbine engines authorized by GM to Fiat, with a power of 81,000 horsepower. The ship's self-defense weapons consist of four Ottomat anti-ship missile systems (later replaced by an improved Teseo system), two eight-mount Albatross anti-aircraft missile launchers, three Breda dual-barrel 40 mm rapid-fire guns, and two triple torpedo launchers. The aircraft carrier is under the unified command of the SADOC.2 combat management system and is equipped with a variety of electronic countermeasures, which can fire flame bait, flash bombs or jamming foil strips.
In September 1985, the new ship entered service as the flagship of the Italian Navy and was named after the Italian national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi. Since Italy is still banned from owning aircraft carriers, Giuseppe Garibaldi was only equipped with 4 sea king anti-submarine helicopter squadrons in the early stages of service, in addition to providing a take-off and landing platform for the RaFAF's Harrier fighters. Until February 1987, the Italian parliament revised the pre-World War II regulations that fixed-wing aircraft should be monopolized by the Air Force, allowing the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi to carry American-made Harrier fighters. In February 1989, the ban was lifted, allowing the Italian Navy to have its own fixed-wing carrier-based aircraft.
During the 1995 Somali civil war, giuseppe Garibaldi travelled to the Gulf of Aden on alert missions and in March of the same year took part in assisting the withdrawal of United Nations peacekeeping forces from Somalia. During the Kosovo War, giuseppe Garibaldi participated in combat missions for the first time, and from 13 May to early June 1999, the ship dispatched 30 warplanes and carried out 63 air strikes against military targets in Kosovo. After 9/11, giuseppe Garibaldi traveled to the Indian Ocean in December 2001 and dispatched carrier-based aircraft to launch airstrikes against Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan, completing 288 combat missions. In mid-March 2002, the ship returned to Italy and did not carry out any operations for the next 8 years, participating only in several NATO military exercises in the Mediterranean. After the outbreak of the war in Libya, the Giuseppe Garibaldi rushed to the coast of Libya in March 2011, and during a four-month operation, its carrier-based attack aircraft squadron dropped 166 guided bombs on various military targets in Libya and completed a 221-hour aviation vigilance. In October 2013, the ship went to the Taranto Naval Shipbuilding Base for life extension overhaul, repaired power equipment, auxiliary generators and other devices, and replaced the deck fire insulation asbestos layer. After repairs were completed in November 2014, Giuseppe Garibaldi participated in several military exercises and participated in the search and rescue of refugees in North Africa during the refugee crisis that began in 2015. During the German-French-Italian summit in late August 2016, the prime ministers of Germany, France and Italy boarded the Giuseppe Garibaldi to discuss the EU's development plan after Brexit. Giuseppe Garibaldi is still in service with the Italian Navy.
