This
is a translation of the article that appeared inthe
Italian Naval magazine,

NOTIZIARIO
DELLA MARINAMarch,
2000

"Parliamo
di CAORLE E GRADO"di
ALDO DE FLORIO

The translation was
graciously provided by the Italian Consulatein Boston, Massachusetts.We offer our sincere
thanks and appreciation for their work.

(Let's talk
about...)Caorle and
Grado Their demolition
closes an historic cycle of the amphibious division of the Italian Navy

By Aldo De
Florio

When the naval
vessel "Grado" was relocated to Naples for its demolition, its twin, the "Caorle" followed
the same fate. The "Caorle" crossed the Navigable Canal ("Canale Navigabile")
for the last time on December 23, 1999, with the extraordinary opening of
14.45* to reach Naples, having struggled after four days of travel.

It certainly
was not a Merry Christmas for that ship, who, having been built for war, found itself
involved in a primarily humanitarian act, ironically subjected to the "death" during this
symbolic time of year.

Putting aside
sentimentality, it must be said that the two ships, "Caorle" and "Grado" represented
for the Italian Navy the utmost in training vessels for the formation of
the amphibious
crafts. This was in part due to the intense preparation by special
landing forces, configured
in the current Saint Mark "Reggimento San Marco". Their contribution
is also significant in planning terms to the construction of three amphibious
units, "San Giorgio", "San Marco", and "San Giusto" currently in service.

Italy, in fact,
did not have any specific experience with amphibious crafts until the 1950's; the
first amphibious operations conducted "garibaldina"** occurred after the attempted
landing at Lissa and were organized by Persano (1866) in 1911 when a group of sailors
under command of Captain Umberto Cagni occupied Tripoli. Another event that
reminds us of the massacre of General Tellini's delegation in Janina, the work of Greek
rebels.

Nothing further
of significance occurred after that episode, yet the attempt to organize the
landing at Malta during World War II emphasized the utility of the state- owned railroad's
ferry boats.

Italy had no
amphibious structural organization at the end of World War II while the major powers
gave strength to the "wide range" operations, and also gave strong impulse to
the construction of naval vessels capable of transporting large quantities of equipment
and officers to undertake the operations over and above the usual levels of
gravitation.

The Italian
government began to recognize the need to become up-to-date, and for financial
reasons, the problem was resolved with the acquisition of a number of U.S. logistic units
for a "symbolic price".

The U.S. launched
a first phase of vessels, an organizational phase lasting until the 1970's, comprised
of "Etna" (the former USS Whitley), "Andrea Bafile" (the former USS St. George),
"Anteo" (the former USS Alemada County), and "Cavezzale" (the former USS
Oyster Bay). "Cavezzale" was utilized with the transformed corvette
"Ape" for training
the special attack forces in the "Comando Incursori".

During the
early 1960's, the Italian Navy planned to construct themselves a set of three small
amphibious vessels, but only the first of these, the "Quarto" was ever placed in
the water of the scab*** N.1 of the Military Arsenal of Taranto in 1967.

In 1972, the
U.S. released to the Italian Navy two amphibious vessels of medium tonnage of
the "DeSoto/Suffolk County" class launched in 1957 and tested in Viet Nam.
The DeSoto County was renamed "Grado", and the York County was renamed "Caorle".
The two units were used not only for training, but also in assisting
natural disaster areas and transporting contingents of peace during peace keeping missions.

Also noteworthy
is the assistance rendered in 1978 to the Friulian population hit by an earthquake,
and that given in Yugoslavia for the earthquake in Montenegro. The logistic
support rendered with the Italian-Maltese in 1980 and more import- antly the
two missions in Lybia prove the technical capacity of the two vessels. "Libano 1"
(August 21-September 15, 1982-October 19, 1984) established a more direct
support of the Italian land contingent under the command of General Franco
Angioni, was instrumental in the Multinational Peace Forces.

This lengthy
test was conducted with the notable naval diplomatic skill of Captain Pierluigi
Sambo who traveled with the "Grado" from Brindisi, and of Catain Francesco
Rollo, who traveled with the "Caorle" from La Maddalena, interrupting the ceremony
in honor of the anniversary of the death of Garibaldi.

