Capitanerie di porto - Guardia Costiera

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The Italian Coast Guard (ITCG) (Harbourmasters Corps) has its origins in Special Maritime Courts which in the distant past were responsible for navigational discipline, protection of seafarers, administration and management of ports. The modern Harbour Offices originated in the 11th century. After the year 1000, which had been a period fraught with fear and misery, new hopes and ideals flourished, and our people began to rediscover their passion for the sea and devote themselves to sailing once again. At the forefront of this renaissance were of course the maritime cities, from which ships sailed off for faraway shores, while at home new laws were passed, and magistrates appointed to enforce them. Maritime Law gradually evolved along with the development of the concept of the “ship”, one of the main instruments of wealth, power and victory. Various rules were united into a single code, and thus maritime law became comprehensive and authoritative, following the ship as it sailed into foreign waters. Special courts were set up, with various titles, in the Maritime Republics and quickly asserted their authority.

 

Maritime Organization of the Italian States

The maritime rules of the Maritime Republics, adapted to suit changing times, were thus inherited by the old Italian States. In the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Harbourmaster of Livorno was responsible for Merchant Marine matters and the surveillance of the ports. In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Naval Minister was in charge of supervision of shipping, policing and ports; in major ports maritime commissions were established, consisting of the Harbourmaster and the Customs Duty Officer. In the Sardinian States, administration of the Merchant Marine was entrusted to Consuls and Vice Consuls, and port services to Harbourmasters and Port Officials. The Consuls and Vice Consuls, who upheld the oldest traditions of the Maritime Republics, were civil servants, and were responsible for ancillary Merchant Marine services as well as the maritime health service. Harbourmasters and Port Officers, on the other hand, were military personnel, belonging to the Port Staff of the Navy, with a code and hierarchy equivalent to that of the Royal Staff of the Navy. They commanded and ran technical services and port policing.

The Establishment of the Coast Guard and the General Inspectorate

Over 130 years have passed since the foundation of the Coast Guard. It was with Royal Decree no. 2438, of July 20, 1865, that the astute administrators of the Kingdom filled the need to create a single code that would govern all maritime and port activities. The two bodies were merged, the Port Staff of the Navy (military), which had previously dealt with technical matters, confined to the port; and the Naval Consuls (civilian), who had previously carried out administrative functions. The new Institution, which thus combined the technical and military roles of the Port Line Officers and the administrative role of the maritime Consuls, was faced with a vast and complex range of duties, united by the objective for which it had been founded: the technical aspect of shipping in its dual role of merchant and naval shipping. Staff consisted of (Article 2 of Law): Port captains of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class, Port Officers of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class, and Junior Clerks. Port Captains were commanders of maritime departments, Port Officers of maritime districts, while Junior Clerks were embarking on the first rung of their career. As the various and complex activities of the Coast Guard grew, and it was called upon to regulate and discipline all marine activities, it also took on what were undoubtedly military tasks, such as the training of a national service contingent and the recruitment and training of young men fit to serve in the Navy.
The continuous intervention of the State in all aspects of national economic life as well as impressive advances made in shipping, from both a technical and economic point of view, led to an constant extension of the functions and commitments of the Coast Guard.
This growth of functions had an inevitable impact on the organisation. It was therefore deemed necessary to set up a directive body to coordinate the various activities and services covered by the Coast Guards. Thus, by Royal Decree no. 857, 8.12.1910, the General Inspectorate of the Coast Guard was founded, with tasks of supervision and control of all commands and subsidiary offices. The efficiency was to be harshly tested in some of the most trying moments of national life. In the Italian-Turkish conflict Coast Guard was involved in the preliminary organisation of the embarkation of men and materials as well as preparations for the landing on the African coast. The success of these operations, thanks to the efficient functioning of port services, led to the task of organising ports in occupied territories, in order to assure a constant connection between Italy and African shores. The end of the war was followed by operations aimed at instituting peace among the natives, assisted by the adoption of a suitable judicial system. The ITCG can be proud of its achievement in developing maritime legislation, which subsequently proved to be highly successful in attaining its objectives.

