Italian Cruiser the Armando Diaz

[Alpinestar]

Hi
I am new to this forum, I am looking for some information on the Italian navy warship called the RN Armando Diaz a while back I purchased a medallion from a man who was selling various Items taken as a souvenir from an Italian prisioner of war during WW11 by an Australian soldier in North Africa. I have attached a photo of both sides of it, on the front it says " Con Fede Incrollabile e' Tenace Valore " which translates to "With unshakable faith and tenaciaous valour" on the back it has R-INC Armando Diaz. I have tried to do some research on this and have found some information on the Armando Diaz which was a light cruiser, it was on escort duty off the coast of Tripoli when torpedoed and sunk by the british submarine "upright" in February 1941 and around 430 of the crew lost their lives, I would appreciate any further information on the Armando Diaz the details around it's sinking and when this medallion was given out and why, I have been told the motto " Con Fede Incrollabile e' Tenace Valore" is extracted from the Italian Victory Bulletin announcing the victory in WW1 which was signed by Armando Diaz the commander in chief of the italian army on the 4th Nov 1918 when it was announced. I am not a serious collector my interest is in the history behind it so I would like to put together all the information I can find about the Armando Diaz including specifications, photos and details about any action it took part in etc, thanks for your help.

Regards, Tony

[designeraccd]

If you do a GOOGLE photo search quite a few photos will come up, including of her exploding.

However, from 1940 JFS: she and her sister(Luigi Cadorna) were 5008 tons. 554.5' L.O.A. X 50+' BEAM. 8-6" 53, 6-3.9" aa, 8-37MM aa + 13MM. 4-21" tt. Supposedly capable of 37 knots, but Italian warships of this period usually had their speeds over stated. Also, carried 2 planes and 1 catapult.

If you PM me, I have a few photos..........DFO :D

[bezukhov]

Hi tony

You can find other information here: http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9600

Only a detail: in the motto on the medal, the "e" has no accent: in italian "e" means "and", while "e' " means "is".

R-INC means, quite obviously, "Regio Incrociatore"-royal cruiser.

Now I ask you one question: under the winged figure I can barely see some letters, it seems latin but I can't read every character. Can you write here the 2 words? Thanks!!

Cheers
Michele

[jorgeY]

Another link:

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Diaz_(incrociatore)

which includes this interesting link about the wreck and its sinking

http://www.lucavalente.it/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=69

(note: links with an ending ")" are not correct taken; if you have one as I had here, you must edit it by hand)

[Alpinestar]

Hi Michele

Thanks for your reply with information on the Armando Diaz, as for the words written on the base of the medal the first letters are hard to read but it appears to be " Ferrea Genova " I dont know anything about that but I would think that may be the medal maker, you may know more.
Thanks to all who replied, also designeraccd the photos you have are they the ones posted in the message from Michele, if they are different let me know i will PM you and you can send them to me.

Regards, Tony.

[designeraccd]

No, what I have is different from the 3 nice views posted...........DFO :D

[bezukhov]

Hi tony,

yes, "Ferrea Genova" is the name of the medal maker, or more exactly the company that made it, called "Pietro Ferrea" company, it sounds amazing because it is located about 2 kilometers from my house!!

I give you the link, http://www.artedellamedaglia.it/storia.html, even if it's only in italian.
There is a photo of a silver medal of Diaz, the same of yours except, for what I can see, the name Ferrea which is not present. I post it just to compare it with yours...

Best regards
Michele

[Alpinestar]

Hi Michele

That is quite an amazing coincidence that the location where the medal was made is so close to your house, it's a small world they say, and I would say very rare to find they are still operating after all these years and producing medals for collectors. When I bought this medal there were numerous documents with fascist stamps also collected from an Italian prisoner of war in North Africa at the same time as the medal around 1941 but I did not buy them, they may have had an interesting story to tell. At first I thought the medal may have been to commemorate the sinking of the ship and given out to the survivors as it said "with unshakable faith and tenaciaous valour" but it was taken from the Italian soldier in the same year the ship was sunk and I now know this was the ships motto and the medals I would assume were given out to the crew and others associated with the ship when it was first put into service, as for the words "Ferrea Genova" I would say the medals made back then in the 1930s had the makers mark stamped on them. I have also been told the "Armando Diaz" had visted most states of Australia including Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria in 1934-35 and had a great welcome from Italian migrants on it's arrival many thousands turning out to get a look at the Italian navys fast Cadorna class cruiser.
Regards

Tony

[bezukhov]

Hi tony

yesterday I visited the "Ferrea" shop and asked about the medal.
They said they produced those medals between 1932 and 1936, and they were ordered, as usual at that time, personally by the commander of the ship, and given to every crew member.

Hope this can be useful
Michele

[Alpinestar]

Hi Michele

Your information has been very helpful and interesting, thank you also for taking the time to find out more details about it all.
Regards

Tony

[astraltrader]

Just for the hell of it here are my two favourite pictures of this handsome cruiser. ;)

[immcleod]

Hi Everyone,
I have asked before concerning the Captain for this ship what was his name and fate in the sinking? I have a possible being Capitano Di Vascello Franco Mazzola?
Any help would be appreciated!
Best regards Ian