On that occasion,
the "Caorle" reached the port of Jounieh and landed, saving 350 civilians,
80 of whom were Italians.

Transferred
to a permanent berth in Brindisi, the two ships continued to operate in
accordance with the Third Naval Division: The "Grado" until 1988, and the "Caorle"
until 1989. The years show their durability in the "Quadro del Naviglio Militare".

After approximately
ten years waiting on the docks of Grupnul, the "Grado" was aquired by
the Simont Company, and the "Coarle" was acquired by the Rotrafer Company, and
were then on their way to being destroyed.

One other unit
of the Italian Navy had the name of "Grado", a destroyer.

This ship was
assigned to Italy in 1920 following the Versailles treaty, together with six other
vessels of the "Tatra" class. They took the names "Fosana", "Zenson", "Monfalcone",
Cortellazzo", "Pola", and "Muggia".

"Grado"
operated primarily in Alto Adriatico performing an intense representative and
training activity, and was taken out of the Torpedo class in 1929 when
it was used
for exercises combined with MAS and until 1937 when it was destroyed.

*The opening of the Canale Navigabile
was extraordinary since it had specific times at which it would open during
the day. From that context, 14.45 was not a specific time for the Canal to open.

**"Garibaldina" cannot be accurately
translated. It refers an operation or task done with great heroics and enthusiasm,
but with no skill or practice.

***Speculation here. An offered
opinion is that the water referred to is the Bay of Naples,
and the scab is Mount Etna. Italians refer to volcanoes as "scabs
of the land". Anyone
with a better solution to this phrase is welcome to voice it.

I did not include the ship's stats, i.e. length, width,
tonnage, etc.We already have that noted elsewhere.I hope you enjoyed this final chapter in the life of
theUSS DeSoto/York County and how they fit into Italian
Naval history.

Update - 6/12/2002

A veteran of the Italian Navy
found this site and signed my guest book.I wrote back to him and he
was kind enough to clarify some informationfrom the article that the
Embassy was unsure of. My thanks to Maurizo Matellicanifor his information and extra
pictures. He sent me one, and linked me to another.

First, his explanations:

1. "The translation
about 'garibaldina' is quite correct. 'Fare qualcosa alla Garibaldina'(to do something 'alla garibaldina')
is a popular expression to indicate an action done bravely,boldly, with impetus; this
expression comes from Giuseppe Garibaldi, a "Two
World's Hero",because all his battles were
fought this way. In the contest about the first amphibious operationconducted in 1866 and 1911,
the author puts in evidence the lack of landing ships, but notof heroism and enthusiasm."

6/14/2002Maurizo corrected my misinterprutation
of his first email - "Giuseppe Garibaldi wasthe main creator of Italy's
reunification in the 1860's; he also fought in South America(Colombia, Argentina, Peru,
and Chile). He was born in Nizza (now Nice, France) in1807 and died on June 2,
1882 at Caprera, Sardinia.More on Garibaldi can be
found at: http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib.html

2. "My knowledge about
LST Quarto's history is quite sufficient: from 1969 to 1971I was embarked on the Nave
Bafile (USS St. George AV16), flag ship of the 3rd Divisionthat included Nave Etna (USS
Whitley), Nave Anteo (USS Alamada County), Nave Quarto,and later, Nave Grado and
Nave Caorle (USS DeSoto and York Counties). Nave Quartowas built in the Naval Shipyard
of the Military Arsenal in Taranto in 1967. After a fewyears service in the 3rd
division, was assigned...out from the first line, owing to heavyproblems on the structure.

"I don't know the meaning
of the word 'scab'...Probably a misunderstanding: TheQuarto was probably placed
in the water from the dry dock n.1 of the Arsenale diTaranto. The Etna,
in Sicily, is really the most active volcano in Europe. I don'tknow, at this time, the real
end of the Quarto, or the date and place of destruction."

I am very grateful to Maurizo
for taking the time to add these notes to ourunderstanding. And
again, he sent me a picture of the Grado that he had, andgave me links to pages where
I found another picture of the Nave Grado. I willsearch further to see if
I can also find another picture of the Nave Caorle.