Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (551)


 * For other ships of this name, see Italian ship Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Giuseppe Garibaldi (551) is an Italian aircraft carrier, the first through deck aviation ship ever built for the Italian Navy, and the first Italian ship built to operate fixed-wing aircraft. She is equipped with short take-off and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL) aircraft and helicopters. The Garibaldi was involved in combat air operations off Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Libya.

Design
She is the fourth ship of the Italian Navy to be named after the 19th century Italian General Giuseppe Garibaldi. All five ships, including the missile cruiser, together with an image of Garibaldi, are depicted in the crest.



Built by Fincantieri (Italcantieri) at the Monfalcone shipyards on the Gulf of Trieste, she was laid down on 26 March 1981, launched on 11 June 1983, and commissioned on 30 September 1985. Garibaldi is classed as a CVS–ASW or anti-submarine warfare carrier and is based in Taranto.

The ship is powered by four Fiat COGAG gas turbines built under license from GE, offering a sustained power of 81,000 hp (60 MW). Driving two shafts the ship has a maximum speed of 30 kn and can travel for 7000 nmi at around 20 kn.

The ship was equipped with four Otomat Mk2 long range surface-to-surface missile system installed at the stern of the ship (removed in 2003 to improve the flight deck and satellite communications) and two ILAS three triple tube torpedo launchers. Defences are provided by two eight-cell SAM launchers firing the SARH Aspide missile, additional defences are offered by three Oto Melara Twin 40L70 DARDO CIWS.

The ship also has many countermeasures include two SCLAR twenty-barrel launchers for chaff, decoy, flares, or jammers, the SLQ-25 Nixie and SLAT anti-torpedo systems and ECM systems.

Her air-arm consists of a maximum sixteen AV-8B Harrier IIs and 2 search and rescue helicopter, or eighteen Agusta helicopters or a mix of helicopters and fighters. The flight-deck is the characteristic off-axis design with 4 degrees ski-jump for STOL aircraft, it is 174 m long and 30.4 m wide.

A 1937 law gave control of all national fixed-wing air assets to the Italian Air Force and only helicopters were permitted to the navy, therefore at the time of her launch she did not receive her Harriers, and she was classed as Incrociatore portaeromobili (Italian for Aircraft carrying cruiser). Until 1988 only Italian helicopters landed on her deck, as well as RN Sea Harriers during NATO joint maneuvers. This ban on Italian naval fixed-wing aircraft was lifted in 1989, and the Italian Navy received fixed-wing Harrier II fighters to fly from the Giuseppe Garibaldi.

In 2009 Giuseppe Garibaldi has been joined as the flagship of the Italian navy by the new and larger carrier ITALIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER Cavour.

Combat operations
In 1999 with the Kosovo War in the Balkans, Italy committed Harrier AV-8B II+ fighters embarked aboard the Giuseppe Garibaldi, from 13 May to early June 1999, 30 sorties were carried out in 63 hours of flight. The planes have used Mk 82 GBU-16 bombs and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The Italian naval force in addition to the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, with its air group, also included the ITALIAN FRIGATE Zeffiro.

Following the attacks of 11 September 2001 and the war on terror declared by U.S. President Bush, Italy participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The Giuseppe Garibaldi was engaged as a command ship of GRUPNAVIT I, 1 Italian Shipping Group, which also included besides the Zeffiro, Garibaldi, the patrol team and the airman supplier in Etna. Set sail from Taranto 18 November 2001, training in the Indian Ocean from December 3, 2001 to March 1 next, returning to Taranto March 18, 2002. During the mission, the AV-8B Harrier unit carried out 288 missions for a total of 860 hours of flight, tasks carried out included interception/interdiction, sea and air support, and aircraft interdiction in Afghanistan.

Participating in the 2011 military intervention in Libya after the transfer of authority to NATO and the decision to participate in strike air-ground operations, the Italian government assigned under NATO command four Italian Navy AV-8B plus (from Garibaldi) in addition to Italian air force aircraft. As of 24 March, the Italian Navy was engaged in Operation Unified Protector with the light aircraft carrier Garibaldi, the Maestrale-class frigate ITALIAN FRIGATE Libeccio and the auxiliary ship ITALIAN OILER Etna. Additionally the ITALIAN DESTROYER Andrea Doria and Maestrale-class frigate ITALIAN FRIGATE Euro were patrolling off the Sicilian coast in an air-defence role. In total, until the end of the mission in Libya, the eight Italian Navy AV-8Bs flying from the carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi dropped 160 guided bombs during 1221 flight hours.