Militarization of the Coast Guard

On the eve of Italy’s entry into the war, by means of a legislative measure in May 1915, the Coast Guard Service was recognized as serving under arms, and personnel were entitled to wear military stars. The first great World War was to be a hard test for the Coast Guard. The mobilisation of military staff, the use of merchant vessels for the purposes of warfare, the defence of coastlines permanently exposed to attacks, the actions of military police, and especially the organisation and running of port activities, which were essential for assuring supplies to operating armies: these bore witness to the Coast Guard contribution to the war effort.
Among tasks carried out, the rescue of the Serbian army, which had landed at various Italian ports, should be remembered. The port logistical organisation of this operation depended largely on the efforts of coastguards stationed in the ports of arrival. We should not forget, either, expeditions undertaken in the Aegean Sea and in Albania, where coastguards were involved in highly important missions.
At the end of the conflict, tasks relating to demobilisation of the army were carried out, along with the resumption of civilian work, which was particularly intense after the long period of stasis caused by the war.
In February 1918, the Navy Minister assigned definitively the Coast Guard certain duties relating to military defence; thus, all the coastguards were militarised for the duration of the war as well as for six months after the signing of the armistice treaties - this militarisation was definitively consecrated in November 1919.
In September 1923, the Coast Guard was included among the other military branches of the Royal Navy. This measure was particularly significant, since it gave the Coast Guard the definitive status it has held up to today: thus, full recognition of the substantially military nature that the Institution had enjoyed since its foundation in far-off 1865 was accorded.
Between the First and Second World Wars, port officers were once again engaged in arduous undertakings, in the Italo-Ethiopian, and other, conflicts, during which they were involved in checking shipments at arrival points, assuring the smoothness of the constant flow of things necessary for the conduct of military actions; and as military supply officers, on board ships used for the transport of men and goods.
The General Inspectorate of the Coast Guard was replaced by the General Command, by a Decree of 11th November 1938, which set out the duties and regulations of the new Institution (which was to be directed by a Vice Admiral), details of the military and civilian workforce, the internal organisation of the Coast Gaurd as well as defining military duties regarding seafarers, merchant shipping and ports.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, in which Italy was caught up in a number of tragic events, a violent enemy offensive assailed our ports and maritime communication routes with particular force.

Operations in the distant Indian Ocean, in the Mediterranean and on African shores all saw Coast Guard Officers, Petty Officers, non-commissioned Officers and cadets engaged in coastal defence measures and logistical planning, in the organisation of in the temporarily occupied territories and in numerous other military undertakings.

There were countless examples of bravery shown in this work, which exposed all the armed forces to considerable risk during those years. This is attested to by the high number of medals for bravery awarded to members of the Coast Guard, including:
• 9 Gold Medals
• 27 Bronze Medals
• 83 Crosses of War for Valour
• 67 Mentions in Dispatch for Valour
as well as numerous other decorations for Naval Valour and Civilian Valour.

Then arrived the 8th of September 1943. Italian merchant shipping was requisitioned or taken over almost entirely by the State, and ports were placed under the control of the military authority. On the evening of that day, the maritime authorities gave orders that, as far as was materially possible, in Italian ports, national ships, that is, the people on board at that moment, should undertake to sink their own ships, to put to sea immediately or to commit acts of sabotage. Orders were obeyed where possible. Moreover, we should not forget the great number of Officers, Petty Officers and the rank and file of the Coast Guard who suffered the indignity of internment.
From the Commissariat for Upper Italy to the Merchant Marine Ministry.
The tragic fracture which appeared after the armistice led to the creation, in northern Italy, of a Merchant Marine General Directorate and of a Coast Guard General Command based first at Verona, then Milan. These two Commands, in spite of their reduced workload and limited jurisdiction, given the circumstances, devoted themselves to safeguarding merchant shipping concerns and port facilities as well as to protecting the interests of seafarers and ship owners. In 1948, the Coast Guard General Command, headed by the highest-ranking or most senior General Officer in permanent service. came under the authority of the Ministry for the Merchant Marine, in order to perform institutional duties for this Department. The war had inflicted enormous damage on port facilities and structures, with the virtually complete destruction of our shipping fleet.
But the intrinsic energy of the Italian people brought about the miracle of reconstruction, which, in the shipping sector - of fundamental importance for our existence - led quickly to the renovation of our ports and the rebuilding of the shipping fleet. Political revival followed on from economic revival, along with the reinstatement of our country in international relations and consequently the assumption of commitments in the economic and military fields. Within the context of these commitments the importance of the Coast Guard was to re-emerge - it was to be involved in a great variety of duties, technical, administrative, economic and military, all united, however, by the common denominator of shipping.

The Coast Guard Service

With the inter-ministerial Decree of 8th June 1989, the divisions of the Institution "Corpo delle Capitanerie di Porto" which carried out duties of a technical/operational nature were re-classed as the Coast Guard Service (Guardia Costiera).
Such a measure, which thus instituted formally the Coast Guard Service in our country, really did nothing but acknowledge the service hitherto provided by the Harbourmaster Offices along our coastline and at sea.

As in all other countries, the naval and airborne units of the Coast Guard, apart from bearing the designation "Guardia Costiera", has the traditional red band on the hull or cockpit - which throughout the world distinguishes Coast Guard craft from those of other agencies, or state or police corps.
This logo, however, in tribute to the colours of the national flag and to the fact that the Coast Guard is a branch of the Italian Navy, was designed as a tricolour band in which the red band predominates, with the traditional black anchor of the Navy on a white circular background, in the centre.

General Command of the ITCG
In the year 1994, with the Port Reform Law, the General Inspectorate of the Coast Guard was elevated to General Command (Comando Generale del Corpo delle Capitanerie di Porto), directed by a Commandant. This had the effect of making a major qualitative leap, which has conferred (and will confer) greater authority in the development of the organisation, so that it may confront more effectively the institutional tasks that the ITCG is called upon to carry out. At present the Commandant is Vice Admiral ("Ammiraglio Ispettore Capo") Raimondo POLLASTRINI .